New question, everyone. I'm starting a new job and, beginning around September, I'll finally start earning enough money that I might realistically be able to afford a new computer. (Right now I'm just barely scraping by and getting the bills paid, and the summer will be very lean.) I'm so sick to death of my piece of shit computer (which I have ranted about at great length in the past, so I'll spare you all now) that I really want to get something I won't constantly want to bash against the wall.
This computer cost me about $1500. I expected that for that price, I would get a good machine. (To be fair, the hardware is good, it's just put together in a way that prevents it from functioning properly.) This time around, I am going to do some very serious research so I don't get burned again.
Obviously this is a bit of a long-term question, and surely some things will change between now and when I have the funds to make this purchase. But I want to have an idea now of approximately how much I will need to save up. Keeping in mind that I live in central Europe, where electronics are FAR more expensive than in America (and I'll have to adjust my expectations accordingly), and also I don't really have the option of going to a brick-and-mortar store to talk to humans about the possibilities (language barrier), I'm hoping to at least find a ballpark figure.
Here's what I need. I want a computer that can run most current-generation games. I'm not generally a player of AAA titles and I prefer simple, 2d graphics to 3d ones, but I'm finding that recently, even 2d games tend to make my computer overheat. They're all using fancy graphical effects that take loads more computer power than I would have expected. The other day I tried playing Little Inferno on a whim, and after about 20 minutes the computer overheated and the game crashed. Now, it may be true that the game was actually trying to crawl out of the computer and set me on fire, but that doesn't seem the most likely explanation, and this has happened many times with other games that I never would have expected to need so much computing power. Starbound is a big offender, as are even many Mumjo Jumbo casual games, all the Bit.Trip games, Morrowind, Civ IV... I find that pretty much any new game is likely to cause problems. In the summer, when it's really hot, even with a cooling pad with an active fan I can't play games at all.
I also need to be able to do video work. I occasionally get a job as a VJ (video jockey - I create visuals on-the-fly to match live music and DJs, which takes an enormous amount of processing power). I assume that the kind of hardware needed for games will line up nicely with the hardware for video.
Ideally, I really need a laptop. The video work requires me to take the computer with me, and although my current computer is capable of doing this (I've managed it a few times so far), it tends to overheat after a few hours at most and I have to shut down the video for it to cool off. If I'm going to buy a new computer, it should be able to really replace this one fully. I know that makes it harder to keep cool and probably more expensive, but... it's what I need. And I tried to build a computer myself once and it did NOT go well. I don't have the skills, so I really need something I can just turn on and use.
Also important is a lot of USB slots. As many as possible. And HDMI, though I think that should be standard now. I know that's pretty specific stuff, but it's also pretty critical. I need about 4 USB slots just to use my standard hardware (and right now I've only got 3, so I constantly have to swap stuff out).
So... Can anyone suggest a ballpark figure for this sort of machine? Minimum to get the job done, and maybe a mid-range figure if I find I have enough money? I would go and look at specific models, but based on the result of my last self-researched purchase, I obviously suck at that, so if anyone wants to point out any specific possibilities as a reference, that would be awesome.
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Topic: The Generic Computer Advice Thread (Read 572203 times)