New Computer

[Spredas]

Hello guys, Im planing to buy a new desktop computer after summer. And I want want to ask you which are good and which are bad comparing to performance/price. I found dell XPS 435, it would be great for me. Btw I will use this computer for gaming/graphic things. So if anyone have any ideas/know where to find high-end pc, place them here. Or its better to build a pc for myself?

 

[digitalrurouni]

I would recommend building your own actually.

 

[FullyLoadedMan]

Its cheaper to build it yourself, But It dosent come with any support outside the warranties.

 

[srq2625]

I would second both the above posts. Doing the research for the parts, figuring out which video card will provide you with the performance you would like to see in your games, the processor that will provide you with the grunt you need/want to do the various things you want to do (graphics - more grunt is better ) - that can be more the 1/2 the fun of a new computer.

But, like was mentioned above, going this route you have to provide your own tech support. You can, sometimes, get tech support from the MBO and/or video card manufacturers, but sometimes not.

I've probably built 7 or 8 machines over the course of the last 10 years and so far I've only had one problem. In the most recent build, the the CPU socket on the MBO was damaged and I had to RMA it back to NewEgg.com (a painless process).

 

[Orbital Shark]

+1, 2 & 3 for the above comments.

A custome build is 1 way to guarantee that you've got the machine you want

 

[jimbo45]

Its cheaper to build it yourself, But It dosent come with any support outside the warranties.

Actually I disagree -- It's usually NOT cheaper to build it yourself - you can't compare huge manufacturing volumes with a 1-off build.

Cheap manufacture in Taiwan and elsewhere means you can pick up a reasonable rig for a very cheap price these days.

However if you do "Roll your own" you'll get a really good purpose built rig which should be just fine for what you need to do.

Don't make the big mistake of thinking that it's actually cheaper however.

(Note if you ALREADY have parts that you can re-use such as memory, power supply, monitor, case etc. then it *can* be cheaper since you don't have to source every component from scratch).

BTW I'm NOT against building your own -- on the contrary - I'm all in favour but it's NOT cheaper.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[skunksmash]

well....lets put that assumption to the test shall we jimbo


here is a gaming rig i googled from one of the largest UK ''E-tailors''




now lets match the spec of this tower ourselves, using the same E-tailor for the separate components....

i7 920.......£225

x58 board......£150

6gb Tri channel DDR3.......£77

GTX260.....£120

Antec 900 gaming case........£82

2x 500gb HDD's........£84

DVDRW.......£16

KEYBOARD & MOUSE.....£73 (personally i'd never spend that amount on this product)


total......£827

retail.....£1091

as you can see im able to save myself quite a bit by building this rig myself even more could be saved by loosing that ''mouse & keyboard'', all components also have 1 year RTB on them....(which is the same as the actual warranty you get from the retail tower)...

building it yourself is the logical option.....



SK

 

[digitalrurouni]

Cheers for that skunksmash. I have seen some cases where the DIY builds do get a bit pricier especially if it is the first computer you are building since you dont have any existing parts that you can scavenge from. But usually it works out best if you do your own build first.

I love doing builds but the art of cable management to get maximized airflow through the system eludes me.

 

[srq2625]

On reflection (and re-reading what I wrote) I have to agree - it's not cheaper. But, you can get a better bang/buck ratio by building your own.

And, like jimbo says, once you go down that path you can sometimes pull parts from your old machine to build the new machine. My current machine (i7 920, 6GB, ....) only cost me about $700 to piece together because I had all I needed except the X58 MBO, the i7, and the memory.

 

[jw12345]

As somebody who has built most of his desktops, I'd say it's not really worth it unless you have a lot of free time and are trying to save every dollar possible.

It's not too hard to clobber a pc together, but to really make a solid build, you need to know a lot of details such as PSU rails, effective case cooling, RAID setup (if applicable). And you always run that chance that some piece of hardware you get has a crummy driver or just so happens to act wonky with another. You'll occasionally run into problems where a new build just simply won't boot and install an OS and it might take you all day screwing with it. (I had a problem where Vista simply hung during install and apparently it was some obscure conflict the motherboard was throwing up. This is despite the motherboard coming with a Vista certified emblem)

But if you do have loads of free time, not much cash, and want a very specific build, then go for it. It's just not always as pain-free as it's made out to be.

 

[Captain Zero]

If you want to read about a ridiculous build, see here.

And I motivation poster I made, for additional inspiration. Sure, building your own PC is a blast, just make sure you have money and time.

 

[kellymac35]

As somebody who has built most of his desktops, I'd say it's not really worth it unless you have a lot of free time and are trying to save every dollar possible.

It's not too hard to clobber a pc together, but to really make a solid build, you need to know a lot of details such as PSU rails, effective case cooling, RAID setup (if applicable). And you always run that chance that some piece of hardware you get has a crummy driver or just so happens to act wonky with another. You'll occasionally run into problems where a new build just simply won't boot and install an OS and it might take you all day screwing with it. (I had a problem where Vista simply hung during install and apparently it was some obscure conflict the motherboard was throwing up. This is despite the motherboard coming with a Vista certified emblem)

But if you do have loads of free time, not much cash, and want a very specific build, then go for it. It's just not always as pain-free as it's made out to be.

I spent maybe a month watching you tube videos on building computers before doing my first build.( Not what I would call an expensive education) I spent about the same time on sites like Newegg and Tiger Direct reading product reviews before buying the parts for my first build. It took me 3 hours to assemble my computer and it posted the first time I pressed power. Been up and running almost a year now and stable as rock. I will never purchase another name brand computer....with there proprietary crap. I spent around 1,500 dallars on my system and when I was done I compared it to comparable Dell system coming in around 2,500 dollars. Then there is the satifaction factor. I built this computer it's my baby and know one knows it better than I do. I vote build it youself! Now if you will excuse me my computer and I have made plans to go out to dinner tonight.:sarc:

 

[smarteyeball]

It's just not always as pain-free as it's made out to be.

+1 But finally nailing a niggling issue is pretty damn rewarding. If you've got the time to flap about that is

But if you're looking to get a higher end rig for a lower cost, then sourcing and building it yourself is the way to go.

 

[Lordbob75]

All in all, the best bet is to build it yourself. Hands down. I would have built my own laptop instead of customizing it, but that was a big hassle.

It may be a little bit more to build it yourself, but the difference is QUALITY. When you buy a PB pos, you are getting (sometimes) the lowest quality parts. This is so that the rig is less expensive. However, that just means that the computer sucks.

Also, I find it EXTREMELY difficult to find a computer (PB) that has EXACTLY what I want. When I built my computer though, I could.

In the end, it IS the best deal.

~Lordbob

 

[Thomas27]

If you decide to purchase, stay away from the XPS series... unless you go with a 630. They are all BTX cases/motherboards, which means upgrading in the future would be very difficult. I have a 630 and when I purchased it I had no idea what ATX/BTX cases were... but I lucked out. I have a BTX case (right side opening, usually considered to have better ventilation inside) but the 630 was specially manufactured to take an ATX motherboard (mounts upside down).

Anyways, a build is easily the way to go. I built a computer for designing and rendering at work with 8GB Patriot DDR2 800MHz memory, 2x320GB Seagate Barracuda HDD in RAID0, Core2Quad 2.83GHz, Gigabyte EP45-UD3P MoBo, Coolermaster case, and ATI FireGL 3600 video card for $830. Granted, it still needed a monitor (I already had 2)and a keyboard and mouse (already had those also).

It runs SolidWorks Premium 2009 and all of the nice add-ons flawlessly!

BUILD IT.

P.S. That same computer, plus a different CPU cooler and a few fans would be an amazing gaming computer. Almost up to spec with my XPS (except I have a Diamond Radeon HD 4890 XOC, 3.0GHz Core2Duo @ 3.2GHz, and 8GB OCZ Platinum 1066MHz memory and lots of blue fans.

See attached.