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[nextgeneration]

I wouldn't buy from Dell. For about the same price, you can get this configuration from cyberpower pc - $1591.

* CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-960 3.20 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 [+306]
* HDD: Single Hard Drive (750GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [-21])
* MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI Support) Asus P6T Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA [+47]
* MEMORY: 3GB (1GBx3) DDR3/1333MHz Triple Channel Memory [-14] (Corsair or Major Brand)
* SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
* VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB DDR5 16X PCIe Video Card [DirectX 11 Support] [+290] (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
* LG CH08-LS10K 8X Blu-Ray Player & DVDRW Combo Drive
* Windows 7

 

[MiniKelly]

I never buy prebuild for gaming only if it is a laptop.

 

[dLMN8R]

An Alienware m11x + monitor would probably be a better value than that thing :lol

 

[Fusebox]

I ordered a prebuilt from Dell the other day, it was 20% off for one weekend, free upgrade from 3GB RAM to 6GB. I kept the stock video card and bought a replacement GPU and PSU elsewhere.

Specs...

Dell 430 Vostro mini-tower

Intel(R)Core(TM) i7 Quad Core Processor i7-860 (2.80GHz, 8MB, 4C, 8 threads, Turbo up to 3.46GHz)

6GB(3X2GB) NECC Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM Memory

Dell (TM) 23 " E2310H Wide Screen Flat Panel 1920 x 1200 LCD Monitor

Video Card 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) G310 (DVI, VGA,HDMI)

Hard Drive 750GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive with Native Command Queuing

Windows 7 64-bit

That all came to AUS$1,279.20

Then I ordered the Amaze HD5770 ($175) GPU and an Antec 620C PSU to go with it ($99).

Total - AUS$1553, or around US$1300

I could have saved a few bucks building my own for sure, but I've never bought one off the rack before and I thought I'd give it a shot.

 

[mr stroke]

god forbid a company trying to make a profit :lol


I hate people trolling pre built PC's

sure its more, but your paying 2-300$ more for someone to put it together, test it, and offer lifetime phone support.

 

[Gully State]

god forbid a company trying to make a profit :lol


I hate people trolling pre built PC's

sure its more, but your paying 2-300$ more for someone to put it together, test it, and offer lifetime phone support.

You make it sound like putting together a computer requires an individual with an advanced degree in rocket surgery..

 

[QuiteWhittle]

god forbid a company trying to make a profit :lol


I hate people trolling pre built PC's

sure its more, but your paying 2-300$ more for someone to put it together, test it, and offer lifetime phone support.

I'm pretty sure NCIX charges only 50 bucks to build and test it, and the phone support is more than likely worse than a Tech Support forum.

 

[Talamius]

I thought about a snarky reply, but this is better.

Putting your PC together is not really difficult. Everything outside of seating the processor and putting the heatsink on is color coded and only goes in one way. Even then, pin 1 is clearly marked, you don't have to put any pressure on the CPU to seat it (if it's not dropping in you don't have it lined up properly, try again), and heatsinks with retail processors already have the thermal grease applied. Don't put your PC together on carpet and you will be just fine. Plus, you have the pride of knowing exactly what is in your PC and saving a ton of money.

There are plenty of buying guides on GAF put together by posters like brain_stew and most of PC-GAF is happy to walk you through the basics.

 

[Fox318]

You make it sound like putting together a computer requires an individual with an advanced degree in rocket surgery..

 

[nextgeneration]

god forbid a company trying to make a profit :lol


I hate people trolling pre built PC's

sure its more, but your paying 2-300$ more for someone to put it together, test it, and offer lifetime phone support.

Yeah, for the people who don't know squat about the first thing when it comes to building a pc, they'd much rather just pay someone else to build it and not have to worry about it. I'm one of those people. I don't want to take the time to learn to try and build a pc. I'd rather just pay someone else to do it for me.

 

[tokkun]

Well, exactly, so long as you don't do something like short circuit your motherboard or bash it with a screw driver, it's hard to get it wrong.

I have to disagree.

For example, on the current i5 motherboards, most boards will not work properly with every DIMM slot populated.

Then there is the issue of power supplies. Even if you buy something with a high total power, you might not have enough power on each individual rail.

These problems are not the sort of thing you can expect an average person to know.

 

[Wag]

I buy all my own parts online, take them to my local mom and pop store and he puts them together for $60. Worth it right there. Especially since he can troubleshoot it if anything goes wrong.

 

[nextgeneration]

I buy all my own parts online, take them to my local mom and pop store and he puts them together for $60. Worth it right there. Especially since he can troubleshoot it if anything goes wrong.

Yeah, I just may go this route with my new pc.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

when buying parts fron newegg or NCIX (which will put it togheter for you for $50 bones) the individual companies also provide tech support, usually better than the prebuilt people.

 

[x3sphere]

I have to disagree.

For example, on the current i5 motherboards, most boards will not work properly with every DIMM slot populated.

Then there is the issue of power supplies. Even if you buy something with a high total power, you might not have enough power on each individual rail.

These problems are not the sort of thing you can expect an average person to know.

You also have to be careful with the new i5/i7 boards. If the heatsink is clamped down too tight on the CPU socket it can knock out one of the DIMM slots. Had this problem with my most recent build. However, a faulty mobo, RAM, or CPU can also exhibit the same issue. Troubleshooting issues like this can be a pain, not to mention time consuming. I can fully understand why someone would pay $100-200 extra to go prebuilt just for the peace of mind.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

:lol No wonder current PC Gaming is out of my reach, unless I want to go through the hassle of building a PC from scratch on my own.

I had never built a computer before my first one and I found it stressful, educational, fun, and was really proud of the work I did.

There's also computer specialists all over Everytownever, USA that can do it for you for like $40.

 

[MoFuzz]

I'm pretty sure NCIX charges only 50 bucks to build and test it, and the phone support is more than likely worse than a Tech Support forum.

This is assuming that the person is tech savvy enough to find answers on a tech support forum. We take it for granted as we are all posting on one right now, but for people who are less technically inclined, phone support is simply more convenient and familiar to them. I say this from personal experience with helping people generally a bit older and having not used computers much in the past.

It boils down to having a name you trust, be it Dell, HP or whoever.

Also:

 

[ShockingAlberto]

This is assuming that the person is tech savvy enough to find answers on a tech support forum. We take it for granted as we are all posting on one right now, but for people who are less technically inclined, phone support is simply more convenient and familiar to them. I say this from personal experience with helping people generally a bit older and having not used computers much in the past.

Also:

If you're buying a gaming rig, you know how to access a tech support forum.

 

[52club]

I've built two systems now. I've probably spent about $1600. The answer is, no, not all pre-built systems are not "shit value". I could probably find some place selling an 8800GT for over $200. However, that isn't representative of every place that sells computer parts. Do your research and find the company that gives you the best bang for your buck.

This thread seems to have changed to a prebuild PC versus building your own. If you have the time build you own. That being said expect to learn some tough lessons along the way from the teacher that gives the test first and then the lesson. I would have saved about 20-24 hours buying a prebuilt PC. If your time is more valuable than those lessons you should buy a prebuilt.

 

[BobLoblaw]

I've built two PCs so far and I'm never going back to pre-built garbage. You end up paying 2-3 times normal retail prices for someone else to do it.

 

[Diablohead]

:lol No wonder current PC Gaming is out of my reach, unless I want to go through the hassle of building a PC from scratch on my own.

Websites that allow you to pick parts and they build it for you are rather good, you pay a £50 premium over making it yourself but some companies throw in a year's cover and all that, so you are safe in case something blows up.

Buying a pc from dixons, comet or some other B&M in the UK is just not worth it, at all!

 

[Squash]

Not everyone played with Lego when they were kids I guess.

EDIT: Not suggesting building a PC is hard, quite the opposite.

Honestly sometimes Legos are harder, lol. You could be building like a busy bee and then bam, you forgot a piece on the bottom and your whole set looks like that shrinking room in Willy Wonka.

 

[MoFuzz]

If you're buying a gaming rig, you know how to access a tech support forum.

The the thread title and OP seemed to convey more of a general PC build, be it for gaming, or otherwise. The value in both gaming/non gaming builds from pre-builit manufacturers is lacking.

 

[Hazaro]

Check the Dell Outlet. Prices on refurbs are way cheaper and most of the higher end machines still come with a warranty. I've seen plenty of prebuilts that I couldn't build myself cheaper (granted, I would be using higher quality parts better for overclocking, but still).

This.

Slap in a 9800GT or ATi equivalent (I only say 9800GT because Dell uses the same PSU in system for the 8800GT) and you are golden for $600.

 

[coopolon]

It's already been said, but I want to reiterate, for budget low entry machines, prebuilts are actually the way to go. My mom's PC is on the fritz, and she doesn't need anything more then something that can surf the internet, store her digital pictures, check her email, run turbotax, and run Office. At first I kept telling her to not waste her money to prefabs, I could build her a machine for so much cheaper. But it wasn't the case, prefabs were WAY cheaper, especially if you were willing to look into refurbished. And sure, the prefabs are going to come with shitty parts, but they also come with tech support and a warranty.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

I like how it's always a mid-range GPU coupled with a batshit insane CPU. They never seem to put in a 5890 and go balls to the wall.

 

[dark10x]

Building a PC isn't difficult at all (been doing it since 1998) and it has only gotten easier. However, there are definitely some things that a first time builder may encounter that could cause them problems.

If everything goes off without a hitch, you're all set, but sometimes small configuration issues can crop up that the less experienced builder might have trouble solving. When you've spent all that money on different parts and things start going wrong, it can feel pretty stressful.

 

[Pepto]

Guess the price of this baby?

-i7 950
-3GB DDR3 1333
-640GB 7200rpm
-Ati Radeon 5770 1GB
-Blu Ray Drive
-W7

Prices here:

i7 950 = 550€
3GB DDR3 = 80€
Motherboard = 170€
HDD = 50€
5770 = 160€
Blu-Ray = 70€
W7 = 100€

Total without a case = 1080€.