Buying vs Building

[sTeal]

Hi guys! I've been reading the forums for a bit, but haven't jumped in before.

Me and my hubby are clashing a little in regards to getting a new computer. Mine's starting to bite the bullet, and we both agree that I need a new one. He wants to buy one, I think we'd be better off building one.

The computer he keeps pointing to http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp;jsessionid=TJFZOUWZWRU03KC4D3GFAFY?skuId=9081325&type=product&id=1218017465909 is about $1250, which is over the price we want to spend, but he likes it cause of the Intel i7 processor, which he argues is better for the long run (we want to keep it for the next 4-5 years), and the fact that the computer will have a warantee in case something goes wrong. Also he says that for the price, it would be tough to build a computer with the specs of said Gateway above.

I argue that we don't NEED such a high end processor, because the most I do is play WoW, listen to iTunes, surf the internet, and in the future we'll probably get like, Diablo 3 or something. I'm more than willing to throw together a $1000 or less comp that I've seen built on these forums. Also, we've never had a computer go bad on us within a year that would need a warantee. And I don't like the fact that the Gateway only has 3GB of RAM, and a 500w power supply, so we'd probably buy extras, adding on to the cost.

I know this is the Homebuilt Systems forum, so you all are probably a little bias, but I'd still like some opinions.

Thanks for your input!

 

[therealfly77]

I don't know how to answer... I always liked homebuilt because you know what you are getting.

soo...

i just bought the following for $1350.

Core i7
Asus Mobo
6 gigs of ram
650w PSU
GeForce 285
640 Gig HD
Cooler Master HAF (full tower case)

I already had the OS though... so i saved money there.


I'd say the Gateway is a little weak in the video card department, and i agree with you about the RAM, specially because it comes with a 64 bit OS. The power supply doesn't leave much room for upgrading. Even the manual for my Asus mobo recomended at least a 550w PSU. But on the same token, I don't think your going to get a much better price if you build a computer yourself. Core i7 is expensive to build a computer around.

for $1000 dollar budget, i'd get a P45 mobo, a Core 2 Duo CPU, and the most expensive video card i could afford. It would give you better frame rates in your video games, and IMO, that's all that matters. I can't tell the difference between my new computer and my duo-core laptop for surfing the net, watching DVD's, and listening to music. And i'd wait a few extra minutes to rip a DVD if it ment i could get better framerates in my videogames

Hope that helped....

 

[batuchka]

Agree - many times you buy a pre built and even if the $$ is decent they screw you over with poor quality hardware in there!

 

[aford10]

Your much better off building one yourself. If you want one built for you, check ibuypower.com

The warranty factor is null b/c when you buy parts to build your own, they come with a manufacturers warranty (usually a year).

The fact that it only has a 512mb 4850 isn't boding well for playing diablo3 very well. I'm not exactly sure the demands for it yet, but I'd bet medium settings is the best you'll get. They probably used a crap psu. The 500w is probably really ~400w w/ 15amps on a single +12v rail, or some crap like that. Most people don't ask the real specifics on the hardware, so they sneak that garbage in there.

The psu isn't going to leave much room for a video card upgrade. The RAM would likely need upgraded. The best bet is to buy memory in a kit for compatibility reasons. So your looking at a few hundred dollars for ~6Gb kit.

If it was me, I'd build my own. That pc is probably worth ~$900.