I agree with "buy" over "build" - given the time we need to spend on hunting/trying/reconfiguring for different hardware. I would much rather go and grab a whatever brand desktop for this and that performance. Being a trader, we can get whatever money it takes to buy a desktop-PC in just one trade. The only issue I have is with buying new desktop PCs, the new ones do not seem to be "expandible". Many don't support the PCI bus any more (I know this is a rather old bus)... but they don't seem to allow one to add on any more than 1 card. Am I mistaken? For example, if I want to buy a new box and want it to drive 6 LCD monitors, would I be able to do that?
I agree about the laptops. I used to build my own (still have a couple in the backroom) but switched to laptops since 2003. Just not worth the headaches. I currently have 2 almost identical Dell laptops for trading (one for backup).
I bought a 2.3 dual core with 4 gig of ram from Dell for $359. It came with a monitor which I sold to come to that price.
Great post. I would also get Zonealarm firewall, free or paid version. Check the power Supply from barebones kits, some are not reliable. If on budget, I would save on the Radeon X 1650, you can get a dual output for half the price, like GeForce 8400.
I have always wanted to build my own computer. I've been researching it and if you read reviews you can know what works together. I am thinking about the i7 chip with msi motherboard.
Thanks Anaconda. The point is that with a 'barebones' system you avoid all the downsides of home builds mentioned. With Asus the PSU's are fine. For those who don't know, a barebones has a motherboard built in, and a PSU. Cabling is in place for the DVD/CD. Everything is done for you except the easy bits of plugging in components of choice. You could do the whole thing in a half hour and install XP in a half hour (use the source I mentioned and most drivers inc SATA will be already built in, the rest in Windows Update or on a disk supplied with the barebones). The advantages are that you get to choose components and you get XP cleanly installed. When you buy Dell/HP etc. you can easily spend two hours unloading the subscription advertising junk, Norton/Mac, 'helpers' and branded non-standard utilities. You are also stuck with Vista which needs numerous tweaks to run at a reasonable performance. If you don't do these things you will be running well below best performance, no matter what the spec. The one thing I would avoid though is Zonealarm. I have had several callouts where that is the problem. People block an unknown program only to find something doesn't work and the solution is miles down in the menus with an obscure program name. If you have a router you don't need a firewall as it is a double hardware firewall, but you also have the adequate built in Windows one as a third level anyway. Still, building does require a basic level of knowledge and if that is not present you could get a dell and install XP from scratch - the prices are very good. If you have a hardware fault though, be prepared to be on the phone to India for hours trying to convince them. If you send it back to them, you will lose all data as well. For these reasons it can be better to buy over the counter - you just take it back to the counter for immediate service and ask them to save your data.
If one has basic savvy about installing drives, RAM and software..... 1. Forget about "spending two hours unloading..." Just do a fresh install of WinXP as soon as you get the machine. 2. If you do the fresh install of XP, you will know whether you have any "hardware faults"... and the user should do this and know his machine is ready to go before committing personal data. 3. With the Dell Precision Line, the techs are in the USA and speak English without the typical heavy and "difficult to understand" accent... this is different support from Dell's "consumer" models. Support for Precision is quite good. If one is a novice, "afraid to open the box"... it may be best to buy locally. Dealing with a Dell/HP tech in Mumbai whose English you can barely understand is likely going to be more frustration than most noobs can take.
Ok, thanks for the comments. I have some reservations about buying a ready made. #1 is all the crap that comes on them and the fact you don't really have full verisons of OS. #2 is the ability to expand/add cards components. #3 is I get to choose the components (quality/price) I was talking with the local shop (they built an AMD machine for me) and the guy was saying I should run Vista to get full benefit of quad core. So I'm thinking about building. Can you guys point me to some resources on designing and building? I built an AMD machine a few years ago with an ASUS MB, no experince with any others. I bought everything at newegg and let the local shop load the OS and tweak the BIOS. So with that in mind, if I build.......... Which OS Which CPU What kind and size memory? Harddrive? Video cards (not a gamer.......yet) Motherboard (I've used ASUS on only machine I ever built) Case and power supply? Can I keep this under $900?