Buy from ibuypower or build my own?

[Dox]

I'm not super tech savvy so I was wondering what would be more cost efficient, and easier to do.
Buy from a website like ibuypower? Or go to Newegg and buy separate pieces and try to build my own.

I would want a computer that will run WoW on Good-Ultra settings while maintaining a good/high fps.
My cap is $750 including the windows 7 price.

If anyone could help me It'd be greatly appreciated

I attempted to post pictures of builds and other things but I can't due to not having enough post.

[Rafax]

You wont get much bang for your buck on ibuypower with that , just roll with getting the setup of the month that suits you best,

[Bobatea]

If you're a confident builder, or have a friend who can do it, then definitely go ahead and purchase some parts and build one on your own, look at something from the Setups of the Month, but otherwise, just go with iBuyPower, they're excellent quality.

[Asics]

Building yourself is better in my opinion. Not only do I find it fun (similar to why some people find fixing cars "fun," I'll pass on that) but it helps you learn about computers and how they work if you didn't already know.

Plus you save yourself the premium of having someone build it for you. It really is easy to do yourself. Have a friend help you or watch a plethora of Youtube videos how to do it.

[Dox]

The only build I would be able to purchase is the Dolphin one.
Any opinions or thoughts on it? How would it be able to run WoW?

Also, would you make any changes to it to make it better?

[Mozu]

Building your own computer comes with headaches. I've put together a few computers, and there's plenty of troubleshooting involved usually. If you aren't willing or able to do that, I'd just pay the premium from a site to build one for you. There are some sites that give good deals.

You'll have people tell you that it's the worst decision ever to buy a premade computer, but that type of reasoning is very outdated. Companies have come a long way from the old "I went to best buy and bought a gateway!".

[Cellery]

I was very afraid to build my own computer, but decided to try it anyway. I was super super careful and had WoW open on another computer asking questions of guildies who knew computers well. I spent probably an hour agonizing over, "Omg does it matter which slot I put the video card in???" I mean, I was pretty ridiculous. But I wanted to make sure I didn't mess anything up. It took me about 3 hours total to build the computer with all of my craziness... and my only hiccup was that when I got it up and running, I had plugged the speakers into the wrong slot and couldn't figure out why I had no sound.

My point is, I stressed myself out a ton about it. But two computers later and they run perfectly, no massive troubleshooting headaches. It's as easy as plugging things into the right spots. Seriously the most difficult part of it for me was wiring the fans in the case at the end.

I encourage you to build your own. There are resources on the interwebs that will give you step-by-step instructions on how to build the computer. The motherboard manual is incredibly useful. You will get significantly more performance if you build it yourself--especially since you're on such a tight budget.

[Dox]

I was very afraid to build my own computer, but decided to try it anyway. I was super super careful and had WoW open on another computer asking questions of guildies who knew computers well. I spent probably an hour agonizing over, "Omg does it matter which slot I put the video card in???" I mean, I was pretty ridiculous. But I wanted to make sure I didn't mess anything up. It took me about 3 hours total to build the computer with all of my craziness... and my only hiccup was that when I got it up and running, I had plugged the speakers into the wrong slot and couldn't figure out why I had no sound.

My point is, I stressed myself out a ton about it. But two computers later and they run perfectly, no massive troubleshooting headaches. It's as easy as plugging things into the right spots. Seriously the most difficult part of it for me was wiring the fans in the case at the end.

I encourage you to build your own. There are resources on the interwebs that will give you step-by-step instructions on how to build the computer. The motherboard manual is incredibly useful. You will get significantly more performance if you build it yourself--especially since you're on such a tight budget.

There's a youtube series of a guy showing how to build a computer. I downloaded them and will use em as I build.

---------- Post added 2011-08-28 at 11:53 PM ----------

I will post a build a made soon so I can get your guys feedback.

Thank you so much for all the help

---------- Post added 2011-08-29 at 12:04 AM ----------

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Tower Computer Case

Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard drive - Bare Drive

ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2gb) RAM

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

XFX HD-687a-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDRS PCI Express 2.1 x 16 HDCP Video Card.


Thoughts?

[JonBeMerkin]

Honestly the $100 for the windows 7 is a killer. If I was you, I would try to find a family member or someone thats a student that can hook you up with a windows 7 for $30. You might be thinking "oh its only 70 bucks that doesn't matter". When building a computer, $70 can actually make a huge difference.If you don't have a family member look around close friends on WoW.Also if your using Newegg (which most people use) I recommend looking through there "Combos" that they have.

As far as a rig, $720 dollars (Taking off the 30 bucks to pay for the windows 7) can make you a damn good gaming build. Just remember, WoW is a pretty old game and doesn't require the best graphic cards on the market. Some people will tell you to buy a $300 graphics card to simply play WoW when actually you would be perfectly fine with a $150-200 one to play WoW. Not to mention WoW is a more CPU heavy game.

Hope i helped, goodluck.

[Arslay]

That rig looks very solid. Only thing is, I am Intel biased and Intel CPU's also perfome significantly better in WoW, other games, and in general. Though, given your budget, AMD is a good choice.

[Dox]

Honestly the $100 for the windows 7 is a killer. If I was you, I would try to find a family member or someone thats a student that can hook you up with a windows 7 for $30. You might be thinking "oh its only 70 bucks that doesn't matter". When building a computer, $70 can actually make a huge difference.If you don't have a family member look around close friends on WoW.Also if your using Newegg (which most people use) I recommend looking through there "Combos" that they have.

As far as a rig, $720 dollars (Taking off the 30 bucks to pay for the windows 7) can make you a damn good gaming build. Just remember, WoW is a pretty old game and doesn't require the best graphic cards on the market. Some people will tell you to buy a $300 graphics card to simply play WoW when actually you would be perfectly fine with a $150-200 one to play WoW. Not to mention WoW is a more CPU heavy game.

Hope i helped, goodluck.

I thought about doing this but I don't know how to go about it.
I'd be using my gf to get the windows from her college but who does she ask?

---------- Post added 2011-08-29 at 02:36 AM ----------

That rig looks very solid. Only thing is, I am Intel biased and Intel CPU's also perfome significantly better in WoW, other games, and in general. Though, given your budget, AMD is a good choice.

if I changed my MB to Intel is that the only thing I'd have to change? or would I have to change other parts also?

---------- Post added 2011-08-29 at 02:42 AM ----------

Arslay you said it looks very solid. How do you think it'd run WoW?

[DeltrusDisc]

If you can build it yourself, then I assure you, when you've successfully done it, you'll be one very happy man. When I finished building my first custom and also current rig, I was damned excited. Big sense of accomplishment!

And for $750... I'd be damned if you could get anything decent from ibuypower... also, if you can find like a tigerdirect, compusa, or microcenter store near you at all.... just go to them, cheaper than paying shipping and handling.

[Dox]

If you can build it yourself, then I assure you, when you've successfully done it, you'll be one very happy man. When I finished building my first custom and also current rig, I was damned excited. Big sense of accomplishment!

And for $750... I'd be damned if you could get anything decent from ibuypower... also, if you can find like a tigerdirect, compusa, or microcenter store near you at all.... just go to them, cheaper than paying shipping and handling.

I have a Compusa near my house. Do you know if their prices are cheap and parts of quality?

[Sephiracle]

Building is almost always give you the most bang for your buck. But if you're weary about doing it or finding someone to do it for you, having it built for you from like Ibuypower or cyberpowerpc is a good option.

[zolok2.0]

I'm not super tech savvy so I was wondering what would be more cost efficient, and easier to do.
Buy from a website like ibuypower? Or go to Newegg and buy separate pieces and try to build my own.

I would want a computer that will run WoW on Good-Ultra settings while maintaining a good/high fps.
My cap is $750 including the windows 7 price.

If anyone could help me It'd be greatly appreciated

I attempted to post pictures of builds and other things but I can't due to not having enough post.

I built my rig for about $450 (minus the 37" 1080p vizio hdtv that I'm using as a monitor), and it has the specs of a $1000+ gaming computer. You just have to know where/when to shop, and what's hot and what's not. :P Hope that (somehow) helped!

[Dox]

I built my rig for about $450 (minus the 37" 1080p vizio hdtv that I'm using as a monitor), and it has the specs of a $1000+ gaming computer. You just have to know where/when to shop, and what's hot and what's not. :P Hope that (somehow) helped!

Where did you buy your parts from?

I might wait for bulldozer to come out to get cheaper prices on cpus

[Heartattaq]

Build your own.

I built my own this april with knowing very little about computers. Do your research go to www.hardwarecanuks.com and websites like this and ask questions.

All the parts have well written instructions it is hard to make a mistake, just follow directions take your time, and in the end you will have a pc you are 100% happy with

[Fitlanbox]

As has been said, building your own will always get you more for your money, but as far as premades go, ibuypower wont rip you off nearly as much as most companies, and they do make solid computers.

[Biggiej]

Build your own, I really don't like ibuypower, I considered it before but everytime I looked at there prebuilt machines I read down the list and go"Oh this and this look cool for this price! ...but then they throw in a shitty GPU or CPU that made me go :|" So I went with building my own because you can choose what you want, not what a brand wants.

[Ookami.kun]

I thought about doing this but I don't know how to go about it.
I'd be using my gf to get the windows from her college but who does she ask?

One of two ways that I can think of. Have her check one of her campus bookstores and see if she can purchase it there for a discounted price. The other way would be to look through Microsoft's site for their student discount purchase program. I know that when my roommate was working on his MBA lst year he was able to buy Win7 Pro for about $65 and Office 2010 for about $100. He just used their website and I gave him the cash. They send you the key, but you have to download the install, or pay them a little more for a DVD version to be sent to you.