canada1824 Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 I got good grades (yay!)...which means i won't get a free cookie, but a new spanking computer ($3000 cap)...which is nice. I've been looking around, dreaming about an imac on my desk and having fun. But when i looked at the avaliable video cards, i was a bit more deterred, as I want to be able to play CS S smoothly on my mac (boot camp). Then I went on various custom pc sites, built my dream computer at the cap, and it seems like it's better. Here are what i want from a new computer: -XP/OS X or X86 (that works) -able to play CS S pretty good (clan really mad at me for lag) -gotta be under 3000 USD/CDN (depends on the rate) -big company (like dell, apple...mom just doesn't trust small companies) obviously, i'm gonna get dual core, 250 gb of memory (gonna take out my old computer's hd and put them in the new computer), 1 gb or more memory, and a nice video card (for all those photoshop design/primere) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soündless Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 for $3006 you can get a mac pro 2.66ghz w 2gb ram, 500gb hd, and airport and bluetooth. or you could go with the 2ghz one and get the ati graphics card and a wireless keyboard and mouse. that'd be what i'd get if i had a screen to plug it into. get a mac if you will use os x. if you are just getting it for games, get a pc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeezoflip Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 buy the parts from new egg and build a custom. With a pc with a core 2 duo with sse3, u shouldnt have trouble getting os x 86 on there. if you wanna get a mac, get a mac pro with a good graphics card in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erbic Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 $3K cap... damn! If I had that much to burn on a computer, I'd definitely custom-build myself a kickass Hack Pro. Make sure you pay close attention to the HCL on the wiki when you're buying parts. Definitely gonna be cheaper than a Mac Pro... do you get the leftover cash to spend however you want? That'd be good... Hey, maybe you'll have enough left for a Cinema Display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INFNITE Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 get yourself a MacBook or something and spend the rest on a XBox 360 or PS3 with a killer HDTV set. you're looking at $1000 for the MacBook, 400 for XBox 360 and roughly $1000 for a decent TV. The rest you can spend on games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 Did you have a look at Alienware? Cool stuff there... Or buy a Mac Pro with this configuration: Specifications * Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon * 2GB (4 x 512MB) * 250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s * ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI) * One 16x SuperDrive * Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English * Mac OS X - U.S. English $3,047.00 However if you could find a way of spending a bit more, this configuration is really great: Specifications * Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon * 4GB (4 x 1GB) * 250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s * ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI) * Two 16x SuperDrives * Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme * Apple USB Modem * Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English * Mac OS X - U.S. English $3,647.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 If you want to go the hack route I say buy yourself an Antec P180 case with a nice power supply, put in an Intel Bad Axe 2 or any of your favourite 975x motherboard, a core 2 duo or quad cpu of your choice and 2gb of Ram, some nice big hard drives, an Ati 1950XTX and still have $$$ left over for a 24" dell monitor If you want to go the mac route, you can always get a 24" iMac, fully souped up with 3gigs of ram, a 500gb HDD and a 7600GT. Advantages : Genuine Mac, very quiet, attractive, uses less space. This configuration costs a total of $2,748 and is reviewed favourably on this link (Washington Times) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plebmac Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 go with the macbook and gte a ps3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliquis Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 You can get the 24" iMac with nv7600gt and while it's not top of the line I'm very confident that it's good enough for CS:S. (If you are getting a real mac check buyers guide on macrumors and buy a modell which have recently been updated, I don't think anyone have atm but just wait until new imacs or whatever arrive and buy then if you can since you get best value right after a hardware update.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 I agree on the Mac/XBox combo, but if you're going to play games (and use Winders), I'd get at least the iMac with the graphics card in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
track09 Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 A custom PC will for far get you way more gaming power for your dollar. The iMacs are weak on graphics options (7600? Hah!), and for the $1200, you could get a kick ass PC. Plus, you'd still need to buy Windows for an iMac, as OS X blows for gaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soündless Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 who says you need to buy it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliquis Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 A custom PC will for far get you way more gaming power for your dollar. The iMacs are weak on graphics options (7600? Hah!), and for the $1200, you could get a kick ass PC. Plus, you'd still need to buy Windows for an iMac, as OS X blows for gaming. But on the other hand he get a mac with os x which should be worth something. Just buy if after next update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canada1824 Posted April 8, 2007 Author Share Posted April 8, 2007 apparently, i can't buy it till the summer so no worry on the mac side, but it looks increasingly like a dell xps, but i'll check if it's x86 compatitable....i'm gonna get a new computer when i get into either Yale or the local community college right now: Xps with 2 gb, dual core, sli video cards...blah blah OR the pimped imac later: imac...{censored} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skawt Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I bought an imac 24" and it came to well below 3000$. I got the 7600 GT and CS:S plays flawlessly, or at least I haven't ever had a problem with it. I'd go for the iMac if I were you, and if you had some cash left over, get a macbook or something just for fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
track09 Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I bought an imac 24" and it came to well below 3000$. I got the 7600 GT and CS:S plays flawlessly, or at least I haven't ever had a problem with it. I'd go for the iMac if I were you, and if you had some cash left over, get a macbook or something just for fun. Pfft, for $1500, he could get a rig with an 8800, the 7600GT is pure and utter {censored}. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbz Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 get yourself a MacBook or something and spend the rest on a XBox 360 or PS3 with a killer HDTV set. you're looking at $1000 for the MacBook, 400 for XBox 360 and roughly $1000 for a decent TV. The rest you can spend on games SERIOUSLY!!! Hell, I'd get myself a refurbished (Intel) Macbook or iMac and get a samsung LCD (HDTV of course!), then the gaming console, and I'd have so much money left over that I'd build myself a gaming rig and use the rest for games!!! Why would you blow all that money on one computer??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canada1824 Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 cause i'm not getting the money parents pay....for one computer only.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollcage Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 What are you going to use this thing for? That would really help us give advice on the best choice. We could give you a bunch of different options, but they might not be the best for what you NEED. Is this purely a gaming machine, or do you use it more for school work. If you're not getting it until summer, you might want to wait a while to make a decision. I'm sure there wil be quite a few new models/parts by then. And you might want to wait to see what Leopard is like before you make a final decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
track09 Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 SERIOUSLY!!!Hell, I'd get myself a refurbished (Intel) Macbook or iMac and get a samsung LCD (HDTV of course!), then the gaming console, and I'd have so much money left over that I'd build myself a gaming rig and use the rest for games!!! Why would you blow all that money on one computer??? Hardcore gamers never play FPS on consoles, that's why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canada1824 Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 also school work, add some adobe primere pro v2, and photoshop cs2 and some encore dvd stuff i do in my spare time...so pretty intensive....i also want to be able to (for once) have itunes, firefox, photoshop AND word on at the same time...nah...maybe at least 2 of those stuff on....i just want something that can give me good FPS AND won't kill my $3000 cap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Marvin Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 For that amount of money, I would just get a iMac or Mac Pro (though I'm not familiar with American prices...) that way you can run Mac problem free as well as running XP for your gaming. Go for a real Mac, you can't lose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 adobe primere pro v2 Excuse me while I leave this thread in disgust over Premiere. I can't stand that Adobe PO(bleep) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seitgeist Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Hardcore gamers never play FPS on consoles, that's why. I totally agree with that....I tried halo and the like on consoles and I was awful, compared to pretty decent on PC FPS games. Having just bought a Mac Pro dual 3.0, 2gb ram, and an x1900xt video-card, I would have to suggest getting a "real" Mac. I have hardly touched any of my PCs since I got Mac. I guess you could call me a recent convert (although I did use a mac for desktop publishing about 15 years ago). Keep in mind, you can also get a student discount, like I did, which saved me almost 600.00 USD on my purchase. I walked out the door with my new Mac Pro for 4056.00 USD after taxes and everything.....so for 3 grand, you should be able to get a VERY good machine that will cover all of your needs (keep in mind that Leopard will officially support and include Boot-Camp, i.e. dual boot to windows). The only thing I would like to know is will portability be a factor....you are a student and it seems like you will be for a while, so if that is a need, you should definitely look into a Mac Book Pro. Just a couple thoughts from a Mac Rookie..... -seitgeist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zizou Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Uhm 0_o People tend to forget that the 24" iMac has a 24" SCREEN. I Went to the apple store a few days ago and was liek 'z0mg I want to play Battlefield 2 on this baby'. Seriously, if you check out how expensive a 24" widescreen is, it's around $1k, that leaves $1.5k (if you pick the Ram, video and proc upgrade) on the rest of the computer. It isn't that expensive really. Well maybe it is I guess. Then again people forget the great design looks and coolness. Besides all this, windowz runs perfectly on a Mac, so yea, go with the Mac Pro, and configure it up to 3k and then get more good grades so they'll buy you an 30" Apple cinema screen Seriously, I need to have such parents too, never got anything for good grades, except a warm ' well done but it's for yourself and not us so don't expect anything' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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