[Shinamura]

So after much debate and getting tired if console gaming I decided to build a comp. I know alot of people out here still just bu a comp. And I was just wondering what eryone else does.

Also hear are my specs for my comp.

I have an xfx AMD 5870, with a AMD Phoenom II X6 1100T a corsaire 750tx PSU and Asus M4A77T Motherboard with 4GB of OZC Ram at 1600 mhz and a 1TB WD black 7200rpm HDD.

This post has been edited by Shinamura: 20 February 2011 - 09:16 AM

[FlyingElf]

Always build a desktop computer. Laptops you can't really do that, but a custom built machine I find is cheaper, lasts longer, and can be built to your specifications which means no wasted money on stuff you don't want.

[Shinamura]

Lol elf I think you are the first person to post in all the topics I make.

[FlyingElf]

Shinamura, on 20 February 2011 - 09:18 AM, said:

Lol elf I think you are the first person to post in all the topics I make.

I secretly stalk you. Don't tell Shinamura

[Shinamura]

FlyingElf, on 20 February 2011 - 09:25 AM, said:

I secretly stalk you. Don't tell Shinamura

I can live with that fyi were still having drinks come saturday at acen. Even if I have to find you.

[nouseforaname]

FlyingElf, on 20 February 2011 - 09:16 AM, said:

Always build a desktop computer. Laptops you can't really do that, but a custom built machine I find is cheaper, lasts longer, and can be built to your specifications which means no wasted money on stuff you don't want.

What are you talking about cheaper? Everything you've said I agree with except that.

[Unlucky Slayer]

nouseforaname, on 20 February 2011 - 09:31 AM, said:

What are you talking about cheaper? Everything you've said I agree with except that.

A lot of the time if you find a pre-built computer that has all the stats you want you are going to pay more than if you just gathered the parts and built it yourself. I completely agree with what Felf said on that matter. Building is the way to go.

[Shinamura]

nouseforaname, on 20 February 2011 - 09:31 AM, said:

What are you talking about cheaper? Everything you've said I agree with except that.

My comp only cost me about 895 to build. With everthing I wanted to get and about 70 dollars of mail in rebaits.

[chibiskuld]

Build! Build! Build! Build! Build! Build!

Plus don't forget, all parts usually have their own warranties! XD So if something goes wrong, you can have the part replaced if it's within your warranty.

I've always built my computers, My primary use computer runs both Windows7 and Mac OS X (hackintosh)

Not to mention it's better on the environment to build and upgrade your computer. My case comes from 2 computers ago, and my keyboard is from the early 90's. Though the later is by choice, those were much better keyboards.

This post has been edited by chibiskuld: 20 February 2011 - 09:46 AM

[nouseforaname]

Unlucky Slayer, on 20 February 2011 - 09:33 AM, said:

A lot of the time if you find a pre-built computer that has all the stats you want you are going to pay more than if you just gathered the parts and built it yourself. I completely agree with what Felf said on that matter. Building is the way to go.

I read "but" as "buy". I'm not disagreeing with that.

My friend bought a pc that cost around $700. I think it was a Dell (where you're buying the name). Pretty damn good specifications on it too. We walked around the store and found that if we wanted to build one, it'd come out around the same price or a little more but the items involved would be of greater value for the the future. Sure, it was a Dell but it's what he wanted and he didn't feel like building another pc. When it comes to building one it's a matter of having money on hand for it and knowing what you're doing.

The only reason I can see why a build would be a great advantage is because it's what YOU'D want in it and it can be upgraded for the future. Other than that, part prices fluctuate.


My computer's not the greatest but I got it for a great deal. I would never use a laptop for gaming.

This post has been edited by nouseforaname: 20 February 2011 - 09:48 AM

[Ranko]

nouseforaname, on 20 February 2011 - 09:31 AM, said:

What are you talking about cheaper? Everything you've said I agree with except that.

Uh... Building machines is always much cheaper, what planet have you been living on? lol

[nouseforaname]

Shinamura, on 20 February 2011 - 09:38 AM, said:

My comp only cost me about 895 to build. With everthing I wanted to get and about 70 dollars of mail in rebaits.

That's expensive to me. I put twice as much as that into my car.

Ranko, on 20 February 2011 - 09:49 AM, said:

Uh... Building machines is always much cheaper, what planet have you been living on? lol

Earth.

[Shinamura]

nouseforaname, on 20 February 2011 - 09:52 AM, said:

That's expensive to me. I put twice as much as that into my car.


Earth.

Yes but at a store something like that would run for 1100 to 1300 pending howclose to a major city you live.

[Ranko]

nouseforaname, on 20 February 2011 - 09:52 AM, said:

That's expensive to me. I put twice as much as that into my car.


Earth.

Fine I'll provide an example.... If you were even able to find a computer in a store with the specs I built mine with, I'd be amazed... not only that, I'd expect it to cost at least $1500... I got it for around $900, albeit my friend got me his frequent buyer discount from newegg, it's still cheaper, although the range between the prices definitely goes up the better your specs are.

This post has been edited by Ranko: 20 February 2011 - 10:02 AM

[jsieczkar]

The savings on buy vs building is not a fixed thing, on lower end machines it is actually cheaper to buy off the rack. As a computer gets faster and bigger the cost savings get bigger along with it. In my household I have one custom built PC, 1 netbook, and two netboxs that are attached to TVs. I couldn't build a PC for the cost of the netbox to say nothing about one the same size. All they do is act as a streaming medium for my TVs so my only requirement was HDMI out and internal WiFi. On the other hand my main PC that is my gaming unit and my media hub which you cannot even buy a machine off the rack with the specs it has.

[nouseforaname]

Shinamura, on 20 February 2011 - 09:58 AM, said:

Yes but at a store something like that would run for 1100 to 1300 pending howclose to a major city you live.

Go to Tiger Direct (CompUSA) or shop on Newegg. Sometimes ebay will have the part for less than both of those places. I don't know you or what you do to talk to you as if I know any better. All I know is that if I actually want something, I look around unlike my impulsive friend.

Ranko, on 20 February 2011 - 10:02 AM, said:

Fine I'll provide an example.... If you were even able to find a computer in a store with the specs I built mine with, I'd be amazed... not only that, I'd expect it to cost at least $1500... I got it for around $900, albeit my friend got me his frequent buyer discount from newegg, it's still cheaper, although the range between the prices definitely goes up the better your specs are.

Awesome.

[wrexness]

nouseforaname, on 20 February 2011 - 09:31 AM, said:

What are you talking about cheaper? Everything you've said I agree with except that.

It's comparatively cheaper. If you buy a store-bought computer for $XXX dollars, you can take that same amount of money and build a better machine hands down. However, this doesn't stop you from going above and beyond what you can purchase preconfigured.

Anyway, as has been said, if you're going with a desktop, definitely build. Felf nailed it pretty much dead-on: buy laptops, build towers.

jsieczkar, on 20 February 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

The savings on buy vs building is not a fixed thing, on lower end machines it is actually cheaper to buy off the rack. As a computer gets faster and bigger the cost savings get bigger along with it. In my household I have one custom built PC, 1 netbook, and two netboxs that are attached to TVs. I couldn't build a PC for the cost of the netbox to say nothing about one the same size. All they do is act as a streaming medium for my TVs so my only requirement was HDMI out and internal WiFi. On the other hand my main PC that is my gaming unit and my media hub which you cannot even buy a machine off the rack with the specs it has.

This is also true. But considering OP is looking for a gaming rig, it's most certainly going to be cheaper to build.

[The Fujoshi]

Really simple: (calm down folks!)

if you can't build one just buy one. Most pcs you have to replace every few years anyway like cars Building is cheaper though statistically.

I have a toshiba as well as a ebay crappy dell with xp that works funny enough but can't charge worth anything. My toshiba needs a new charger that the computer shop is trying to charge 30 bucks for lol.

Although if you know how to build pcs you can make money, especially if you know how to fix them as well<3

I can't build one myself and I don't know anyone that can build one that wouldn't charge an arm and a leg. Not everyone can do such a thing you know....since like people are into different things.

Also depends on what you want; if you are a gamer than you would need a pricey and different pc than if you were just basic surfing for your company or business. I mostly download and convert mp3s to my Ds lite as well as make PS3 themes so my toshiba is good for that and my Dell that I got for 70 bucks is good for writing fanfiction. I don't do major gaming due to my mom and watching my son.

I paid...1000 bucks for my Toshiba due to the fact that I had to get my old data from a crappy laptop I got from a previous landlord. Everyone who looked at it wanted to charge 300-500 dollars to fix it because it needed to be reformatted and I wanted all my old images/writing/etc. (mind you it's now a paper weight so I couldn't use it again after they fix it and had to buy a new one,)I just took it to best buy and bought a new one.

600 new pc+transfer old data+protection=1000 bucks.

This post has been edited by The Fujoshi: 20 February 2011 - 03:38 PM

[wrexness]

Aww... Well were you nearby I certainly wouldn't change that much. As long as the hard drive functionally works (i.e. it's not a hardware failure) you can just throw it into an enclosure (like so: http://www.newegg.co...5-704-_-Product) and then plug the USB into your new computer and it functions largely like any other external hard drive. As a bonus your old hard drive CAN be used like a normal external hard drive after that. >w<b

Though yes, you certainly should know what you're looking for in a computer before you start looking to buy one. If you're just doing basic browsing and surfing, you certainly don't need a $1500 rig built up for gaming.

[Scott]

I built my computers from separate parts. Well, except for my first Windows PC, which was a Toshiba Infinia circa 1996 and all of the laptops I've owned in the past.

My current PC has gone through quite a few iterations:
- Started as a dual-core AMD around 2ghz, 2gb ram, and probably two hard drives
- Moved on to a 45-watt TDP AMD 2.3ghz quad-core cpu (Thanks to AMD for having great backwards compatibility!) and 4gb ram (extra two sticks to match the existing)
- My most recent update is maxing out the motherboard's RAM at 8GB (had to buy higher capacity sticks) and having a 4-disk RAID 10 setup to help speed up photo processing tasks. I also have a 10,000 rpm boot drive and a second backup storage drive. I'd like to eventually get a SSD drive to replace the 10,000 rpm drive.
- I also switched the case once or twice.

The nicest things about buying separate parts in my opinion:
- Higher quality components available that can easily be researched.
- Being able to know exactly what is inside my computer. This allows me to get the optimal configuration based on budget and expected performance. For example, the CPU I currently have has a 45 watt thermal envelope yet it is a quad-core cpu. While it was more expensive than 65-120 watt versions, I think it was well worth the cost as it is easier to cool, uses less electricity, and therefor also puts less load on the PSU.
- The components are more likely to be flexible enough to fit exacting needs. For example, the case I just bought for a pretty cheap, in my opinion, price of $80 has 6 hard disk slots, painted black interior, and nice large fan openings (120mm+ for all of them).
- It's nice that I can get noticeable improvements by upgrading one or a few components.
- Often times if I buy higher quality stuff it lasts longer too.

[keiichi969]

I build all my personal machines. I do have a Compaq in the living room, but thats just so family doesn't touch my beast.

Current rig is a few years old. its getting time to replace her. This summer I'm building a new one.

Right now I've got a q9300 running on an EVGA 780i, GTX280, 4GB ram, 3.5TB of HDDs...

Oh, and that Q9300 (2.5Ghz stock), is running at 3.25Ghz, thanks to a custom water cooling loop.

[Millions_Knives]

~ sparkle eyes~
just got a windows 7 running 7.4, 2 weeks ago
for $875 with everything including new screen, keyboard, mouse, and speakers
(got gift OS from friend and a stack of hard drives)

it has been rare for me to find a whole sale computer
to cost less than a home made one of comparable power (with a bit of comparison shopping via tiger direct)
up grading is cheap because ya just have to swap out parts
not a whole unit

if you have never made a computer
have someone who has do it and watch

[Jguy]

First off, pics of my current build:

http://www.myst-onli...ff/IMAG0104.jpg
http://www.myst-onli...ff/IMAG0103.jpg

Now, obviously you can't really buy this from Dell or HP, this is a custom system.

I always custom build. If you have the know how, the skill, the time and the money, I'd say spend the extra time and money to build your own system rather than buy one from Dell or HP. There's a few different reasons for this.

1) You can select EXACTLY what you want with your system, right down to the type of CPU.
2) It's actually usually cheaper to build your own. Some companies, even if you want an extra hard drive that's not "standard", they charge you for the hard drive and then charge you the labour to put it in your system.
3) You become intimately familiar with your system. How's its set-up, how it's configured, what hard drives go where...stuff like that.
4) You learn to respect your system a little more and don't let people be careless around it. You put your own sweat and tears into the darn thing. It's definitely yours.
5) Upgrading is much much easier. Need a little more RAM? Go out and buy a stick, put it in the computer and repairing it. I've found that some companies (Dell especially) require you to bring it to an authorised service centre or pay Geek Squad to "officially" install some RAM for you. Some parts/components may be proprietary, as well.

My system has the following specs in it, all of which have been in this specific case for 5-6 years. (I love this case and wouldn't trade it for the world)

* Lian-Li WL-60A full tower all aluminium case
* KIT-1000 Koolance Liquid Cooled system (CPU, RAM, Video Card and Primary HDD is liquid cooled) As you can see, this keeps the systems CPU core temp under 30C, even under full load.
* AMD Phenom II Quad Core CPU (overclocked to 3.2 GHz (another advantage to building your own, if you want to, you can do this without voiding any warranty)
* 6GB DDR2 RAM
* Nvidia GTx 275 PCI-e video card (1.5GB VRAM)
* (1) RaptorX 160GB SATA, (1) Raptor 1TB SATA, (2) WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA's
* 2 DVD/CD/Light scribe burner drives

As mentioned, this build has been going for 5 or 6 years in the same case, and some of the parts I have in here are still out of an older build. Everytime I need to upgrade something, it's as easy as swapping/adding a component and that's it. So much easier than looking for proprietary parts and/or sending it in.

Some of these parts are bought used or "hand-me-downs", but overall, with the components in it, I'd say I could easily offload this computer for $2,000. That's another plus, resale value is so much higher. Easier to scrap out or send off to someone who can upgrade it more and get more used out of it.

This post has been edited by Jguy: 20 February 2011 - 07:29 PM

[The Fujoshi]

wrexness, on 20 February 2011 - 05:03 PM, said:

Aww... Well were you nearby I certainly wouldn't change that much. As long as the hard drive functionally works (i.e. it's not a hardware failure) you can just throw it into an enclosure (like so: http://www.newegg.co...5-704-_-Product) and then plug the USB into your new computer and it functions largely like any other external hard drive. As a bonus your old hard drive CAN be used like a normal external hard drive after that. >w<b

Though yes, you certainly should know what you're looking for in a computer before you start looking to buy one. If you're just doing basic browsing and surfing, you certainly don't need a $1500 rig built up for gaming.

I need to copy this down. *opens notepad*

What happen was that I tried to defrag the old computer and it died....we tried recovery and it....died worse ._. Like you need the old windows os and all your data will be deleted dead. I tried three shops and they all said around the same price so I just went to old expensive Best buy since it was the cheapest place to get laptops at the time.

And thanks for the offer<3 So far I don't need another pc and I know what to get now compared to almost a year ago.

I would totally make/get a desktop but it's hard with three people using a computer at the same household and you don't want to download stuff in the living room (*coughs yaoi coughs*) or have the relatives constantly in your room.

[jsieczkar]

wrexness, on 20 February 2011 - 11:20 AM, said:

This is also true. But considering OP is looking for a gaming rig, it's most certainly going to be cheaper to build.

I was putting that out there so anyone reading the thread might not get the idea that custom builds are always cheaper then off the rack ones.

Since this has kinda turned into a show and tell thread:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition
MB: ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3
RAM: Kingston HyperX T1 Series 6GB
HDD: 3.56 TB total
GPU: Sapphire Vapor-X 100283VX-2L Radeon HD 5770
1 x DVD/CD Burner, 1x Blu-Ray Drive

[Exezer]

Oh yea building is much cheaper and better ....the one im building right now costs $2,100 but in store with all the parts you would have to pay $3,400 so yea i saved alot, and yea buying one is just buying the NAME.

Cooler Master HAF 932
AMD 1055 (yes i know not the highest but i bought it when it was lol)
HIS 6970 VC
DVD / Blu-Ray Burner
2.5TB drive
12gigs of G.Skill Ripjaw RAM
MSI 890FXA Motherboard
Majesty 1050 Power source
and a Corsair H50 water cooler.

This post has been edited by Exezer: 21 February 2011 - 03:21 AM

[Scott]

Haha, some of you probably don't need to turn the heat on in the winter with those setups!

[Ikuu]

I built my own computer about 5 months ago.
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition
Vid card: ATI HD 4650
RAM: 8GB DDR3
PSU: 650 Watt
DVD-RW burner
DVD reader
Hard Drive: Two 500GB Hatichi and two 150GB WD for a total of 1.3 TB Hard Disk space

[wrexness]

Jguy, on 20 February 2011 - 07:26 PM, said:

First off, pics of my current build:

http://www.myst-onli...ff/IMAG0104.jpg
http://www.myst-onli...ff/IMAG0103.jpg

Now, obviously you can't really buy this from Dell or HP, this is a custom system.

That is one sexy beast. I love cases that have the clear sides so you can show off the internal components.

jsieczkar, on 20 February 2011 - 09:28 PM, said:

I was putting that out there so anyone reading the thread might not get the idea that custom builds are always cheaper then off the rack ones.

I gotcha, no worries. It was certainly worth putting out there for people who are kind of tailing this thread but aren't necessarily as computer savvy.

[Jguy]

Scott, on 21 February 2011 - 12:31 AM, said:

Haha, some of you probably don't need to turn the heat on in the winter with those setups!

Oh gosh, you don't know the half of it. I used to have my computer on the same WALL as my thermostat in my apartment. I ended up having to rearrange the living room twice to get a setup that put the computer on the opposite corner of the thermostat so that it wouldn't affect it.

What would happen after having my computer on from 6ish until 9ish is that it would heat up the area around my thermostat and keep it that way (somewhere around 75-80F, I keep the darn thing at 65-68) until I shut my computer down. The heat would not run much at all during that time period, so all the rest of the apartment would dip down to like..60-62. Once the computer got shut off for the night, the colder air would fill in around the thermostat and the heat would kick on for about 45 minutes while it tried to bring the apartment back up to 68. And the heat running that entire time is annoying when you're trying to sleep.

Wrexness: Thanks He's my baby. <3

I actually had to cut that hold in the side of the case, it didn't come that way. I then got a sheet of plexiglas and cut the square out of the side of the case and a bigger square from the plexiglas and bolt it in. It's not the best, but it works. I also had to cut the top out of the case in order to drop the liquid cooled heat exchanger in.

If I didn't have the 5,000RPM fan hooked up to the CPU fan in the back blowing out....then the computer would be really quiet (like..almost silent). I'm thinking about hooking up a small toggle switch to that fan so I can turn it on and off as I need it. During the winter months I don't really need that back fan as it is typically a little colder in the house in the winter months. (I've actually been running most of the winter season without it)

This post has been edited by Jguy: 21 February 2011 - 08:46 AM