So, I’ve decided that my current franken-box has gone on long enough, and if I want to yank myself into the present (computatinally speaking), I’ve decided to start with a brand new machine.
I started looking at Alienware and Falcon Northwest (yes, this is going to be mainly a gaming box) but…I think I’ve drifted away from that market. They definitely offer some nice product, but I don’t really need a $3000 gaming box anymore. Their “low end” (Falcon’s Talon and Alienware’s Area 51)
So, techies of the teeming millions, what’s a good place to go where I can specify the bits and pieces and get a box built for me? Some criteria:
Very important: I want to get an honest-to-goodness Windows operating system install disc with the machine. Definitely not a “re-ghost drive to inital state” restore CD / DVD. One method I saw that I might be able to live with involved backing up the existing drive contents to c:\backup, then restoring the rest of the system. I might be able to live with that (although what happens if I want to completely swap out the hard drive?)
Good quality components. I don’t want a system built on top of “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Motherboard pu-38”.
A variety of options is nice. I’m not sure yet whether I’m going for AMD or Intel. I’ll probably pass on the Quad Core level of CPUs, but the Core 2 Duos / Athlon 64 X2 seem to be a good price /performance point. I usually try to aim just under “bleeding edge”.
And…any recommendations on 3D cards? From some browsing around (and a chat with a surprisingly knowlegable guy at Best Buy), it looks like nVidia’s 8600 / 8800s is the currrent top-dog. I’m OK spending $200-300 on a good card (although I’ll pass on the $600 monster cards). Again, I’m aiming for just below top-of-the-line.
Finally, I’ve also been looking around pre-built systems at Best Buy. What kind of comparison do you think I’d find between those (probably replacing the 3D card) and a build-a-box site?
Thanks for any input / suggestions you might have.
If you’re absolutely set on having someone build the system for you, then the rest of my post is irrelevant and you can stop reading.
That said, I’m not sure what you want necessarily exists outside of your Dells, Alienwares, etc. Also, even if you can find such a site, chances are that you’ll get gouged for convenience and be limited in your part selection. If you are willing to “get your hands dirty” and turn the screws yourself, then I’d recommend finding a decent system guide on the internet and buying parts from Newegg. Regarding the system guide, I’ve never gone wrong following the advice of the folks in the forums on Ars Technica. And as luck would have it, they just released a new system guide last Sunday. From the look of things, you could spec out a pretty nice system for under $1600-- probably less if you’re willing to reuse components like monitors, power supplies, etc.
What I’ve done for my last several system builds was to take their mid-level system spec and swap parts in and out to suit my taste. It’s always worked well for me. Just a thought. Ever seated a processor? It gets easier every time.
I agree that if you are going to go that far, you might as well built it yourself. Anyone that can pick and choose components on their own can do it especially if you have done any upgrades yourself before. Building a PC is really just several upgrade steps in a row. It might take the better part of a day for both hardware and software but you get what you want and it will likely be cheaper for any machine that would have cost you over $1000 prebuilt. Computer components are modular these days it while it is easy to make some types of mistakes, making a mistake that would actually ruin something would take some talent because it just isn’t that hard.
I got all my parts-is-parts from MWave. They’ve got some assembly options you can price in. For $9 they assembled my CPU on the motherboard, added the stock heat sink, and added the memory. They then tested it. Not bad for $9 and I didn’t risk breaking my pins.
I think they had other assembly options, too.
Once the CPU & MB is assembled, though, the rest of it, IMO, is easy. Better pricing than NewEgg, too.
I’m not the OP, but I just wanted to say I found your post helpful. I’ll probably be building a new machine within the next year or so, and the CPU-mobo attach was the part I was dreading the most. Good to know I can have it done by professionals for under 10 bucks and not risk the most expensive components!
It must be a sign that I’m getting old. I used to view building a box as a fun way to spend a weekend. Now…god, it’s sounding like a hassle. Opening endless anti-static bags, losing screws (and you better hope you don’t get one stuck shorting between the motherboard and case…), routing connector cables, the blood sacrifice as knuckles scrape across solder points… And then once all the hardware is together, installing the OS, followed by the series of driver installs, reboots, crashes, tracking down driver updates online… I keep feeling like I’d rather pay someone else (who’s definitely going to be more familiar with the components than my rapidly outdated knowledge) handle it.
Thanks for the input, though, especially recessiveMeme for the system guide link. I might still have one more build left in me… But if not, I’ve actually found that Falcon’s Talon boxes are looking pretty good. Sure, some of the components (motherboard and power supply) may be a little more than I really need right now, but a sneaky voice in the back of my head points out that just means there’s support to improve for the future…
