Buying/Building a Gaming PC

[Confederate Jeb]

Howdy guys. So I've been planning on getting myself a new PC for when I move off to college in a few weeks. I'd like to purchase everything needed by the NC tax weekend (August 5-7), but I've been having a few issues. My brother, Rebel Jeb, bought a PC a while back from CompUSA, but ended up having to buy a new case/fans/etc. later on, so I originally planned on just buying the parts that I wanted and having the PC built. We've got aPC parts store called Intrex nearby us, so I went and checked them out. Everything seemed alright until I went only and checked their warrenties. Apparently their warrenties last 30 days and then you have to deal with the parts' manufacturers. I don't know if this is typical business but it sure seemed like a bad deal.

So my question is this; should I go my brother's route (except get the new case/etc. at the same time ) or should I go the Intrex route? I'm sure you guys will recommend Newegg, but I don't know if the tax holiday applies to them (haven't checked) and I'm not entirely fond of buying things online, though I'm open to it if it's a good idea.

Also, I'm not entirely aiming for the best specs for a gaming PC (my normal policy is why buy a PC game when I can get it for my XBox), but I would like it to be able to run most of the games out there now. I'm especially wanting it to run Star Wars: The Old Republic. Here's the specs for the game; I guess someone can tell me if it's anything I'd have to worry about spec wise (I highly doubt that lol).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Disk Drive - 8x or better *Minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM and Shader 3.0 or better support.
Operating System - Windows XP, Vista/7 Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better · Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0GHz or better RAM - Windows XP: 1.5GB · Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB · PCs using a built-in graphical chipset, 2GB RAM recommended. Video Card - ATI X1800 or better* · nVidia 7800 or better* · Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better*

Thanks for any help you guys can supply. I'm really glad I don't have to buy PCs that often.

[mrmouth]

There is no tax with Newegg. And Intrex is going to cost you more, as is the case with most local shops. Same processor, $30 cheaper at Newegg over Intrex. And actually if you bought it before 7/31 you can use the coupon code to make it $40 cheaper, free shipping.

Ive been doing this long enough that I don't need to compare anything else to know that Newegg will be cheaper. The only thing to factor in is shipping cost. But there are tons of free shipping deals on Newegg (you can easily do a build with everything shipped free), and shipping is not expensive to begin with. Its very fair for 3-day UPS.

Another thing to keep in mind is that while I also don't really like ordering online, I have no issues doing so with Newegg because they have great return policies. And often they will cover shipping back to them. There is a 30 day return policy and the manufacturers warranties which can run from 1 year to 5 years.

I don't know what you want to spend, and what you need (monitor, etc), but you can spend around $500 and get something that will run every game out, and crush that Star Wars game.

[Confederate Jeb]

My budget was around $1,200maybe, but I want to spend as little as possible while getting the best quality (who doesn't) so $500 would be a freaking miracle in my mind.

Would I have to put the PC together myself, or could I order individual parts and have them build it?

EDIT: Apologies for my lack of PC knowledge, this is technically my first time buying a PC. When you say around $500 are you refering to this bundle?

[mrmouth]

Not a bundle. Just tossing components together. Like I said, I don't know what you need as far as a monitor, etc. That can easily add another $200-300 to the final price. But going on a PC build alone, yeah, you can can easily stay around $500, and have your local shop build it for you. That should cost around $100 or less.

You have options with your budget. You can easily go Intel or AMD, with the Intel route being a bit more expensive, and the AMD route being the best price/performance option. Given what you said about not aiming for the best PC specs, the AMD build for around $500 (minus a monitor if needed, and a copy of Windows if needed) would be the best bet. You will end up with a quad core monster that will last many years.

See the attached pic for an example. $557.92 minus a copy of Windows and shipping. With mail in rebates and coupon codes of $60 it drops to $497.92 minus shipping to where you live. For me (Chicago) it was $7.

A copy of Win7 64bit is $79.99 with coupon code: EMCKCHB36

There is also a $10 coupon code for the CPU: AMDNE7192