Poll: Building PCs Thoughts?

[TheComedown]

I was gonna get a desktop PC pre-built these are the specs

Windows 7 premium
4 gigs of RAM
2.8 ghz Quad core Processor
512mb Geforce graphics card
500gb Hard drive

Its for 600 quid and it could proberly run near enough anything game wise.

I might have to change the graphics card to a 2 gb though.

512 is good, 1 gig is more then enough, 2 gig is overkill not to mention there are plenty of 1 gig cards out there that can't run shit. You gotta be looking at the cards speeds more then the amount of memory on them for the most part. Pre built for that price chances are it wont be running much the graphics card is probably something like the 9500 gt and the psu is probably not that great as well, unless you know the exact specs.

 

[cheatking]

Buying parts:£800 Paying friend to build it: £40. Realising its twice as powerfull and half the price of the "gamer rig" in pc world: Priceless.

Just ask/pay a friend o build it. I know naff all about pcs but i do know i get 60 fps on max settings in Dalaran in WoW and Ive never seen a framerate drop, in any game, ever.

 

[delanofilms]

Buying parts:£800 Paying friend to build it: £40. Realising its twice as powerfull and half the price of the "gamer rig" in pc world: Priceless.

Just ask/pay a friend o build it. I know naff all about pcs but i do know i get 60 fps on max settings in Dalaran in WoW and Ive never seen a framerate drop, in any game, ever.

You must have an excellent internet connection as well.

 

[Kif]

Building it is cheaper if you know the sites to buy from, however, there are things you need to take into consideration.

Software first of all, fantastic if you build your PC without any issues and it starts... but unless you want to run on open source software you'll have to factor that into your costs where as pre-builds tend to come with pre-loaded software at a fraction of the cost as the people who build the PC's have better deals.

Get your hardware right, it's not just a case of wacking a bunch of things together and away you go. You need to know your PC before you buy it and build it and make sure that all the parts work together... for instance, if a certain Asus board does not like a certain ATI AMD graphics card and the mix creates constant blue screens (as has happened to a lot of people) you'll find yourself wishing you let an expert do it for you.

Keep it tidy, when you build a PC you need to make sure for future enhancements, cleaning, general air flow that you do the basics to keep the inside tidy. Custom builds with messy insides can create problems.

Know your testing, if things go wrong you will need to know how to test it cause you cant send it all back if one piece of hardware you've bought is faulty. Things like how to test if a CPU is starting, how to test RAM, how to spark up a PSU manually. etc etc.

 

[razer17]

These big electronic chains imo can many times offer you a great pc for about the same cost as making one yourselves.. you also get a warranty, and that you dont get if you build it yourself..

Yes you do. Each individual compnent will have it's own warranty, and sometimes these warranties are much longer than the standard year.

OT: It is much cheaper. I am building a gaming PC for about £500. I have looked around, and the nearest comparable system will set you back around £800. That's definitely and appreciable difference.

 

[octafish]

Pre-built is for Companies, Schools and Grandmas. At the very least get a locally put together custom made one. You won't save any money but you will get the machine you want. I've never seen a PSU worth a damn in a pre-built machine. I had a pre-built once, the PSU blew three months after the warranty expired and took everything but the HHD with it, never again.

 

[delanofilms]

Building it is cheaper if you know the sites to buy from, however, there are things you need to take into consideration.

Software first of all, fantastic if you build your PC without any issues and it starts... but unless you want to run on open source software you'll have to factor that into your costs where as pre-builds tend to come with pre-loaded software at a fraction of the cost as the people who build the PC's have better deals.

Get your hardware right, it's not just a case of wacking a bunch of things together and away you go. You need to know your PC before you buy it and build it and make sure that all the parts work together... for instance, if a certain Asus board does not like a certain ATI AMD graphics card and the mix creates constant blue screens (as has happened to a lot of people) you'll find yourself wishing you let an expert do it for you.

Keep it tidy, when you build a PC you need to make sure for future enhancements, cleaning, general air flow that you do the basics to keep the inside tidy. Custom builds with messy insides can create problems.

Know your testing, if things go wrong you will need to know how to test it cause you cant send it all back if one piece of hardware you've bought is faulty. Things like how to test if a CPU is starting, how to test RAM, how to spark up a PSU manually. etc etc.

I have to say, I disagree with your software statement a bit. The only software I can think of that I use and isn't free are the OS and Microsoft Office.
What all kind of software are you thinking of?

 

[Kif]

Building it is cheaper if you know the sites to buy from, however, there are things you need to take into consideration.

Software first of all, fantastic if you build your PC without any issues and it starts... but unless you want to run on open source software you'll have to factor that into your costs where as pre-builds tend to come with pre-loaded software at a fraction of the cost as the people who build the PC's have better deals.

Get your hardware right, it's not just a case of wacking a bunch of things together and away you go. You need to know your PC before you buy it and build it and make sure that all the parts work together... for instance, if a certain Asus board does not like a certain ATI AMD graphics card and the mix creates constant blue screens (as has happened to a lot of people) you'll find yourself wishing you let an expert do it for you.

Keep it tidy, when you build a PC you need to make sure for future enhancements, cleaning, general air flow that you do the basics to keep the inside tidy. Custom builds with messy insides can create problems.

Know your testing, if things go wrong you will need to know how to test it cause you cant send it all back if one piece of hardware you've bought is faulty. Things like how to test if a CPU is starting, how to test RAM, how to spark up a PSU manually. etc etc.

I have to say, I disagree with your software statement a bit. The only software I can think of that I use and isn't free are the OS and Microsoft Office.
What all kind of software are you thinking of?

The OS and Microsoft Office.

You can get around office with Open Office, however, the OS is not so simple and the companies that build PCs have deals which means the cost for them is less on the OS which means you have to factor in the cost of buying the OS as a standalone product. If you have a budget to stick to and forget to budget for that you break your budget to get the PC working.