new rig, advise

[educatedfool]

also i found other cases some less than 150 quid have poor design features ie USB ports at back of pc with no at front acces nor ethernet acces ect. also some of them dam big 60+cm tall.30+wide

There are plenty of superb cases for less that 150 quid. Look in to the Coolermaster Cosmos, see what you think, it would have been my choice had I not have been strapped for cash and opted for the Antec 900. Ethernet is dependant on the motherboard/network card and even my 30quid case for my old PC has usb/firewire on the front

i would NEVER go on forum and ask someone to build pc for me for there hundreds of resons why this totaly insane, fruad comes to mind first.send my money dude so i can buy parts then il post you the pc.......sure he will.

I've also never seen anyone here do that, I have seen people offer to go round and help with the build. I doubt local computer shops commit fraud, especially if they've been around for a few years. They wouldn't ruin their business for the sake of less than 2grand

[shadowcreaper]

^^ on forums it kinda stupid to give addresses let alone money to someone tbh, on local shops sadly there isnt any near me and ones which are dont stay for long usealy 1 month at max(this why fruad ect)

atm i think i going to go for vadim sinse i been looking at pictures of the companys suggested and their overall layout kinda poor, and customer service seems rather slugish.

overall i save 300 avg pound max on set-up with all the companys, id rather pay someone 300 quid for top notch job and quite rare warrenty which coveres a lot of stuff others dont.

[educatedfool]

^^ on forums it kinda stupid to give addresses let alone money to someone tbh, on local shops sadly there isnt any near me and ones which are dont stay for long usealy 1 month at max(this why fruad ect)

atm i think i going to go for vadim sinse i been looking at pictures of the companys suggested and their overall layout kinda poor, and customer service seems rather slugish.

overall i save 300 avg pound max on set-up with all the companys, id rather pay someone 300 quid for top notch job and quite rare warrenty which coveres a lot of stuff others dont.

Well seeing as you are able to throw your wallet around my final piece of advice would be either to swap the motherboard for a SLI compatible one (the current one on vadim spec is crossfire) OR swap the graphics to a 3870X2. This will give you the option to add another graphics card at a later date.

Edit: doing a quick build on scan (basically the same as Vadim's spec) saves over 500 quid, so if you can justify spending that much on a warranty, enjoy your new PC

[shadowcreaper]

you seem to like scan a lot. have you got their pc? you save 300 not 500....also motherboad is intell thus more stable for overclocking and supports nvidia cards, it used a lot. the P5 motherboad ok but isnt as good though.

[ikix]

overall i save 300 avg pound max on set-up with all the companys, id rather pay someone 300 quid for top notch job and quite rare warrenty which coveres a lot of stuff others dont.

Most hardware has a fairly long warranty on themselves, some even lifetime so it may be worthwhile looking into it and then not having to spend as much on a "full package" warranty and most problems (not hardware related) you may come across can be solved with minimal effort.

[educatedfool]

you seem to like scan a lot. have you got their pc? you save 300 not 500....also motherboad is intell thus more stable for overclocking and supports nvidia cards, it used a lot. the P5 motherboad ok but isnt as good though.

My PC has components from several different online shops and I just put it together myself, it was all dependant on who had it in stock at the time. from memory Scan/Aria/ChilledPC and Mplex (a local one to me)

I used scan as it has a wide range of components and the prices are some of the best in the country, i'd buy from them more often if it didn't cost an arm and a leg to post to northern ireland.

I took the Vadim spec and selected the components myself from Scans catalogue, with 4GB DDR2 1066 ram it it game to just over a grand (including software) you might need an extra 30 or 40 quid for fans and bits, but you're saving well over 400 still.

[Muska]

you seem to like scan a lot. have you got their pc? you save 300 not 500....also motherboad is intell thus more stable for overclocking and supports nvidia cards, it used a lot. the P5 motherboad ok but isnt as good though.

you should read a few reviews around before making such claims, the p35 chipset is one of the best in years and the guys in here a really trying to help you, so my advice to you - go to vadim pay the premium and all your problems will be gone

[shadowcreaper]

i mainly say this sinse wheather or not everyone here UK so knows about vadim, but i been on a few forums uk based and about 70% of people agree vadim probaly best company in uk atm for prebuilds, and scan is pretty hit and miss with prebuilds, BUT good with buying parts seperate.

i looked at cyber thinggy and made this spec up.

CAS: Silverstone Temjin TJ07B Aluminium Super Tower 420W Case W/Windows (Black) [+199]
CASUPGRADE: Ultra Violet Reactive Kit (2xUV Lights, 2xSATA2 HDD Cable, 1xIDE cable) [+33]
CS_FAN: Maximum Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+6]
CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8500 CPU @ 3.16GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit [+82]
CD: SONY DUAL FORMAT 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
CD2: NONE
CABLE: None
FLASHMEDIA: None
FREEBIE_VC: None
FAN: Asetek Liquid LGA775 CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) [+43]
FLOPPY: NONE
HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+48])
HDD2: NONE
IEEE_CARD: NONE
KEYBOARD: NONE [-4]
MOUSE: NONE [-4]
MODEM: NONE
MOTHERBOARD: (QX9650/Q9770 Support) Asus Maximus Formula Intel X38 Chipset CrossFire FSB1600 DDR2/1066Mhz Mainboard w/GbLAN, USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio [+107]
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC8500 DDR2/1066Mhz Dual Channel Memory [+118] (OCZ Reaper HPC Edition [+39])
MONITOR: NONE
MONITOR2: NONE
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 [+53] (32-bit Edition)
PPU: NONE
PRO_WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU [+11]
POWERSUPPLY: 700 Watts Power Supplies [+90] (CoolerMaster Real Power PRO 700W Modular PSU SLI Ready)
RUSH: NONE
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: NONE
TEMP: SILVERSTONE EUDEMON SST-FP52 LCD DISPLAY FRONT PANEL [+28] (BLACK COLOR)
TVRC: NONE
UPS: None
USB: Add External USB 2.0 Hub (4x USB 2.0 Ports) [+11] (BLACK COLOR)
USBHD: NONE
VIDEO2: NONE
VIDEO3: NONE
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 16X PCI Express [+168] (Major Brand Power by NVIDIA)
WEBCAM: NONE
WNC: NONE
WAP: NONE
WARRANTY: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
£1,486.38

the main concerns with these systems from cheap placs are the cooling and will it be enough/quality of parts/build quality. sinse most of them dont show pre-customers pcs, thus how can you just rely on "my pc looks great and all cables are tidy", a picture tells a thousand words.... about the builders/company. if they dont show pictures ect of inside of customers cases how will you know?

[shadowmaster]

My brother bought a system from them about a year or so ago. The quality was good and from my experience their customer service was also good. They have a customer service forum on their website that is monitored by one of their employees; you should ask a couple of your queries there. Also some people have posted pictures of their cyberpower pc's on the forum.

Another thing is that I think the standard warranty does not cover the cost of sending the faulty pc or item back to them for repair or replacement. They do however pay for the returning the item back to you. If you get the collect and return warranty, both ways are paid by them.

[ikix]

the main concerns with these systems from cheap placs are the cooling and will it be enough/quality of parts/build quality. sinse most of them dont show pre-customers pcs, thus how can you just rely on "my pc looks great and all cables are tidy", a picture tells a thousand words.... about the builders/company. if they dont show pictures ect of inside of customers cases how will you know?

If you phone the people then they can tell you a thousands words about it without the need for pictures at all, and if you want to go nuts maybe they can send you an email with a picture creating a grand total of 2000 glorious words. If they tell you (or show you a picture) what components are going into the machine then you will know the quality as they dont manufacture all the components just put it together.

[Thorsson]

I'd point out the obverse of shadowcreaper's point about getting someone round to build it for you. If you build for someone you could easily find yourself giving free "lifetime" support. It isn't worth it.

[Blitzen]

i used yoyo pc builder and this is what i got so far:
Silverstone TJ-07 PC Case
[YOYO Code 17909] £226.80 (Edit)
2 Coolermaster 850W Power Supply
[YOYO Code 14285] £104.38 (Edit)
3 Asus Striker II Formula Motherboard
[YOYO Code 98491] £168.06 (Edit)
4 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
Product is Out of Stock. Please Choose different product.
[YOYO Code 42040] £143.85 (Edit)
5 Scythe Mugen CPU Cooler
[YOYO Code 30289] £27.03 (Edit)
6 OCZ Reaper 2GB (2 x 1Gb) DDR2 1066Mhz (5-5-5-15) PC Memory
[YOYO Code 73524] £50.23 (Edit)
7 Samsung 750GB SATAII Hard Drive
[YOYO Code 53473] £63.84 (Edit)
8 Card Reader Optional
[YOYO Code card reader] £0.00 (Edit)
9 Samsung 20x Lightscribe DVD Rewriter
[YOYO Code 8850] £15.00 (Edit)
10 XFX 8800GTX XT 768MB Graphics Card
[YOYO Code 3139] £253.00 (Edit)
11 No WIFI - Optinal Upgrade
[YOYO Code ] £0.00 (Edit)
12 Onboard Soundcard
[YOYO Code Soundcard]

Total: £1392.58 inc. vat though it got less cooling, +no ocing, advise on cooling issue would be nice?

Its a decent rig.
That said, its nowhere near a £1400 rig as its way too much (i would say at least £500 too much) for that specification.

And here is why:
1. E8500 = If you insist on a dual core then get the E8400
2. Those Coolermaster PSUs are nothing to special. They are very expensive for what they are aswell. Also bare in mind, you certainly dont need an 850unit for that set up.
3. The Reaper RAM is pobably overkill. Also, the spreaders on it are very gimmicky and nothing more.
4. Dont go paying over £250 for an 8800GTX. They can be had £50 cheaper than that now. FOr that price it is VERY poor value.

Hope that helps......
Im not being over picky. Im just trying to let you know that what is there, for a shade under £1400 is incredibly poor value for money.

[mediaboy]

Sometimes I really wonder about people's stubborness...

Here are lots of people trying to save him money and he's pulling out the wallet and waving it round like he's crazy or something. Maybe he likes wasting money... but I know that the amount of money he's wasting (anywhere up to £500.. depending on where you get parts 'n' so on) would build my current computer and buy a 22" widescreen as well... or he could just go ahead and buy a nice 30" one I believe

If you insisit on going through Vadim it's your choice, like people have said - it's your money.

But like ALL prebuilt computers and so on, they overcharge for warranties and labour. The more the computer costs, the more they charge for labour. Vadim seem to be charging you £500 for this warranty. I got mine for basically nothing, and so far have had few problems with it...

Other people I know have had 10 year warranties for £50... or £5/year. How much do Vadim charge per year?

Building a computer is easy... if I can do it (and this is remembering how young 'n' innocent I am) then you should certainly be able to do it. The hardest bit was probably putting on the HSF - stupid UFO model by NorthQ.. too big for an AX78 - but that's because it's a cheap HSF that doesn't deserve to be offered on any decent forum or site as a good HSF.

If you're spending 1.75K on a computer you're not going to have problems with cheap parts... and grounding yourself isn't the hardest of things to do.


Of course, if you're so incompetent that you can't build a computer, listen to what people are saying and realise that actually, you could probably go talk to the nice people at YoYo and get them to build it. We're not saying you BUY the computer off them.. just that you pay them to BUILD it.

Oh - and most people complaining about the value of the stuff you are buying have got a point.... All prebuilt computers have overpriced components.

[Bugbait]

Sometimes I really wonder about people's stubborness...

This also applies to those trying to convince someone to build their own to save money. It's his money so why do you care? The same could be said about cars. If you service your own car (changing oil isn't that hard) you could save a bit of cash. How many people do it themselves though? It's easy to claim it's simple when you know what you're doing.

But like ALL prebuilt computers and so on, they overcharge for warranties and labour. The more the computer costs, the more they charge for labour. Vadim seem to be charging you £500 for this warranty. I got mine for basically nothing, and so far have had few problems with it...

Exactly, YOU haven't experienced many problems with YOUR machine. How many machines have you built and had to support? The larger the sample the greater the likelihood that you will encounter a problem. In my high school days when I just built PC's for myself and friends I very rarely had issues or faults. As I started building more over the years I experienced more failures, as to be expected.

As can be seen on other forums people only really start to gripe when things go wrong. Only the most unreasonable and sour complain when things are working fine. This is when the customer service experience kicks in.

Other people I know have had 10 year warranties for £50... or £5/year. How much do Vadim charge per year?

For a PC? Show we where? I'm not saying it doesn't exist but I'd like to know of such a cheap and generous warranty plan. Is it any good? What is the level of service like?

Building a computer is easy... if I can do it (and this is remembering how young 'n' innocent I am) then you should certainly be able to do it. The hardest bit was probably putting on the HSF - stupid UFO model by NorthQ.. too big for an AX78 - but that's because it's a cheap HSF that doesn't deserve to be offered on any decent forum or site as a good HSF.

If everything goes as planned then building a PC is easy. If there is a fault, depending on which component it can be quite time consuming to identify. I recently spent many hours isolating a RAM fault. Initially it was passing tests and thus threw my hypothesis that the RAM was at fault. Fortunately it got worse over time and I was able to conclude without doubt that the fault was with one of the paired RAM sticks. Supplying this evidence and testing procedure to OCuk meant I had replacements in barely a week.

What if I didn't know what to test? What if I was wrong about the RAM? I'd be out shipping and testing costs and still have a "broken" PC. This is where a warranty on an entire build can be handy, especially if you're not a PC enthusiast.

Oh - and most people complaining about the value of the stuff you are buying have got a point.... All prebuilt computers have overpriced components.

Again, it's not your money. He's asked for advise and he's clearly made up his mind then so be it. Why harass and abuse someone for not listening to you? Pointless really.

I know plenty of people who are savvy computer users but don't know how to built a PC nor would they want to. The £300-500 extra the OP is paying for the warranty and service may be a big deal to some but it may not be to him. Maybe running around when there's a problem is more of a hassle than earning the extra money? If you made £500+/day would you care about the difference as much? What's a day or two's wage in relation to piece of mind?

EDIT: For the record if it wasn't already evident, I have always built my own PC's (started late with a 286) and do so for all my friends as well. Although far from being an expert I consider myself decently knowledgeable about PC's. I don't offer a PC building service because it's not worth my time (I earn far more from my consulting business) so I'm not trying to defend my own interests. I've dealt with enough clients to know that support and warranty can be worth a lot of money to them as downtime costs them more.

If you work at an entry level job for £20k/yr then spending several hours building and testing a PC is good use of time and money. If you make £100k+/yr then your time is arguably better spent doing other things, unless PC building is a hobby or something you enjoy doing.

Please try to think outside of the box. Not everyone on this forum is coming from the same angle. When giving advise you should always consider everything the client, in this case the OP wants. Trying to impose your views while ignoring key requirements (ie. Support, build quality, no hassle or fuss) won't get you anywhere .

EDIT 2: Sorry if I'm coming off a bit harsh. I just find it a little annoying when people offer advise only from their perspective and fail to consider that the target audience may not have the same knowledge or values or priorities.

[Thorsson]

I earnt just over £100k last year, and I not only built my latest PC, but also made sure I didn't buy overpriced parts. If I'd earnt £500k maybe I'd feel differently, but I doubt it.

However, I know that some people either: a) are lousy at building things (and it's no good saying how easy it is, some people just don't have the "bent" for them); or b) really just can't be arsed (just like I feel about most DIY jobs).

Still, I've known a few self-made multi-millionaires, and none of them do like paying over the odds for something, however much money they have. Terence Conran, for example, used to park at the edge of a small town in the South of France, and walk to his favourite restaurant, rather than pay the local car park charge of 50F (as it was then).

So I understand Bugbait talking about different perspectives, but I think it's dumb to pay over the odds just because you can. Maybe you won't be able to in the future if that's your attitude (unless you happen to be a member of the Royal Family or similar).

[mediaboy]

Bugbait - the PC in question was from Evesham, who have now closed down, making this particular's persons 10 year warranty null and void. He lost out on approximately 9 1/2 years... but it was still a 10 year warranty. May have been slightly less.

As for building computers.. as of the moment I've built ~10 in the last 6 months or so. I've also maintained/run that many and ensured that they don't go kaput. This latest computer has had a few teething problems with the AX78, but it's only a faulty RAM slot.

And testing? I didn't have the slighest idea how to test it. Thankfully Scan have got a semi-decent customer service, meaning that when you ring them up saying "I think my motherboard is dead, what do I do to test it?" They send you a nice e-mail telling you how to do it... 7 stages I believe. Then you ring them up (again) and they'll tell you what the results mean and organise a date for collection of potentially faulty part. If the part is faulty, they repair or replace it free of charge, including collection charges.

As for knowing what I'm doing.. I'm young and innocent. I've built a few computers here and there but I hardly "know what I'm doing." I just know what works. And with a car, you're talking about maybe 10% of the total price saved by self-servicing (such as replacing oil) meaning that it's alot easier just to spend that extra 10%. Here, we're talking about cutting his costs down by what? 1/3? More than a 1/3? That's 20-40% (1/5 - 2/5 for those that prefer fractions) which is a substantial amount to cut down on from anything. Wouldn't you love to have 20-40% cut off of the price of your car or house?

As Thorsson as said, unless you happen to be a member of the Royal Family, it's dumb just to pay 50% extra (If he would pay £1000 without and £1500 with it's 50% extra) for something that you could get for a fraction of the price, even with extended warranties. Thorsson has just said he earns £100K but still saves money by doing things such as building his own PCs and avoiding overpriced parts.

Yet again, why am I complaining? It's not as if he's been dumb enough to suggest something like buying Alienware or something equally overpriced.