[Aphelion]

So two Friday's ago my apartment got robbed. We didn't have insurance and they pretty much made off with anything valuable that wasn't bolted down or hidden well. It's taken awhile to get over the uncomfortable feeling in the apartment, but now I need to look forward and start thinking of my next computer.

So I'm in a summer session Genetics course that will finish off my BS in Biology degree and I figure I'm entitled to a graduation gift of a new computer. My dad felt bad about the robbery and offered to buy me something at Sam's Club but if I'm really lucky, I might be able to convince him to give me the cash instead and build my own.

Two questions really:

1) Are the computer's at Sam's Club going to satisfy me? If graphics cards are the main bottleneck for games these days, I should be okay with an HP that has a PCI Express slot, right?

2) If I go home-built, I'd like to get either a Core 2 Duo or Quad. I've heard that a fast Duo is better for gaming than an equally priced Quad, but I really think I'm not a "hardcore" enough of a gamer to need the processor speed. I know that Intel's chips overclock easily, so should I get a Q6600 or an AMD Phenom X3 or X4? The AMD's are significantly cheaper, but I wouldn't be able to overclock them as much. Then again, I'll most likely install it, let it run stock for 3 years, then try to push it as it becomes out of date.

Sidenote: The things stolen included my Xbox, my 50" Samsung DLP, my PC, my games, and odds and ends like my laundry hamper, hair gel, Braun Activator, and Percoset/Oxycontin. Should have had insurance, but we kept planning on moving out every 6 month lease renewal, and most of the things were gifts. At least now I have some things to register for, for the wedding (Feb 28th).

[Aphelion]

Oh yeah, any tips on searching my local pawn shops for my shit? I heard I should at least check the local ones, but do I have to wait 15 days before the stuff hits the showroom floor?

Hopefully I can find a few of my items in one store and the shop will have the ID's of the two dudes who took my shit. Chances are 1/7, but here's hoping. *fingers crossed*

The little woman wants to move ASAP and is looking for nicer apartments. We'll get a 2nd story apt, facing the interior of the complex, with renters insurance, OR we'll convince her girlfriend to rent a house with us. Ugh.

EDIT: Google'd "Quad core vs dual core gaming computer" and it looks like quad core is pretty useless unless I'm doing encoding, rendering, CPU intensive stuff, etc. This makes me lean towards the Phenom X3, one CPU for the game, one for the DVD burning, and one more for when the computer crashes to run the task manager.

Whaddya think?

[Rangerw]

See what that 'ISU trap' you laid for me years ago got you, wrong attracts wrong

Humor a side, sorry for your troubles, I hate a thief and hope they ruptured a disc carry out the TV. Hopefully you'll locate some it with no damage

[quillo]

Oh wow that seriously sucks

Still, at least you're looking on the bright side. You should probably stick with the AMD X3 if it's cheaper, and spend a bit more on the graphics side of things.

[netburnr]

Why would anyone in their right mind buy an AMD at this point....they are getting their asses handed to them....

[Tobyus]

I've been very happy with my Core 2 Duo E6750. I'm sure there are better out there now, and even though I've bought AMD in the past and have had some great luck with them, as netburnr says, Intel is on top.

Here are some charts of some processors in games and other applications, I picked Supreme Commander since I think it's one of the heavier hitters as far as games go:
CPU Charts 2007 - Tom's Hardware

Here are some prices:
Pricewatch | Find and Buy all types of Microprocessors - cheap prices

I would go for best bang for your buck on the CPU (not anything over $300 is my rule for a budget gaming PC, then spend anywhere up to $400 on a video card (best bang for your buck as well, so if you see a $200 card that is within 3 frames per second of a $400 card...get the $200 card for sure). I've always been a fan of Nvidia for the stability, driver quality, and overall game compatibility, but AMD/ATI might be giving them a run for their money this round (so if you are wanting to give money to AMD, you may still do it here). If you are going to run Vista, I wouldn't fool with a Sound Card, and instead get a motherboard with onboard sound that has a good reputation.

I'm only running 2GB of ram since I'm only using Vista 32-bit, but if you want to go with more than 2GB there may be other people here that can offer their experiences with Vista 64 or 32 with more ram.

Good luck with the new machine, and I hope you get some or all of your stuff back. Thieves suck.

[Brooster]

Renters insurance is really cheap.

Also, check your car-insurance policy. In some states they may have renters insurance built in.

[Tim]

Find as many 'good' pictures of your big-ticket items as you can, and have them with you when you go to the pawn shop. Don't tell the guy(s) behind the counter that you are looking to recover your stuff, and don't be too specific when you ask for certain items.

If they realize that you are looking for stolen property (and they'll figure it out pretty quickly if you aren't careful.. you aren't the first guy to come looking to recover) then they'll forget they might have that item, and they'll off it through the back door.

Sure, there are a few guys who don't mind loosing money, but most pawn guys know how to protect their investments. Those pictures are for _after_ you've found something that was stolen from you, not before. Most of them are going to want a warrant so they can file with their insurance, so don't expect to walk home with anything you find.

And yes, almost all of your stuff is out there somewhere to be found. Especially if you weren't the only one burglarized lately. Nobody wants your electric razor, they just want the money they can get out of it.

Good luck, and if you get in a jam, there are lots of PI's out there to help.

[netburnr]

I'd be happy...

You get all new stuff paid for by your insurance...

[Aphelion]

Originally Posted by netburnr

I'd be happy...

You get all new stuff paid for by your insurance...

I didn't have insurance, sadly. See the last bit of the first post net. When we moved in, we only planned on staying here 6 mo. Then that turned in to a year, then two, etc. We also had college dorm furniture when we moved in and knockdown IKEA stuff after that. When I could finally afford to purchase nice things, it was always at a huge discount so I didn't feel like we had anything valuable to insure yet. The TV was a 50% off Black Friday deal for $800, for example.

Originally Posted by Rangerw

See what that 'ISU trap' you laid for me years ago got you, wrong attracts wrong

Humor a side, sorry for your troubles, I hate a thief and hope they ruptured a disc carry out the TV. Hopefully you'll locate some it with no damage

Thanks for reminding me about the CM4 "incident" Rangerw, and thanks for the good luck wishes. I remember being such a kill-stat-wh0re back then, then feeling so stupid for getting the kill-shot because all the backlash was aimed at me.

I'll hit up the local pawn shops tomorrow and look for the big item stuff. I heard they're very happy to let you hook up an Xbox to test it out (and see if my gamertag is on it).

[Aphelion]

I really wanted to believe that the Phenom X3 8450 was the better CPU. It's $100 on Pricewatch now but an overclocked e7200 ($115) can whip it's ass in everything but WinRAR... plus if I go Intel I can always drop in a q6600 when they drop in price in the future.

AMD almost had me again... I wanted to believe, but I think it's better to get a faster Core 2 Duo than the Phenom X3 for now and the future. The only thing I will be missing out on is when a game that has dual-core multi-threading crashes and I won't have the 3rd core to bail me out.... whup-dee-doo.

Thoughts?