New PC : build or buy ?

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As the title says: I need to get a new computer, should I buy one, or build it from parts?

The avantages of building one would be that I could get better components at cheaper prices; also I can make sure that I have an upgrade path for the future. The disadvantage is that I would have to spend the time to do it myself (instead of playing computer games )Also, I'd need to buy the operating system separately. What do you guys think?

 

Depends on whether you know what you are doing or not..... I certainly don't, so I shouldn't be let loose to build my own computer. But if you are a whizz, then go for it. Surely it must work out cheaper.

 

Well, I never did it before (build a computer from scratch), but I upgraded memory, replaced video card, hard-drive... I think it should not be too hard to just screw a motherboard to the case and plug in components.

The tricky part is making sure that the components you use play well together, but fortunately there are web sites which have guides for buiding computers, and they'll tell you exactly what to buy.

 

I prefer building a machine from scratch.

Which processor brand are you using? AMD-wise, if you still use a 979, you could very easily go for a dual-core Athlon X2. I'm not sure if the Pentium D uses socket 478 (I despise Intel and couldn't be bothered to give a damn about what goes on on their side of the fence), but it could be another alternative.

It really depends on your needs, however.

 

AMD might have a better offering in the future, but right now the Core 2 Duo's from Intel are the best processors available. As about needs... NWN2 is probably going to be the application which requires the most of my system for some years

 

...and don't listen to BTA's biaised view (*cough*sold-out*cough* ) . I've had my fair share of problems with Intel, and you'd have to pay me to get another Intel processor. Die-hard AMD loyalist here.

 

Intel's price/performance is superior at the moment.

And I use the third option - going to a nearby computer shop, and piecing together my own computer from parts, leaving actually building the computer to them. It's at worst $100 more expensive and it means I'm not going to break the computer while building it.

 

... And don't listen to Taza's biased view either. AMD is still a very good if not better option than Intel. Just check out the prices and compare.

Buy the parts and if you don't want to build it yourself, ditch the parts to a computer-shop and let them build it for you. Since they do not need to play with the OS, it should be cheap. Get the rig, format, install stuff, and start playing. Easy as pie and you got exactly what you wanted.

 

Ha! Good to see you have sense!

Yep, I agree here.

Except that the OS will be Winblows. That part I disagree with.

 

Stop ranting about amd or intel. It is a neck a neck race with a changing lead all the time. The proccessor is not that important. Both are good, both will play NWN2. All has to do with budget.

Advice one: get the latest motherboard of any kind Intel or AMD. Computer parts drop in price so an mid upgrade for the processor is a good and cheap option. that is why you need a new board to be able to upgrade within two years. At the moment for the AMD, it is the am2 nvidia 500 series. 570 Or 590.($120/200+) A fair amd processor costs around $150. The expensive ones drop more than half in price the next year or so. Be sure that your board does not need a bios upgrade for your processor, to avoid risks.

Advice two: pay as much for your processor as for your videocard. slow processor fast videocard works almost as good as slow processor and medium vidoecard. Also videocards drop in price. The videocard market is a jungle. They deceive us with type extension.

Go to the tread started by Sydax: new pc questions

many on the counter pc's in electronics shops are models with the older parts or a crappy videocard. Buy a pc at a specialist.

I build mine myself and a lot of thing went wrong. First the memory did not match so no windows install. second a harddisk failure after 3 weeks. third the two cables to the on/off button and reset button snapped. Putting the parts together was the easy part. But once you did it yourself, you always know what to do with problems. I had the time of my life.

 

Okay, so I was planning on something like the following:

motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe ($200)

processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 ($220)

video card: NVIDIA GeForce 7600GS($120)

memory: 2 GB PC6400 DDR2-800 SDRAM ($200)

hard drive: ~ 250 GB ($75)

monitor: 19 inch LCD ($ 250)

This is mostly inspired from the latest ArsTechica guide; I just took an older video card, and I don't care about speakers or sound-card. This should not cost me more than ~ 1200 USD.

 

Bah!

Apart from the processor, the rest looks good.

 

I got it, you hate Intel
But really, I never used AMD, and now it would be a bad time to start (when by any objective measures, the intel chips are better)

 

If you go with AMD you are getting last year's technology. You are taking a computer out the door with a cpu that is already obselete. No doubt AMD will soon release something to match the current Intel in price/performance. Care to wait 6 months? BTW, build - what you will learn about computers from the experience is worth the extra time. And you will have a computer that is totally your own - built the way you want it.

 

As soon as you buy a comp, it's nearly always obsolete anyway.

I'm looking foward to AMD's retaliation to the f****** Core 2. I hope AMD kicks Intel's butt and do so hard. REALLY hard.

A bit off-topic, but Macs worked great on Motorola's PowerPC processors... but no, Intel had to cram their f****** processors into Macs and infuse the weakness of the Intel processors architecture. Thanks to Intel, Macs have viruses.

F*** you, Intel.

 

Just get a good processor regardless of the brand. Seriously, I can't believe how parochial you people get about microchip brands. The marketing guys have really done a good job on you lot.

 

What does marketing has to do about the P4 Prescott being noisy to the point of driving me on the verges of insanity, and venting so much heat to the point of needing THREE fans to keep a decent temperature? What does marketing has to do with my Athlon X2 being a über-powerhouse, running cool and quiet with only ONE fan?

Yeah, marketing.

 

Err... do you even know what you are talking about, or are you just repeating your "I hate Intel" theme? There were viruses for Mac even before the Intel chips came around. A "recent" example:
http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/p/oompa.htm

Obviously, if you are running XP in an Apple Computer with an Intel processor, the partition with XP installed will be as susceptible to viruses and threats as any PC. If Apple had made a deal with AMD, rather than Intel, the same would apply.


The only reasons Apple computers running Mac OS have less viruses than PCs running Windows are:

a) OS X is just a UNIX kernel with a nicer interface. You have the same chance to have your Apple computer damaged by viruses as if you had UNIX installed on a PC. The whole system is protected, even if you are an administrator, you need to provide confirmation via password to modify anything from the System or other similarly protected folders. In fact, most of the Mac viruses are in the shape of trojans that the unsuspected user activates him/herself.

b) The Mac market is still too small, so virus makers don't bother.

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20060513


On the whole buying vs building, I prefer buying the components I want, and having someone build it for me.

[ September 22, 2006, 10:03: Message edited by: Colthrun ]

 

I would swap this one for an Abit AB9 Pro. It has more or less the same features and should be a bit cheaper.