OT: Buying vs. building your own computer - Page 2

El_Phil · #1 July 29th, 2005, 02:53 PM

That has always amazed me, the compatability of parts. You can get a processor fabbed in Ireland put on a motherboard from South Korea, chuck in some Taiwanese RAM and a power supply from down the road and it will work. There is no other industry where every single component can be made by a different company and you know they'll all work together.

As long as you get the standards right.

Baron Munchausen · #2 July 27th, 2005, 05:02 PM

The word is that 'build your own' is usually cheaper for a given system spec. The 'prebuilt' system might seem cheaper but that is only a good deal if you actually want a system that meets the cookie-cutter specs. If you want a better than average video card or more RAM than the standard spec they start charging you 'upgrade fees' at a much steeper rate than buying your own parts would cost. If you assess what you really want as opposed to what the current cheapie has, you'll see some major differences. Once the upgrades to the "standard" are figured in, the self-built is cheaper.

The only issues is, how confident are you putting it together? Some people are intimidated by the thought of assembling all those expensive parts. If you've done any tinkering with electronics before, it's pretty likely you'll be able to put your computer togther correctly.

narf poit chez BOOM · #3 July 27th, 2005, 07:44 PM

Rest your wrists on the metal case. It grounds you and isn't connected to the parts.

parabolize · #4 July 27th, 2005, 11:00 PM

Quote:

narf poit chez BOOM said:
Rest your wrists on the metal case. It grounds you and isn't connected to the parts.

Open your computer and look at the motherboard. Look for some screws holding the motherboard to the case. They look gold or copper don't they? Why do you think that is? Only ground yourself with the case if you can't do anything else.

Thermodyne · #5 July 28th, 2005, 09:11 AM

If you know how, build it. If you are a newb and it's a second system, build it. If your a newb and it will be your main rig, buy it from Mikey.

Caduceus · #6 July 28th, 2005, 10:56 AM

I built my new system with little experience (I had changed the video card and added RAM to my previous machine). I did a fair amount of reading ("Building the Perfect PC", Tom's Hardware, CNet, NewEgg, etc.) before doing anything. I also watched prices for a while.

Renegade 13 · #7 July 29th, 2005, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Thermodyne said:
If you know how, build it. If you are a newb and it's a second system, build it. If your a newb and it will be your main rig, buy it from Mikey.

New at it, will be primary machine, but not for a while. So I think I'll go ahead, build it, then have a while to find out what I did wrong, fix it, etc etc, then maybe when I need it down the road, it'll be ready

tesco samoa · #8 July 28th, 2005, 12:27 PM

building is easy. just read the manuals and follow the instructions. it is very easy and will save you a ton of coin... Take a look at a 1200 dell system, You could build a better system with a 64 bit amd , dual harddrives, better sound and video card for 800....

Plus building the pc will help you with troubleshooting and doing tiny upgrades down the road.

And the satisfaction of building something that works.

You could take a few days pricing out stuff... Either start with the AMD cpu you want and then find the recommened motherboards , video cards or Pick a motherboard and work you way out that way.

AMD CPU's will save you a ton of coin over intel... The price of a video card

As for cases I recommend you spend a little money and get a good case where you can remove both sides to get at everything , and also get a good powersupply, and good fans for proper ventalation.

ncix would be a good place to start for pricing out a system.