Computer Recommendation Please!

[rosterdamus]

This is my first time here so if this isn't posted or categorized right let me know.  I want to buy or build a new computer for I think fairly simple purposes and am seeking recommendation as the title suggests.  My primary purpose is to research and play fantasy sports every day, which may necessitate me having 20 or so tabs open at once.  I want to be able to do this without experience lag switching back and forth from tab to tab or loading new pages.  Right now I use an HP compaq desktop that I got about 4 years ago and it was only about $300 then.  It gets the job done but I frequently experience the aforementioned lag of a few seconds when switching from tab to tab or loading new sites, and when doing this hundreds or thousands of times in a day it definitely adds up, not to mention is annoying.  What specs should I be looking for in a new laptop, all in one, or desktop to prevent this and what would each cost.  Also, I've never done it before but I think I'm a decently smart guy and given that there are so many instructional youtube videos, I think I might want to try building my own computer.  What would be my savings to build something on my own, or would it not even be worth it given the limited performance requirements I have?

[Howlingwolf101]

For starters, Welcome to the forum!

 

getting down to business, you would probably want to look for at least 16GB of RAM and maybe an i5 CPU

 

Also what's your budget and location?

[lh99]

if you are only in chrome maybe an i3 is more then enough a g3258 would do it also, and 8gigs of ram with mobo and chassis that would be like 300 $

 

[rosterdamus]

Buffalo, NY and I was thinking I'd probably spend $500-1000, but would spend more if the bang was worth the buck.  I mean I don't wanna spend $2000 but I'd go over $1000 if necessary.  From the little bit of reading I've done I understand that I want to stay around the "sweet spot" and not start paying for diminishing marginal returns.

[Brace]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3bpZkL

 

[rosterdamus]

I use firefox because it just runs smoother and faster on the desktop I currently have, but does it make a difference to use chrome once
I have something with better performance capabilities?

[Brace]

1 minute ago, rosterdamus said:

I use firefox because it just runs smoother and faster on the desktop I currently have, but does it make a difference to use chrome once
I have something with better performance capabilities?

Now that ik the budget go for something like this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rLysyc and yes chrome will make a difference

[rosterdamus]

So is that a list of everything that I'll need?  And you think the value of the latter is really at least double the former given that it's over double the price?  I just want the best overall value for price as long as it meets my needs.  Thanks!

[Brace]

3 minutes ago, rosterdamus said:

So is that a list of everything that I'll need?  And you think the value of the latter is really at least double the former given that it's over double the price?  I just want the best overall value for price as long as it meets my needs.  Thanks!

The first one probably fits what your doing a little bit better but the second one give a little better price to performance. And yes that's all you'll need accept for a operating system but if you want one cheap go to somewhere like kingguin.com and get one for 20$

[Howlingwolf101]

3 minutes ago, rosterdamus said:

So is that a list of everything that I'll need?  And you think the value of the latter is really at least double the former given that it's over double the price?  I just want the best overall value for price as long as it meets my needs.  Thanks!

You'll be able to do a lot more than with the previous list and it will last longer than the previous one as well.

[rosterdamus]

Okay great.  And about how much would each machine cost if it was store bought and assembled?  Just curious.

[Brace]

2 minutes ago, rosterdamus said:

Okay great.  And about how much would each machine cost if it was store bought and assembled?  Just curious.

Make sure you use the quote button(the curved arrow to the left) And do you mean that you buy it from the store and have someone else build cause then it's like an extra 60-80$ from somewhere like ncix

[l_zheng101]

What is your maximum budget? You might want to consider building a pc yourself to get the highest value for your money.

[rosterdamus]

No I mean a machine with similar specs sold already assembled.  What's the savings by doing it yourself?

[Brace]

Just now, l_zheng101 said:

What is your maximum budget? You might want to consider building a pc yourself to get the highest value for your money.

He said it's like 500-1000 USD

[Brace]

Just now, rosterdamus said:

No I mean a machine with similar specs sold already assembled.  What's the savings by doing it yourself?

It's a little cheaper and fits your needs perfectly If u don't want to build it then just buy the parts and have some one like NCIX do it for u

[I need a better name]

2 minutes ago, Brace said:

It's a little cheaper and fits your needs perfectly If u don't want to build it then just buy the parts and have some one like NCIX do it for u

you forgot to say it's also more fun

[rosterdamus]

Ha I was just going to say I kind of want to try it for fun.  Say I wanted to do a practice run just to see that I can do it, what's the very cheapest machine I could put together?

[Howlingwolf101]

A prebuilt with similar specs on could cost anything from $800 to $1000 even then you might still be ripped off. It isn't hard to build your own and ther are lots of videos on youtube that can show you how to do it but it really is just putting the parts together, the hard part was deciding what to buy and compatibility issues. If you do decide to build it yourself, I reccomend building it before putting it in the case so that you know everything works.