I Am MAek Computar?

[Undrask]

So my laptop keeps on cooking itself so I'm looking into building my own computer (mainly to save money). I am no really aware of ANYTHING when it comes to computer parts, so I'm looking for some help.

Can anyone give me some advise?

[Jonathan Meer]

I've found you end up spending more if you build your own computer (unless you get up into the really high-end stuff), considering the cost of Windows 7.

What do you want to build it for? Gaming? High-end, or just something that'll definitely run all the titles for awhile?

[Super Buu]

Yeah seriously just buy a premade. I believe Meer made the last "I'm building my own computer" thread and I said the same thing there =P Shop around for a while until you find something well-priced with good reviews, and you can bin yourself a bargain that is top of the line.

[Jonathan Meer]

I did end up building my own comp, but as I recall, it ended up being cheaper for me since I went pretty high-end.

[Undrask]

I'm looking to spend around $1000 all in all, and just looking for something that'll hold it's own for a while. I mainly just want a system that can handle the mid to upper level graphics requirements but I don't need it to run Crysis (or whatever the current graphical landmark is) on max settings or anything. Basically, I would like it if it can run things well enough that I don't have have to worry about upgrading for a bit.

Thanks for the support guys!

[Shun]

I just recently upgraded myself recently. Went from one 160 gb had to two 320's and two 500 gb. Put 4 gb of ram and a 3 speed blue led cooling fan. Got it sitting in a dell Vostro 720 shell with intel quad core 2 processor. All that from a dell 5510, intel pentium 4 with 2 gb ram and 160 gb hd. Spent a total of 16 bucks.

It was all from peoples spares. Even upgraded ps3 hd from 80 gb to 230. So before you shop. Ask around. See who's in a similar situation, just further along. One mans trash is another mans treasure.

Good luck regardless of what you choose.

[Kayne]

This is what I got:




HP Pavilion - Elite h8-1010 - 8 GB RAM - 2.7 GHz $640


http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q...CFgQxBUwAA

I have had it for about a year now and I play most MMO's at high-ultra level pretty nicely and operates for hours on end just fine.

[Kaden]

Who PAYS for Windows 7?

[Jonathan Meer]

People who appreciate the significant difficulty of developing stable and feature-rich software.

[Undrask]

Ok, so what I'm mostly seeing here is either: Buy parts only if they're on discount or just buy a pre-built rig. Is that about right? Even if I'm willing to spend around a grand, it's still more cost effective to get a prebuilt?

[Kaden]

Do some research, mang.

There are websites dedicated to answering that question for you. It's less about what the individual parts cost and more about getting the exact parts you want.

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&s...20&bih=950

People who appreciate the significant difficulty of developing stable and feature-rich software.

Read: people who don't know where to download it.

[Jonathan Meer]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6883113218

Premade: $999.99

Build price: $909.98 - $1029.98
i7 3770: $309.99
Motherboard: $80-$140 (unclear which model is being used in the premade)
RAM (8 GB, 1600): $39.99
1TB HD (7200): $90.00
500W Power Supply: $60-$90 (unclear which model is being used in the premade)
Radeon 7770 2GB: $160
CD/DVD burner/drive: $20
Computer Case: $50-$80 (unclear which model is being used in the premade)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit: $100

All prices taken from newegg

[Sage]

At the end of the day, a self-built computer will cost you slightly more, unless, as Meer already pointed out, you're going crazy high end.

There's more than that, though. A prebuilt has a warranty for the WHOLE machine. You don't have to know what's wrong if something fails, just that it's broken. Send it in and it's their problem. With a self-built, everything has its own warranty and it's up to you to find out what's wrong; most companies won't diagnose for you outside of their own product.

So for ease of use and peace of mind, prebuilt is better. That said I have a custom build, which is more... 'future proof;' they tend to be easier to upgrade in the long run. For example, my motherboard and power supply are overkill for what I'm running atm but that'll be good for later on. A prebuilt Dell, for instance, probably will be built to the very edge of its possible margins, with the cheapest parts available.

So, kinda depends. I find prebuilt computers have -really- dumb feature combinations, too. So that might be something you'd wanna look into. Why you'd have 12Gb RAM and an integrated vid card, for instance, if you're wanting a gaming rig, is beyond me.

It is shocking that a prebuilt is cheaper but it is what it is.

And I paid 50 bucks for a real copy of Win7 so I can't complain.

[Anzekay]

I'm not gonna argue why I think building your own rig is always going to be better than going prebuilt, so instead I'll say what I always say about CPUs (don't get an i7 unless you do serious video editing or rendering. For gaming an i5 is 100% all you will ever need for the forseeable future) and post these useful links:

Image spoilered for big.
[spoiler][/spoiler]

http://pcarcadians.blogspot.com.au/
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussio...g-right/p1 Strongly recommend at least reading the OP for this thread.

[Jonathan Meer]

Damn. That is a treasure trove of info.

[Anzekay]

Yeah the image is great for a rundown. The blog is great for more in-depth info, and the thread has some good discussions going on. The OP also explains the reasons why building your own rig is almost always a good idea!

[Sage]

Cool beans, Anzekay.

I will definitely reference that when I upgrade my machine. Really all it needs is moar RAM and moar processor.

[Waffuru]

I have 16gb of RAM, peasants.

[Super Buu]

Are you a 3d software designer?

[Undrask]

x ($169.99) HIS IceQ X H687QN1G2M Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$169.99

1 x ($149.99) GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$149.99

1 x ($119.99) Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100
$119.99

1 x ($84.99) SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM
$84.99

1 x ($69.99) Thermaltake Smart SP-530P 530W ATX 12V 2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$69.99

1 x ($49.99) Antec Gaming Series One Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$49.99

1 x ($29.99) ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
$29.99

1 x ($28.99) CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML4GX3M2A1600C9
$28.99

1 x ($28.99) Logitech Wireless Combo MK260 920-002950 Black 8 Hot Keys USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard and Mouse
$28.99

1 x ($19.99) ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
$19.99

1 x ($99.99) Acer G205HVbd Black 20" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 200 cd/m2 ACM 5,000:1 (700:1)
$99.99

1 x ($12.99) Logitech S120 2.3 Watts (RMS) 2.0 Speaker System - OEM
$12.99

1 x ($9.99) Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM - OEM
$9.99

1 x ($-24.99) DISCOUNT FOR AUTOADD #56022
$-24.99

1 x ($-49.99) DISCOUNT FOR AUTOADD #56664
$-49.99

Subtotal: $875.87
Tax: $0.00
Shipping and Handling: $13.63
Rush Order: $2.99
Total Amount: $892.49


What's everybody think? I got shit speakers for now, but fuck it. Thanks for all the advice and help everybody! I really looked into buying a prebuilt and was comparing prices the whole time for that, but it came down to the new parts just being cheaper. I could have gotten a better computer for a little more but it would have had to have been refurbished, and that shit's sketchy.

I also just wanted to build one, so now I get to live with that crippling anxiety as I build it.

Thanks all, and I'll keep ya informed on how it all works out!