Buying new computer

[helgea]

Well, I need some recommendations for desktop, planning to spend at most $1300USD

I can't build PC myself so I'm thinking of buying one from sites like http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

http://www.ibuypower.com/

But I'm kind of worried about shipping and the quality of the computer..

Anyone have suggestions which site is more trust-able or are there any other sites to buy a computer?

Thanks in advance

[Jerbsinator]

Well' date=' I need some recommendations for desktop, planning to spend at most $1300USD

I can't build PC myself so I'm thinking of buying one from sites like http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

http://www.ibuypower.com/

But I'm kind of worried about shipping and the quality of the computer..

Anyone have suggestions which site is more trust-able or are there any other sites to buy a computer?

Thanks in advance

[/quote']

 

Honestly it's not difficult to make your own computer. You just have to do some research and you will get to a point where you are comfortable enough to go for it. Trust me it's the better option. It's cheaper, better bang for your buck and most of all it's yours.

 

PC companies like Dell, HP, etc, they rip you off. You are paying for the brand mostly, nothing else.

[thesapien]

I'll play the other side...

 

Dell is actually alright. They buy their parts bulk so can beat you on costs. Years ago, once upon a time, it was cheaper to built your own. Those days are gone. Now, it just depends. (Sony is more like Apple, in that you're paying for SEXY and not just the actual specs. Nothing so wrong with sexy tho.)

 

Assembling your computer yourself does have many other risks, especially for the nube. There are many things that can go wrong, either something wrong you did or just some bad part that was shipped not working, which you don't find out about until you try to turn it on for the first time. So you must be good at problem solving tech and knowing how to narrow down computer issues. It's best to start learning on a working computer that you upgrade.

 

Once you have a computer, learning to upgrade is then, yes, the cheapest way to go forward.

 

After years of building my own and upgrading, I finally ruined by entire system by experimenting with submerging it in oil to run silent. After that, I found it cheapest for me and with less personal stress to start anew with Dell. Been happy with the system since. I LOVE the case for how handy and easy it is to work with, given that such fancy cases are very expensive when building your own. The downside was the loud fans and power supply, which were the only cheap parts dropped in the system by Dell, but not terrible and can be upgraded.

[Jerbsinator]

Dell is a good company and their computers are definitely well built and good quality. I had a XPS 600 for 5 years and it's still going so it's definitely a good product. If you want a good computer just for internet and watching movies prebuilts are definitely cheaper (around $300 - 500) but if you want something that is gaming worthy you are going to pay for it if you go prebuilt.

[reae]

In my work I'm forced to make some projects in SolidWorks on machine with HP stickers on it. Good thing about it? It has some FireGL/Pro (or whatever AMD names these rebranded, over 10 times more expensive, radeons) and big ass monitor. Bad side? Everything else. My company paid around 6k$ for it and my home PC,~1k$ worth beats it in every single aspect, probably some fiddling with my HD6970 would made it act as FrePro,beating it firm and square. Also I can freely add/remove components, as I see fit, without paying attention to warranty, as I have ones for parts, not for whole PC.

 

To make story short, go, read some, decide what you want and how much you can pay for it, read some more and in worst case scenario ask a friend to help you building your own PC.

[thesapien]

I hear you on those "professional" graphics cards. When I was assembling (I don't like to say "build" because it makes us sound like we're making the parts) my own PC's, it was during my hobby of learning some pro apps like 3ds Max and XSI, and I'd always go with the non-pro (exact twin) card version to avoid the huge mark-up forced on businesses for what amounts to drivers and suffer through the slight lack of driver support, which wasn't so bad actually. It reminded me of the viscous mark-up in pricing from many restaurant supply stores where a microwave for a business was outrageously expensive just because they could after stamping or re-branding, knowing you had a big checkbook with a big budget and were typically paying with someone else's money or under a large enough budget that you'd do it.

 

Yeah, so many options, good idea to shop around. Maybe use a website like Dell or HP to see what to expect in pricing, using them as benchmarks, at least. For what the OP is willing to spend, it ought to be a very nice gaming machine in the end. Consider most games are designed to run systems costing half or a fourth that (looking at consoles, too).

[ElvenScoundrel]

I think that with Vaio computers, it depends. They focus their attention more on laptops (one which I'm using to make this post) than desktops, and their laptops run from 'horribly overpriced, flashy piece of shit' to 'quite decent, somewhat reasonably priced'. Mine has a decent Ati Mobility Radeon gpu, which runs some old-ish games like Fallout: New Vegas rather decently, though Skyrim, even with the settings on their slowest, is pretty sluggish.

 

I think that building your own would be the best course of action. Not only will you learn to build 'em, but it COULD be cheaper if you buy the parts from a nice store.

 

And for the love of Deities, don't buy Alienware

[reae]

To OP:

my machine costed around 1300$ (or should I say 4k PLNs, I don't know rates for that times), I assembled it around half year ago.

CPU:i7 2600 (but you want it with K in the end,I have bought used, so plain, blocked version was more sensible).

MoBo: Asus P8P67 Pro, or something (hardly the best, but works without any issues)

Ram: 12 GB of cheapest 1333Mhz (any faster makes little to no difference in games in HD resolutions)

GFX: Radeon HD 6970, (referential version, so you can find better, again used)

PSU: from my old PC, OCZ Stealth X Stream 500W, this is most booo part here, first thing to change.

HD:1,5 GB Eco Samsung:D Yup, it's slow as hell, that's why I have plans for nice SSD.

Monitor:Samsung 22" on LED.

 

This sums into nice, not ground breaking rig. What would I change? HDD as I mentioned. Problem is, spending bit more money (for example 300$) would give me very little. Next performance class translates into x times more spent money. On cpu and gfx I saved around 200$.

[thesapien]

To OP:

my machine costed around 1300$ (or should I say 4k PLNs' date=' I don't know rates for that times), I assembled it around half year ago.

CPU:i7 2600 (but you want it with K in the end,I have bought used, so plain, blocked version was more sensible).

MoBo: Asus P8P67 Pro, or something (hardly the best, but works without any issues)

Ram: 12 GB of cheapest 1333Mhz (any faster makes little to no difference in games in HD resolutions)

GFX: Radeon HD 6970, (referential version, so you can find better, again used)

PSU: from my old PC, OCZ Stealth X Stream 500W, this is most booo part here, first thing to change.

HD:1,5 GB Eco Samsung:D Yup, it's slow as hell, that's why I have plans for nice SSD.

Monitor:Samsung 22" on LED.

 

This sums into nice, not ground breaking rig. What would I change? HDD as I mentioned. Problem is, spending bit more money (for example 300$) would give me very little. Next performance class translates into x times more spent money. On cpu and gfx I saved around 200$.

[/quote']

 

Was that the final cost even after recycling your old power supply and computer case? Monitor included too or no?

[thesapien]

I think that with Vaio computers' date=' it depends. They focus their attention more on laptops (one which I'm using to make this post) than desktops, and their laptops run from 'horribly overpriced, flashy piece of shit' to 'quite decent, somewhat reasonably priced'. Mine has a decent Ati Mobility Radeon gpu, which runs some old-ish games like Fallout: New Vegas rather decently, though Skyrim, even with the settings on their slowest, is pretty sluggish.

 

I think that building your own would be the best course of action. Not only will you learn to build 'em, but it COULD be cheaper if you buy the parts from a nice store.

 

And for the love of Deities, don't buy Alienware

[/quote']

 

Could be cheaper, could also be cheaper to not. Depends. Deals can be found on both sides.

 

What's so bad about Alienware? Yeah, they get a lot of flack for being owned by Dell, but what's so bad about Dell? Yes, you're paying for lots of extra stuff, but you also actually get all that extra stuff, too. Try building your own to the same exact specs along with all the bells and whistles (like automated vents that open and close) and polish and finish and... well, it's beyond my own skills in crafting at the moment. I don't think I could do it. I could maybe spend just as much on building my own to match it, but that would still require me buying a very fancy computer case from someone else. Personally, I don't really feel the need, but still kind of like others doing it because it helps innovation and such.

[Glugg]

FWIW: I bought my current machine from Digital Storm for $1400-something. I realize there's undoubtedly some markup, but considering that it was cheaper than a comparable rig from anywhere else -- and that I really wasn't comfortable building it myself -- I don't feel too badly ripped off.

 

Edit: Stats for comparison's sake:

- i52500k, OC'd

- 8GB RAM

- 500GB HD

- GTX 570

- Upgraded cooling, extra fans, hand-wired, etc.

[reae]

cut' date=' no use repeating myself

[/quote']

 

Was that the final cost even after recycling your old power supply and computer case? Monitor included too or no?

 

Without PSU, monitor and HDD it costed around 1000$. To be exact: GFX was 1100 pln, i7 1000 pln,mobo around 400 pln, ram ~500 pln, new dvd burner 100 pln and case also around 100 pln, assembled in November last year. Right now pln are weaker, so such combination would be harder, especially with no real next gen contenders for parts I have. HD7xxx is wonderful, but 6990 is just a little bit pricey and better, except hunger for watts, GFs are similar, Ivy Bridge are nice and all, but since Sandy has no competition (evil, evil AMD) and Ivy lands on higher shelf. PSU(~200 pln), Monitor(~550 pln) and HDD (~200 pln) were bought before Thailand was flooded and PLNs were strong as hell, compared to $.

[helgea]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your suggestions..anyway I decide that I let my friend assemble for me it's not going to be a real powerful computer but at least it can run the game smoothly at an acceptable graphic setting(for me..)

[Ryanhabs]

I'm an advocate for building your own pc. That said I wont go too far in to details as you have already stated that your not comfortable doing this yourself.

 

Just points to note on where your money is best spent on quality parts.

 

- first and foremost the power supply. This needs to be a quality reliable piece as its the life line of everything inside your pc case. Do your homework on this part, read online reviews and visit pc forums to see what other have said about a psu your looking to get. (before you can decide on watts needed you need a basic idea of what you want in the pc then you can use a psu calculator to find out just how many watts you will need in your psu.)

 

- motherboard is next. more research required. the issues of any given motherboard are always well documented on manufacturer forums and enthusiast forums alike.

 

- Cpu... the centerpiece so to speak. this is a pretty straight forward choice. Will you be overclocking? if yes, your mostlikely going to end up with a i5 or i7 K model cpu. if your not overclocking, pick any decent gaming cpu and have a ball.

 

- Ram. pick a reliable name brand. G.skill is my personal favorite but most people stick with corsair.

 

and finally the big money eater... the GPU. You dont need to buy a crazy top of the line model as this is the piece you will likely upgrade most. A solid performing gpu with good gaming performance can be had for 170 to 240 range. you would be wise to look in to the gtx 560 line up. They are great performing mid-range cards. You can go high-end if you don't wish to mess with upgrades but a good high-end card will run a little less than 1/2 your total system budget so 549 bucks on a single part will leave another area lacking quite a bit.

 

The info I typed out can be used for building your own system or picking out parts for a custom built from sites like cyberpower or ibuypower. It's not likely to help you if you go to bestbuy and buy off the shelf as you have no "real" say in what the pc will have in it.

 

Good luck in your search, but I'll leave with this last comment. I have been building computers for myself, my parents and other family members, and friends for about 15 years, I have been building custom pc's professionally for about 8 years. I can honestly say building your own pc has gotten so simple and you really need to do some silly thing to mess it up (odd chance of bad products aside).

[afa]

If you are planning to build a pc now, start researching, but don't buy cpu, gpu and motherboard yet. Intel new cpu might hit the shelve soon as will Nvidia GPU, even if you aren't going for the newest and greatest, you should at least see if their release will drive any current generation hardware prices down.

[thesapien]

I can honestly say building your own pc has gotten so simple and you really need to do some silly thing to mess it up (odd chance of bad products aside).

 

I feel so silly now. No, no personal examples right now. I'm just feeling happy that my current system is working, which reminds me, remember to count the power cables on your power supply before buying to make sure it has enough for things like a graphics card with two power connectors so you don't have to cut and split any wires...

 

Btw, that list isn't in order of selection, is it? CPU would otherwise come before MB, right?

[thesapien]

If you are planning to build a pc now' date=' start researching, but don't buy cpu, gpu and motherboard yet. Intel new cpu might hit the shelve soon as will Nvidia GPU, even if you aren't going for the newest and greatest, you should at least see if their release will drive any current generation hardware prices down.

[/quote']

 

Ah, yes, the waiting game... can drive you insane when new stuff just keeps appearing on the horizon. One thing that helps tremendously is after buying what you need, don't look at any tech stuff released for at least the next six months. Avoid geek updates on PC parts until you're back in the market. The worst is finding out the next day that your CPU is already dated. Else, avoid high end parts so the pain is less.