Need Help Comparing PC Specs *Update*

[RJ 17]

Well I tried building myself a PC and that turned out to be an utter failure, so now I've just said screw it and decided to buy myself a gaming PC.

I'm reaching out for advice on potential PC specs and I've come up with two three PCs in particular that I'm looking at. As I don't know much about what these numbers mean (other than bigger is generally better), I could really use some help. Obviously the goal here is to get my hands on a good gaming PC. Please provide your opinions on the following PCs:

Update:
I appreciate the advice so far. Other things that I should mention: I've got 16GB DDR3 RAM that I can salvage out of my current computer, along with a Thermaltake TR2 600W power supply. I should also mention that I'm by no means going for a top-of-the-line gaming computer here.

Option 1:
Processor 3.6 GHz Core i7-4702MQ
RAM 16 GB DDR3
Memory Speed 1600 MHz
Hard Drive 2048 GB Serial ATA
Graphics Card Ram Size 4 MB
Wireless Type 802.11A
Number of USB 2.0 Ports 3
Number of USB 3.0 Ports 2
Graphics card wasn't listed in the specs list, but here's what it says in the description:
"Ultra high resolutions and and smooth frame rates with NVIDIA GT740 GPU"

Other Technical Details
Brand Name Asus
Series Asus
Item model number M32AD-US032S
Operating System Windows 8
Item Weight 18 pounds
Item Dimensions L x W x H 6.90 x 15 x 16 inches
Color Black/silver
Processor Brand Intel
Processor Count 1
Computer Memory Type DDR3 SDRAM
Hard Drive Interface Serial ATA-600
Hard Drive Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Optical Drive Type DVD-Writer / Blu-ray
Audio-out Ports (#) 1

Option 2:
Processor 3.5 GHz FX-Series Six-Core FX-6300
RAM 16 GB DDR3
Hard Drive 1000 GB SATA
Graphics Coprocessor NVIDIA GeForce GT640
Graphics Card Ram Size 2048 MB
Wireless Type 802.11bgn
Number of USB 2.0 Ports 4
Number of USB 3.0 Ports 4

Other Technical Details
Brand Name CybertronPC
Item model number GM1213B
Hardware Platform PC
Operating System Windows 8
Item Weight 27 pounds
Item Dimensions L x W x H 18.70 x 7.50 x 19 inches
Color Black/Blue
Processor Brand AMD
Processor Count 1
Hard Drive Interface Serial ATA-300
Hard Drive Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Optical Drive Type DVDRW
Audio-out Ports (#) 2

Option 3:
It's not mentioned below, but apparently this comp has a 500W power supply.

Processor 3.6 GHz Core i7-4790
RAM 8 GB DDR3
Hard Drive 2 TB SATA3
Graphics Coprocessor NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
Graphics Card Ram Size 1500 MB
Wireless Type 802.11bgn
Number of USB 3.0 Ports 4

Brand Name Acer
Series AG3-605-UR2F
Item model number AG3-605-UR2F
Operating System Windows 8.1
Item Dimensions L x W x H 16.93 x 7.09 x 17.24 inches
Color Black
Processor Brand Intel
Hard Drive Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Optical Drive Type 8X DVD

4th Generation Intel Core i7-4790 processor 3.6GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 4.0GHz (8MB Total Cache)
Windows 8.1
8GB DDR3 Memory
2B 7200RPM SATA3 Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX760 Graphics with 1.5GB of Discrete Video Memory
Digital Media Card Reader -Secure Digital? (SD) Card
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
Bluetooth 4.0
8X DVD-SuperMulti Double-Layer Drive
High-Definition 5.1-Channel Audio Support
4- USB 2.0 Ports (2 front, 2rear)
4- USB 3.0 Port (2 front, 2 rear)
1- HDMI? Port
2- DVI Ports
USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse

 

[Nailzzz]

I would go with the one that has a case big enough to upgrade to a decent gaming graphics card. Both of those computers have pretty poor GPU's. Attempting to market either of those machines as gaming machines is a bit disingenuous. All other things being equal, I would choose the first option if your willing to spend the additional money to upgrade it into something that could actually game anything current. It does have a hard drive with twice as much storage. Though I would also look into finding info on the power supplies they both have. If you want to make it an actual gaming machine, you will have to make sure the power supply can supply enough power to also accommodate a GPU upgrade, or pay the money to replace the power supply to something better altogether. Figure the upgrades will likely cost you a min of $200.00 in order to make those machines actual gaming machines. Given the price difference, it might be worth your time to simply save yourself the trouble and just add that extra $200 into your budget and find a better option for a gaming computer.

EDIT: go with option 3.

 

[Frezzato]

Before the experts come into this thread, I'd like to point out that you're missing the power supply wattage on the second machine, which is 400.

The listed price for the first machine, the Asus M32AD-US032S, is ~$953 on Newegg [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220801], plus a very reasonable $8 for shipping, no tax US if you don't live in California.

The price I found on the second machine, the CybertronPC GM1213B, is ~$800 on Amazon [http://www.amazon.com/CybertronPC-Hellion-GM1213B-Desktop-Black/dp/B00D1KWS3I], free shipping, but tax is required (boo).

[hr]

I'm not a builder, but I'd like to point out that the respective wattages of 300 and 400 probably won't cut it as you're more than likely going to have to replace the provided video cards--but this depends on what games you expect to run and the quality you'd like to have.

Just so anyone responding to this thread can know beforehand, what happened to the machine you tried to build?

 

[RJ 17]

Before the experts come into this thread, I'd like to point out that you're missing the power supply wattage on the second machine, which is 400.

The listed price for the first machine, the Asus M32AD-US032S, is ~$953 on Newegg [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220801], plus a very reasonable $8 for shipping, no tax US if you don't live in California.

The price I found on the second machine, the CybertronPC GM1213B, is ~$800 on Amazon [http://www.amazon.com/CybertronPC-Hellion-GM1213B-Desktop-Black/dp/B00D1KWS3I], free shipping, but tax is required (boo).

[hr]

I'm not a builder, but I'd like to point out that the respective wattages of 300 and 400 probably won't cut it as you're more than likely going to have to replace the provided video cards--but this depends on what games you expect to run and the quality you'd like to have.

Just so anyone responding to this thread can know beforehand, what happened to the machine you tried to build?

I currently have a ThermalTake TR2 600W power supply that I can pull from my current computer, so that shouldn't be a problem.

As far as videocards are concerned, I've currently got a GeForce GTX 660. For the time being, at least, the only game I'm concerned with running at high quality is Skyrim.

Regarding why my previous attempt to build a computer failed: the processor kept overheating...like, really fast. Before I could even finish installing Windows, to be exact. Tried different processors and different cooling systems, so I believe the problem was the motherboard itself. However having sunk too much money into the project as it was, I decided to give up. Returned what I could and got a decent amount of my money back. Kept the videocard and power supply though.

 

[Albino Boo]

Option 1 is the more powerful machine. It a has slightly more powerful CPU on a straight comparison. In PC gaming, it rare for code to be optimised for all 8 cores so you get a much larger difference in practice than the stats would indicate. You also get a hard disk that is twice the size and operates at twice the data transfer speed.

Its possible that the problem with your build was a duff PSU. The PSU could have been giving out the wrong voltage and cooking the cpu. The most likely explanation was the motherboard, especially if it had overclocking options.

 

[DoPo]

Option 1 is the more powerful machine. It a has slightly more powerful CPU on a straight comparison. In PC gaming, it rare for code to be optimised for all 8 cores so you get a much larger difference in practice than the stats would indicate. You also get a hard disk that is twice the size and operates at twice the data transfer speed.

^ What he said.

I just want to mention that neither of the two video cards are particularly great, but should be just about decent. The X40 cards have a performance level of 4 (out of 9) which is the mid-level rating. So, what I'm trying to say is - don't expect amazing performance, but they aren't awful.

 

[DoPo]

Option 3 is quite good, actually. I had the same video card and it worked rather well. I'd recommend getting that, of the current 3 options.

 

[RJ 17]

Option 3 is quite good, actually. I had the same video card and it worked rather well. I'd recommend getting that, of the current 3 options.

That's the one I'm leaning towards actually, especially since I've got a friend who can order it on his Amazon Prime account for $899...and I've got two $100 Amazon gift cards, knocking it further down to $699.

 

[Albino Boo]

I too think option 3 is the best choice. The bigger psu and better GPU means that it will work out of the box and you won't have to risk your warranty by making major changes.