Post by robspace on Feb 25, 2012 5:18:41 GMT 9.5
Two months ago, in Dec. of 2011, my desktop computer finally quit working. It was custom build for me 6 years ago, and at that time I had no idea about which parts were good or bad and I was lucky that I ended up with a real nice system. The guy that built it turned out to be honest and knew what he was doing!
It was expensive, but the prices then, for the computer parts, was much higher then they are today. So, my power supply, as well as my motherboard have both quit working. I think the power supply, or psu, took out the motherboard, or mobo. So, now I had to decide what to do. Should I buy a stock computer like Dell or HP from Best Buy or should I rebuild the one I have? Money is an issue, and I need to get as much as possible for as little as possible. So, I did alot of research, and now I have my answer. And, maybe this will help you make your big decision when the time comes, and it will.
Ok, first off, I was very lucky to get so mnay miles out of my computer. 6 years is about double the adverage lifespan of most major computers today. 3 years is about all you can expect with a Dell or HP, before it's time to replace parts.
What it comes down to is, how much you want to spend, and how powerful you want the system to be. The reason Dell and HP are the top sellers, is because they are cheap. Well, they do have lines of expensive performance machines, but they also have alot of inexpensive pcs. The reason for this is simple. They use cheap parts that they get for very little. They buy them in huge bulk and they get them for very littl money. But, like anything, you get what you pay for, if your lucky.
The power supply on a Dell is usually only 300 watts, and they are a cheaply made psu. They also use motherboards that are around $50.00, and the ram is some generic brand thats less then $40.00 or so. The processor, or cpu, is the most expensive part on these units, and they can't skimp on these because there's only two companies to choose from. You get an AMD or an Intel cpu and that's it. I'm sure Dell would love to make their own cpus! Wow, imagine the savings for them and the lack of quality control for the rest of the world.
So, after many hours of reading reviews and articles about building a pc vs. buying one, it comes down to the amount you want to spend and that's determined by the way your going to use the computer. If all you want to do is everyday computing and sending email, then a Dell would be fine. But, if you want to play games or do any multitasking and/or graphics heavy work, then you need to rebuild the one you have, or plan on spending alot more then $300 or $400.00 bucks. I decided, because I love playing games, and really hate a slow system, I will rebuild mine. It's alot cheaper and I will be installing very,very, good parts that will make the system fly!
And, because I have never worked on a computer before, I don't want to make this one my first. So, I have a local shop doing the install for me, and they will take out all the old parts and put in the new ones for only $60.00, which I think is a fair price. I am buying the parts a little at a time. My computer is sitting at the shop while I get the parts together. In the meantime I'm using my backup pc, which is kind of slow and drives me nuts.
So, here is what I'm buying for the new build. I did alot of research and pricing and found some good deals. The best online stores here in the US are great for parts shopping. Newegg.com is the number one supplier of computer parts in the country. Amazon also has alot of deals on computer parts, so I'm buying some from them.
I bought the Asus M5A88-V EVO motherboard with onboard graphics. This is an AM3 and 3+ board that supports all AMD cpus. It has many features like core unlocking made easy. And this will be real good to have, I'll explain
the price for that was $125.00 at Fryes
For my processor, I wanted AMD, and the Black Edition with 4 cores. After alot of reading of many reviews, I got the AMD Phenom 960T, which has 6 cores, two of which are disabled by AMD. But, with the right motherboards, the extra two cores will unlock on this, making it a 6 core cpu, for the price of a 4 core! This cpu is super fast, and with all cores unlocked, it will keep up with the Intel I-5 and nearly as fast as the 7.
The cost was $99.00! great deal for sure.
At first I was wanting to get the newest cpu by AMD, which is the Zambezi Bulldozer series. The 4100 is only $100.00 for 4 cores, but after reading many reviews, I went with the fast, tried and true, Phenom series as there is bugs still being worked out with these new Bulldozer's.
It would be good to wait a year and let AMD get it right before buying it. These new chips did much worse then expected in the tests when they came out this year. They need time to find all the problems before they become as popular as the Phenom was and still is.
Now, next is the most important and most expensive component going into this case, the power supply. I have done many hours of reading late into the night to learn as much as possible about these things. Here's what I found out and maybe save you some time.
NEVER SKIMP ON THE PSU!! Many people make this mistake and end up paying for it when their low priced power supply quits working and takes out the motherboard and ram with it! This happens alot with cheap psu's. To be sure that you are buying a power supply that won't fail, you have to spend a little more and get the best.
The best ones are made by just a handful of companies. Here is a partial list of the best ones made:
1. Seasonic 2. Antec 3. Corsair-any of these are great and made real good. The amount of power means nothing when picking one. The difference in the way these are built is amazing. There is a huge difference between the cheap ones out there, and the great ones like these 3.
The difference can mean your pc crashes, and can literally burn with a cheap psu. Some of the cheap ones are so badly made that they are being returned constantly, and there is alot of Chinese junk psus that are flooding the market right now. So be real careful when buying one. Antec, is the favorite for gamers. Their products are the top of the line. Their cooling supplies and other parts like the psu's are at the very top for quality and have very few failures. They just came out with a case that is so futurist looking that I have to get it, sometime in the near future. It's square and open all around (for cooling) with a
colored led fan on top.
Speaking of fans with lights. This is one of the big selling points for alot of these cheaply made power supply companies. People love shiny objects. So, these crooks will put alot of lights on a cheap power supply and people buy them. It's kind of like seeing Vegas for the first time. It dazzles the eyes until you take a closer look.
So, next week, I'm buying the Antec 23754 Truepower Blue power supply from Amazon for $135.00. This is a 750 watt psu and yes, it has a blue led on it's fan. My case has a clear side window with colored fan lights, so this should look pretty nice. But, the psu is the best there is, and has 4 rails, and is modular, meaning most of it's cables are detachable. The cables not needed can be taken off, so's not to clutter the inside of the case and cut down the airflow.
For ram I'm putting in GSKILL 1600- 8 gigs-$44.00 at Newegg
I'm keeping both hard drives as they are still good, and I'm keeping both dvd drives and burners as they too are still good.
So the grand total for this new system comes to just over $400.00 in parts and another $60.00 for labor to the shop. So, for under $500.00, this will be a new system that is not only super fast but has the quality components that you just won't find in a standard desktop sold by retailers.
The motherboard is "Crossfire Ready", which means I can add another graphics card, and it will work together with the one already on the board, to provide amazing video with great framerates for any kind of graphics heavy applications like all the new games. I'll add that card later on, as they are alot for good ones.
By the way, Intel charges much, much more for their cpus then AMD does, and dollar for dollar, AMD gives the best bang for the buck according to all reviews I read. And soon I'll have my new hotrod together, and I can't wait to take it for a test drive.
Hope this helps you make your decision when it's time to replace or rebuild. Feel free to ask me anything about this. I may or may not have an answer.
Hey, want to see a wild looking case? This just came out from Antec and is fantastic, I think. Not only is it super futuristic looking with a nice big led fan on top, but it has the best cooling of any atx cases today, and it sits alot lower then most cases, taking up less overhead space on a desktop. I will be getting this one soon.
PS-this is not spam-I don't work for this company, but just like this case-
www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzA0
It was expensive, but the prices then, for the computer parts, was much higher then they are today. So, my power supply, as well as my motherboard have both quit working. I think the power supply, or psu, took out the motherboard, or mobo. So, now I had to decide what to do. Should I buy a stock computer like Dell or HP from Best Buy or should I rebuild the one I have? Money is an issue, and I need to get as much as possible for as little as possible. So, I did alot of research, and now I have my answer. And, maybe this will help you make your big decision when the time comes, and it will.
Ok, first off, I was very lucky to get so mnay miles out of my computer. 6 years is about double the adverage lifespan of most major computers today. 3 years is about all you can expect with a Dell or HP, before it's time to replace parts.
What it comes down to is, how much you want to spend, and how powerful you want the system to be. The reason Dell and HP are the top sellers, is because they are cheap. Well, they do have lines of expensive performance machines, but they also have alot of inexpensive pcs. The reason for this is simple. They use cheap parts that they get for very little. They buy them in huge bulk and they get them for very littl money. But, like anything, you get what you pay for, if your lucky.
The power supply on a Dell is usually only 300 watts, and they are a cheaply made psu. They also use motherboards that are around $50.00, and the ram is some generic brand thats less then $40.00 or so. The processor, or cpu, is the most expensive part on these units, and they can't skimp on these because there's only two companies to choose from. You get an AMD or an Intel cpu and that's it. I'm sure Dell would love to make their own cpus! Wow, imagine the savings for them and the lack of quality control for the rest of the world.
So, after many hours of reading reviews and articles about building a pc vs. buying one, it comes down to the amount you want to spend and that's determined by the way your going to use the computer. If all you want to do is everyday computing and sending email, then a Dell would be fine. But, if you want to play games or do any multitasking and/or graphics heavy work, then you need to rebuild the one you have, or plan on spending alot more then $300 or $400.00 bucks. I decided, because I love playing games, and really hate a slow system, I will rebuild mine. It's alot cheaper and I will be installing very,very, good parts that will make the system fly!
And, because I have never worked on a computer before, I don't want to make this one my first. So, I have a local shop doing the install for me, and they will take out all the old parts and put in the new ones for only $60.00, which I think is a fair price. I am buying the parts a little at a time. My computer is sitting at the shop while I get the parts together. In the meantime I'm using my backup pc, which is kind of slow and drives me nuts.
So, here is what I'm buying for the new build. I did alot of research and pricing and found some good deals. The best online stores here in the US are great for parts shopping. Newegg.com is the number one supplier of computer parts in the country. Amazon also has alot of deals on computer parts, so I'm buying some from them.
I bought the Asus M5A88-V EVO motherboard with onboard graphics. This is an AM3 and 3+ board that supports all AMD cpus. It has many features like core unlocking made easy. And this will be real good to have, I'll explain
the price for that was $125.00 at Fryes
For my processor, I wanted AMD, and the Black Edition with 4 cores. After alot of reading of many reviews, I got the AMD Phenom 960T, which has 6 cores, two of which are disabled by AMD. But, with the right motherboards, the extra two cores will unlock on this, making it a 6 core cpu, for the price of a 4 core! This cpu is super fast, and with all cores unlocked, it will keep up with the Intel I-5 and nearly as fast as the 7.
The cost was $99.00! great deal for sure.
At first I was wanting to get the newest cpu by AMD, which is the Zambezi Bulldozer series. The 4100 is only $100.00 for 4 cores, but after reading many reviews, I went with the fast, tried and true, Phenom series as there is bugs still being worked out with these new Bulldozer's.
It would be good to wait a year and let AMD get it right before buying it. These new chips did much worse then expected in the tests when they came out this year. They need time to find all the problems before they become as popular as the Phenom was and still is.
Now, next is the most important and most expensive component going into this case, the power supply. I have done many hours of reading late into the night to learn as much as possible about these things. Here's what I found out and maybe save you some time.
NEVER SKIMP ON THE PSU!! Many people make this mistake and end up paying for it when their low priced power supply quits working and takes out the motherboard and ram with it! This happens alot with cheap psu's. To be sure that you are buying a power supply that won't fail, you have to spend a little more and get the best.
The best ones are made by just a handful of companies. Here is a partial list of the best ones made:
1. Seasonic 2. Antec 3. Corsair-any of these are great and made real good. The amount of power means nothing when picking one. The difference in the way these are built is amazing. There is a huge difference between the cheap ones out there, and the great ones like these 3.
The difference can mean your pc crashes, and can literally burn with a cheap psu. Some of the cheap ones are so badly made that they are being returned constantly, and there is alot of Chinese junk psus that are flooding the market right now. So be real careful when buying one. Antec, is the favorite for gamers. Their products are the top of the line. Their cooling supplies and other parts like the psu's are at the very top for quality and have very few failures. They just came out with a case that is so futurist looking that I have to get it, sometime in the near future. It's square and open all around (for cooling) with a
colored led fan on top.
Speaking of fans with lights. This is one of the big selling points for alot of these cheaply made power supply companies. People love shiny objects. So, these crooks will put alot of lights on a cheap power supply and people buy them. It's kind of like seeing Vegas for the first time. It dazzles the eyes until you take a closer look.
So, next week, I'm buying the Antec 23754 Truepower Blue power supply from Amazon for $135.00. This is a 750 watt psu and yes, it has a blue led on it's fan. My case has a clear side window with colored fan lights, so this should look pretty nice. But, the psu is the best there is, and has 4 rails, and is modular, meaning most of it's cables are detachable. The cables not needed can be taken off, so's not to clutter the inside of the case and cut down the airflow.
For ram I'm putting in GSKILL 1600- 8 gigs-$44.00 at Newegg
I'm keeping both hard drives as they are still good, and I'm keeping both dvd drives and burners as they too are still good.
So the grand total for this new system comes to just over $400.00 in parts and another $60.00 for labor to the shop. So, for under $500.00, this will be a new system that is not only super fast but has the quality components that you just won't find in a standard desktop sold by retailers.
The motherboard is "Crossfire Ready", which means I can add another graphics card, and it will work together with the one already on the board, to provide amazing video with great framerates for any kind of graphics heavy applications like all the new games. I'll add that card later on, as they are alot for good ones.
By the way, Intel charges much, much more for their cpus then AMD does, and dollar for dollar, AMD gives the best bang for the buck according to all reviews I read. And soon I'll have my new hotrod together, and I can't wait to take it for a test drive.
Hope this helps you make your decision when it's time to replace or rebuild. Feel free to ask me anything about this. I may or may not have an answer.
Hey, want to see a wild looking case? This just came out from Antec and is fantastic, I think. Not only is it super futuristic looking with a nice big led fan on top, but it has the best cooling of any atx cases today, and it sits alot lower then most cases, taking up less overhead space on a desktop. I will be getting this one soon.
PS-this is not spam-I don't work for this company, but just like this case-
www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzA0