Should I go safe or Risk it all

[mocvoyager]

Should I risk everything and try to build this gaming pc to save a few hundred http://pcpartpicker.com/user/pcvoyager/saved/2Hy8

Or should I pay some more and go with peace of mind and no risk with this Alienware Aurora? Its the cheaper first one and I guess I can upgrade the video card for 2gb DDR5 with no problems in the future. They will probably drop the price on BF http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-a....aspx?~ck=anav

[SL1200]

Building a computer isn't hard. If I can do it, anyone should be able to.

[Nymfomania]

Idk, im lazy. Ive got other stuff i would rather be doing than build a pc, so i would buy it from Alienware

[gerhard2202]

Building a PC is not "risking" anything. Alienware computers have pretty damn high markups and you're going to get a better PC for less money building your own.

That said, if you are not absolutely sure about any step at all during assembly, seek help from the Internet (ideally live help, not a tutorial), or contact a friend who has experience. If you do everything right, there is nothing about building a PC that poses any risks that warranties do not already take care of.

[Qalex]

Building a computer is pretty easy. When I built my first one ~5 years ago there were already some guides on the internet. There's probably youtube videos of each step of the process by now!

[Deleted]

Idk, im lazy. Ive got other stuff i would rather be doing than build a pc, so i would buy it from Alienware

It's not like it takes months to build a PC, it's done in an hour or two. 2 hours of work vs 300-500 bucks overprice, hmm, tough choice.

[yurano]

BluRay drives require additional reader software (~$40) to play BluRay movies. BluRay data discs don't require the software.

Made some optimizations to the build.

Selected PSU is a Newegg Shell Shocker deal, today only.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($68.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.02 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Mwave)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard ($64.99 @ Microcenter)
Mouse: Cooler Master SGM-2001-BLON1 Wired Optical Mouse ($25.50 @ Amazon)
Total: $1199.43
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-11 17:50 EST-0500)

[Nymfomania]

It's not like it takes months to build a PC, it's done in an hour or two. 2 hours of work vs 300-500 bucks overprice, hmm, tough choice.

Who would choose to pay that much more? I never said that. pcpartpicker is what i would.

[Mister K]

It's not like it takes months to build a PC, it's done in an hour or two. 2 hours of work vs 300-500 bucks overprice, hmm, tough choice.

This, I never understood why people would not want to undertake this. There are Youtube tutorials that are very throughout. Buying and ordering up parts will take you up to an hour or so, depending how much you try to research. Once all your parts have arrived, assembling everything takes anything between couple of minutes up to an hour or two.

If you do decide to DIY you will not be disappointed at the end result. Remember, if you are stuck then better research on a secondary PC on the issue rather then guessing on what to do.

- - - Updated - - -

Who would choose to pay that much more? I never said that. pcpartpicker is what i would.

You mentioned Alienware, hence the 300-500 bucks overprice, unless you are finding some nice deals on the Alienware machines.

[Deleted]

making two threads on the same topic wont change the users mind...

[Deleted]

Who would choose to pay that much more

People who don't know any better would. It's that ignorance that makes companies like Dell/Alienware profitable.

I never said that. pcpartpicker is what i would.

You were justifying a purchase from Alienware because you didn't think it was worth the effort to build a PC yourself.

I look at it this way: For every 30 bucks saved I gain an hours pay from work. Saving 300 bucks means that I've just earned 10 hours worth of payment for only 1-2 hours of work. That means that i'm earning 150bucks/hour doing something that will benefit myself. That is a seriously good hourly pay, don't you think?

[RicardoZ]

Building a computer isn't hard. If I can do it, anyone should be able to.

It wasn't at all hard for me to translate Hamlet into 10th-century Spanish, what's your problem? Different people have different skill sets...

[mocvoyager]

This, I never understood why people would not want to undertake this. There are Youtube tutorials that are very throughout. Buying and ordering up parts will take you up to an hour or so, depending how much you try to research. Once all your parts have arrived, assembling everything takes anything between couple of minutes up to an hour or two.

If you do decide to DIY you will not be disappointed at the end result. Remember, if you are stuck then better research on a secondary PC on the issue rather then guessing on what to do.

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You mentioned Alienware, hence the 300-500 bucks overprice, unless you are finding some nice deals on the Alienware machines.

Yeah but the thing is that you have zero guarantees if you build it yourself, if you brake a part, anything, like the cpu, its going to cost you alot, just by damaging the cpu you would already brake your savings. Then after everything is assembled you really don't know if its going to work, it might for a few weeks and then start giving you problems, and then what? Or it might just not perform as you expected. If you just buy it you have guarantees on everything, from parts and assembly to accidental damage etc. so its not like you just can assume everything is going to go well if you build it, it probably won't in my case so thats my main point. Offcourse I want to save and would like to learn how to build, but at what cost? A damaged CPU, video card, or motherboard? A system that just won't perform well for some reason? Some accidental damage after a few weeks? Its alot of factors and situations to consider, so yeah its not like I would throw $200 extra into the trash can to get an Alienware Aurora vs saving by building it myself, its alot of stuff. Those extra $200 might save you alot in the long run, its like an investment or insurance, its peace of mind.

[Electroso]

OMG, my eyes are burning ! windows 8 /sigh

To answer your question, I would always choose to build my own computer over buying Alienware or from any other computer building company. They are overpriced and with those extra bucks that I would save I could buy lots of beers for my building project

[Phookah]

Yeah but the thing is that you have zero guarantees if you build it yourself, if you brake a part, anything, like the cpu, its going to cost you alot, just by damaging the cpu you would already brake your savings. Then after everything is assembled you really don't know if its going to work, it might for a few weeks and then start giving you problems, and then what? Or it might just not perform as you expected. If you just buy it you have guarantees on everything, from parts and assembly to accidental damage etc. so its not like you just can assume everything is going to go well if you build it, it probably won't in my case so thats my main point. Offcourse I want to save and would like to learn how to build, but at what cost? A damaged CPU, video card, or motherboard? A system that just won't perform well for some reason? Some accidental damage after a few weeks? Its alot of factors and situations to consider, so yeah its not like I would throw $200 extra into the trash can to get an Alienware Aurora vs saving by building it myself, its alot of stuff. Those extra $200 might save you alot in the long run, its like an investment or insurance, its peace of mind.

Just don't buy an alienware. I bought the exact computer you mentioned 2 years ago (might be slightly older model) and I haven't stopped kicking myself for doing so.
You overpay for considerably less hardware. Sure the lights are neat, and sometimes games will have some special "alienware" setting that changes a part of the game a tiny bit, but they just aren't worth it.
Build one yourself, or even go to a parts website and have them build it for you after you pick which parts you'd like.

[Rucati]

Yeah but the thing is that you have zero guarantees if you build it yourself, if you brake a part, anything, like the cpu, its going to cost you alot, just by damaging the cpu you would already brake your savings. Then after everything is assembled you really don't know if its going to work, it might for a few weeks and then start giving you problems, and then what? Or it might just not perform as you expected. If you just buy it you have guarantees on everything, from parts and assembly to accidental damage etc. so its not like you just can assume everything is going to go well if you build it, it probably won't in my case so thats my main point. Offcourse I want to save and would like to learn how to build, but at what cost? A damaged CPU, video card, or motherboard? A system that just won't perform well for some reason? Some accidental damage after a few weeks? Its alot of factors and situations to consider, so yeah its not like I would throw $200 extra into the trash can to get an Alienware Aurora vs saving by building it myself, its alot of stuff. Those extra $200 might save you alot in the long run, its like an investment or insurance, its peace of mind.

You have to mess something up pretty bad for that to happen. I just built my first computer by myself on Wednesday night, only time I had done it before that was with a friend who did mostly everything while I just kind of watched. Took me a couple hours to build it, but that's because I had no real idea what I was doing and I suck with screwdrivers. Just getting the motherboard in took me like 30 minutes because I couldn't get things lined up properly because I'm dumb and didn't realize I had something upside down.

It truly isn't hard, it's just like a puzzle. Breaking something is actually pretty hard, the CPU is insanely easy to install, and breaking anything else would probably require a hammer. Plus you get to say you built it yourself, which is always nice.

[mocvoyager]

Just don't buy an alienware. I bought the exact computer you mentioned 2 years ago (might be slightly older model) and I haven't stopped kicking myself for doing so.
You overpay for considerably less hardware. Sure the lights are neat, and sometimes games will have some special "alienware" setting that changes a part of the game a tiny bit, but they just aren't worth it.
Build one yourself, or even go to a parts website and have them build it for you after you pick which parts you'd like.

Why where you kicking yourself, just because you think you "overpayed" a few hundred? Come on, did the computer work well? Did it perform well or does your own built computer perform better? What am I going to buy if not Alienware? Cyberpower, AVA Direct? They all have similar prices for the same things and Alienware is way more trustworthy.

[Itisamuh]

It wasn't at all hard for me to translate Hamlet into 10th-century Spanish, what's your problem? Different people have different skill sets...

Yeah, funny how that works. If you have no idea how to build a computer, and no friend that does know and would do it for you, I would simply buy it. If you have the spare money to shell out for a new computer anyway, a little extra would likely not matter.

[Deleted]

No you shouldn't risk buying a pre-built system, build it yourself it's not difficult at all.

Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer - Part 1 - Choosing Your Components
Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer - Part 2 - The Build
Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer - Part 3 - Installing Windows & Finishing Touches

Another example:

[mocvoyager]

Yeah, funny how that works. If you have no idea how to build a computer, and no friend that does know and would do it for you, I would simply buy it. If you have the spare money to shell out for a new computer anyway, a little extra would likely not matter.

Yeah, its not that much really, remember its not just an expense but quality parts and a good build already engineered to perform, plus guarantees and insurance. Plus an Aurora is pretty easy to upgrade in the future so it should last alot of years, probably more than most custom pc's out there. Again if I had the knowledge and skills then I would go with the custom but its just too much risk and too much money to deal with in parts when I have zero experience, no matter how easy it might sound or seem to most, its a big deal for someone like me, so yeah I'm waiting for black Friday, the Aurora should have like a $200 discount or something and then it would be the same as paying for the parts and doing it myself.