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SumnerSTC · Posted: 2012/02/05 14:11 Post subject:

In the past I would have agreed with Yaroc on the Alienware. Though since they were bought by Dell I haven't been as impressed with their product. My last PC however was a CyberPower (I was going to build my own, but decided i'd let somebody else do all the work since it was a bit cheaper and they used all the components I would anyways.)

Yaroc · Posted: 2012/02/03 23:08 Post subject:

I'd pay the extra $250 for an Alienware system, that's for sure. I know I'm getting a quality product.

As for the great Intel/AMD debate .... well, lets just say I like the thermal protection on the Intel chips better than AMD's (-:

(A few friends of mine had their AMD CPUs catch fire when their fan failed -- beautiful display, but ultimately detrimental to their system). Cost of replacing an Intel CPU might be a bit more expensive upon failure, but having to replace the full MoBo, CPU and PSU .... ouch!

'Roc

Glibmute · Posted: 2012/02/03 18:31 Post subject:

I priced a 'from scratch' through newegg vs CyberPower PC and Alienware. CyberPower was only about 50-80 bucks more than the newegg build (BEFORE mail-in rebates), and I didn't have to worry about compatibility or making sure I had the right tools or any of that. They even threw in the upgraded wiring thing for free (they pretty up all the cords and whatnot in order to maximize air-flow and make it easier to upgrade down the road). Alienware was about 250 bucks more than CyberPower with the same components.
Only other thing I'd suggest is looking at a build around an AMD chip. I know the intel chips are a little zippier, but if you take the money you save on switching from intel to AMD and put that into your video card you're likely to get better gaming performance.

Cistern-Casey · Posted: 2012/02/03 15:51 Post subject:

I spent a decade constantly building and upgrading, piece by piece. I finally got tired of the continuous piece swapping, so I went the Alienware route about 5 months ago. I havent looked back since. I have played each game at max graphics...Rift, Skyrim, Tor... with zero issues.

I even went with the low end system they offer: The Alienware Aurora R-3. I love it.

Yaroc · Posted: 2012/02/03 14:27 Post subject:

Take the hassle out of building your own, and buy Alienware! (-:

I bought mine just before the company was bought out by Dell - got an awesome deal, and I LOVE my system. I put my system through hell and back - playing games at their highest setting, when "medium" was recommended, and never had an issue....

...until SWTOR that is - so I upgraded my single graphics card to two Nvidia 560ti's, SLI'd of course, and added a bit more RAM.

Prices don't seem to be as astronomically high as they were pre-Dell buyout (but still a bit pricey for some).

'Roc

Berenaltorin · Posted: 2012/02/02 22:00 Post subject:

Oh wow, thanks for pointing that out about the memory. I probably wouldn't have noticed until I tried to install it.

Gerhart STC · Posted: 2012/02/02 8:47 Post subject:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
Not endorsing the product, just giving you an idea.

Typical Spec:
240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

http://www.squidoo.com/best-gaming-ram

One thing I have done recently to check compatibility is to see how the pre-built computers are put together - http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ and take the specs and see if I can match. I know that some people have bought these and are happy with them.

I have built my own and then had to deal with issues recently like a BIOS update and a VGA (Graphics Card) which seems to draw too high a voltage on start. The VGA was top of the line a little over a year ago and now they have much better ones.. (Boo!)

Unfortunately, my computer specs are a "Tier" behind as I am using DDR2 memory and a AM2+ MOBO. I already had an itch to upgrade my computer and now you are making it worse (hehe).

Sabreth · Posted: 2012/02/02 8:32 Post subject:

Only one thing is incorrect: your memory is DDR2 where the Motherboard requires DDR3. DDR3 is the newer, current memory standard and operates much faster than DDR2. As it is current standard it is far cheaper to purchase than DDR2, so should save you a few $$ there. (granted it was a sale w/mailinrebates, but I bought 16GB of DDR3 for $30, normal price $90)

Berenaltorin

Hello Saints!

I'm planning on building a computer this year. Yes, I do mean this year, not this month or this week. I'm having to buy it in stages. Anyway, I was wondering if I could get some feedback on the pieces I'm buying. I'm trying to keep it at or near 1000.00 but still get a decent rig. I am obviously going to cannibalize the monitor, Mouse, and Keyboard from my old rig, but pretty much everything else is way outdated. The only components from inside my current rig that I -may- be able to salvage are the HDD (only 120 GB, not terribly fast) and DVD burner (what? You still need an optical drive. For now.) Oh, and I'm not going to buy a full hard drive at this time because, well, they're really really expensive at the moment. I have a 1TB external for storage, so I should be OK there.

Anyway, on to the parts list.

Case: RAIDMAX Quantum ATX-798WB Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Video Card: GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N56GSO-1GI GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Antec EarthWatts Series EA-750 Green 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Continuous Power Supply

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52500

RAM: (4X) Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Desktop Memory Model KVR533D2N4/2G

Hard Drive: OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

Network Card: Rosewill RNX-N300 Wireless N Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI (1T2R) Up to 300Mbps download and 150 Mbps upload Data Rates/ WPA/WPA2 (AES, 64,128-WEP with shared-key authentication) Cisco CCS V1.0, V2.0 and V3.0 compliant/ Vista/ Win7

I guess what I'm asking is this: Do you see any glaring incompatibilities / problems / oversights that I should know about? This will be the first rig that I've built from scratch, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were.

Thank you for your help!

-Beren

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