I'm looking to pick up a new gaming rig in the near future, I just need to save up some dinero. Anyone have any personal favorites or some media to figure out which company has the best bang for their buck? I usually build pcs for myself, but I've been out of the loop for so long I don't think it will turn out so well. I'm kind of on a tight budget, so this isn't going to be a beast, but something that can get me into some of the newer games. Thanks for any info you can throw out!

Building a PC yourself NOW is easier than it's ever been before. There's so many "friendly" standards out there now it's almost impossible to screw up.

I don't suggest you buy any sort of pre-built machine unless you get some sort of amazing deal that's massively cheaper than any other possible alternative (It's happened a couple times with Quad core dell machines ... they still needed graphics cards though)

Building a machine is also much cheaper, in comparison, than it has been before. From scratch, you could crank out a very capable machine around the $700 USD mark (including everything except a keyboard, mouse, and monitor). And if you only need to build the "main" components, you're looking at something more like $500 USD.

Hell, building a machine outside of the US is even cheaper now.

I guess I feel like I'm jinxed when it comes to building a pc. There was a time when I ordered 7 parts off of newegg, and 5 of them were broken. Then the next day, my buddy accidently ripped pins off the processor....he did buy a new one for me. I guess I just have to suck it up if I want a reasonable PC at a reasonable price. I'll have to study up a bit to do it right the first time.

There are plenty of guides on the net.
Plus all the individual parts come with good instructions.

Just keep you bud away and follow the anti-static advice that comes with the parts/guides.

There is a maximum PC guide to the Ultamite PC that has step-by-step instructions and pictures for building PCs from scratch. From screwing on the mobo to the case to bios and overclocking.

It really depends on what you get. A good rule of thumb is to look at the warranty. Generally, higher quality parts will have far more coverage. There's also, of course, user reviews and junk like that.

I wouldn't suggest overclocking. A lot of stuff is made to support it ... but it still violates the warranty, and when it comes to computer parts those are invaluable.

It's really great now, because, most stuff is really well covered, so if there's a problem, you might not even have to deal with New Egg (Though you can, except on specific type of parts).

If you want some advice on what to get in your system, just put up a price range and what you want it to be able to do. (like, $700 USD and Play UT3 completely maxed, for example) Keep in mind, though, when people suggest parts (myself included) there's a lot of bias. A lot of people will suggest things like a Quad core, when there's really no point yet (I've seen this happen in plenty of forums).

How can you dislike overclocking? Well, overclocking is meant to overboost (awesome!) your components so, and companies like eVGA XFX supports third-party cooler swaps, and overclocking in their warranty.

Heck, they can't tell if you've overclocked your parts or not, it's all software. In fact, that's one of the reason they cover it in their warranty, since they can't beat the system, they might as well join it. Doesn't matter to me soon tho lol, I'm gonna do volt mod my GFX once I need a new solder tip

Though OCing is not everyone's cup of tea.

There are ways to tell depending on the hardware. But, in most cases, yeah, they'll determine if it was foul-play or not. An obvious BS explanation, that would be covered under any warranty not just the ones that cover OCing, is to say the fan died ... then screw up the fan's power cable.

But ... there are ways to tell if you've killed something by overclocking, in particular, if they were to check the paths on the chip, you can see where it burnt out.

In any case, though, it's not covered what-so-ever, and it's really not something most people want to haggle with. Not to mention, most hardware (outside some GPU and CPUs) can't be overclocked worth shit and will become completely unstable.

That's pretty awesome that EVGA and XFX cover 3rd party coolers. Most graphics card manufacturers aren't that ... understanding. Especially XFX, they make terrible cooling solutions.

An important thing to keep in mind, though, is if you like keeping older machines around to do various things years down the line, overclocking shortens the lifespan of the hardware significantly (mainly because even though it may be stable at those speeds, it wasn't made to sustain them for the same amount of time as stock speeds. In general.) It's really one of those things that if you're into it: fine, cool, whatever. But you can't get on people's nuts for not wanting to do it.

I agree with all the others building your pc is the best way to get alot of "bang for the buck", it isnt especially hard either. If it fits in probebly should be there And theres also alot of guides on the internet to help you if you really have no idea what your doing.

MSI make really good video cards that have really nice cooling solutions.

I would agree ... but the last few years they've been cheapening up their warranties and what they offer. With their 7900GT line, they decided NOT to cover the memory with a heatsync ... guess what happens, yeah, it overheats. They DO NOT cover 3rd party cooling solutions and the entire warranty is only 3 years, at the most.

I've used MSI parts for a long time, because they've generally been quality stuff, and while they still are, they're less of a secure purchase now, especially considering that three other companies have massive lifetime warranties on their graphics cards. That's a bit more comforting in case something happens (and considering graphics cards are the most worked part of any gaming system ...)

I would really suggest EVGA, they've got a good middle ground, they're about BFG quality, but closer to the XFX price. XFX, has the best warranties out there ... the problem is you have to use them because they overheat all the time.

MSI used to use complete copper heat syncs, those things were lovely. I had a GF4 from them and the fan stopped working (it was jammed with hair, of all things) and with out a fan the card didn't go above 75ºC ... which is pretty impressive for no fan. Their newer heat-syncs use less expensive materials though :\