jboking said:
Gamblerjoe said:
If you are not going to build it yourself, then you are not going to get the PC you want for $800. I looked at a lot of gaming PCs in this price range, and all of them had something wrong with them, in addition to the fact that none of them had a quality power supply. I have never put a PC together before, but Im told its not difficult in the least. I currently have a pile of computer parts in the mail and Im super excited to do this.
Ill show you what I got. It essentially consists of not the best of everything, but some of the best values on the market right now. Others may find better bargains on certain things, but after the lofty amount of research I did, I had to finally just pull the trigger.
This is where I eventually found myself. [http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/gaming-desktop-computer.html] I took everything from the first list, except for the case and PSU which i took from the second list. I also went with 8G of Ram.
If you absolutely refuse to put it together yourself, know that you will pay at least another $100 dollars, and at least one or two parts will be substandard. Many people just look at the amount of RAM a PC has, with no regard for the reputation of the manufacturer or the RAM's clock speed. Nearly everyone overlooks the PSU. This part has a huge effect on your electric bill and longevity of your PC.
Another problem with purchasing a prebuilt gaming PC is that sometimes a company like Newegg will be cranking them out, and mess something up. Iv even heard stories of hard drives just being loose in the case and shipped that way (with it free to flop around smacking into your expensive bits.) If you put it together yourself you can have the peace of mind that A) the parts will be shipped in the manufacturers packaging, and B) it will get put together right.
Anyway, scour the interwebs. Look at good sites like Tigerdirect. The prices of the builds in that link have actually come down slightly, and Tigerdirect is still the least expensive on every individual part. If you get a prebuilt machine, educate yourself on what PSU you need and make sure the one you have is sufficient.
Also, dont expect a prebuilt machine to have a good video card. Look for one that just has an on-board card and then buy the one you want separately. Even if you dont care to mess around under the hood, popping in a video card is child's play.
Tell me, before attempting to build this, how much of a tech background do you have? My knowledge of the hardware of computers is very limited, I wouldn't know where to even begin building.
Also, looking at the $570 model, I don't have a coppy of windows 7, so tack on another $100 and I want at least a decent monitor, which this sight insists is at least $80, though I'd argue I could find something comparable around $50. So it becomes $570 plus $150, totaling out to $720. I've been finding comparable builds on newegg for just about that price that come with 7 and, in some cases, a good monitor. I don't see the major advantage.
I have no technical background that pertains to building computers. Iv upgraded my RAM once, thats it. Im just relying on the fact that I am technically inclined and a quick study. Im just a college dropout with about 1/3 of an electrical engineering degree. I took DC networks 1 which had a lab portion, so I know my way around a breadboard, but all in all this does nothing more than give me confidence.
My order from Tigerdirect consists of 10 items: Motherboard, RAM, CPU, Hard Drive, PSU, DVD drive, Video Card, Case, Keyboard, and Windows 7 64 bit. It came to $869 before $50 worth of rebates. I grabbed a Razer Naga mouse and a tool kit from Best Buy, and Im gonna grab some Arctic Silver thermal paste form Radio Shack. Im still up in the air on the monitor.
The major advantage to this build over Newegg builds is that every single part was manufactured by a reputable company. I absolutely scoured Newegg before settling on this build, and I even considered some of them. After delving into the details on them, I kept finding something wrong. I could have probably settled and I would never know the difference, but I am a very thorough and picky person.
If you go for the prebuilt, you should at least write off the PSU and Video card. Then look at what those will cost you and add it to the price. I found that every well priced build on Newegg was lacking in those departments. They all have either an on-board card or a $50 pos they are trying to unload on unsuspecting and uneducated gamers.
To sum up what you need for a PSU, run your specs through a calculator then double the wattage they give you. If your PC needs 350W and you get a 350W power supply, thats like buying a new car and flooring it everywhere you go. Its going to run inefficiently, and its going to put excess wear and tear on your system. That electricity you are wasting (and I assume paying for) is being transformed into, you guessed it, heat. Also, if your system is underpowered, there is a greater chance of tripping the Over Current System or even more likely the Over Temperature System. These systems are like little circuit breakers integrated into the PSU. This is what is happening to all the people who give negative reviews saying their system bricked in less than a week.
Iv considered the warranty thing, and initially I decided not to build my own for that reason. After further reflection I remembered that warranties are a total racket and said fuck it. The individual parts might have warranties, I really didnt pay attention. As far as the physical building goes, you could visit a local computer shop and have them do it. They could probably give you even better advice as well. They do that for a living, Im just a gaming enthusiast.
