Is it worth it to build when I can buy this?

J

jm667

New Member
I know there are a lot of posts about this, and I would imagine since everyone here is an enthusiast, that they would recommend building, especially for gamers.

I just want this for the main computer in the house. We don't play any games. Just general types of things (Office, picture and video editing, maybe watching the occasional video online, etc.). I was considering building with one of the i5 or i7 processors, and my budget was around $1000. Then I ran across this::

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...Ne=5000001+4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671&N=4047237 4294967277&Mo=7&No=2&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

If I put together a build with similar specs, it is going to be more than this. Even if I use the i5-2500, it will still be around this price. This has a two year warranty, which is better than the typical one year, although not as good as the 3 with some of components. What do you think? Is it really worth it to build instead of buy this one?
 
That would be fine for what you want to do.

I hope you do not plan on overclocking because you can't on a prebuilt.

Since you do not game, this point may not be valid but with that 300 watt PSU, I would imagine that you would not be able to upgrade the video card.

That is one thing I don't like about prebuilts. They use low quality, low wattage PSU's and if that goes out, it could take out other stuff with it.

But if you don't plan on upgrading anything, that build would be more than enough.

On the warranty part, if you buy the parts yourself, some of them come with a lifetime warranty like ram, and gpu. Certain hard drives have a 5 year warranty.
 
I just put together a build from newegg without a case with a corsair 550w power supply with windows 7 64bit for 924.90 and thats with shipping, That would leave you 75 bucks for a case of your choosing. You would get much better quality parts ordering them yourself.
 
Yeah I probably wouldn't upgrade anything, as that would seem sufficient. Good point you mention about the warranty on the individual parts. In the past, I have only had a drives go out on prebuilts and they were under warranty and I just had a new one sent to me. If something more serious has a problem, is it hard to tell which component is having the problem? I mean, I suppose if there is no video, it could be a video card problem. But is it hard to tell if its a RAM or mobo problem? How can you test stuff yourself to see what is wrong?


Did that setup you put together yourself include a monitor? Because I will need one of those too. I guess looking at this one I posted now would cost about $1120 with tax and shipping, and I wouldn't have to pay tax from newegg, so that is something to consider now too.
 
No, it didn't include the monitor. Sorry about that. Here is what it included.

dvd burner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335

HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136592

GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102876

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128460

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115071

Windows 7 OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

And if you really wanted the LED monitor then you would need something like this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009255

Yeah its Acer but I've never had any issues with them. And if you needed mouse and keyboard that would be extra too....
 
If you're doing basic computing, there's nothing wrong with pre-builts, really. You can usually find a deal, too. My only problem with them is they crammed full of garbage software that is all set to startup with the computer. 4 anti virus subscription reminders, 6 trials of Jim's Office Accounting 9.33, and two dozen other crappy programs you'll never use. That's really not such a headache if you just go in and delete the programs you won't use, but it kills me to see a monster processor like that groan under the pressure of trying to open and run 25 bullcrap programs when you boot your rig.
 
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Ha, yeah that is true, I forgot about all those programs it comes with. Well, maybe I will research this a little more. It doesn't look hard to build it, and I'll see if I can come up with something a little cheaper to make it worth it. I guess my biggest concern is what I mentioned a few posts up, about how to tell which part is having a problem if something goes wrong.
 
jm667 said:
Ha, yeah that is true, I forgot about all those programs it comes with. Well, maybe I will research this a little more. It doesn't look hard to build it, and I'll see if I can come up with something a little cheaper to make it worth it. I guess my biggest concern is what I mentioned a few posts up, about how to tell which part is having a problem if something goes wrong.
Click to expand...

That is the hardest part with computers. Alot of it is trial and error. You can test the memory with a bootable program called Memtest and I think hard drives can be tested with a bootable program as well, can't remember the name.

The GPU can be tested but it has to be done from Windows. With the motherboard and cpu, it helps if you have spare parts laying around to swap out. The PSU can be tested with the paperclip method but can't remember exactly how it is done.

I always think building is better too. It is not as hard as you think.

As for prebuilts having all kinds of junk software installed, that can be solved by buying a copy of Windows or just uninstalling what you don't need.

In your situation since you do not plan on upgrading, then prebuilts are fine especially if you are not gaming.
 
Wow, it sounds like I am in the same boat here. I was all set to order parts, but this one has similar specs to what I was going to order, so maybe that is worth it for me too. Ahhhh the decisions!!!! So tough.
 
$1000 for just a "general use" computer, even with a monitor, seems a bit much. For $750 (+~$70 for a case):

Monitor john posted

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157220

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231274

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371034

DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

If you really want to blow your budget, swap the hard drive for one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136514

+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233124

The SSD would be for your operating system and frequently used programs, the hard drive would be for storage. SSD's are much quicker than conventional hard drives, and so will provide much quicker boot times and load times.

That still only brings you to ~$900 (before shipping, discounts and mouse/keyboard)

In that build you get:

better power supply
better motherboard
much better storage drive(s)
better monitor
better quality memory
looks of your choosing
a cheaper computer
 
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