Buy complete computer deals or build your own?

[Deleted]

What do you think?

---------- Post added 2011-02-26 at 06:17 AM ----------

Just noticed I'm in the wrong topic. This should be in computers. s:

[Dark Side]

Very well, moved to computers.

[Fedexkilla]

For years I've always bought pre-builts because i was worried about screwing up a build your own, after successfully building my own i wont ever buy a pre-built so long as I have a choice.

[Redcrow]

build your own, its like a 7 piece puzzle it isn't hard

[Waylander]

Prefer building my own:

+ buy exactly what you need
+ don't waste money for useless features
+ no low-quality parts depending on how much you want to spend (especially coolers, mainboards with crappy onboard graphics...)
+ fun of course

- takes some time and effort
- basic knowledge required

[Helieos]

Build your own. If you don't know how, see if you can find someone who can help you or do a lot of research. Not only do you get a kick ass computer for way less then if you bought it pre-built, but you have the satisfaction of building it yourself. Also because you can do so much customization to make it look as cool as you want.

[jobdone]

It's as easy as that^^

[Droxx]

Build you own
stay away from sli/crossfire if your playing just wow
windows 7 is best
look for a good reviewed mobo that will do what you want and go from there.

[Radiss]

Build you own
stay away from sli/crossfire if your playing just wow
windows 7 is best
look for a good reviewed mobo that will do what you want and go from there.

Why stay away from SLI for wow?

[shocktopuslol]

Why stay away from SLI for wow?

this, ive heard a lot of people say that wow hates SLI but i have not heard any reasoning, enlighten me please

[Helieos]

Why stay away from SLI for wow?

There has been a lot of tests that show SLI/XFire and wow actually drops your FPS. I think there was an article on http://www.tomshardware.com and I am sure if you did a search on mmo champs forum you would find a few posts about it.

[Saithes]

There has been a lot of tests that show SLI/XFire and wow actually drops your FPS. I think there was an article on http://www.tomshardware.com and I am sure if you did a search on mmo champs forum you would find a few posts about it.

Those "SLi tests" were for WoTLK and not Cata. It's been shown from recent drivers over the last year or so that SLi and Crossfire does and can improve your FPS significantly. What it did show however is that dual gpu cards such as the GTX 295 or 4870X2 had lower performance than most single GPU cards but this was because of the drivers.

[Deleted]

Ok if you have the confidence/competence then yes building your first system can be challenging and rewarding and great if you know exaclty what you want. If you have any doubts then pre build bundles may be the way to go. It depends where you are from but here in England at least the cost of the components/os etc... come to around the same as pre build bundles.

All I will suggest is stay away from brands like Compaq/HP/Acer etc... as these are mass produced with lower grade components. Many of the websites that sell the components also sell pre built bundles or base units on their own. You pay a small premium for this ofc but if any of the hardware does fail during its warranty period the place of purchase tend to handle these exchange/repairs more quickly as they have all the components for testing as apposed to the one compenent the client believes is faulty.

Saying system building is easy is all well and good (to be honest its fairly straight forward) but I have seen it go wrong far too many times over the years as they usually bring these systems to me for diagnostics/rebuilding after they have wrongly returned some components back to the suppliers only to be told the parts are fine, its human error and they have to pay to have the component shipped back to them and now also my time to look at the unit which my time on average would add an additional £50-70/$80-$112 to the total cost of getting them up and running.

As i said if you feel confident/competent then go for it if not look for a good deal on a pre built base unit from a reputable component store.

Kind Regards

Exo

[Ununoctium]

Why stay away from SLI for wow?

Same reason you don't buy a quad/six core cpu for WoW. Conpatability issues. It's an old game that doesn't support this kind of hardware. But then again, who the fuck buys a new computer to play wow? My last 5 computers including laptops have been able to play wow. I got a phenom IIx4 965 (3,4ghz) with 8GB RAM and a Radeon Hd 5770 gfx card just because I like having a fast computer that's optimized for gaming. Y'know there are other games than wow that actually requires a faster computer.

Crossfire/SLI is a great way to upgrade your computer if you're lacking a good gfx card, but unless you wanna spend ALOT of money on your computer, don't bother - just buy a bit better gfx card. Remember that if you for example buy 2x HD 5770, the second one will only provide 75% extra, which is less than you get for the same money if you buy a twice as expencive gfx card.

If you can, build your own, but don't buy a computer to play wow on - buy one to play new games on. Keep in mind that if you wanna play wow, it only runs on 2 cores, so the clock speed is essential here. If you're an AMD guy, buy a Phenom with at least 3 ghz with an AMD (or an old ATI) gfx card, If you're an Intel guy, buy an i7 in the 800-series - that's the gaming series while 900-series is for work, and add an Nvidia gfx card to this.

[jobdone]

I run two Radeon HD 4870 in XFire, gives me pretty good fps in wow

[Saithes]

Same reason you don't buy a quad/six core cpu for WoW. Conpatability issues. It's an old game that doesn't support this kind of hardware. But then again, who the fuck buys a new computer to play wow? My last 5 computers including laptops have been able to play wow. I got a phenom IIx4 965 (3,4ghz) with 8GB RAM and a Radeon Hd 5770 gfx card just because I like having a fast computer that's optimized for gaming. Y'know there are other games than wow that actually requires a faster computer.

Crossfire/SLI is a great way to upgrade your computer if you're lacking a good gfx card, but unless you wanna spend ALOT of money on your computer, don't bother - just buy a bit better gfx card. Remember that if you for example buy 2x HD 5770, the second one will only provide 75% extra, which is less than you get for the same money if you buy a twice as expencive gfx card.

If you can, build your own, but don't buy a computer to play wow on - buy one to play new games on. Keep in mind that if you wanna play wow, it only runs on 2 cores, so the clock speed is essential here. If you're an AMD guy, buy a Phenom with at least 3 ghz with an AMD (or an old ATI) gfx card, If you're an Intel guy, buy an i7 in the 800-series - that's the gaming series while 900-series is for work, and add an Nvidia gfx card to this.

Wow, so much false information. World of Warcraft is capable of distributing its main thread over 3 of the CPU's threads quite well in fact. I get about 30-40% load over 3 of its cores/threads on my i7 2600K with HT off and 15-20% with HT on. SLi and Crossfire have come a long way, and depending on the card you can get 95-99% out of the second card in most modern games and even in some parts of World of Warcraft. As for the i7's, here's the run down on how it goes. LGA 1366 is the Enthusiast aka high end based platform with its i7's featuring tons of PCI-Express lanes and Triple Channel. LGA 1156 is the mainstream platform for Intel with the common P55 having only dual PCI-Express ports at x8 and H55/57's for HTPC usage or workbased usage. Sandybridge falls into the category with LGA 1156, it is not Intels high end Enthusiast platform by any means and is intended for the mainstream/mid ranged consumers. So once again...

LGA 1366 aka X58 = Enthusiast High end
LGA 1156 aka P55/H55/57 = Mainstream and HTPC
LGA 1155 aka P67/H67 = Mainstream and HTPC

[Fuzzykins]

Same reason you don't buy a quad/six core cpu for WoW. Conpatability issues. It's an old game that doesn't support this kind of hardware. But then again, who the fuck buys a new computer to play wow? My last 5 computers including laptops have been able to play wow. I got a phenom IIx4 965 (3,4ghz) with 8GB RAM and a Radeon Hd 5770 gfx card just because I like having a fast computer that's optimized for gaming. Y'know there are other games than wow that actually requires a faster computer.

Crossfire/SLI is a great way to upgrade your computer if you're lacking a good gfx card, but unless you wanna spend ALOT of money on your computer, don't bother - just buy a bit better gfx card. Remember that if you for example buy 2x HD 5770, the second one will only provide 75% extra, which is less than you get for the same money if you buy a twice as expencive gfx card.

If you can, build your own, but don't buy a computer to play wow on - buy one to play new games on. Keep in mind that if you wanna play wow, it only runs on 2 cores, so the clock speed is essential here. If you're an AMD guy, buy a Phenom with at least 3 ghz with an AMD (or an old ATI) gfx card, If you're an Intel guy, buy an i7 in the 800-series - that's the gaming series while 900-series is for work, and add an Nvidia gfx card to this.

Wat?
Last I checked, we still had console commands to change which cores WoW runs on...
http://www.wowwiki.com/CVar_processAffinityMask

Sorry to attack you with Saithes, just trying to make sure the correct information is communicated.

[Ununoctium]

Wat?
Last I checked, we still had console commands to change which cores WoW runs on...
http://www.wowwiki.com/CVar_processAffinityMask

Sorry to attack you with Saithes, just trying to make sure the correct information is communicated.

Hmm, haven't checked up on it for a while. Didn't know they did anything to change it. Sorry if I provided false information.

[Deleted]

I built my first computer when I was 17 and I have never looked at a pre made since. I even built one for my little bro and one for me fiancé when then wanted new ones. It's fun hunting components (for all of 40 min) and than building the machine from scratch when it arrives.
Building your own is entertaining AND educational but it takes time and effort.
Also you get it tuned to your exact specifications not to mention that you can set an upgrade path which will in the long-run benefit your pockets and leaving you with an up to date machine at all times.

A little side note here, don't be afraid of braking things, everything you buy comes with a detailed instructions manual of how to put it together with the rest of the stuff.

[Fuzzykins]

I built my first computer when I was 17 and I have never looked at a pre made since.
Building your own is entertaining AND educational but it takes time and effort.
Also you get it tuned to your exact specifications not to mention that you can set an upgrade path which will in the long-run benefit your pockets and leaving you with an up to date machine at all times.

A little side note here, don't be afraid of braking things, everything you buy comes with a detailed instructions manual of how to put it together with the rest of the stuff.

I disagree completely with you on your last point. I was scared as hell when I put my first GPU in. It didn't fit and it took me forever to realize I had to remove the back panel. In any case, the proper information beforehand can make your life a lot easier and inexpensive. (For instance, I was changing my buddy's GPU when he grabbed it while in his fuzzy socks on his carpet. Needless to say, it wasn't good.)