Can anyone give me any advice...

[kasavien]

I'm planning on upgrading my system in the new year, funds permitting, but i can't decide whether to build my own or get prebuilt from scan 3xs. I know i could build the system i want for around £100 - £150 cheaper than i could get the same system from scan but i'm not sure i can trust myself to put together a system on my own. I've built my own and upgraded my own system before, but i've never been 100% successful, as i never seem to be able get my system 100% working. My theory is that it would be worth the extra cash to get a fully functioning optimised system.

The system i am after is roughly as follows

AMD X2 4200+
ATI 1800XT (sapphire
200Gib HD (Seagate or Western Digital)
2Gb memory (corsair)
Silverstone case (J105B)
ATI chipset mobo (probably Asus crossfire)
Windows XP pro
DVD writer
7 in 1 floppy drive
Akasa 550W power supply
Logitech Keyboard/Mouse (MX3000)

There are probably a few things i've missed off but to buy as separate pieces it would come to ~£1350, and depending on the technology available at time of purchase some things may change. To get 3xs to build it would be ~£1500 plus you get 1 years warranty if anything goes wrong. Oh and either way i would be buying said components/system from Scan

Anyway hope someone can help me make my mind up. My main concern is that if i mess anything up building it then its a lot of money down the drain.

Thanks

Andy

[project187]

good way to do it is put it all together and take it down to ur local pc shop who will look over it for you for about 40 quid and see if anything is wrong and they can also give you tips this way you are getting an expert opinion and saving 100 quid still, but even if you do have something wrong it would take alot of effort to cause damage more than likley is htat it wont boot or the post will tell u wats wrong i.e. ram seating and such

[kempez]

I wouldn't take it down my local PC shop if I was you - my local one charges much more than £40 to build a PC

Get it from SCAN if you want the peace of mind

I would suggest the £20-40 extra for the 4400+ tho

[project187]

i didnt mean to build it lol
i meant u build it and they check it my local is good for that

[kasavien]

i was under the impression that the extra 512k cache that the 4400+ has doesn't really make much difference or am i mistaken. If it does make a difference i would go for that