Ok, so if you read my post before you know I was looking at an Alienware. Well, I met a guy this week and I told him I was in the market for a new computer and he told me to check out ibuypower.com. I checked it out and for like 200 dollars less I can build a computer with quite a bit better specs; my only problem is, I've never heard of these guys and don't know if they build quality stuff, if their customer service is good, I don't really know anything about them. So if you guy's can tell me anything about them it would be great. Thanks.
IBuyPower PC Question
- Thread starter TheBiggmann
- Start date
You'd save more money building your own system and if you have a problem you can work directly with the vendor you bought the faulty component from or the manufacturer, between the two of them you'll find one with good customer support, Newegg is probabally the best online retailer period, buy from them and you may never have to talk to a manufacturer. If you do your homework and buy parts that have hundreds of positive reviews and few negative reviews you can have a system that runs great with only about 30 minutes of assembly. If you try and stay on the leading edge of technology and buy unproven hardware you'll likely end up with hardware/firmware/driver problems.
If you haven't already try searching anandtech.com or tomshardware.com for the keyword "bloatware" about 15 minutes of reading should convince you to stay away from prebuilt systems.
If you haven't already try searching anandtech.com or tomshardware.com for the keyword "bloatware" about 15 minutes of reading should convince you to stay away from prebuilt systems.
See, I would build my own system, but I have absolutely no experience in doing anything like that. Plus, I don't have a ton of time on my hands with school and sports, so I guess that kind of ruled building my own out. Unless they're about as easy to put together without experience as Legos I may be out of luck with that one. I will check the thing out on bloatware, I just don't have time to do that as I have to get off in about 2 minutes. But I'll definitely check it out.
Ok, so I found some stuff on bloatware, but I don't see how that applies to a pre-manufactured computer vs a self made one. Unless the company puts other software in that you don't want other than the basic OS, isn't it almost impossible to have "bloatware"?
i say keep an eye on local ebay auctions. You can search by your zip code. You save on shipping and you know exactly you bought it from if you need to return it.
Also, what do you plan on using your computer for? If not for high-end graphic design (large photoshop files) or video editing or intense gaming... well, do you really need a powerful computer? You can get a decent desktop PC for $300.
Also, what do you plan on using your computer for? If not for high-end graphic design (large photoshop files) or video editing or intense gaming... well, do you really need a powerful computer? You can get a decent desktop PC for $300.
Yeah, I need it for gaming, I'm a pretty big gamer, so it's gotta be pretty powerful.
The one I customized had a 7900GT I think, should be more than enough to handle any game I play from what I hear. Had an AMD x2 processor too I think... don't remember though...
With a lot of pre manufactured systems you get bloatware with the standard OS, silly little features like a special skin for IE that integrates some kind of IM or email features or a media player that does everything but play media. These all come preinstalled with the OS, if you wipe the drive clean and reinstall the OS you'll find that certain features won't work with generic drivers and there's no way to install the drivers that work without installing the bloatware.TheBiggmann said:
With a home built system you can find vanilla drivers for almost every component. If you don't like the software that came with your PNY video card because it forces you to install a video player you can download the driver from Nvidia or ATI rather than PNY's site and just install the driver, the same goes for motherboards, if you don't want the garbage that came on the CD for the MB you can download the chipset driver from Via or Nvidia and just install the driver. In most cases you won't even have to do that though, you can simply click a box for custom installation and uncheck everything but the driver when you are loading up the OS on a home built computer. With a preconfigured system you're going to either live with the bloatware, spend hours trying to disable it or do a clean install in which case you may have to hunt for drivers. I prefer to save a few hundred dollars and load the OS the way I want the first time.
Building a computer isn't a whole lot more complicated than building with legos, you put card A into slot A and chip 1 into socket 1 then turn on the power. The only stories I've heared about people breaking a brand new computer is when they don't use common sense and try to force something to fit where it shouldn't.
One other thing to consider is expandability, it may not be such a big deal now but I know a few years ago you couldn't find a preconfigured system with a spare PCI-e slot. If you wanted to buy a budget system with an upgraded processor and then in a few months upgrade the video card you were out of luck because the motherboard didn't have a PCI-e slot. Some systems have so much integrated into the motherboard they don't even have an AGP slot because they expect the user to be satisfied with the onboard graphics. PCI-e and SATA were the big features lacking on preconfigured systems a few years ago when I built my computer, people who were looking for expandability and future proofing were looking for homebuilt systems. There may not have been significant changes to computer architecture technology in the last year or so (I've lost track,) so it may not be such an issue now but it is something to consider if you don't want to have to buy a new system next year when the new generation of games comes out and your graphics card won't support the minimum requirements anymore.
It seems like Alienware keeps pretty current on their technology and uses off the shelf brand name components, at least more so than the other prebuilt manufacturers so I'd give the nod to them over HP or Dell, but you pay a hefty premium for a fancy looking case and the convenience of just plugging it in and turning it on. Some local computer stores will build a system for you but unless you really know the componets you want and just don't want to have to install the parts in the case and load the OS you can worked pretty good, most of the shops will give you a high end graphics card and lowball you get a really cheap motherboard that isn't fast enough to keep up with the graphics card or they will give you a fast processor but you'll get a powersupply that is dodgy. Kind of like a bike that has an XTR derailur with acera shifters.
It seems like Alienware keeps pretty current on their technology and uses off the shelf brand name components, at least more so than the other prebuilt manufacturers so I'd give the nod to them over HP or Dell, but you pay a hefty premium for a fancy looking case and the convenience of just plugging it in and turning it on. Some local computer stores will build a system for you but unless you really know the componets you want and just don't want to have to install the parts in the case and load the OS you can worked pretty good, most of the shops will give you a high end graphics card and lowball you get a really cheap motherboard that isn't fast enough to keep up with the graphics card or they will give you a fast processor but you'll get a powersupply that is dodgy. Kind of like a bike that has an XTR derailur with acera shifters.
So, if I have no prior experience building or even taking apart a computer at all, but I do have a basic, key word "basic" knowledge of computer parts, what are the chances I could build a computer myself without totally screwing it up? Plus, doesn't there have to be a lot of wiring and soldering that you have to do?
No soldering, pretty much everything snaps together now. There are a few screws to hold your drives in the case and to hold down your motherboard, from there all you do is plug in stuff where stuff fits. If you can plug in your keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer and speakers you can figure out how to hook up a computer system. The trickiest part is connecting IDE drives, if it doesn't work all you need to do is move the connector. Anymore everything is keyed so it will only fit one way, you can't put something together backwards or upside down because it won't fit. Take a look at Anandtech.com and Tom's Hardware they both have really good forums and a lot of advice for a novice, don't just go in and ask a question like "how do I build a computer and what parts should I use?" Read a around a little bit and get an idea of what you want and then ask specific questions like "I'm considering a XXX gfx card and a XXX gfx card, I play XXX game and XXX game and occasionally do XXX, which is best?"