Reasonably priced being around $500.

Haha sorry I am LOOKING for one? Anyone know of one between 500-700?

Okay, so you're basically wanting a bare-bones PC that you can upgrade in the future, and for around 500-600 dollars? I'm not really in the mood to look up hardware, but I can say that isn't very unreasonable. All you'd need is a case, power supply, motherboard, perhaps a cheap single or dual core CPU, sufficient RAM for the OS and maybe a bit more for breathing room, then a monitor, keyboard, mouse and optionally speakers. The video and sound would be built into the motherboard, of course. If you don't know already, Newegg is a great site to find these supplies, though I have no idea how much you know about hardware compatibility, so I guess just wait for someone who isn't as lazy as me to post.

Edit: I assumed the 5700 was a typo, but if not...then that's a rather substantial increase from the initial request. I'm not sure exactly what the OP is wanting.

That's quite the budget. You're probably best off building one, a very good one should cost around $1500

Yeah bare bones. sorry I'm on the Droid and I keep pressing wrong buttons. I don't know much about hardware but I think if the video is built in you can't take it out meaning no upgrade

Most motherboards have an integrated Video card and/or sound card. That doesn't mean that you can't get a better one, however. Just FYI though, an integrated card will not be able to play barely any games as they're very low power. If you want to play anything that's more recent than 2003 with better than low settings (Note: A bit of an exaggeration) then you'll need yourself a dedicated GPU.

What are you looking for? A gaming rig, a work PC, or something in between? You need to know these things before you decide to buy anything.

A gaming rig. Something to play morrowind for now (easy I know) but something I can upgrade over time to play any game.

I found www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16883108659

Any good for future upgrades? Prolly not but I noticed it had PCI slots. I'm new to all this lol

Or would it be more cost effective with this

Www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16883229296

Heh, funny you mention Morrowind, since there are enough visual enhancement modifications for that game to warrant the use of a monster machine. And it's [censored] worth it, IMHO. But if you're on a budget, getting something that can merely handle basic Morrowind is easy.

What you posted isn't bad..for a few years ago. The main issue I see is the CPU socket type, LGA 775, which does not support the really good Intel processors like the i3-i7. I'd look for something with either a 1155/6 or 1366 socket. You can find these details under Details, of course.

Additionally, I'd go with a brand like ASUS. I have no idea what ThinkCentre is, and I'm a believer of sticking with the stuff I know that's proven.

Something more akin to this would be better, IMO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220152 I've been out of the loop for a while, so I'm not as tech savvy as I used to be, but that seems like a great starting point rig for our current level of hardware capability. All it really needs upgrade-wise is a better power supply (Around 600W or so from a good brand), CPU (i5 Sandy Bridge 2500 is a great one, and well priced), a good AMD or Nvidia GPU (Like the Radeon 6870 or GeForce 580Ti), and more RAM.

Could I not later upgrade the CPU?

The one you suggested seems like a good choice as well.

Yes, essentially everything in that rig is upgradeable past its initial setup. The CPU socket type will allow for i5 or even i7, and there's a PCI-e 2.0 x16 slot for your powerful GPU of choice. You just need a better power supply to, well, power them. And more RAM is always a good thing.

The are upgrades and there are overhauls. Changing things like the GPU, soundcard, or RAM are upgrades that can be easily done with little hassle. However, things like changing the MoBo or the CPU would likely require a reinstall of the OS and possibly the loss of some data.

Also, you should think about what size of HDD you want.

SUBTONIC, what do you mean "initial setup".

SIMPSON, I'm assuming HDD means hard drive...if so idk. What's a good size to have to hold multiple games + files


Thank you both for help btw

Initial setup = What it comes with when you buy it. The specs of the rig are listed in the link I provided. If you need to know the size of the hard drive in it, it's 1 TB. That's 1,000 GB.

Is OS operating system? Like windows 7? Meaning I would basically restart my computer memory if I changed CPU?

You would have to reinstall Windows, yes. If you plan on doing any serious upgrades (which you are), just keep it in mind. If you end up with a lot of personal stuff you'd like to keep before upgrading, store it in a flash drive or even an external hard drive if you want.

Or do what a lot a people seem to be doing these days and get a special boot drive, an SSD, (Solid State Drive) which is basically one large flash/thumb drive, and install whatever OS you choose on the SSD and keep all of your other files an the HDD.

The advantages to them is that they're quick to read from, which means faster boot times and faster access to files, along with not worrying about backing up most files. The downside is that they're rather small (Around 30GB in a cheap one last I checked), so you'd surely need an HDD for any games you wanted to install.

I'd go with the tried and true "Everything on the HDD with another HDD for backup" method, myself, but that's probably because I know very little about it aside from the basics.

I see. Should the CPU be the first thing I upgrade? I don't want compatibility issues with gpu and whatnot. Also is the motherboard on the$249 system any good or would that need upgrading before I got a top line gpu

See, that's the kind of stuff I had no idea about. I've heard of SSD before, but the term started coming up around the same time I began to stop researching PC tech. Thanks for the quick briefing on them, though.


Upgrade the power supply first, then the CPU. I'd just do it all at once, but that's me. As for the mobo on the $249'er, like I said earlier, the LGA 775 CPU socket will not support any of the current powerful Intel chips, especially the oustanding Sandy Bridge designs. So I would just forget about that rig entirely, since replacing the mobo is a pain in the ass and involves more work than you're likely willing to deal with. True, the setup is much cheaper than what I posted, but you'd end up with about the same price at the end of it all, just with more work.

Really, that should be the last things you upgrade. A slow CPU will bottleneck everything your computer does, from graphics to speed. Best to get a good CPU now and not have to worry about it. If done right you should go through at least three GPU generations before you start thinking about a replacement, and by then you'd probably be better off buying a new PC to begin with.

So it boils down to getting a good (And expensive) one now and pretty much not needing another one until you need an entirely new PC in three or four years or getting a mediocre (And cheap) one now and overhauling your PC in a year or two.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive. I haven't done a full read yet.

Ok so I'm really new to this. Is the socket part of the mobo not the CPU...or is the CPU apart of the mobo


Simpson, gotcha a good CPU is key

The socket is the thing on the motherboard that the CPU fits in to.

Generally there are three major types of connectors/sockets on there: The CPU socket for the CPU, the RAM slots, and a few PCI-e slots for various addon expansion, and it's where the GPU would go.

Of course there are a bunch of smaller, less noticeable things on there as well. Things like fan connectors, SATA connectors, power hookups, USB expansion hookups, and others.

so back to my point if the mobo socket wont fit the new CPU's then I will have to upgrade the mobo as well right?

Exactly. Take the $249 for example yet again. There's a PCI-e 2.0 x16 slot, but since the CPU slot is a full generation of hardware behind, you'd end up with a really good GPU with a CPU that can't keep up with it. You need a mobo with sockets ready for the stuff out right now, not a mix of now and before, or just before.

Let me put it like this: A motherboard is the base piece of hardware that everything else connects to. There are many, many sockets, but the ones you should be most concerned about are the Processor (CPU), Graphics (GPU) and RAM, as those are the ones that vary the most and are the most essential to performance.

Over the years, new sockets for new CPUs and GPUs have been developed, like the 478 CPU or the AGP GPU sockets (both of which are fossils now). We've developed much more advanced hardware and have thus also improved the sockets. You want the current sockets so you can "plug in" the good stuff.

The last hardware gen saw prevalent use of the 775 CPU socket, which was for your Core 2 Duo and such. Now, however, we have the i-series, which only works on 1155/6 or 1366 socket types.

The 1155 seems to be a sort of "special" case , as it's designed almost solely for the Sandy Bridge model Intel chips (I'm not entirely sure, so correct me if I'm wrong), but those are extremely good for gaming. And it just so happens that the computer I linked comes with the 1155.

Also, I apologize for the liberal use of the Edit button, so be sure to read this all again in a few minutes or so.

Title of this thread made me think of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtespeLin2c.

I agree with the choice of the 1155 socket, although I don't think you'll find one with integrated graphics, so you'll need a plug-in GPU. The newest Intel socket is the 2011, but the CPU's available for those right now are quite a bit above your budget.

AMD is an option that hasn't been mentioned, but I'm afraid I'm out of touch with those systems. Anyone?

I've been looking at this one for myself http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227392&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=5367341&SID=skim18202X753938X4b22486915bbfec206b679d3206ce559. It ends up being around 500 bucks and seems like a fairly good desktop to me personally, but I'm not very tech savvy.