Whatever you buy be sure it has a standard format, non-proprietary power supply and replace it immediately or at the least as soon as the warranty expires. Manufactured computer power supplies aren't worth the spare change you'd get if you recycled the metal.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams
I couldn't suggest any sites because I have never paid for someone to assemble a computer for me. They shouldn't be too hard to find with some searching, though.
I suggest you look at the pros and cons of building vs buying.
Buy Pros:
Everything is ready to go when you get it.
You get a warranty which covers the entire computer.
You don't have to learn anything to get a gaming rig.
Buy Cons:
You might not get exactly what you want.
You will pay extra for whatever you do get.
The warranty might mean you are without a computer for longer than if you had repaired it yourself.
You will feel like you could have purchased something better for the same money.
Build Pros:
You get exactly what you want.
You pay less.
You get to learn something.
You can confidently modify or upgrade it in the future.
You get the "I did that" satisfaction when you're done.
Build Cons:
If you mess something up, warranties generally don't cover that.
You may have to deal with more than one company with warranties.
Build V Buy argument is a long and well trodden road with PCs
As the previous pointed out you need to do your own Pro / Con argument for both, but AND THIS IS KEY be honest with yourself.
Look at your skillset, do you know how to correct partition your drives, whats the difference if your using 2 HDs (SSD/Normal)
But building your own has many advantages without skills, Cost being a good one, depending on your country sites like scanshot / Newegg etc have good monthly bargains, here you can buy £300 items for maybe £200 that month, and build away
My only 2 pieces of real impartial advice
1 - Get a good motherboard / CPU / Memory pack together - This could save you so much time worrying about if Product A is compatible with Product B etc
2 - Dont scrimp on the following items - PSU, CPU , Case, and MB goto sites like http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ and http://www.tomshardware.com/ to name but 2 to check out the real ratings on each product DONT TRUST any website you buy from, always look independent for reviews and ratings
Personally, I am in process of building my own, but on a budge of £200 per month basiclyl i buy 1 item per month depending on whats on sale that month from my list of vendors
I always build my own, but it's not always for everyone.
If it's your first self-build then you may scratch your head while you figure certain things out "WHY ISN'T IT POSTING!!! ZOMG!"
I'd do my homework first to make sure you aren't creating bottlenecks, I've seen people build rig where they think a massive GPU will handle all the graphics but their mobo is mismatched to their cpu and you just aren't getting what you think you should in terms of performance. It's really not that difficult or scary, but it's something to be aware of.
My other piece of advice is to hold off a little longer. $900 can get you a pretty decent rig these days, BUT if you hold off until you have $1200-$1500 you can build something that can max settings for 3-5 years. Which will save you another $900 in the long run. That's actually a pro-tip for anything not just PC building. Don't cheap out on the front end, cause you'll pay for it later.
As others have said, Tom's hardware is a great site to read up on things and to get advice. And if it's not a "I need this build done now." situation, you can collect parts from sales and promotions of the course of a month and end up getting that $1200 build for $900.
Total: $893, probably before shipping, which will add quite a bit to the price tag
Compared to what I linked from the other thread if you build your own, you pay more to get a slower processor, worse motherboard, worse power supply, slower memory, worse SSD, and likely not as good of hard drive or video card. You do get a little better case, though.
I understand the OP wants to buy a pre-build off the shelf PC. You don't need a certain brand like Dell because many many stores pre-build them themselves and put them up for sale on the web store.
What I don't understand is why the OP didn't state which country he lives in. Makes it impossible to recommend these store built PC's.
I understand the OP wants to buy a pre-build off the shelf PC. You don't need a certain brand like Dell because many many stores pre-build them themselves and put them up for sale on the web store.
What I don't understand is why the OP didn't state which country he lives in. Makes it impossible to recommend these store built PC's.
While it's not a guarantee the person in question is located where their profile states they are you can always click on their name and it will tell you whatever information they have added regarding it. In this case it's Texas.
I understand the OP wants to buy a pre-build off the shelf PC. You don't need a certain brand like Dell because many many stores pre-build them themselves and put them up for sale on the web store.
What I don't understand is why the OP didn't state which country he lives in. Makes it impossible to recommend these store built PC's.
While it's not a guarantee the person in question is located where their profile states they are you can always click on their name and it will tell you whatever information they have added regarding it. In this case it's Texas.
Never knew that but it's still odd the writer expects us to look at his profile instead of just stating it in the message.
Total: $893, probably before shipping, which will add quite a bit to the price tag
Compared to what I linked from the other thread if you build your own, you pay more to get a slower processor, worse motherboard, worse power supply, slower memory, worse SSD, and likely not as good of hard drive or video card. You do get a little better case, though.
If I ran into, lets say an extra hundred dollars, what would you suggest I switch out in the website
Wait until you're ready to buy, then ask and check back promptly. I'm not going to come up with a new build for you every week when you didn't buy anything either of the last two times that I did, and don't seem likely to buy a new build before prices change and it's out of date, either.
Originally posted by Quizzical Wait until you're ready to buy, then ask and check back promptly. I'm not going to come up with a new build for you every week when you didn't buy anything either of the last two times that I did, and don't seem likely to buy a new build before prices change and it's out of date, either.
Don't be such a rude grump. I'm not asking for a build and I do take your advice very seriously. Understand that implementing your suggestions sometimes meet with real world speed bumps or hiccups and trying to figure out what to do doesn't always go well. So I've made a couple mistakes in the past. Are you going to keep throwing that in my face? You don't pay the price for the mistakes, I do so why do you feel it so important to put me in my place?
What I'm trying to understand is how to go about doing this smartly. It seems odd there are only two options: do it all by hand, or get a mediocre quality system that is overpriced.
Anyway, I didn't realize I irritated you so much. I won't ask any info from you again.
Sorry for the confusion. You posted while I was replying to labortory. He asked for a build in August, I gave him one, and he left for a week then asked for a prebuilt. I gave him one of those, too, then he left for a week and then asked what happens if his budget changes. So even if I found the perfect build for him today, he'd probably ignore it until the prices were out of date. Hence my reply.
While I like mmorpg.com for mmo info, if I want PC Building information http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/index.php] <--that is all they do, build pc's, mod pc's, give advice to people on what to build, how to build etc etc etc.
Originally posted by Quizzical Wait until you're ready to buy, then ask and check back promptly. I'm not going to come up with a new build for you every week when you didn't buy anything either of the last two times that I did, and don't seem likely to buy a new build before prices change and it's out of date, either.
Don't be such a rude grump. I'm not asking for a build and I do take your advice very seriously. Understand that implementing your suggestions sometimes meet with real world speed bumps or hiccups and trying to figure out what to do doesn't always go well. So I've made a couple mistakes in the past. Are you going to keep throwing that in my face? You don't pay the price for the mistakes, I do so why do you feel it so important to put me in my place?
What I'm trying to understand is how to go about doing this smartly. It seems odd there are only two options: do it all by hand, or get a mediocre quality system that is overpriced.
Anyway, I didn't realize I irritated you so much. I won't ask any info from you again.
Sorry for the confusion. You posted while I was replying to labortory. He asked for a build in August, I gave him one, and he left for a week then asked for a prebuilt. I gave him one of those, too, then he left for a week and then asked what happens if his budget changes. So even if I found the perfect build for him today, he'd probably ignore it until the prices were out of date. Hence my reply.
I have a limited amount of time I can use the computer, and it is usually just Sundays, I am replying when I can possibly reply to you, and the reason I asked for parts [back in August] and a prebuilt now is so I can have that choice, if there are parts that are out of date then I will switch them out, it isn't that difficult.
I am ready to buy a computer however I am making sure it will be the one I want, don't see how that is a crime.
That video was pretty ridiculous but serves to pretty much invalidate most arguments against building your own system even if you have never done it before.
Originally posted by miguksaram That video was pretty ridiculous but serves to pretty much invalidate most arguments against building your own system even if you have never done it before.
Yup that dub English is too funny XD , shame she didn't show how to connect power cables or external IO like USB etc but usually most mobo manuals are pretty clear.
ASROCK Z97 E-ITX Intel i7 4790k @ 4.5Ghz+KrakenX41 Gigabyte 1070 8GB Mini OC 16GB Crucial 1333mhz 1.3V SWG 8 Year Vet, WW2OL 8 Year Vet. Aka Darksparrow Rancorheart(tempest/farstar), Fxmkorp
Comments
I couldn't suggest any sites because I have never paid for someone to assemble a computer for me. They shouldn't be too hard to find with some searching, though.
I suggest you look at the pros and cons of building vs buying.
Buy Pros:
Everything is ready to go when you get it.
You get a warranty which covers the entire computer.
You don't have to learn anything to get a gaming rig.
Buy Cons:
You might not get exactly what you want.
You will pay extra for whatever you do get.
The warranty might mean you are without a computer for longer than if you had repaired it yourself.
You will feel like you could have purchased something better for the same money.
Build Pros:
You get exactly what you want.
You pay less.
You get to learn something.
You can confidently modify or upgrade it in the future.
You get the "I did that" satisfaction when you're done.
Build Cons:
If you mess something up, warranties generally don't cover that.
You may have to deal with more than one company with warranties.
Build V Buy argument is a long and well trodden road with PCs
As the previous pointed out you need to do your own Pro / Con argument for both, but AND THIS IS KEY be honest with yourself.
Look at your skillset, do you know how to correct partition your drives, whats the difference if your using 2 HDs (SSD/Normal)
But building your own has many advantages without skills, Cost being a good one, depending on your country sites like scanshot / Newegg etc have good monthly bargains, here you can buy £300 items for maybe £200 that month, and build away
My only 2 pieces of real impartial advice
1 - Get a good motherboard / CPU / Memory pack together - This could save you so much time worrying about if Product A is compatible with Product B etc
2 - Dont scrimp on the following items - PSU, CPU , Case, and MB goto sites like http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ and http://www.tomshardware.com/ to name but 2 to check out the real ratings on each product DONT TRUST any website you buy from, always look independent for reviews and ratings
Personally, I am in process of building my own, but on a budge of £200 per month basiclyl i buy 1 item per month depending on whats on sale that month from my list of vendors
This post is all my opinion, but I welcome debate on anything i have put, however, personal slander / name calling belongs in game
where of course you're welcome to call me names im often found lounging about in EvE online.
Use this code for 21days trial in eve online https://secure.eveonline.com/trial/?invc=d385aff2-794a-44a4-96f1-3967ccf6d720&action=buddy
I always build my own, but it's not always for everyone.
If it's your first self-build then you may scratch your head while you figure certain things out "WHY ISN'T IT POSTING!!! ZOMG!"
I'd do my homework first to make sure you aren't creating bottlenecks, I've seen people build rig where they think a massive GPU will handle all the graphics but their mobo is mismatched to their cpu and you just aren't getting what you think you should in terms of performance. It's really not that difficult or scary, but it's something to be aware of.
My other piece of advice is to hold off a little longer. $900 can get you a pretty decent rig these days, BUT if you hold off until you have $1200-$1500 you can build something that can max settings for 3-5 years. Which will save you another $900 in the long run. That's actually a pro-tip for anything not just PC building. Don't cheap out on the front end, cause you'll pay for it later.
As others have said, Tom's hardware is a great site to read up on things and to get advice. And if it's not a "I need this build done now." situation, you can collect parts from sales and promotions of the course of a month and end up getting that $1200 build for $900.
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Dragon
Switch the defaults to:
Case: Corsair Carbide 300R
CPU: AMD FX-6300
Video card: Radeon HD 7870
SSD: Samsung 840
Data hard drive: 500 GB something or other
Total: $893, probably before shipping, which will add quite a bit to the price tag
Compared to what I linked from the other thread if you build your own, you pay more to get a slower processor, worse motherboard, worse power supply, slower memory, worse SSD, and likely not as good of hard drive or video card. You do get a little better case, though.
I understand the OP wants to buy a pre-build off the shelf PC. You don't need a certain brand like Dell because many many stores pre-build them themselves and put them up for sale on the web store.
What I don't understand is why the OP didn't state which country he lives in. Makes it impossible to recommend these store built PC's.
While it's not a guarantee the person in question is located where their profile states they are you can always click on their name and it will tell you whatever information they have added regarding it. In this case it's Texas.
Never knew that but it's still odd the writer expects us to look at his profile instead of just stating it in the message.
If I ran into, lets say an extra hundred dollars, what would you suggest I switch out in the website
Sorry for the confusion. You posted while I was replying to labortory. He asked for a build in August, I gave him one, and he left for a week then asked for a prebuilt. I gave him one of those, too, then he left for a week and then asked what happens if his budget changes. So even if I found the perfect build for him today, he'd probably ignore it until the prices were out of date. Hence my reply.
Quizzical always gives good advice.
While I like mmorpg.com for mmo info, if I want PC Building information http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/index.php] <--that is all they do, build pc's, mod pc's, give advice to people on what to build, how to build etc etc etc.
I have a limited amount of time I can use the computer, and it is usually just Sundays, I am replying when I can possibly reply to you, and the reason I asked for parts [back in August] and a prebuilt now is so I can have that choice, if there are parts that are out of date then I will switch them out, it isn't that difficult.
I am ready to buy a computer however I am making sure it will be the one I want, don't see how that is a crime.
I always cringe when I see these threads.
Without getting into setups and what to buy and what not to and pros and cons.
This one truth is a fact- If you can snap together leggos, you can build your own PC.
"I understand that if I hear any more words come pouring out of your **** mouth, Ill have to eat every fucking chicken in this room."
You could always consider something like
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l2632.R2.TR12.TRC2.A0.Xhp+pavilion+dv6&_nkw=hp+pavilion+dv6&_sacat=177&_from=R40
I use one of these for everyday usage, including playing gw2 (in full window mode), neverwinter rifts etc with no problems!
lol, I agree
I keep trying to convince a friend of mine to build his own, he gets hung up on the software side of things.
"But that's easy too" -I tell him.
ASROCK Z97 E-ITX
Intel i7 4790k @ 4.5Ghz+KrakenX41
Gigabyte 1070 8GB Mini OC
16GB Crucial 1333mhz 1.3V
SWG 8 Year Vet, WW2OL 8 Year Vet.
Aka Darksparrow Rancorheart(tempest/farstar), Fxmkorp
Best how-to video ever.
Yup that dub English is too funny XD , shame she didn't show how to connect power cables or external IO like USB etc but usually most mobo manuals are pretty clear.
ASROCK Z97 E-ITX
Intel i7 4790k @ 4.5Ghz+KrakenX41
Gigabyte 1070 8GB Mini OC
16GB Crucial 1333mhz 1.3V
SWG 8 Year Vet, WW2OL 8 Year Vet.
Aka Darksparrow Rancorheart(tempest/farstar), Fxmkorp