Warhammer Online Gaming Rig,

[TAKTAK]

He went with this system and it looks mighty tempting to me too:

Alienware Aurora System in Space Black with Red Fusion lighting,
AMD® Athlon™ X2 5200+ 2.7GHz Dual Core 2 x 512KB L2 Cache
750 Watt Alienware® Approved Multi-GPU Power Supply
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GT
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 x 1024MB
Alienware® Approved AMD® 790FX Motherboard
Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
250GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM
20X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer
Logitech® Classic Keyboard UK - Space Black
Razer Diamondback 3D Mouse - Green
AlienCare 1-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return
AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista Edition

/Rookie

£800???
OUCH! << i like being subtle

for a direct comparison... (with an expensive case...)


and thats without taking up offers.. or searching round for cheapest prices...

[Rookie1986]

So it comes in at around £200 cheaper if he buys the components himself, but does that include everything that would be needed to build it or are we going to need tools, screws, wires, fans and other parts?

Also just how hard is it to build your own computer, because like i said neither of us really know anything about PC's as were both Mac users so were not even native with windows and its setup,

Also what would he have in the forms of system recovery and a return to base warranty?

[staffsMike]

All the screws etc.. come with it. You just need a screwdriver and some common sense.

Online guides will tell you everything as will case/motherboard manuals etc..

His PC is already out dated though and AMD is not the way to go with bigger budget PC's.

[Sacred]

I'm a bit surprised, I expected Alienware to work out al ot more expensive.

I mean take into consideration you get the OS, recovery disks pre-created, a years warranty, better PSU and not build and tested/configured.

Ok its like £200 more expensive but I think the above are deffo worth it, especially with the buy now pay September 2009 finance option (basically giving you a year to save for it and still get away without paying any interest)

TBH I would seriously consider looking to get an Alienware system myself after seeing this!

[Rookie1986]

All the screws etc.. come with it. You just need a screwdriver and some common sense.

Online guides will tell you everything as will case/motherboard manuals etc..

His PC is already out dated though and AMD is not the way to go with bigger budget PC's.

What do you mean by common sense though, the only alteration to my iMac was undo one screw in the ram guard, push in a second stick of ram and then re-screw the ram guard back in place, is building my own system going to be that simple?

I've been looking on http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/ and it does seem a little heavy with info when it comes to building a system and there are a lot of "Warning" boxes which scares me a little (remember i come from the world of "it just works"),

And wouldn't any computer that isn't housing the newest and best of all components be out dated buy there successors?

[staffsMike]

Right but the point isn't that you can build his system for &#163;200 less. It's that the same money can get you something considerably better.


This is embeleshing everywhere so is more pricey than it should be but is better in every way. And prices would be cheaper using today only but you don't get the pretty pictures

There is very little to get wrong on PC's. Warnings are the common sense parts. Like don't screw your motherboard down without the risers underneath it, and dont let any screw's get under the motherboard etc.. I've done that before

[TAKTAK]

So it comes in at around &#163;200 cheaper if he buys the components himself, but does that include everything that would be needed to build it or are we going to need tools, screws, wires, fans and other parts?

some thermal paste, a screwdriver, and a brain

Also just how hard is it to build your own computer, because like i said neither of us really know anything about PC's as were both Mac users so were not even native with windows and its setup,

TBH everything is colour coded and or has tabs to stop you connecting it wrong...

Also what would he have in the forms of system recovery and a return to base warranty?

warranties for EVERY component in the build, ranging from a year to lifetime.....

and you gain the knowhow to fix any problems yourself in the future...

and that build was only a straight up comparison... i would go for an intel () for anything gaming worthy...

[Rookie1986]

I know you guys are just trying to be helpful and save my friend some money, which is appreciated but he just feels better going with the Alienware, but he does appreciate the time/effort you guys have put in and would like to say thanks.

Anyway, so that leaves me, i am interested in giving my first build ago, it just would have been nicer to build something for £200-£300 instead of near £700, as I'm sure you guys will know its a lot of money to risk on something i know nothing about, and not to seem rude to you guys but you have said all it needs is a brain and commonsense but i think your being a little naive there, no doubt you guys have built loads of computers in the past and collectively have hours of experience but for us who have never even seen inside a computer it is a very intimidating process, if we were talking Histograms, Dynamic Range or the f/16 rule then i would feel right at home but unfortunately were not,

I'm going to have to think long and hard about this and see what i decide to do, hopefully if i do decided to build my own you guys will offer your knowledge and support to me,

/Rookie

[colmo]

All the screws etc.. come with it. You just need a screwdriver and some common sense.

Online guides will tell you everything as will case/motherboard manuals etc..

His PC is already out dated though and AMD is not the way to go with bigger budget PC's.

And what is the point of buying a 790FX motherboard if the video card (an nVidia) can't use Crossfire (only ATI boards can)?

That CPU is very underpowered compared to the rest of the rig.

Why is the PSU so overpowered for a modest CPU and mid-range video-card?

It's an unbalanced spec, and believe me, £200 to assemble a PC is a lot of money. I used to do it, and £50-100 was the margin we aimed for.

Here's another version of TAKTAK's spec, by trimming the SLi motherboard and fancy-pants case you get a much better CPU:



P.S. I suggest peeps posting screenshots use PNG or GIF files indexed to 256 colours instead of JPGs.

[staffsMike]

Tbh a lot of people here are on their first few real builds. I mean I did my first one for a long time a couple of years ago, "My System" which was before I joined hexus. I had done rebuilds in the past but never one with fresh components that I wouldn't know if they would work if not.

Seriously it is not hard at all. Fault diagnosis is the worst part if things don't work but that is what Hexus is for

Frankly if you don't want to spend that much I could spec you a decent build for &#163;400 - &#163;450 that would still be better than your mates

[TAKTAK]

and not to seem rude to you guys but you have said all it needs is a brain and commonsense but i think your being a little naive there

actually the hardest part about the whole process is probably specing it up... and i'm being deadly serious... (well... mebbe not deadly )

but everything will only let you connect it one way around:

cpu has a gold triangle in the corner that you just match up with the one on the motherboard.
ram has a notch so it only goes in one way.
gfx card has a notch so it only goes in one way.
power cables have shaped connectors so they will only go in 1 way.
sata cables have a notch.
ide cables have a notch.
and so on/so forth

aslong as you can use a screwdriver (without causing death and suffering) then you can build a computer...

[colmo]

I know you guys are just trying to be helpful and save my friend some money, which is appreciated but he just feels better going with the Alienware, but he does appreciate the time/effort you guys have put in and would like to say thanks.

If his time is more valuable than his money, then it makes sense to get a bespoke one

Anyway, so that leaves me, i am interested in giving my first build ago, it just would have been nicer to build something for £200-£300 instead of near £700, as I'm sure you guys will know its a lot of money to risk on something i know nothing about, and not to seem rude to you guys but you have said all it needs is a brain and commonsense but i think your being a little naive there, no doubt you guys have built loads of computers in the past and collectively have hours of experience but for us who have never even seen inside a computer it is a very intimidating process, if we were talking Histograms, Dynamic Range or the f/16 rule then i would feel right at home but unfortunately were not,
/Rookie

If you can get your head around digital photography, building a PC is child's-play by comparison - I often describe it as building a big Meccano set.

£300....oo, now that's a challenge. I think it can be done, sort of. Maybe excluding the Vista license, anyway. I'll get speccing...

[Rookie1986]

If his time is more valuable than his money, then it makes sense to get a bespoke one



If you can get your head around digital photography, building a PC is child's-play by comparison - I often describe it as building a big Meccano set.

£300....oo, now that's a challenge. I think it can be done, sort of. Maybe excluding the Vista license, anyway. I'll get speccing...

I'm not wanting you guys to spec something for the £200-£300 price range, what i was meaning is it would have been nice to of had previous experience building a PC at a cheaper price where if something went wrong i wouldn't be so gutted about it, but building a rig thats going to cost around £700 would mean some components are work £££ and im scared that something will go wrong,

[staffsMike]

Well buying your own components mean you get far longer warranties than alienware's 1 year jobby. They range from around 3 years to lifetime depending on the component

If you break something.. just say it was Dead On Arrival*

* Joke**

** But not really

[TAKTAK]

I'm not wanting you guys to spec something for the £200-£300 price range, what i was meaning is it would have been nice to of had previous experience building a PC at a cheaper price where if something went wrong i wouldn't be so gutted about it, but building a rig thats going to cost around £700 would mean some components are work £££ and im scared that something will go wrong,

my first complete build (last september [had just upgraded before]) cost around £800.

i'm 100% glad that i decided to build...

and TBH even if you did manage to break something, the amount you save by doing it yourself, more than covers your back...

[Rookie1986]

I think i will take a look at things on ebuyer.com and price some parts up for my &#163;700 budget..... then i could always get an Alienware case from eBay



j/k

/Rookie