Costco Computers

[Gindry]

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...t56671&topnav=
Is this one good for most games on medium to high settings? and is there anything I should be really concerned about?

Ignore this (Original Post)
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Hey guys.. I've got around a 700$ budget to spend in Costco (by parents) for a computer.. and I've been looking at a couple of options.. particularly this one:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...t56671&topnav=

If i replaced the graphics card.. would it be worthy for medium to high settings? (by the way.. any suggestions for a goodish graphics card would be awesome!)

And I'm not too knowledgeable with computers, so if you guys could tell me any possible flaws with this computer, let me know! (like, how the PSU[350w] might effect a good graphics card??)
I just want a long lasting gaming computer, and it's kinda hard to find a decent computer at Costco

[llDemonll]

you'd have to buy a new PSU anyways.

do you have to spend the money at costco?

[Gindry]

well, my dad said I could buy one at Fry's Electronics as well.. he just loves the return policy that Costco has, etc etc.

Those are kinda my two options at the moment, and he told me it'd be a pain to replace the PSU.

[ispano]

Yeah, Costco spoils the crap out of their customers on returns because they have that membership fee. Disgusts me honestly, and i've seen the kind of people that return stuff at Fry's too, worked at one for a while. I'd still take a normal return policy.

EDIT: Right, i'd personally look at Fry's and see what they have. This is assuming it's local, or would you be buying online?

[Gindry]

EDIT: Right, i'd personally look at Fry's and see what they have. This is assuming it's local, or would you be buying online?

It's local, we can get there within 30 min or so

We'll probably head over there tomorrow and check out what kind of computers they have.

[qw4]

You should try to buy one and return it for cash.

---------- Post added 2011-03-27 at 12:35 AM ----------

Fry's is a much better choice. You can select real gaming pieces for a rig and they will assemble it there.

[ispano]

I'd personally not let them assemble it. While I wouldn't say the service department at Fry's is nearly as bad as Best Buy, I still would never let them touch a computer I owned.

[qw4]

I'd personally not let them assemble it. While I wouldn't say the service department at Fry's is nearly as bad as Best Buy, I still would never let them touch a computer I owned.

Cool, you know how to do it yourself. Remember this? "And I'm not too knowledgeable with computers, so if you guys could tell me any possible flaws with this computer, let me know!"

They will put it together. Go there, not Costco

[ispano]

Think you missed the point. I've worked at Fry's, I know what they do in that department. I offered my opinion of not letting them do it. Doesn't mean he has to do it himself.

[Gindry]

alright.. my dad somehow found a decent computer online at costco.. it has 480w psu.. and a gt430 nvidia 1gb graphics card.. don't know how well it's going to run though: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...t56671&topnav=

He luckily rose the budget a 100 bucks..

I've been with Fry's and their customer service is actually quite horrible, we've had numerous problems with them, especially when we tried getting our computer fixed.

Is this a decent computer?

[yurano]

The one your dad found is the best in the given $700-800 range.

Here are a couple pointers for buying a pre-built computers for gaming.
1) Avoid integrated graphics
2) Only get a monitor if it is necessary
3) Avoid excess memory; 8 gb is more than enough, RAM memory is easily and cheaply upgradable
4) Avoid excess storage; additional hard drives are cheap and relatively easy to install
5) Benchmark the components on a benchmarking site ie. passmark.com (mainly CPU and GPU); higher numbers do not necessarily mean higher performance, benchmarks give you a better idea of how something will perform.

[Gindry]

The one your dad found is the best in the given $700-800 range.

Here are a couple pointers for buying a pre-built computers for gaming.
1) Avoid integrated graphics
2) Only get a monitor if it is necessary
3) Avoid excess memory; 8 gb is more than enough, RAM memory is easily and cheaply upgradable
4) Avoid excess storage; additional hard drives are cheap and relatively easy to install
5) Benchmark the components on a benchmarking site ie. passmark.com (mainly CPU and GPU); higher numbers do not necessarily mean higher performance, benchmarks give you a better idea of how something will perform.

alright thanks for the info, i'll have to check it out when we get the computer in a week or so.

We've got a 1900x1200 monitor, i might have to decrease it while playing games for better fps.

[vesseblah]

GT430 graphics card is pretty much worthless piece of shit for gaming use and meant for HTPC only. You can play farmville and minesweeper on it, but you can forget any 3D games newer than 2005 on 1920x1080 screen... Need to drop resolution to something like 1280x720 to have it anywhere close to playable. All 5 computers in Costco's website were bad in one way or another.

[brandon7evin]

well, my dad said I could buy one at Fry's Electronics as well.. he just loves the return policy that Costco has, etc etc.

Those are kinda my two options at the moment, and he told me it'd be a pain to replace the PSU.

dude... like really? GO TO FRY's.... jebus are ppl really this lame?

700 bucks can make a decent computer, and the staff there are pretty much cool at knowing what to get... make your own computer

there stuff at fry's are as good as Newegg.com they also match prices from competitors

if you can buy online try out frys.com or newegg.com

costco sucks...period. IDC about returns if the computer is complete crap

IDC about quantity, I care about quallity

EDIt: I most likely sounded like a complete ritard so take what I say with a grain of salt

Mod Edit: Watch the language, don't offend people.

[yurano]

dude... like really? GO TO FRY's.... jebus are ppl really this lame?

700 bucks can make a decent computer, and the staff there are pretty much cool at knowing what to get... make your own computer

there stuff at fry's are as good as Newegg.com they also match prices from competitors

if you can buy online try out frys.com or newegg.com

costco sucks...period. IDC about returns if the computer is complete crap

IDC about quantity, I care about quallity

EDIt: I most likely sounded like a complete ritard so take what I say with a grain of salt

Basically what this guy says is building your own computer always goes farther than buying pre-built; the same way changing your own oil in your car is cheaper. If you can't DIY, then the one your dad picked is the best from Costco. The ones from Fry's are similar in terms of performance per price of the CPU and GPUs. (Didn't bother to look at anything else).

[Chickensoup23]

The one from costco is fine, just save money and later on add something like a Radeon 5770 (100$) in it and he doesn't need to know. Luckily, graphics cards can be bought ANYWHERE (Even bestbuy) and are the easiest components to change.

For WoW, your CPU is good, hence why I'd say to go ahead.

[Gindry]

GT430 graphics card is pretty much worthless piece of shit for gaming use and meant for HTPC only. You can play farmville and minesweeper on it, but you can forget any 3D games newer than 2005 on 1920x1080 screen... Need to drop resolution to something like 1280x720 to have it anywhere close to playable. All 5 computers in Costco's website were bad in one way or another.

Idk, stuff like this leaves me really confused. Youtube reviews shows some people running crisis and wow at high settings with like 30 FPS.

Not sure what to think of this.

Is the graphics card the only issue with this computer when it comes to gaming?

[ayako]

Idk, stuff like this leaves me really confused. Youtube reviews shows some people running crisis and wow at high settings with like 30 FPS.

Not sure what to think of this.

Is the graphics card the only issue with this computer when it comes to gaming?

It depends greatly on the game.

[vesseblah]

Idk, stuff like this leaves me really confused. Youtube reviews shows some people running crisis and wow at high settings with like 30 FPS.

Yes you can do that, but at very low resolution. Those people are probably playing on 1366x768 monitors. The card will not run any games properly on your current 1920x1080 screen unless you turn everything to minimum settings.

[.Aen]

Don't pay a store to assemble it.

I found a guy who lives 25 minutes away from me who did my entire build for 40$.