I want a pre-built. Don't laugh.

Cyberpower is supposed to be decent I think. Still overprices like Alienware though not as badly. If I were to get a prebuilt pc, I'd get one from Falcon NW though. Well, I'd probably get a Boxx computer, but if I was just getting one solely for gaming, it'd be a Falcon.

http://build.falcon-nw.com/
 
I got a prebuilt many years ago from Cyberpower / ibuypower. They don't overprice anywhere near to Alienware, but you are still paying a significant bit of cash for the convenience of them putting the stuff together for you. However, they did a great job with my PC and had good prompt customer service.

Still, it's kind of a waste of money to not just built it yourself. It's easy so long as you get the right parts.
 
ShinRa said:
So I'm looking at pre-built PCs now. I'm so tired of tracking down parts and putting it together myself and dealing with all the mistakes I'll inevitably make. I refuse to give alienware or any of those companies my money, so I was looking at neweggs prebuilts. Are any of these good? Which one would you recommend?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0006736 50012046&IsNodeId=1&name=CyberpowerPC
Click to expand...

We just helped you build one a few months ago. This isn't really for you, is it?
 
Ennui said:
I got a prebuilt many years ago from Cyberpower / ibuypower. They don't overprice anywhere near to Alienware, but you are still paying a significant bit of cash for the convenience of them putting the stuff together for you. However, they did a great job with my PC and had good prompt customer service.

Still, it's kind of a waste of money to not just built it yourself. It's easy so long as you get the right parts.
Click to expand...

I can second this. I used ibuypower about two years ago, and while it was definitely a great experience, it still does cost a bit more than doing everything yourself.
 
If I remember correctly you were dead set on getting an alienware in the past, at least you've shook off that demon now! All we've got to do is break you down a little more until you pick up that screwdriver and see reason :p
 
I mean, supposedly, he bought an i5-750, an Msi CD-53 motherboard and G.Skill RAM, not 6 months ago. I remember because I spent a lot of time helping, and that's pretty much the same computer I'm using right now. Maybe he changed his mind and didn't order the stuff after all.

EDIT: It's really nice to see that every single one of those pre-builts is 64-Bit. That's a good sign of things.
 
Hectic Glenn said:
If I remember correctly you were dead set on getting an alienware in the past, at least you've shook off that demon now! All we've got to do is break you down a little more until you pick up that screwdriver and see reason :p
Click to expand...

Well, there's still a number of reasons to want a prebuilt PC.
I've assembled a lot of PC's, but still have my brother do CPU heatsinks because I'm terrible at those things. I once ruined an old motherboard by scratching it with a heatsink, and I can imagine most people not wanting to risk a $50+ motherboard with such silly mistakes.
And you save our poor world from a lot of useless packing materials.(no, I didn't get a prebuilt)

When going with a pre-built make sure you get it from a company that mentions the PSU and HDD model(and google for reviews). Just 600w/1TB 7200RPM says nothing. If they don't mention those it's probably very low-quality stuff to cut the costs.
 
Strage... The last computer I bought from one of our local stores was assembled and delivered to my doorstep for free. Of course all the components were bought from them, but still I picked out whatever I wanted and when the delivery guy showed up, I only payed for the actual components I bought. I would never attempt to assemble a new PC myself, potentially damaging the components and void the warranty in the process. Out of curiosity how much do you guys pay for assembly at one of your local electronics stores?
 
I'm a bit technically proficient, but it was all very easy for me, even my first time.

It just requires that you do some research to know how to do it, what not to do, etc. The more you research and read about things, the more you know. Who would have thought? :p
 
It's super easy to build a PC. I guess it'd be more hard if you were doing watercooling or something but tbh the only slightly scary part is installing the CPU and heatsink. CPU just because you feel like you're in a government lab handling extremely volatile nitroglycerin, besides that it's generally easy to drop into its slot if you are careful and have a steady hand.

Putting the heatsink on is easily the worst and most nerve-wracking part of building a PC but even that is pretty easy if you aren't a total nincompoop. Just do it :D First time I built my PC was with absolutely no prior experience or knowledge, I just ordered all the parts and following the simple instructions :D
 
Dinnesch said:
So, did you read the advice you asked for in this thread or did you just feel like asking a question on a forum?
Click to expand...

Well obviously it's still for someone. I'm getting a computer for a friend and he gave me a budget. I just don't want to build it. So yes, I did take the advice here. Thanks.
 
Sometimes it's just nice to have someone put together a PC for you. I did it once and, although it probably added somewhere in the 10%-20% range for cost, it was nice to have everything guaranteed to work and nicely organized in the case. These days I wouldn't bother because I've kind of grown to enjoy organizing my own case. Plus you can buy things bundled so you know you're not getting incompatible processors or memory for motherboards. I dunno why, but I've always been paranoid about getting incompatible parts - though it's never happened.

Also I used a company called Ibuypower which was fairly priced.
 
dont buy prebuilt just go to a computer store, talk with one of the staff about your needs. have him collect the parts and for $50 the store will put it together for you. most pc stores have this service because they do it for corporate customers all the time
 
CptStern said:
dont buy prebuilt just go to a computer store, talk with one of the staff about your needs. have him collect the parts and for $50 the store will put it together for you. most pc stores have this service because they do it for corporate customers all the time
Click to expand...

Thats a fantastic idea! You think if I bought all the parts online I'd be able to bring them to a store to be put together? Or would I have to buy the parts in-store? Chances are they're cheaper on newegg.
 
dont know about newegg but NCIX (similiar to newegg in canada) will allow you to configure any configuration you want and then charge you a build fee. you can do it online./ so I'm sure there's an american equivilent that does the same
 
I see mention of CyberPower in here, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with their UK branch or had heard if it had the same quality as the US branch?
 
You've all convinced me to just do the goddamn job myself. None of these pre-builts are really selling me. Someone tell me if theres anything wrong with this setup or if anything should be changed:

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
MOBO: ASUS Sabertooth X58
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel
PSU: CORSAIR 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready
VC: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb
CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
DRIVE: Standard ASUS DVD Drive + Media Card Reader
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Total comes to exactly $1500, and with me selling his old comp to a family member for $250, total cost to him is $1250 for the above. What say you's?
 
Looks pretty damn good to me. Really, the only thing I could possibly say "don't get this" for is the case, and only because everybody and their mother has it so its not as "cool" as some other ones. Its still a perfectly good case though, and has a good reputation for a reason.
 
Assuming we are talking about the Antec 900 (first version), I like the case, but the fact that the PSU is mounted on the bottom makes the wiring set up to be upside down. So you have to route your HDD cables from the top and go down, which leaves a loop at the top. (EDIT: Also, that means you have to go up and then down, so it's twice the wire mess) Pretty much every single connector will be backwards or upside down, but other than a bit of a pain (when you go to plug it in, it is naturally lined up backwards), it hasn't been a problem for me even with 9 HDDs in mine. (I ordered a 3rd HDD cage and put my DVD in an external case).

There are some other bad things about this case, but mostly these are things you know about going into it - like the LED fans. That gets old. I got new fans.

I think this case was at the dawn of the custom case craze, and so it isn't evolved to include things like hidden wiring (routed behind the back panel). So you can easily have a ****ing mess in there, though the airflow should still be pretty amazing.
 
I would personally go with a i7-8xx CPU (P55/H55) unless you're planning to go with the pain in ass that is a multi-card setup. i7-8xx processors perform similar to 9xx ones, while being cheaper and having a considerably lower idle power consumption.

And get yourself a nice CPU cooler, such as the Scythe Mugen 2 Rev.B(non-rev b ones aren't compatible with S1156). The default coolers that ship with i7 CPUs(both 8xx and 9xx) make them run way too hot.

Also, make sure you get a 64-bit Windows 7
 
Thanks Krynn and Virus, I'll take that into consideration, and I'd even take other suggestions you guys have for a case.

Dinnesh, you say its cheaper and consumes less power, how big of a drop in performance are we talking? He does a lot of photo/video editing as well as gaming. Can he still run everything smoothly? I'd consider the i7-8xx series, especially if its cheaper, if it can actually keep up with the rest of the computer.
 
Ennui said:
I got a prebuilt many years ago from Cyberpower / ibuypower. They don't overprice anywhere near to Alienware, but you are still paying a significant bit of cash for the convenience of them putting the stuff together for you. However, they did a great job with my PC and had good prompt customer service.

Still, it's kind of a waste of money to not just built it yourself. It's easy so long as you get the right parts.
Click to expand...

Right on!!!
Build my 3 pcs up to date with no help whatsoever(althou that cost me my processor on the first one).
You just gotta love putting stuff together on your own.And love PC's.:D

ShinRa said:
You've all convinced me to just do the goddamn job myself. None of these pre-builts are really selling me. Someone tell me if theres anything wrong with this setup or if anything should be changed:

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
MOBO: ASUS Sabertooth X58
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel
PSU: CORSAIR 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready
VC: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb
CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
DRIVE: Standard ASUS DVD Drive + Media Card Reader
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Total comes to exactly $1500, and with me selling his old comp to a family member for $250, total cost to him is $1250 for the above. What say you's?
Click to expand...

I would go with kingston HyperX Genesis (KHX1600C9D3K3/12GX to be exact).Althou it will brake your budget by some 70-80 $,you will get double the memory with greater speed...
But that's up to you.
One more thing,you haven't mentioned will this machine be for gaming or professional graphic processing?
 
He does a lot of photo/video editing as well as gaming.
 
The corsair ram timings are 8-8-8-24, while the ram you suggested is 9-9-9-27. Also its double the amount of memory. But if you were to double the cost of the corsair memory, itd cost more than the kingston. So why the kingston ram?
 
Soz for the 50 posts:D
My net is ****ing with me...
Anyhow,Is he rendering high polygon models like from Maya 3d or 3d Max or sth like that?
If not,than you can cut a bit of the processor,cuz to be honest no game will need that kind of powerful processor in the next 5-6 years:D
You can incest in some better equipment(mouse,keyboard,Headphones and such),cuz they make a lot of difference when playing.
 
Well the only i7-8xx series I can find on newegg is the 870, and thats only 10 dollars cheaper, so for that im stick with the 950. But much appreciation for your input!
 
Not sure if you need a very large case, but I recommend this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146062

It's got a ton of room, you can hide your cords, cools off quick and easy, and has more drive bays than anybody who isn't running a server out of it could ever need. Plus it's a little cheaper than that one you just linked to. My favorite thing about it is that there is plenty of room for mods, and extra parts that could be useful.
 
That case is absolutely enormous. Love the idea of 6 huge fans though. I've always leaned towards cases with a ton of fans as I felt cooling is super important. But looking at how big it is, I don't think he'd ever need something like this. Thats just HUGE.
 
ShinRa said:
Well the only i7-8xx series I can find on newegg is the 870, and thats only 10 dollars cheaper, so for that im stick with the 950. But much appreciation for your input!
Click to expand...

What makes socket 1156 so much cheaper is the motherboards(=total platform cost). You already have a comparable ASUS motherboard at like $75 less: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131634
Plus the lower idle(i.e. when just browsing the web/chatting, most of the time for most people) power consumption will save quite some money in the longer run. Look at some relevant benchmarks here or at other places to see if there's any reason not to go with a 8xx one.
The only reason I can think of is with a Crossfire/SLI setup, at which the P55 chipset is known to perform worse. But no one wants the trouble that comes with SLI/Crossfire anyway, amirite?

I'd spend the money saved on the CPU/mobo on an additional 4GB(or 6GB if going with a 9xx) of RAM, especially when he does photo/video editing.
If you want to leave memory-hungry programs in the background (when gaming), it's nice to don't have them going in your paging file all the time, requiring them to 'wake up' each time. I turned my paging file completely off, that might be a bit 'risky' for rendering 3D models.
When you're already spending $1200+ on a PC for gaming/rendering/photoshop I think this luxury is definitely worth it. This Kingston set has a very good quality/money ratio.
 
The board/cpu combo supports dual channel. That kingston ram is quad channel. Im confused? BTW you've convinced me to go with the 870/p55 option. but now im also bringing his comp down to dual channel. Doesnt that slow it down even further?
 
ShinRa said:
The board/cpu combo supports dual channel. That kingston ram is quad channel. Im confused? BTW you've convinced me to go with the 870/p55 option. but now im also bringing his comp down to dual channel. Doesnt that slow it down even further?
Click to expand...

The P55 chipset doesn't support more than dual-channel(unlike X58), but like benchmarks already proved dual channel/triple channel makes a negligible difference on X58 chips.
The Kingston RAM says 'quad-channel' but it should work flawlessly in dual-channel mode(4x2GB).
Oh, Newegg also offers a 2x4GB Kingston set for $2 more which I never read about before(so please don't judge only based on my advice :p ): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104246

Well, what I say in this thread is just what I believe, if you're unsure about something I really recommend googling a bit more.
 
No no. I'm impressed. I did some googling. Turns out the 870 is actually a bit better than the 950, especially if you're not doing a dual VGA set up. So now you just helped me lower the final price to 1200. With the 250 he gets from selling his current comp, he got all this for 950. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

CPU: Intel Core i7-870 2.93GHz
MOBO: ASUS P55
RAM: CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel
PSU: CORSAIR 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready
VC: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb
CASE: Rosewill ARMOR Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Bottom line cost to the customer: $950.

What do we think people? Do I bother with an aftermarket HS/F for better cooling? Or is the stock one sufficient?
 
That PSU is well too much. Go with a quality 600-700w.

The CPU and VGA you picked are extremely efficient. You could crossfire on a 600w with those.

Example - 306w at socket: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/10 (with extreme processor)

Not sure why you are going with a ho hum HDD, but it is pretty inexpensive, I guess.


EDIT: BTW, that GPU looks extremely long. That could be coming up on 12". You will need to get a measurement to be sure it even fits in whichever case you choose.
For cases, I would probably go with the Centurion Mid Tower ATX, because it has room for any length GPU, and because it is much less expensive, and has no LED fans. Also I think side fans are really annoying to work with and rattle (but they might be really effective, too, I don't know that).

EDIT: I didn't realize it comes with an 80mm front fan. I don't like that at all. :(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...8&cm_re=centurion_case-_-11-119-068-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7&cm_re=centurion_case-_-11-119-077-_-Product

You get what you pay for, but I don't think people really want all that they pay for (LED's for example - it's only neat at first, if it's your first LED case. Well that's just my opinion). And do you need 12 expansion bays like in the NXT?

EDIT: I don't think the Centurion comes with a top fan though - in fact I think it only comes with a rear fan. But that means you can pick your fans. I like the Scythe fans (S-FLEX is good), as long as you will be seated at least a foot or two from the case.
 
ShinRa said:
What do we think people? Do I bother with an aftermarket HS/F for better cooling? Or is the stock one sufficient?
Click to expand...

Yes, you definitely want a fancy CPU cooler when going with an i7-870 (also considering it's price). Especially considering you/your friend is likely going to want to overclock it at some point.
Even at stock speeds the default fan can result in load temperatures over 80C(depending on the climate you live in :p ), which isn't really good for your CPU. like said before, I can recommend a Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B, if you can get it somewhere(not on newegg)
 
I've got the stock fan on the i5-750 (which is quite similar - in fact I think the difference is just lack of Hyperthreading, and slightly lower clockspeed). I'm not sure if they use the same HS/Fan, honestly, but mine really is a dinky fan; the heatsink isn't too shabby, however. Load temperatures max at about 59C. Idle temps average 40C.

But if I had the extra money, and knowing what I do now, I'd probably opt for a quality replacement. I do believe temperatures could be 10-15C less which is substantial. My main problem is that I don't trust aftermarket parts sometimes. OEM (the fan it comes with from Intel) is usually a much safer bet (although lacking in performance). The cooler Dinnesch recommends seems to be one of the better ones, and should be a safe bet.

Perhaps with a high performance cooler, you could have more sustained 'Turbo' (Intel's auto CPU overclocking, based on core temperature). I cannot make that comparison, but it makes sense that it would. I don't know at which temperature the CPU begins scaling back the overclocking.
 
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