To build or buy...

[Merckx]

My current computer is about 7 years old and its not getting any younger. Its got an AMD Athlon 64 X2 and a 8800 GTS GPU on an Asus AN32 SLI mobo. Its got around 500gb of hard drive and 2gb of memory. I doubt it is worth upgrading (right?).

I had originally planned on building a new rig so I could make sure to get the exact specs I want and to save a couple bucks, but then I realized that the premade machines these days really don't cost that much more.

Here is what I am thinking - not having to actually do the work of building the computer is worth $25 to me, and not having to worry about troubleshooting if/when I make a mistake is worth $25 and knowing that I won't have to place multiple orders to get the stuff I forgot the first time is worth another $25. On top of that, if I order from Amazon or Best Buy, I can get 12-18 months of interest free financing and not having to pay everything up front is worth another $50.

So here is the question - can I build a PC that is $125 cheaper than this (although not necessarily this computer, but something similar): http://www.bestbuy.com/site/CyberPow...&skuId=5857298 that will give similar/better performance? I could cannibalize the power supply (500w), CD Drive and mouse/keyboard from my current setup, but that is about it and I plan on upgrading to an SSD on the premade machine.

[Djinni]

The power supply is probably the one thing You should most definitely replace at this point. It is unlikely that it will still be performing to spec at this point.
I also personally ouldnt buy a computer from Amazon... not saying theres anything wrong with it... I just don't like giving that amount of money to a faceless company not having a store you go into and complain to a manager when something goes tits up.

[yurano]

Using your $125 deduction, probably not. Windows is too expensive to buy non-prebuilt at $600.

Based primarily on system specs, I recommend getting a Radeon 6670 over the 620.

Edit - Do you live near a Microcenter? If so, it might be possible to build a more powerful computer for less.

[Kev2Tall]

That system you linked comes with a "blazing" fast GT 620. Anything in the GT series is better off left on a shelf and spend the same amount on a generation or 2 older GTX series GPU. I present you my evidence, my old GPU versus the one in that "gaming" rig http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/612?vs=542 . Yes windows makes a prebuilt at that price hard to do but by using the setup of the month suggestions given here, you can do it for that price and have room to buy a new copy of windows. Also a generation or two older ATI card will fare much better than that GT 620.

[Djinni]

That system you linked comes with a "blazing" fast GT 620. Anything in the GT series is better off left on a shelf and spend the same amount on a generation or 2 older GTX series GPU. I present you my evidence, my old GPU versus the one in that "gaming" rig http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/612?vs=542 . Yes windows makes a prebuilt at that price hard to do but by using the setup of the month suggestions given here, you can do it for that price and have room to buy a new copy of windows. Also a generation or two older ATI card will fare much better than that GT 620.

Actually in this case.... the GT has nothing to do with it... more the fact that the X20 is a media card... not a gaming card. You want a X50+ for gaming so eg: 650, 660, 670, 680 etc...

[Deleted]

yes you can.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...-Sample-Builds

get the 650 build, but replace the CPU and mobo from the 800 build. That should cost around 700.