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Where should i buy a high-end system from?
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Posted by: Andu
hi,
I've been thinking abput purchasing a new system but i don't know where to go because I had a really bad experience buying a high end computer that didn't worked from the first day , I bought it online from www.ibuypower.com , if anyone is thinking about purchasing from this company don't , they have a very bad waranty, very very bad support(you have to call them and talk to a person who knows nopthing about computers and who tells you that you have to wait untill a so called trained computer operator will call you back because they have to many cases on their hands and don't get me started on the skilled operator who made me take out the ram and put it in the next slot when i was having problems with the hard drive and video card....
Anyway what would be a good company to purchase such a system:
P 4 3.0 Ghz , Ati Radeon 9800 XT 256 Mb, 2X512 Corsair DDRAM400 PC 3200 CL 2.5, an ABIT IC7 i875 chipset motherboard(a similar Intel based motherboard is fine as long as it has dual channel) and a 19" monitor.
I've been looking at Dell and Alienware but I don't know if these are the best choices especially alienware of whom I read some bad stories on the net and plus both of these companies have pretty high prices.
well, I appreciate all the suggestions you might have.thnk u in advance
Posted by: DemonBob
Personally you'd get more satisfaction out of building it your self. But if you want a brand name computer IMHO dell is the best to go with right now. Especially if you upgrade to thier 3 year warrenty plan, so the computer is covered till about time it is obsolet anyways.
Posted by: The-AoD
I agree with DemonBob. Building your own will not only save you a good bit of money when going to all out performance, but when going mid to entry level performance, going with a prebuilt can actually save you money.
When you're going for all out high end, companies are going to charge you the all out high end price. Such as some extremely power gaming PC's that are prebuilt can cost you upwards of $4,000. When building a comparable system could end up only costing $2,000 or less. Either way, it's up to you.
If you're going to stick with a prebuilt system, I'd definetly go with Dell, and noone else. Even though Dell still doesn't provide the best performance of thier field, thier support is unmatched. Alienware used to be my top choice, but as of lately it seems that customers have been having alot more trouble with them. So, if you're going prebuilt, the best way to go is Dell.
Just some inside information for you about prebuilts versus building your own. Most companies, including Dell, won't actually tell you everything you want to know about thier system, as when you break that small seal on the back of thier case, the warranty is voided. Companies usually skimp in some of the most valuable places to a user who constantly wants to upgrade, or wishes to later. By this, I'm talking about, using motherboards without AGP slots, or lack of DIMMS for ram. While not breaking the seal during the warranty, you'd never know. This is cost efficient cuts that save them money to help them earn a decent profit against people who build their own. So, if you go prebuilt, don't expect to get everything you hoped for. While, usually thier performance isn't "lacking" as bad as I may "seem" to be pushing, the most important expectations of the systems years to follow might be grim when it comes to upgrades.
I suggest you do something. If you've never been to New Egg, then go there now. Create an account and build a wishlist. Go through and select the parts you want, and make sure to get a case, comparable monitor, keybaord and mouse, and everything else you expect from a prebuilt. I'd recommend going with Retail parts when possible, while thier warranties are by far greater than the OEM versions, and the retail models aren't that much more expensive. The warranty would easily beat the extra five to ten bucks. After you fill your wishlist, save it and check the shipping costs. Round up a total and see what you come up with.
Now that you have a wishlist, you can start comparing prices. Try a few different companies, such as Dell and Alienware and see what comparable systems would cost. Most likely you'll save alot with your wishlist and you'll end up knowing EXACTLY what you're getting for your money.
From personal experience, New Egg is 100% awesome in all aspects. Shipping is actually usually earlier then they report, and thier technical support is probably the best I've ever seen. I'm a loyal New Egg customer and will be from now on.
Now, just because I want to make sure you know, here's a list of parts you'll need to make a totally operational system. I'll use all retail parts, such as the processor(It comes with a heatsink and fan!).
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Processor. Retail chips usually come with a 3 year warranty and always have an approved heatsink and fan.
- Motherboard. Picking your own motherboard lets you select what you get with it, and how it looks for future upgrades!
- RAM, gotta have ram to toss into that motherboard! If you're going dual channel, get a dual channel two pack. Best way for dual channel is matching chips!
- Case and Power Supply. You have to have a case, and picking your own could result in one really badass looking rig! And of course, you have to supply the badboy with some power. A 350w would do for your "idea" on parts, but I'll recommend a 400w if possible. You can get Cases with powersupplies which is always a two for one shot.
- Video Card. Gotta have a video card, it's a definete have-to situation.
- Sound Card. Gotta have sound! What's a quite PC good for in this multimedia world!
- Hard Drive. Gotta have something to install your operating system and hold your stuff!
- CD/DVD Roms and Rewrites. Basically, CD-Roms are a have to have anymore, and burners are always nice to have for backing up important data!
- Monitor. Gotta have a decent monitor, what good is a system that you can't see the operating system to work with?
- Mouse and Keyboard. Also self explainitory, but now you can get a kickin` keyboard and mouse combonation!
- Speakers. Unless you already have some, you could always pick out a decent set of speakers for your system.
- Operating System. Unless you're going to use a copy from an older machine, you'll need an operating sytem! (Here I recommend the OEM copy of XP home or Pro. These are OEM and don't have "MS" support, but the internet is very useful with problems you may have!
- Cables, floppy drives, other devices. Unless you "need" a floppy drive, they aren't essential anymore, but they are cheap and if you need one, you can get one. All the needed IDE cables should come with your hard drives and CD-Roms, but you could always get some really slick looking round cables for your machine!
And there you could make your own custom machine and have everything you wanted down to the last dot. 
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
I hope this helps you decide on what route to take.
Posted by: redwench
http://www.pricewatch.com/
they list full systems.
a longer warranty doesnt make up for recovery disks instead of a full OS, proprietary parts, and weird junk in your windows.
Posted by: Bix VT
I'd have to agree with AoD. Really, if you build your own from an excellent store such as NewEgg, you can get a very good system for well under $1000. I personally put together a nice new system for myself from NewEgg for under $500.
Posted by: psd#1
Can't go wrong with a Dell no matter what anyone tells you its your safest bet....
-pSd#1
Posted by: redwench
cant go wrong?
*falls down laughing*
Posted by: Bix VT
Yeah, it's a safe bet alright...a safe bet that you'll get great service. But it's also a safe bet that you'll be using that service a bit more often then you'd like. Dell's computers aren't of the highest quality. Plus, if you want anything with specs higher than a P4 2.5/256ram/intel graphics, it will cost you an arm and a leg, and maybe even your firstborn male child.
Posted by: Bunmiadefisayo
 Quote:
Originally posted by Bix VT
I'd have to agree with AoD. Really, if you build your own from an excellent store such as NewEgg, you can get a very good system for well under $1000. I personally put together a nice new system for myself from NewEgg for under $500.
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Can U pls give me the specs of the PC u Bought for under $500?I bought an HP 40 GB, 512MB Athlon XP 2600 plus monitor for %649. It came with an integrated Geforce 4MX and so far its ok and i can mange. however i still want to know what kind of good PC u can buy for under $500!!
Posted by: Superfly3176
My tech teacher bought a few pcs from www.ibuypower.com and hasn't had any problems. He says he loves them. But personally if we are talking high-end don't build it yourself im going to have to say alienware.
Posted by: Andu
Thanks for the info everybody especially Aod you're right NewEgg is pretty cool ,made my own pc and came up with a pretty good price my only concern is that I've never put a pc together from pieces and I am afraid about not being able to do it properly, also I'm not sure about the compatibility of the components.
I don't know what I'll do yet, I have a few weeks to decide till I get my money, Dell seems like a reliable company but what i don't like about them as you have mentioned is that they do not tell you who the manufacturer of the components are and some of the specs, they don't say anything about the motherboard at all which I thought was pretty strange. I'd like to go with alienware but their prices are way too high and I've read a few complaints that made me wonder about this company.
anyway if you think about anybody else I'll appreciate your help.
Posted by: DemonBob
Well, if you need some more help just post a breif of the components you choose out and we will do our best to help you make sure they are compatible, and give you suggestions on what to change to get the best preformance out of the parts you chose.
Posted by: Superfly3176
Well actually to configure a high-end alienware as apposed to a high-end dell using as close to the same parts alienware is sometimes cheaper. And i don't know what processor base your system is but i don't like dell's intel only. I wouldn't buy a dell because the don't let you know the motherboard and ram.
Its kind of like the hand built viper or the assembly lined corvette.
Posted by: The-AoD
Well, putting a system together is very easy. I'll explain the most difficult parts and how to successfully do it.
Building your first PC:
------------------------------ Putting your processor into the motherboard. This process is probably the most intimidating part of the job at hand. The manual that comes with the motherboard usually explains process in detail, but I'll go ahead and explain. On the processor there is a certain "difference" in one of the four corners where the pin layout is. This is known as pin 1. Your motherboard will have a similar concept, and your processor should only fit in the socket in the correct placement. Just make sure that you put pin 1 in the correct corner of the socket, and there you go. With a retail processor, the heatsink should have thermal tape on it, and mounting the heatsink requires some "inginuity" on getting it onto the socket's clips. Basically, most of the heatsinks will be connected by a clip on the two sides of socket. Which is easily understood once you see what you're working with.
- Putting cards in. This is basically, self explainitor. Just remove the spacers on the case so you can fit your AGP and PCI cards into the slots. I recommend you use the lower PCI slots to leave the largest cooling area for the video card.
- RAM. Since you're wanting dual channel, you have to put the ram in right. The "slots" or DIMMS will be labeled. You need to put the ram in DIMM 1 and 3 if it's marked 1 through 4. If it's marked 0 through 3, you'd use 0 and 2. The ram will only go in one way, and just make sure the clips click when you place the ram in.
- IDE Cables. You have to set the master and slave on the hard drive and Cd-Rom's. This theory is simple, and basically todays IDE cables come with 3 ports. One for the motherboard, one for the master and one for the slave. Always when possible, make sure that your hard drive is set up on the first IDE port on the motherboard and the master of the cable. The cable layout is like this. The farthest away from the middle port is for the motherboard. The middle port is the master connection and the closest port to the middle is the slave. Most of todays round cables are labeled accordingly. And ribbon cables usually have a different colored port for the motherboard. You shouldn't have any trouble with it. As for the CD-Roms, just set them however you want. The drive letters will automatically be assigned to the Primary(Or first IDE port on the motherboard) master then Primary Slave. Then Secondary Master then the Seconday slave. It's basically self explainitory, and hard drives are always listed before CD-Roms in the letter assigning process.
- What about cables that fit in more than one thing? Well, simply, there's only a couple things in an entire system today that can be plugged into more than one thing. The most difficult to understand is the analog audio out from the CD-Rom to the sound card. But once you read the CD-Rom manual, you'll understand how to set it up, and the sound card will explain how to add the analog audio cable from the CD-Rom.
- Power, there are a total of 4 types of power cables for a Pentium 4 system. There's the normal ATX Connecter that connects directly to the motherboard, then there is a 4 pin connector that is specifically for, and required for a Pentium 4. It as well, connects to the motherboard. Then you have drive cables and floppy cables. These are simple, and cannot be put on the wrong way for hard drives and CD-Roms. These are larger and usually clearish plastic connectors and can only be inserted one way. The floppy cables are small white flat connectors, and they can only be inserted one way as well; unless your floppy drive is an unusual build, in which case, flipping the connector is a simple process.
- Where does all this stuff go? Well the best idea I can give you before doing it yourself is taking the side of your current case off(Unless it'll void an active warranty). This will give you the best idea possible as 99% of todays systems look very similar. Everything can be put in one area, and basically, it's like legos. If you were good with legos, or Konnex, then you'll make this a simple job. Even if you weren't, once you start; you'll grasp the concept easily.
- One last thing. Read the manuals that come with your gear. The manuals usually have very good explainations of the installation process. This makes your life alot easier! Trust me on this, once you get into it, the time will go quick. Once you're finished and that system powers up for the first time, you're garunteed to have a rush of self confidence! I know I did with my first system. The mechanical skill required is low, as there's a small amount of screws and most of the installation processes are covered in the manuals.
- And don't forget, if you EVER have a problem with it, you can always come back and ask a question here! We're always happy to help you in the case of a problem, though I'm pretty sure you should be able to breeze through the process.
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If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask. We're all happy to assist you, and I'm sure that you'll get your answers!
Just for my personal want-to-know. Could you post your system and your components. Maybe even link us to your wishlist so we can see what you're getting. You could just post the parts and the final price. I'd like to know what all you picked out. hehe
Posted by: punkrockguy318
Quote:
Originally posted by Bunmiadefisayo
Can U pls give me the specs of the PC u Bought for under $500?I bought an HP 40 GB, 512MB Athlon XP 2600 plus monitor for %649. It came with an integrated Geforce 4MX and so far its ok and i can mange. however i still want to know what kind of good PC u can buy for under $500!!
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I built a sweet machine for $400 using tiger direct: Next time I'll try NewEgg.com.
Here's my specs
Intel Celeron 1.4Ghz
Nvidia GeForce 2 MX400
40 Gig hard drive
52x32x52 burner with burn proof
floppy
usb in the front and back
onboard sound
18inch monitor
optical mouse
3 peice speaker set
320 RAM
And some other stuff too: but that's basically it. For $400!!! It's really only used for homework and some 2D games, so I didn't beef it up to much (ie Celeron :-P)
Posted by: DemonBob
Also for some further explanation, http://www.opentechsupport.net/foru...=&threadid=1474
Posted by: taco_fox
Quote:
Originally posted by Superfly3176
Its kind of like the hand built viper or the assembly lined corvette.
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But I'd take a Corvette over a Viper any day 
Posted by: redwench
i prefer an over-powered SUV myself.
Posted by: Bix VT
I'm a Ford man myself...give me a GT 
Bunmiadefisayo: I bought a case/mobo/psu combo on ebay for $50 (ASrock K7S8XE+, 400watt psu)
From NewEgg:
Athlon XP-M 2400+ (because of unlocked multiplier)
80gig Seagate sata
Heatsink/fan for cpu (Thermaltake tornado 12 I think $40)
512 DDR 2700 (1x512)
Sony 52x32x52 cdrw
And I'm using my old GeForce FX5200 ultra with a case fan strapped to the heatsink (my old fan died, so I'm gonna overclock the heck out of it)
Using an old monitor, and a $5 set of mouse/keyboard from CompUSA. So my comp wasn't 100% NewEgg, but still a good pc for less than $500
Posted by: The-AoD
I'm a GM man, but give me a porsche 911 Carrera 4 anyways.
The P4 system I want is only 370 bucks more, since I already bought the case, cooling, and half the ram I need.
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