Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
pre-built vs build it yourself
just wondering if any veterans can give me a reason not to buy pre built from places like cyberpower and other websites.
from what i can tell you actually come out cheaper with the deals and bundles and you dont have the hassle of putting it together yourself and probably coming across a bunch of issues.
thx
played a million mmo's
Comments
If you build your own, you can pick higher quality parts for cheaper. You also have more options if you build your own, though some sites will offer quite a few options.
Getting a computer built to order makes sense if either you're really computer illiterate (e.g., if you would have to call tech support if someone unplugged the power cord) or if you've got a lot more money than time so that it's worth paying hundreds of dollars more to save you a couple of hours assembling the machine. If you're in the latter category and don't mind overpaying so long as you get something very nice, you'd be better off with a boutique vendor that will charge more than Cyber Power PC but take better care of their customers. And if you're in the former category, you'll need to get someone to come to your house and plug things in when a computer gets shipped to you.
Hi,
I'm a guy who has done both. It depends on what you need.
The best possible PC will be a custom built PC. If you always want to have the best possible PC you will always be better off making your own. The major difference will be the operating system. An OS is not cheap. If you go to school and they offer an OS for free it might be cheaper. As well look into corporate editions.
Custom PCs can be cheaper but the operating system makes a huge difference.
When you buy a store bought computer there are things you should look for. Most importantly you should make sure the motherboard has a PCI slot. Having a PCI slot means you can install a new video card which is important. You'll need a new power supply unit (PSU) when you purchase your video card (usually).
Alternatively if you're not looking for something insanely powerful you can get the Asus 7750:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsCA&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsCA-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814121633
It runs DirectX 11 games at 30 frames per second. The current gold standard is Direct X 9, which it runs at 130 frapes per second.
The downside to the store bought PC is that your upgrade potential is going to be low. You can purchase a decent tower and a video card for $1,000 but after that all you will ever be able to upgrade are going to be that one video card and the power supply unit. Every other component is hard mounted into the motherboard.
It depends on your needs.
A lot of the time these really big rig custom built PCs end up being about an ego, similar to the custom built car, and less about purpose.
Website: http://www.thegameguru.me / YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/users/thetroublmaker
If you have the time and patience, you can build much cheaper. I have neither of those things.
I can cook my own meals cheaper too, but I still would rather go to Outback.
If in 1982 we played with the current mentality, we would have burned down all the pac man games since the red ghost was clearly OP. Instead we just got better at the game.
Here is how I decided...
I priced out everything I wanted in a pc. Cost to build.
Then I searched cyberpower and like sites to see what they had comparable and compared the costs. For me it turned out better to buy a pre build because it came with the windows operating system already.
If you just look at specs and the bottom line price, it's easy to think "Why would anyone hassle to DIY".
But the fact is, it's not apples to apples.
Pre-builts you don't always get to say what each individual part is, and more importantly, ensure that each part is reliable and high quality. You get whatever is cheapest that week for the pre-build company.
Pre-builds can offer such low prices because they buy in bulk, and they buy the cheapest crap they can get away with. Sure, they may have some name brand stuff here and there (the stuff that catches people's eye), but not everything will be so. And for the custom-build sites, the baseline is always very cheap (with all inferior components), but to get the name brand stuff and make an apples to apples build, they charge a hefty premium.
The only time I advocate for pre-build is for someone who isn't computer saavy enough to take advantage of warranty support. A Pre-built with a single point warranty can be a lifesaver for someone who doesn't have the knowledge or access to any other forms of technical support. Most of the cut-rate pre-built sites (Cyberpower,etc) do not have very good single-point warranty, however, and it varies widely by company.
Alright, heres the deal with pre-builts from CyberPower and Ibuypower vs. Building your own.
Pre-Builts - Pre-builts try to save money to increase profit margine by going with a lot of substandard parts and mixing in a few quality or at least semi quality parts to make you think you are getting a good deal. Default psu's and such in these pre-builts are trash and can really cost you some cash later on down the road.
Another issue is CyberPower and Ibuypower ( They are actually owned by the same company ) are notorious for shipping DOA systems and really causing headaches for you with shipping back and forth trying to get the system up and running. Their forums used to be plauged by complaints until they started heavily moderating them.
If you go with more reputible pre-built companies you are going to be spending a good bit more than you would if you bought the parts and did the build yourself.
Building your own - The first benefit comes by doing your research. You get the best price on all premium parts and you know they are all compatible. You end up with the exact system you want within your budget, every last penny goes towards parts.
The second benefit here is that you know exactly what you have. It makes it a lot easier for you to diagnose issues and do repairs yourself. Each part you buy has a warranty as well instead of a general warranty on the pre-built PC that isn't always that great. In the end, it's easier and much cheaper to repair.
Lastly, pride... I know it sounds silly but there is a good bit of pride in building your own Gaming Rig or Work Station. It's yours, every last part, every last detail was chosen and done by you. When I have friends over and they marvel at all my PC's and ask "Hey, where did you get that one? How much did it cost? Can I order one?" I get to reply with a smirk "Oh that old thing? I built it myself. If you want one I can build you one".
All in all with a build your own you get a PC thats a better fit for your needs, better quality, better price, and pride.
Edited to Add: upgradability is another big difference between pre-builts and build your owns. Pre-builts aren't generally very upgrade friendly. You will usually have to replace so many parts to upgrade it's generally a better idea to buy another system all together or build your own. With a build your own system, with proper planning of course, upgrades require fewer purchases. With a decent power supply to start you may simply have to upgrade your GPU. With a good mother board choice you may only need to upgrade the CPU. This alone is generally worth it for many.
Much of your post is nonsensical.
You probably get the same OS whether you build your own or buy a pre-built. Right now, there is some choice between Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 8 Standard, but that's about it for gaming desktops.
PCI slots are very old, and video cards moved away from them way back in 1998. PCI Express is the modern standard for video cards, and nearly every modern desktop motherboard will have at least one. For desktop (as opposed to nettop) parts, you'll usually have a PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot for Intel 7 series chipset motherboards, and a PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot for anything else remotely recent.
Frame rates in games vary wildly from game to game, and also by which graphical settings you use. It's not a function of the API.
Pre-built desktops usually don't solder extra things to the motherboard unnecessarily. They may use substandard parts, but unless you get an extra small case, you can usually upgrade most things. The problem is that upgrading to get a few nice parts mixed in with a bunch of random junk is a bad idea, and when the time comes, replacement is likely to be a better option than upgrading.
played a million mmo's
Which ever one has the best deals at the moment really. I and most others (I think) go where the deals are, though if the price and such is the same I usually go with newegg.
"Not even a cray super computer can make this game run well. Thats what happens when you code an MMO in pascal. " - miglor