[Boyo]

I have been lurking on this forum for quite some time now, and I have come to the conclusion that it is not even remotely possible that I am able build a computer from scratch. Picking out the hardware has many facets that must be considered, but then putting them togther? No. I can't do it.

Reading the different forums have taught me a great deal about computers. I have made a decision that I would like a new PC. I currently own a Dell Dimension 8300 and I know now owning a canned PC makes you a virtual slave to Dell. Just looking for some upgrades I found all had to be bought through Dell, and they tend to move on quickly to their new models, leaving a 2-3 year old computer seeming like a rusted car in a junk yard. They haven't upgraded my BIOS in almost 2 years....Anyway, I digress.

My posting is to seek input from as many people as possible willing to take the time to offer their advice.

What I have discovered is that there are PC manufacturers which exist that allow the buyer a wide berth in picking out hardware to "customize" their PC. One brand (actually the only one I know) that comes to mind is Alienware. Visiting their site, they let you virtually customize your PC from Motherboard to cooling. This is what I have decided I want. The freedom to pick out my own parts, but allow a company do something that I can not, put the PC together.

Can anyone recommend other manufacturers like Alienware, who allow for complete customizing??? The computer that I want will be used for heavy muti-tasking (Photoshop, Microsoft office, etc...) and for some weekend gaming action like Novalogic Typhoon Rising. My budget is around $1500-$1800, which is excluding a monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Advertisements]

Yes I know a good place, DO NOT buy from alienware which you will end up paying 2 times the costs just because of their name. You end up paying for the alienware name.


Go here and customize a pc. Yes this is a very good company.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/


Many choices to start out on, they offer more customized pc's than anyone I have seen.


The Gamer Ultra 7500 SE is the best all around to start out on, then customize it the way You want it.

Many other choices also.

[jrm20]

Yes I know a good place, DO NOT buy from alienware which you will end up paying 2 times the costs just because of their name. You end up paying for the alienware name.


Go here and customize a pc. Yes this is a very good company.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/


Many choices to start out on, they offer more customized pc's than anyone I have seen.


The Gamer Ultra 7500 SE is the best all around to start out on, then customize it the way You want it.

Many other choices also.

[jrm20]

Oh yeah, make shure that you dont stick with the standard powersupply. Get a high quality powersupply that they offer.


Get the antec or thermaltake powersupply. Either will be fine. Ultra is good too.

Edited by jrm20, 01 February 2006 - 08:29 PM.

[Boyo]

Thank you JRM20. As the forum guru, I appreciate your help. I will also probably bug you a lot in certain choices in hardware. Thanks again......

[jrm20]

Thank you JRM20. As the forum guru, I appreciate your help. I will also probably bug you a lot in certain choices in hardware. Thanks again......

Your welcome, you can get a computer from them around $1420 with an amd dual core X2 3800+ processor already put together and 2gb of ram, 7800gt video card and high quality sound card etc...

You dont really need the xtreme music sound card, but its only $117. It can save You over $100 if you didnt want it. The onboard sound would be fine for you.

If you want a faster dual core processor you still have enough... I would go for the 4200+ or the 4400+ dual core amd x2.



Before you buy goto www.monarchcomputers.com and see how much they are..

Edited by jrm20, 02 February 2006 - 01:23 PM.

[Boyo]

jrm20, this is a rough idea of what I was thinking. Can you take a look and see how it looks. This config, along with some software, accessories is $1530. Does this look okay, or am I insane making some of these choices???? Thanks for your help.

1. Power Supply
Antec TPII-550 550Watt ATX 12V Power Supply

2. CPU
(939-pin) AMD Athlon™64 X2 4400+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology((939-pin) AMD Athlon™64 X2 4400+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology)

3. Colling Fan
AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS(AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS)

4. Motherboard
(Sckt939)EVGA nForce4 SLI Chipset SATA RAID Dual PCI-E Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio()[+0]

5. Memory
2048 MB (1GBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY Corsair Value Select

6. Video Card
NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GS 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD

7. Hard Drive
200GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8M Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive

8. Optical Drive
SONY DWQ-28A DUAL FORMAT 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER

Total with some add-ons not mentioned is $1530.00

[warriorscot]

I would find out what case fans they are, 80mm or 120mm of they are 80mm your pc is gonna sound like a small jet engine. I would also see what it would cost to go up to xms the price difference isnt much at all usually. Does seem an awful lot for that system, but you say you cant build,(its actually easier than picking the parts a child could do it, its only when things go pear shaped it becomes more complicated but it usually doesnt and thats what we are here for). Try reading the manual for a couple of motherboards they cover most of the building process (i would get the one for your mobo and the MSI nf4 one as i know its a good one very easy to understand language and diagrams).

But if you are certain you want to buy that seems ok, if pricey mind you it is using an expensive CPU and PSU so there is plenty upgradability there, i always like to get people to put the parts together as if they were building so they know how much they should be paying and what they are, if its more than a $100 or so excluding shipping i would try somewhere else.

[Boyo]

Hi warriorscot,
I totally agree with you. It is a huge amount of money, so that is why it is in no way shape or form set in stone that this is the PC I will buy. What I listed is more or less what would be the ideal PC that I am seeking. Of course, money has a funny way of changing dreams. But, on the other hand, I have to be honest with you. I really do not feel comfortable putting together my own PC. So right now I am kind of lost. The only thing that is set in stone is that I will never buy a Dell or its competitors computers again. They are not worth the money, the upgrades on an old system are costly, and in effect, they move on to a new series of PC's which leaves you out in the cold.

Thanks for the tip on the fans, lol. I guess you are right with that many fans it could be pretty noisy. I am going to keep looking before I buy, making sure I understand all the parts and how much the should really cost.

[jrm20]

Hi warriorscot,
I totally agree with you. It is a huge amount of money, so that is why it is in no way shape or form set in stone that this is the PC I will buy. What I listed is more or less what would be the ideal PC that I am seeking. Of course, money has a funny way of changing dreams. But, on the other hand, I have to be honest with you. I really do not feel comfortable putting together my own PC. So right now I am kind of lost. The only thing that is set in stone is that I will never buy a Dell or its competitors computers again. They are not worth the money, the upgrades on an old system are costly, and in effect, they move on to a new series of PC's which leaves you out in the cold.

Thanks for the tip on the fans, lol. I guess you are right with that many fans it could be pretty noisy. I am going to keep looking before I buy, making sure I understand all the parts and how much the should really cost.

Its really not expensive for what your getting at all... Think about it your getting a amd dual core 4400+ which is a $465 processor with 2 cores. That price of $465 is around the lowest price you can find for that cpu also on a different site. Your also getting 2gb of ram which you should not get any lower than that right now. 2 gb is the sweet spot as you dont need any more than that either. If the 2gb isnt enough for your heavy multitasking habits you can get another 1gb stick later on... The video card you picked out the 6800gs will fit you fine as you said you will just be gaming on the weekends. That video card will play any game on high settings. On the newer games it still will but you may have to turn off the anti alias and (or) antistrophic filtering. Or either put the antistrophic filtering to 2x it will run fine. Overall for that system that is a good price, if you were to pick out those exact parts on newegg for example it will still be over $1300. Then you would have to put it together yourself and add the operating system of course. The custom company I recommended is basically charging only $200-$250 max to put it together and to make alittle bit of money off of every part. Thats not bad at all man.


This is what I do when I build a pc for someone.

I would pick out the parts for the person then they buy it with there credit card and ship it to there home. When they recieve it I tell them to call me and get intouch with me and drop the parts off. After I build the pc and make shure it runs fine I charge the customer 20% of the total they bought from the online computer shop.

Comes out to be the same...

Im just showing you a comparison..

Thats a good deal actually for a pc already put together with all fast and high quality parts.

[Boyo]

Thanks for putting the pricing into perspective, jrm20. Since I really don't know that much about the wide choices you can make at a company like Cyber Power, I wasn't really sure on pricing. I thought I would check around before making a purchase. You told me to stay away from Alienware, as they charge more with the name brand, so I wasn't sure if Cyber Power's pricing was competitive. Thank you for explaining it out for me.

The only thing that I am really unsure of is the Motherboard. To be honest, I picked out that Motherboard because it had nvidea's name on it. I didn't really know what I was doing. Can you tell me if that Motherboard will work well with the rest of the hardware I listed, or is there another that you might recommend?

Thanks again for all of your help, jrm20. I really need it.

[jrm20]

Thanks for putting the pricing into perspective, jrm20. Since I really don't know that much about the wide choices you can make at a company like Cyber Power, I wasn't really sure on pricing. I thought I would check around before making a purchase. You told me to stay away from Alienware, as they charge more with the name brand, so I wasn't sure if Cyber Power's pricing was competitive. Thank you for explaining it out for me.

The only thing that I am really unsure of is the Motherboard. To be honest, I picked out that Motherboard because it had nvidea's name on it. I didn't really know what I was doing. Can you tell me if that Motherboard will work well with the rest of the hardware I listed, or is there another that you might recommend?

Thanks again for all of your help, jrm20. I really need it.

The GigaByte GA-K8N-SLI nForce4 SLI or above is what I would get. The asus boards are suppost to be a good brand. In my book they are so-so because on this site there has been alot of problems with the deluxe board. I have never bought one but there boards are good if you get the right one. Stay away from the deluxe. If you get a asus motherboard it will be fine because the company tests the computer before they ship it out. So you should not have any problems at all with them from that site. If you get the gigabyte motherboard make shure you get a better sound card because the sound on them suck, but thats the only thing which is not a big deal at all if you upgrade the sound card to the xtreme music.

[jrm20]

Before you buy goto http://www.monarchcomputer.com/ and look at the Furia computer model then click on Monarch Furia™ Custom Desktop w/PCI-E and customize it the way you want it. They have a bigger selection of motherboards than the other site but both sites are good.

[comanighttrain]

hmmm....

Its a hot system, but i personally would practice operating on your dell, then when you feel comfortable, build a new one yourself.

[Boyo]

Thanks for the tip on the motherboard, jrm20. And I will get over to Monarch to see what is there. I think I need to sit down and read some comparison reviews to make sure I am getting the hardware that meets my needs.....

Comanighttrain, the only operating I will perform on my Dell will be to reformat my hard drive and leave no traces of [bleep], then I will be donating it to a local charity. It is a Dimension 8300 and it is perfectly usefull, but it in no way meets my needs.

jrm20 is the piper, and I will be following him into the promise land of the upper end computers.....

[jrm20]

Thanks for the tip on the motherboard, jrm20. And I will get over to Monarch to see what is there. I think I need to sit down and read some comparison reviews to make sure I am getting the hardware that meets my needs.....

Comanighttrain, the only operating I will perform on my Dell will be to reformat my hard drive and leave no traces of [bleep], then I will be donating it to a local charity. It is a Dimension 8300 and it is perfectly usefull, but it in no way meets my needs.

jrm20 is the piper, and I will be following him into the promise land of the upper end computers.....

If you end up buying a pc from monarch get a dfi or abit motherboard.

Dfi is my favorite but it is usually for experienced builders but that wont be a problem because the company will already put it together for you. The dfi motherboards are rock solid gamers boards but meant for everything really. If its a gaming pc it can do anything in my opinion. Abit is another good company.