Hey all, I'm in the market for a new computer. What computers do you all have, how are they treating you for online/MUD/other gaming, and where did you get them?

I'm tired of my old and busted 1.0 GHz comp!

I'm running an Alienware with a quad core 2.4 ghz processor, 4 gigs of RAM, and two nvidia graphics cards running in SLI with a gig of video RAM between them. Works great for WoW but is terrible overkill for Lusternia.

I have an HP G70t that I got for a SWEET deal last year for graduation. 2.23 GHz processor, 4GB RAM, nVidia 9300 graphics card. It runs WoW very nicely, and does it's stuff for the rest of the computing world. I use it quite a bit for programming, and even compiled a program or two on it, and it's performance is quite good! Definitely get something with the new Core i3/5/7 Processors in it though, since they're pretty affordable, and fast as hell.

I love my AMD processors, but I'd probably go with an i3 system, maybe an i5. Windows 7 is pretty slick, too.

I have an Asus netbook with a higher-than-average screen resolution and long battery life. Netbooks can be had on the cheap, and are ideal for playing MUDs when on the move.

My "main" computer was custom-built, by me, with advice and help from a friend who works at a computer repair shop. It's running Windows XP Home SP3, has 4 GB DDR2 RAM (3.0 usable), a 3.0 GHz AMD Athlon X2 64 Dual Core processor, and two GeForce 8800 GTX GPUs with an SLi bridge. Nice mobo (I forget the name), lots of strategically-placed fans.

When first built (a few years ago? maybe four), that was a high-end gaming machine. Now... it's mediocre. I need to upgrade the GPUs one last time, then replace the whole shebang in a couple of years.

I do not, under any circumstances, suggest ordering a prefab computer from Alienware, Dell, HP, CyberPower, or any of those sorts of companies. They're not bad, not at all, but you end up spending a lot more than you need to... and if you don't know much about computers, you might not know what you're really getting.

If you can, go to a reputable local computer repair shop and strike up a conversation with the employees. Tell them what you want, your budget, and ask them if they'd be willing to build the whole thing for you. In my experience, computer repair guys are more than eager to chat with you about the pros and cons of different computer parts, how everything works together, and the like — and since computer repairmen must know how to build a PC from the ground up, really, picking out parts and getting them to do that for you is little different from a "big repair." They're only too happy to have the work.

They don't charge a whole lot of money for manpower, usually, maybe a couple hundred bucks where I live for a complete build? Three hundred? You can get the parts at factory price. Actually, it would probably be substantially less than two hundred dollars, but it's hard to say.

Of course, if you know how to build your own computer, you can order the parts yourself and just do that. But if you don't, computer repair shops are the way to go. Of course, this assumes they're skilled and reputable, which... may not always be the case, but usually is (else they wouldn't be in operation long).

Edited to add: Where warranties are concerned, factory parts should come with their own individual warranties, so you shouldn't need to worry about that.

Or if you have a bit of time and at least a tiny bit of technical ability - don't pay anyone and build it yourself.

Go here for recommended parts lists by usage: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/269162-3...ed-builds-usage

Here for step by step building process: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274745-3...-guide-building

That falls under the category of "knowing how to build it yourself" — because you'd be teaching yourself to do exactly that. Mostly, anyway.

However, using online guides alone may not be the best route to take. If you screw something up, and can't figure out why it's screwed up, you may have to take the PC into the repair shop anyway.

I was an avionics technician in the Air Force for six years. I know my way around oscilloscopes, soldering irons, voltmeters, and pretty much any tool you can think of. I also learned to build personal computers from a sergeant in my unit while I served. I'm still not completely confident doing everything by myself, though (to be frank, I'm really not technically inclined, bad career choice in retrospect).

I'll grant you that the first time can be intimidating, but really if you follow the directions, take things slowly, and don't do anything crazy, it should turn out relatively well. The only curve ball is if you end up getting a broken part initially and you have to troubleshoot.

Quite correct, that's a big curve ball for someone who isn't familiar with troubleshooting electronics at all. Even if they are, in some cases there's no way to know what the problem is without spare parts to swap out.

Additionally, it can be difficult to find solutions on the Internet, since a problem could be caused by any one of a variety of issues. For example, the computer not powering up (or turning on, then shutting off right after) could be caused by the motherboard, the power supply, the graphics cards, the house's electrical supply, or really just about damned near anything. I had that problem, and for me, it turned out to be popped capacitors on the mobo.