PC, buy or build your own?

[jerhyn]

I was looking at gaming laptops, but now looking at some gaming desktops. Did you buy a gaming rig like this, or build your own?

[Peter.Steele]

Built my own.

Last time I went back for a complete clean-sheet build was 2001. It's been a rolling upgrade cycle since then.

[jerhyn]

Built my own.

Last time I went back for a complete clean-sheet build was 2001. It's been a rolling upgrade cycle since then.

It's been awhile since I built my own, it used to be more cost effective. Not sure if it still is.

[roger1022]

Build my own.

You can buy parts just about anywhere. Even better when there are sales.

[echoThreeOneSix]

found a good sale so I bought mine already built.

[madbeans88]

Built mine in 2010 still running like a champ..

[stilly]

Built my own.

Last time I went back for a complete clean-sheet build was 2001. It's been a rolling upgrade cycle since then.

LoL!

Someone gave me an AMD Quadcore 955 (Phenom 2 x4 or something) back around 2007ish and I built a new gaming system around it.

I have gone through 4 graphics cards (8800, 9800, 285, 570 currently), 1 HDD and still on the SAME PSU...

Still running Windows XP SP3 Black and Blue Edition.

And yes, it is USUALLY ALWAYS better/cheaper to build your own. At least from where I stand. If I had bought this from a store they would have charged another hundred or so prolly and tried to give me 8GB of RAM... :\

[davefromca]

I went with a gaming laptop. The desktop has all the advatages....except space saving.

[SMR510]

Build your own. Not only is it cheaper but you will get exactly what you want/need and nothing that you don't.

If you do buy one built you will want to buy one that has been built from consumer available components. The big computer manufactures will cut corners on components for prebuilt systems to save some money. In the long run, this will be a major headache for you when you go to install a expansion card and realize that there is no slot. In some cases the traces are on the motherboard but they couldn't be bothered to solder the damn connector on. Also, they will all use generic or otherwise cheap power supplies that could let go at any moment and take out other components or even your files.

Post up your budget and intended uses and I would be glad to throw together a recommended build for you. http://www.tomshardware.com/ is a great resource, they have "Best CPU For The Money" and "Best Graphics Cards For The Money" that they update monthly to help make the two most costly/important choices.

[_TomT_]

I used to build my own, I no longer have/want a desktop though.

[Cowboy T]

Build. You get exactly the parts and chipsets that you want, for the same price or maybe a little lower. Nowadays, it takes 30 minutes to build a box.

I have an AMD octa-core with 32GB DRAM that handily outruns most other desktops doing what I do. Turns out I run a lot of multithreaded apps and virtual machines. The parts cost me less than $400. Half an hour later, I was installing Ubuntu GNU/Linux. Fifteen minutes later, I was ready to rock.

[InFamous20]

Build, I have always wanted to build one. I will do it this fall

[Get3CoffinsReady]

Built my own.

Last time I went back for a complete clean-sheet build was 2001. It's been a rolling upgrade cycle since then.

Yeah, I would just build it so I would know exactly what parts were in it and its always fun to take a side project.

That is funny, I have been on original build from '03 until recently; I finally replaced the last hold out of my original hardware, my sb live 5.1 card.

[docsmileyface]

You can make your own computer for much less than a prebuilt system -- and the system you linked is actually terrible for gaming, a GT620 GPU isn't much better than the onboard video the 4770 comes with and 16GB is overkill for gaming -- pretty much that computer would be a terrible system to game with; for $789 you could do much better:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($223.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($78.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($69.30 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($23.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $787.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-24 07:49 EDT-0400

Drops the i7 CPU for a quad core i5 clocked the same speed, games don't use hyperthreading so the i5 will work just as good as the i7; 8GB is more than any game can use anyway so we save money by dropping the extra worthless 8GB to change the GT 620 to an AMD R9 280; here is a comparison of the higher rated GT 640 to the 280:

http://www.hwcompare.com/16208/geforce-gt-640-ddr3-vs-radeon-r9-290/

The AMD R9 280 is rated 10.0 whereas a 620 is rated a 2.9

http://www.pc-specs.com/gpu/comparison-versus/2250/587/radeon-r9-280-sapphire-dual-x-oc-3gb-edition-vs-geforce-gt-620

[pitbull30]

Newegg and Tigerdirect are your friends.