Is it better to buy a cheap PC, then upgrade it, or buy a $1000 gaming PC rig?

I know it's better to build a PC, but I want a public opinion on if it's better to upgrade a cheap PC or buy an expensive gaming rig.  I'm getting tired of answers saying build it when I have already addressed this in a comment.

Comments

[Tom1795xx]

I have an Emcahines T3120 :( but if i put in one or two ram sticks this thing could play Crisis 2! :D

[DJ Radio]

Emachines is the worst.

[Tom1795xx]

Yah I'm gonna build a Gaming pc with 4gb ram and dual core processor with windows vista. As soon as i get 500$ :S

[DJ Radio]

That's not a gaming PC anymore.

[Tom1795xx]

HOW!?!? 4GB RAM is the best! Oh and a quad core processor too! :3

[DJ Radio]

Lots of new gaming PC's now have 6 or 8 gigs.

[Tom1795xx]

I didn't overclock but a system has 12gb RAM and 2 1.5tb HDs so try to own that!

[MacLoverAlways]

12 core 3.06 ghz, 64 gigs of ram, 4 2 tb hd's 2 18x superdrives 2 hd grafics cards, 2 displays, configuralble to 6, wireless mouse, trackpad, and keyboard, quad channal fibre channal PCI express card, built in wifi, bluetooth, security system, running mac os x lion, able to upgrade to mac os x mountain lion at no charge. all for just under $12,200 SUCK ON THAT!!!!!!

[182515]

There's no need for more than 4 Gb right now, any more just limits your overclock.

[Tom1795xx]

Yah I nao but the most i see in rl is only 4 gig. Still 4 gig is better than 384mb. (like mine) :P

[Tom1795xx]

I'LL ANSWER THIS QUESTION! The cheapest way is to build a pc from the parts up. :) Teh best way.

[DJ Radio]

So I'm guessing you're illiterate?

[Tom1795xx]

Lawhaterate? You should just be happy I answered your question. NEITHER, build your pc so you know what's in it from company's you trust. :) It truely is the best way.( And the cheapest because when you buy a pc you pay for the build.)

[~Meme~]

?

[DJ Radio]

I know that and that's what I intend to do. However I discussed this before.

[builder968]

A $1000 Gaming PC? Wow. I thought you had to go to the $2000 ones. Oh, and it depends. Find one that has at least these system specs to run big games on high quality-

4GB RAM
1GB HD video card
2.4 or more GHz processor
A Nice HD monitor

[DJ Radio]

I saw one with those specs for around $700. No monitor, but whatever.

[Millawi Legend]

I saw one for about £250 but without the graphics card. If you had another $150-$200 then you could buy a decent one.

[Millawi Legend]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pc/range/gamma.html

[182515]

Sorry for another post, but I just had to say this. Not all 1GB video cards are the same.

[geodez]

Buy a 75$ fishing rod/reel combo and 25$ worth of tackle, go outside and do something worthwhile (fishing). (Tip, if you want video games, spend some of the 900$ you saved on a Super Nintendo and play some real games.)

[tandem25]

Ditto!

[geodez]

Yes.

[agent harmsy]

It's better to buy a cheap pc, cos then you can sell it and build a gaming rig :D

For a gaming rig, you'd want at a minimum:
Graphics card: ATI HD 5770 or Nvidia GTX 460
Processor: "low end" core i7, because you want the 1366 socket for when they release the core i9's
Ram: Something name brand, i suggest Corsair or GSkill, minimum 4Gb
Hard drive: Seagate velociraptor (because SSDs are stupidly expensive)

Everything else is pretty much secondary.

[Millawi Legend]

Or buy a £16000 Mac Pro with 32gb of ram.

[DJ Radio]

Overkill 9000.

[FrozenStar]

Personally, i would buy a custom build computer, but for your situation, I would buy a relatively cheap computer, then upgrade it.

That way you would only really need to spend big on the processor, graphics card, ram, and possibly a larger hard drive.

[toogers]

get a cheap PC, then upgrade, because then you can upgrade it until it fits your standards and save money, instead of paying loads for excess.

[182515]

BUILD!

Almost any PC that you buy pre-built is a load of $*@t. They give you lots of ram an a OK processor then chuck in a $50 graphics card and call it a gaming computer. The graphics card should be the most expensive thing in your computer if its for gaming. For $500 you can put together a PC for gaming that will rival the $1500 ones you buy at stores. If you need any suggestions pm me.

[DJ Radio]

YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY QUESTION. GAAAHHHHH.

[182515]

In a way I have. I suggested that you build a computer instead of buying one. Any PC that you buy pre-built will have the cheapest parts that the manufacturer thinks that they can get away with. Meaning you will get slow RAM, Integrated Graphics, or a horrible Graphics card if your lucky, a micro ATX motherboard and the cheapest case they can find. Basically what i said is that if you want to game you almost always NEED to put together your own computer. That way you can descide what brands to get and what to put your money into, chances are your computer will last longer that way because you bought new parts not 2+ year old parts.

If you still want to buy a prebuilt pc, get a bare bones, put a new graphics card in it. AND STAY AWAY FROM ALIEN WARE they are overpriced.

[DJ Radio]

I only gave you 2 options to choose from.

[182515]

Why does it have to be one of those 2? And i gave you my answer at the bottom of my last comment.

[DJ Radio]

I KNOW it's better than buying, but I want to get a public opinion on this question. Answers like this do not give me a public opinion on the question.

[qwerty987]

make your own and get an account at www.newegg.com

[coolpizzadude]

It's probably best to build your on pc that way you can add what you want for a relatively low price.

[DJ Radio]

I was planning on doing that myself for my christmas break project, but I wanted to get a public opinion on the question at hand.

[coolpizzadude]

Yeah that's defiantly the way to go if you have specific needs.

[Burf]

As the old saying goes, "You get what you pay for."
With a cheap, bare bones PC you usually get older and sometimes obsolete parts, often inferior to even the lowest priced new parts available today. The power supply unit is the smallest they can use to meet the demands of the PC. And even worse, if you are wanting to upgrade it into something more capable, you may be limited by the mobo that comes with the bare bones. Usually, they use a micro-ATX board which severely limits what you can add to the board.
And the truth of the matter is, a $1000 gaming PC is going to be at the lower end of the scale , insofar as gaming rigs go.
Best advice, build your own PC.

[orksecurity]

Your best bet is to figure out exactly what specs you need and then go shopping. Theoretically, the folks selling preconfigured machines can buy in bulk and get better prices than you can. On the other hand, they may charge you for the service of making the design decisions. On the other other hand, if you buy a machine you know all the drivers work (or know who to pester if they don't)...