Buying a new computer question

[albionmoonlight]

Question from my bro-in-law. Figured some people here would have some insight:

I have a question for my friends who know about buying computers. My Alienware is a few years old & has started acting cranky; reformatting everything helped for a few months, but it's time to get a new CPU. Since I already had my dream of owning a cool looking Alienware, price matters much more to me now than looks. Where, in your opinion, is the best place to buy a new gaming rig online? Monitor & all peripherals are good, so I just need a new CPU.

[Scoobz0202]

The best place to buy a gaming rig is to build one your own. Truly building a computer looks much more complex than it really is and he will get a better system for a lower cost.

[Glengoyne]

You building your own or wanting to buy a complete rig?

I started looking at ibuypower.com, which was recommended in another thread here.

I ended up building my own, and I've been very happy with the results.

[stevew]

It may just be worth trying out a new SSD or Hard Drive before scrapping everything. You can always carry an SSD over to the new PC

[Ron Mexico]

Couple things-- check the motherboard of course to make sure you buy a new processor that fits his chipset. Once he's done that, I'm still a fan of newegg, and if there's one around him, Microcenter has been good to me for the times I don't feel like waiting for delivery.

And +1 to the idea of building a computer. A friend and I just built one for his wife and saved a bundle. It's really as simple as adult legos. I'm on my 3rd from scratch and will never buy any other way again.

[frnk55]

I've owned 2 Digital Storm pcs and have been very pleased. Check out the forums over there. They are very helpful.