Need some opinions for a gaming computer

[ordnance11]

I bought a decent gaming computer 4 years ago and it has been working fine until it started crashing repeatedly about for the last 4 months when I play World of Warships. I narrowed it down to the memory requirements, but I have a motherboard that only accepts 8 gig of ram max. I am not a computer techie, so doing it myself is a non starter for me. And the old shop I go to for upgrades is in the other side of the country. I have 2 options:

1) Find a reputable place that can do the installation
2) Just buy a whole new system and figure out what to do with the old one.

Any opinions?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Star Ranger4]

4 years has seen enough of an advance in state of the rat that you're probably best off going with the new system and relegating that one to home office status. It'll make mincemeat of any office application, and will probably handle even 3d development quite well for a few years more.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[hazard]

Find out what you are willing to pay first, then determine what you are able to pay. If what you are able to pay is less than what you are willing to pay, accept that you aren't going to be playing World of Warships and don't even start with replacing anything, it's not worth it.

Second thing is to ask yourself 'do I accept that if I let another motherboard be installed I basically will have to start from scratch again anyway, even if it's cheaper?' Because operating systems generally really don't like it when motherboards are changed.

[ordnance11]

Hazard wrote:

---

Find out what you are willing to pay first, then determine what you are able to pay. If what you are able to pay is less than what you are willing to pay, accept that you aren't going to be playing World of Warships and don't even start with replacing anything, it's not worth it.

Second thing is to ask yourself 'do I accept that if I let another motherboard be installed I basically will have to start from scratch again anyway, even if it's cheaper?' Because operating systems generally really don't like it when motherboards are changed.

Eh got some money that came back from the tax refund, so I'm willing to splurge a bit. I figure no more than 1.5k if that. I really don't need top of the line. Just good enough. Hmm..any way of linking two computers to a single monitor?  Like an A/B switch?  
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[robkelk]

Hmm..any way of linking two computers to a single monitor?  Like an A/B switch?

What you want there is a KVM switch - use a single Keyboard, Video, and Mouse with multiple systems. (Some also have audio-out sharing capability.) Prices vary from $30 - $500 Canadian.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[classicdrogn]

... I guess it's a good thing I'm not that interested in gaming, what with my computer options being a ten-year-old laptop, a twelve-year-old laptop, or a bottom-of-the-barrel-Chromebook, and the Chromebook having the most RAM of all of them at 4Gb... I still hang my head in nerd-shame, though. That said, from looking at part prices you should be able to put something pretty decent together for well under $1500, as the biggest expense these days is top-of-the-line video cards and there's a sharp drop off to the second and and even more to third ranked ones that are nonetheless still quite capable. The best advice I can give you is to try to match chipset manufacturers for the mobo and graphics card you intend to buy, and make sure you get RAM from a good brand even if it isn't the cheapest (and it won't be) because there's a definite quality gradient to be seen there as well.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows