Railworks America

Aight i am going to get a new one today but still dont know what to get.. Can you guys show me out of this link what would be the best ones to get for the cheapist

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Desktop-Com ... 3400050013

For me, it would be this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+Stud ... Id=3152172 or the HP right above it. Anything else has crappy graphics, so right away you need a decent graphics card. CPU speed needs to be at least 3.0Ghz, quad core (altho RW doesn't use multi core, you may as well get it).

Ok so the HP Would be good? I dont know i dont really like dells..

Erik, you should learn how to build your own and save a ton of money.

Going off Chris's pick (which isn't bad) cost of building an identical system on your own.

CPU: $169 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115076

Motherboard: $84 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813138296

RAM: $44 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145220

HD 6450 1gb: $46 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131398

Power Supply: $89: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371051

Hard Drive: $64: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148697

Case: $20: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811154109

$516
$9.99 Shipping
Whatever your sales taxes is.

Most people have a Windows install CD laying around.

You just saved yourself roughly $180 bucks

Building a PC is easy peesy stuff dude.. Think about it, you're paying close to $200 more then you need to for it to be put together and a Dell logo slapped on the case cover..

If you don't have a Windows install CD.. Then pre-built may pay off for you, you'd be paying roughly $70-$80 more for it to be put together and running out of the box. (with loads of resource hogging Dell/HP preinstalled junk software)

styckx wrote:If you don't have a Windows install CD.. Then pre-built may pay off for you, you'd be paying roughly $70-$80 more for it to be put together and running out of the box. (with loads of resource hogging Dell/HP preinstalled junk software)

Yeah, it pretty much comes down to this, plus if you want it tomorrow, instead of next weekend (with shipping then time to assemble it all)

Easy way to get rid of all the pre-loaded junk that HP, Dell and Compaq load onto their PC: http://pcdecrapifier.com/ (click on where it says "Download" in the text, not on those two stupid ads) It really works great!

I strongly reccomend building your own machine. If you do have a copy of windows laying around, you will usually save $1-200, if you dont have a copy laying around, you'll spend $50-100 more for building you're own, but now you have a copy of Windows that can be (legitimately) transferred to another computer.

Also with pretty much any OEM computer, spend $150-200 less on the computer than you can afford, because they rarely come with decent video cards unless it is specifically marketed for gaming, and even then...

The processor in the dell is great, but an AMD 6450 is a $40 card...

So what do i need to do to get this started? to build my own? Also what about the cases how does that work? And can you add cd burner's and stuff.

Erik, I take it you have not built your own PC before. There are a lot of step by step tutorials over at Maximum PC.com that will walk you thru assembling a new PC. Yes, you can add a DVD burner for $20 to the list Bill posted. Win 7 Home Premium can be had for $100 at New Egg as well. I have Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit, it retails quite a bit more (I got it free from MS) So by now you are almost at $639 plus if you goof something up. Even I have done that a few times. Not trying to talk you out of building your own, not even! It's a great experience, but you do need some knowledge of electronics and assembly.

You can always join at my tech support website, or take a look there at the different guides I have written. Or just ask here.

I remember my first time building back in 1999. I was sick of spending 1600 bucks or more for a new computer so I printed out a step by step guide from the internet and it was as easy as screwing in a light bulb.

Ok. Can you also add USB plug in's and SD Card slots? and speakers etc.. Sorry i have never done that before.. it does sound alot cheaper though.

I don't think that 6450 is gonna cut it. I would lean something more around or above $100 if you are going to want to play Railworks 3 okay.

BNSF650 wrote:Ok. Can you also add USB plug in's and SD Card slots? and speakers etc.. Sorry i have never done that before.. it does sound alot cheaper though.

Most motherboards already have 6 to 8 USB ports on the back panel, plus usually "pin headers" to hook up at least two USB ports on the front of the case. The Biostar board Bill recommended has two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 (yeah, the FAST USB!!!!!) ports on the back. An SD card reader? Easy as pie. You can get a 7 in 1 card reader for less than the cost of eating dinner at a restaurant.

BNSF650, this is the video I used to build my first pc. Everything is step by step and informative.
She fired up the first time with no problems.
It's a long video, but I recommend it for first timers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUY0tP5jYIo&feature=related
After that I used this one for all the program stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=relmfu