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Buying vs Building new computer? - Page 2

Forum Index > Tech Support
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NaYeBo
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada282 Posts
April 10 2011 17:49 GMT
#21
Well, skyr mentioned I can choose the parts and get it built for 50$, so I'd probably go with that route.
NaYeBo
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada282 Posts
April 10 2011 17:50 GMT
#22
My next question is would an i7 be warranted over an i5 in skyrs build?
novabossa
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States350 Posts
April 10 2011 18:04 GMT
#23
The Sandy Bridge i7 is phenomenal, and you'd have no problems streaming on that kind of processor. The i5, however, should be sufficient (provided you get an appropriate graphics card). Personally, I consider the extra $100 not to be worth it (then again I'm a poor college student strapped for cash), but it will do a great job in future-proofing your system.
Rachel: First game. oGsMC: Yea. Rachel: Dark Templar. oGsMC: Yea. Rachel: Countered. oGsMC: Yea. Rachel: Were you worried? oGsMC: What?
FiWiFaKi
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Canada9859 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-10 18:08:10
April 10 2011 18:04 GMT
#24
On April 11 2011 02:50 NaYeBo wrote:
My next question is would an i7 be warranted over an i5 in skyrs build?


The i7 2600(k) you'll see probably a 25-35% performence increase.

For the extra 120+ dollars it's not worth it, especially considering the current mobo doesn't support OC.

My recommendation would be, if you want a better CPU... The i5 2500k is great, it's performence OCed is that of the i7 2600k, and it's $240 ish I think? The problem is, if you want to OC, you'll need a P67 motherboard, and those go for approximatly the $200 mark.

Edit: Overall it's a very solid build much better than the one on the site. And I think you'll be very pleased with the build there. The i5 2500k if you choose to get it will last you years, but I think for your needs it is slight overkill.
In life, the journey is more satisfying than the destination. || .::Entrepreneurship::. Living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't || Mechanical Engineering & Economics Major
Myrmidon
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
United States9452 Posts
April 10 2011 18:38 GMT
#25
i7-2600 over i5-2500 is a very small difference in most applications including games and is definitely not worth the $100 price premium unless your budget is large or you're a professional user. All you get is 100 MHz higher, 2 MB more L3 cache, and hyperthreading. And hyperthreading is only good if you're running workloads that actually can have more than 4 threads running in parallel (and if the first 4 threads get stuck waiting on RAM/HDD access or something).

Only in the most favorable well-threaded conditions do you get anything like 25% more performance with a i7-2600. Usually the difference is more like 0-3%.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287
Warillions
Profile Joined November 2010
United States215 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-10 18:41:17
April 10 2011 18:39 GMT
#26
honestly man stick with the custom built pc, the mobo is amazing(i have it), thats the most ideal ram to get, the vid card well its optional, theres a lot of good vid cards out there that will stream/sc2 just fine. the processor is good too, u could even get away with the quad core phenom2 965 and save about 40 bucks that could be used on 8gigs of ram instead of 4. the i7 is strong, but the price increase i think is not worth it. yet another amd vs intel thread? i hope not.
Gak2
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada418 Posts
April 10 2011 19:46 GMT
#27
5770 is much better than 5450, which can barely run on low. so get the custom-built.
An alternative is to get the best buy comp, then buy a separate 5770 and install that. you'd probably need to get a better power supply too though... so this is a lot more expensive. just get your friend to help you make the custom built lol
mutantmagnet
Profile Joined June 2009
United States3807 Posts
April 10 2011 20:08 GMT
#28
Something is really wrong here. 17% savings on custom building for parts after rebates? *checks op's link* The Dell is refurbished. That explains a lot.

If you can get a brand new pc for that cost you are better off with that; but the warranty for refurbished items usually blows compared to brand new items.
It's not hard to build a new pc but there are frustrations you might have to stomach since this would be a first time for you. On top of that your parts are of higher quality than what the prebuilt is offering.
NaYeBo
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada282 Posts
April 10 2011 20:16 GMT
#29
On April 11 2011 05:08 mutantmagnet wrote:
Something is really wrong here. 17% savings on custom building for parts after rebates? *checks op's link* The Dell is refurbished. That explains a lot.

If you can get a brand new pc for that cost you are better off with that; but the warranty for refurbished items usually blows compared to brand new items.
It's not hard to build a new pc but there are frustrations you might have to stomach since this would be a first time for you. On top of that your parts are of higher quality than what the prebuilt is offering.


Yeah, the stores are offering it brand new here, but a lot of people said it won't run on ultra graphics?
FiWiFaKi
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Canada9859 Posts
April 10 2011 21:13 GMT
#30
On April 11 2011 05:16 NaYeBo wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 11 2011 05:08 mutantmagnet wrote:
Something is really wrong here. 17% savings on custom building for parts after rebates? *checks op's link* The Dell is refurbished. That explains a lot.

If you can get a brand new pc for that cost you are better off with that; but the warranty for refurbished items usually blows compared to brand new items.
It's not hard to build a new pc but there are frustrations you might have to stomach since this would be a first time for you. On top of that your parts are of higher quality than what the prebuilt is offering.


Yeah, the stores are offering it brand new here, but a lot of people said it won't run on ultra graphics?


If you buy off ncix and they build it for you there is practically no hassle. I think at this point it should he a no brainer for you. I think you should evaluate that build that was suggested, see how it fits your budget - If there's any upgrades you want etc, but again it's solid if they do all those price matches.
In life, the journey is more satisfying than the destination. || .::Entrepreneurship::. Living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't || Mechanical Engineering & Economics Major
NaYeBo
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada282 Posts
April 10 2011 21:16 GMT
#31
Sorry I'm unsure what the concept of price matches are? I'm guessing if I show them those prices... They'll match them?
mutantmagnet
Profile Joined June 2009
United States3807 Posts
April 10 2011 21:19 GMT
#32
It can't run the graphics at ultra settings.

This review is slightly outdated because some optimizations have been made. Yet you can see the lowest end card listed here (which is going to better than 5450) has no chance of being improved enough to playable levels on a low resolution.

Your custom build is a lot more cost effective.
FiWiFaKi
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Canada9859 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-10 21:28:04
April 10 2011 21:26 GMT
#33
On April 11 2011 06:16 NaYeBo wrote:
Sorry I'm unsure what the concept of price matches are? I'm guessing if I show them those prices... They'll match them?


Pretty much. Usually though when you price match you puck items that are on sale from another site, and therefore the same price may not apply anymore. Also Ive had some trouble with other price matching on other sites so maybe Im just paranoid xP.

I mean your other alternative - is buy that computer, I never realized how good that CPU actually is (equivalent of i5 2500 - got my modems mixed up. I'm just not am AMD fan so not sure what to think)... And then sell the 5450 and buy a 460gtx, which would be expensive... Nvm scratch that.

But I do recommend doing some research on that GPU... Its a 60 dollar one, and practically the worst on the market.

In life, the journey is more satisfying than the destination. || .::Entrepreneurship::. Living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't || Mechanical Engineering & Economics Major
RaiZ
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
2813 Posts
April 10 2011 21:34 GMT
#34
On April 11 2011 05:16 NaYeBo wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 11 2011 05:08 mutantmagnet wrote:
Something is really wrong here. 17% savings on custom building for parts after rebates? *checks op's link* The Dell is refurbished. That explains a lot.

If you can get a brand new pc for that cost you are better off with that; but the warranty for refurbished items usually blows compared to brand new items.
It's not hard to build a new pc but there are frustrations you might have to stomach since this would be a first time for you. On top of that your parts are of higher quality than what the prebuilt is offering.


Yeah, the stores are offering it brand new here, but a lot of people said it won't run on ultra graphics?

It may be brand new, but the whole computer is just sooo old it's not even funny.
If you build your pc, you can almost have double performance.
I mean look at the 5450 graphic card : 5770 is like what ? $40 more, but it outperforms in everyway the 5450.
I'm already having troubles streaming at medium setting with a 5750 with 50 fps (let's be honest : 40 fps is the true average imo). I can't imagine how you'd stream with ultra with such a low graphic card that 5450 is.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde
scudst0rm
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada1149 Posts
April 10 2011 21:39 GMT
#35
Another point against pre-built machines:

Pre-builts from the big brands (acer, gateway, hp, dell) always come with the cheapest possible no-name power supplies and motherboards. This leaves you with a higher chance of failure and little room to upgrade (if you want to upgrade the gpu you need to replace the power supply as well).

Pre-builts from the high-end/enthusiast brands like cyberpower will have better parts but are way more expensive.
You're like a one ranger army comin' at me...
Genome852
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States979 Posts
April 10 2011 22:16 GMT
#36
The biggest reason I prefer building a computer is because it's just easier to fix if something breaks.

If you buy a prebuilt computer and it has an issue, you can't open it and fix it yourself... unless you want to void the warranty. On the other hand, you CAN do that with a built computer, and most of the time you can still use the computer after taking out whatever is damaged while waiting for the replacement.
mutantmagnet
Profile Joined June 2009
United States3807 Posts
April 10 2011 23:24 GMT
#37
Warranty voiding is dependent on the company. Lenovo and HP (which is the brand the OP was looking at) provide manuals on how to take apart their machines to make upgrades. They are less concerned about machines being opened up unlike Apple or Emachines.
SigmaoctanusIV
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States3313 Posts
April 10 2011 23:27 GMT
#38
Building a computer is always 100% a better choice. You get to pick your components and get quality ones at that. When you buy a prebuild PC you will most likely get a Cheap PSU or a bad Video Card. When you build you can pick good manufacturers and select everything you want. The only upside of getting a prebuilt is you get Windows with it most of the time... Build the Comp Always the better choice.
I am Godzilla You are Japan
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