swgohome.com

Realistically, you can find a great deal on Newegg for 'rebuilt/refurbished' computers with great specs for a great price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... isNodeId=1
http://www.newegg.com/
http://www.newegg.com/ASUS/BrandStore/ID-1315
Don't let 'refurbished' scare you off. A lot of times, it simply means it was returned and resold, but the computer is perfectly fine. Other times, they fix the problem, but because it isn't factory new, it has to be sold at reduced price as 'refurbished', but may as well be factory new. I bought a $1,500 ASUS Republic of Gaming Computer from them 2 years ago for $1,000, and it still kicks ass. The $$$ you spend on long term coverage at a computer store, you save in reduced cost. You roll the dice of course, but it is a roll you will win.

While the links are good for someone who doesn't want to fiddle around with hardware, I have to advise not getting pre-builds or "gaming" laptops. This is from personal experience.
Pre-builds usually have poor quality or performing hardware, especially the GPU (graphic card). The R7 260x will not be able to run Battlefield 4 at 1080p and at high settings with smooth frame rates (but medium settings or at 720p with high settings will run decently).
With the laptops, unless you're frequently on the move, the performance to price ratio is very bad. Even with the high end mobile GPUs (eg. GTX 980M), it will barely outperform a lower level card for desktop PCs (the gtx 970 beats it considerably).

If you want an affordable and proper PC with gaming in mind, I highly recommend using PC Part Picker. They include pre-made parts list for a specific budget and you can even customize your build to the specific parts you want.

Examples:
With the Entry Level Gaming Build at $565, you'll be looking with at least double the graphical performance versus the Photon ($500) mentioned earlier. The i3 CPU also performs much better than the Athlon 760K. Even if the i3 CPU has 2 physical cores, it has Hyper Threading so it will run like a quad core CPU. Considering you're only paying around $100 more, the performance is well worth the extra $$$ and the PC will last you considerably longer.

With a gaming laptop, you're looking at double the price versus a gaming desktop with similar performance (a bit less if the laptops are refurbished). I can only recommend a laptop if you travel frequently or just want a low profile computer.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Yanoda wrote:While the links are good for someone who doesn't want to fiddle around with hardware, I have to advise not getting pre-builds or "gaming" laptops. This is from personal experience.
Pre-builds usually have poor quality or performing hardware, especially the GPU (graphic card). The R7 260x will not be able to run Battlefield 4 at 1080p and at high settings with smooth frame rates (but medium settings or at 720p with high settings will run decently).
With the laptops, unless you're frequently on the move, the performance to price ratio is very bad. Even with the high end mobile GPUs (eg. GTX 980M), it will barely outperform a lower level card for desktop PCs (the gtx 970 beats it considerably).

If you want an affordable and proper PC with gaming in mind, I highly recommend using PC Part Picker. They include pre-made parts list for a specific budget and you can even customize your build to the specific parts you want.

Examples:
With the Entry Level Gaming Build at $565, you'll be looking with at least double the graphical performance versus the Photon ($500) mentioned earlier. The i3 CPU also performs much better than the Athlon 760K. Even if the i3 CPU has 2 physical cores, it has Hyper Threading so it will run like a quad core CPU. Considering you're only paying around $100 more, the performance is well worth the extra $$$ and the PC will last you considerably longer.

With a gaming laptop, you're looking at double the price versus a gaming desktop with similar performance (a bit less if the laptops are refurbished). I can only recommend a laptop if you travel frequently or just want a low profile computer.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

I agree, I made a few modifications to the Photon build, I just suggest the Photon build to anyone on a strict budget. My build is this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3qL24D

Vanity, is that like Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl????

You have a solid system wd40. And Yanoda, I also like pcpartpicker.com.

Well, I appreciate Yanoda's Part Picker advice, but to 'each', his OWN. Do your research, before committing $$$, before you own it. I 'will' say ASUS is a fantastic product.

WD-40 wrote:Well, I appreciate Yanoda's Part Picker advice, but to 'each', his OWN. Do your research, before committing $$$, before you own it. I 'will' say ASUS is a fantastic product.

Well said!

Look at WD-40's location... that should indicate his need for a mobile gaming rig.

lol, good one

I'll be getting it on the PS4, so no upgrading needed.