New Computers, I.E. Expensive Thoughts

I don't think I've ever fully comprehended how much it costs to get a decent new computer. I think some part of me assumed that the price would always go down rather than up. Or maybe it's just that I have more specific wants now than I used to. Because a girl can get a decent computer for $300, but she can't get the kind she wants for less than $700-- if it's self-built-- or $900+ if it's not.

Bummer.

I'm in the market for a new computer, since mine is old, crappy, refuses to run certain games (see the Fable III disaster), and has the BSOD with a fair amount of frequency. Additionally, the graphics card is pretty much fried and pops up errors at start up. But with my job (roughly $87 per week, $40 of which is eaten by gas) and the fact that I can't find a second job anywhere, my budget is... shall we say, limited? My best options at the moment is to build my own computer (probably the Budget Box, without monitor, keyboard/mouse, and speakers since I have those) or buy the Acer Predator. The Acer Predator is a fairly decent PC, but the graphics card is less than ideal: it has the NVidia GeForce GT 520, and I would prefer something like the Radeon HD 6850. Well, I would prefer even better than that, but better is $200.

I'm not very picky... except I am. At least 2GHz processor, at least 4GB ram, upwards of 500GB hard drive (preferentially, 750GB or more), and a price range of $750, give or take. It's the price range that's killing me, since $750 is theoretically out of it, and any decent gaming computer is more than that, even.

Your friendly blogger, I fear, is very broke.

<-- If I could, I would get this, the HP Pavilion HPE h8t. It customizes to have a NVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti. It would also cost about $1000 if it had it.

You might be able to tell that I have been stewing over this all day. The signs are technobabble: all that can be learned in one day of Vigorous Googling.

It's just so hard to get a cheap computer that doesn't have an Integrated Intel graphics card! Why do they all have this? Who would want it? ANGER! I'm not sure if I'm willing to try to figure out how to build a computer, but otherwise, I don't foresee getting what I want in my price range. The Acer Predator would be all right, but it's the same price as building one that has far better parts. The Budget Box would be a no-brainer winner, if I didn't have to buy an operating system. ($180? Why, Windows, why?)

Oh, decisions, decisions, which wouldn't be so difficult if I could just afford to buy any of them.

Stupid gaming habit. If only I switched to console, it would be cheaper.

And isn't that strange. It always seemed like consoles were so expensive, but a comparative computer costs gawdawful amounts.