Canceled my order for a new PC and now going to attempt to build my own! HELP!!!

[quote name='Kevfactor']i really wonder if that guy tested your mb (or even forgot to turn the switch on for his psu lol). 3 things coming broken sounds like ups must of drop kicked your box and then let it sit out on the rain then told the box your parents just got divorced hehe.

id take it down town to liek a private owned shop instead of best buy. here is best buy. my friend took his pc there. the guy sat it down and said he'd call him back. after 3 weeks my friend had enough and went back there and seen his pc was collecting dust and was sitting at the exact same spot the guy 3 weeks ago sat it down at.


lastly id question the part quality of prebuilts. unless you can get the stuff part by part like from newegg or tirger direct then they are going to cut corners for profit. so 130 might not seem like much till you see it's not as good of a pc :)[/QUOTE]

But iv bought several pre builts and only once had problems and even then it was just a bad fan. Meanwhile building my own PC I ran into 2 bad parts...and you guys are now trying to say thats uncommon but at the same time most of you have said at some point you have built a PC and either fried a part yourself or had a part come DOA.

I can appreciate enthusiasts building their own PC and enjoying the experience, and im glad I tried because I now feel I can swap out my own parts....but I think ill leave the intial build up to the pros and enjoy knowing I have a 3 year warranty.

That said I think im going to try and wait another 6-9 months to order a new PC. As I said before my current PC really isnt that bad, I ran specs by tekzor and he was in agreement that even the few games I cant run with an upgrade to my GPU id be fine for another year maybe even 2 depending on the rate developers push tech(which has been slow recently).
 
I hate to say this Magus but I'm glad you ended up buying a pre-built. Some of us are the type that loves building our own PC and love learning and studying every little detail to it and others that are just looking to save a buck. To me Magus you are more of the instant gratification type, not that their is anything wrong with that, as the saying goes different strokes for different folks.
 
Building your own rig can definitly be a handful. I stopped buying computers though after I payed a grip for a custom Compaq in college and it was outdated in about 2 years time... then to boot it messed up on me and back then there was only a 1-year warranty.

I was strapped for cash so I found it cheaper to fix it and use my old monitor than to buy another.

I salvaged what I could from the old computer (which wasn't much since the mobo, chip, and HD all messed up on it) - but having a DVD drive, a burner, a video card, a few other random things did end up saving me money. I ended up investing maybe 300-400 and ended up with a better computer than the one that cost me 1500!

Funny enough, that computer lasted me over 3 years with only a video card and burner update (I wanted to play new games and lightscribe).

That one messed up on me after 3 years, but the value was there.

After that I invested around 200-250 and combined that with the salvaged parts to have my current computer. It is outdated since it has parts dating back a few years, but it has been over 2 years for it and it has been going strong.

The way I see it is I spent 600 and have been happy with my computer for 5+ years - whereas buying a rig cost me 1500 and didn't last me more than 2 years.

With the way things are way cheaper nowadays I can see why buying pre-built is appealing, but unless I can get a kick butt system under 400 pre-built, I think I am sticking to building my own for the foreseeable future.

There is also something about picking out a dope case and other things that I like. It seems the more customization you ask for, the more money people want. So I'd rather have the fun, keep the money, and take my chances.

Thankfully, I've never had a bad part delivered... though I can broken a few here and there. Thankfully it has never been anything crucial or cost me money.
 
wont have the fun of doing this!

Submerged-PC-by-Puget-Systems_2.jpg


or

113473d1245905669-my-haf-932-paint-job-rig-mod-haf-932-027.jpg



hehe :)
 
[quote name='spoo']I hate to say this Magus but I'm glad you ended up buying a pre-built. Some of us are the type that loves building our own PC and love learning and studying every little detail to it and others that are just looking to save a buck. To me Magus you are more of the instant gratification type, not that their is anything wrong with that, as the saying goes different strokes for different folks.[/QUOTE]

Nah not really. Most things im content to wait, I never buy games new and instead wait for them to drop down to $20 or under(most of them I even wait for $10 or under). The few killer titles I REALLY want I still usually wait a few months and grab for $35ish then try and pawn on craigslist for close to what I paid. I invest my money in IRA, 401k CDs and other things I dont see immediate growth on. We dont have cable TV and instead wait a day or 2 after our shows are released to watch them online. Pretty patient people. With a PC its not instant gratification, its more I dont feel comfortable playing around with parts this expensive and its a HUGE PITA for little return and no warranty...so I just dont see the point.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus'] no warranty[/QUOTE]

Many of the parts do have warranty. Some people don't read the fine print. No saying that's you but all parts come with a customer service number to call for whatever. Anyway, I make it my thing to call them because they sometimes have free warranties but require a letter or call to confirm address to the purchase receipts. Also some of the manufactures have catalogs and such (email or real mail) they mail out ever so often and they come bundled with coupons and discounts.

Gj and Gl with your investment habits. I retired at the age of 28 (not rich but I'm good) and it takes a lot of will to stay on that path.
 
[quote name='Megazell']Many of the parts do have warranty. Some people don't read the fine print. No saying that's you but all parts come with a customer service number to call for whatever. Anyway, I make it my thing to call them because they sometimes have free warranties but require a letter or call to confirm address to the purchase receipts. Also some of the manufactures have catalogs and such (email or real mail) they mail out ever so often and they come bundled with coupons and discounts.

Gj and Gl with your investment habits. I retired at the age of 28 (not rich but I'm good) and it takes a lot of will to stay on that path.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the compliment on the whole investing thing. We have a 6 month to a year nest egg now and are debating ramping up investment habits but havnt decided if we want to go CD, mutual fund, 401k or IRA. We are trying to be responsible, wish we would have started younger then 23 and 26 though!

As for PCs I know most of them come with a 1 year warranty but first off that's still a 2 year difference and second you still have to be able to figure out exactly what part is bad, then take it out, wait a week for the new part to come and reinstall it. I understand the downside of the warranty though is it can take just as long or even longer to get your PC back plus arguing with CSR monkeys. Just saying again personally ill take the $150 extra and warranty hassle route in the future.

All in all I am glad for the experience. Even if we were sent bad parts or had problems or whatever I walked away with a lot more knowledge. We both feel comfortable opening up the PC and swapping out a part or 2. That alone will save us money long run.

Anyways im almost positive we are just going to wait on buying a new PC. This one still is playing games as I have said before and with a graphics card upgrade probably can keep doing so for quite some time. The load times are really the only thing annoying me in games not graphics or slow down.
 
I would have helped you if you're in So Cal. But let us know again in the future when you decide to buy another PC, we can help you pick out a good one, or give you pointers.
 
[quote name='SOSTrooper']I would have helped you if you're in So Cal. But let us know again in the future when you decide to buy another PC, we can help you pick out a good one, or give you pointers.[/QUOTE]

Ill make sure to ask you guys if I go to design a PC for opinions on parts. At the same time if you guys see any great sales let me know! Like I said the plan currently is to wait for this PC to start REALLY falling behind vs just load times annoying me and then buy a new PC. However if in the mean time I see a killer deal id probaly bite. For instance a bit ago I just missed a deal on a PC that was probably pretty equivalent to what I was building(Intel 7, 5770 or 5850 graphics card, 1 terabyte 7200 RPM drive etc etc)for around $700. If I see something like that where its just an amazing deal id go ahead and grab a PC now. ;)

In the mean time what upgrades on this PC might help me reduce load times the most? I am assuming CPU and RAM, but would something else like a faster Hard drive help much? Assuming a better graphics card wont really do much if anything? Iv also thought about deleting the custom install of XP a friend put on and installing Windows 7 to start fresh.
 
If you want it done right you need to do it yourself. Don't be surprised if you get the ibuycrap PC and it's not even assembled right.
 
Wife said she still would love to get a laptop if we are not doing the second PC thing. Hated to spend too much on a laptop and $300 was the sweet spot for a laptop that would play some basic games(popcap, emulated stuff, maybe older stuff like Diablo 2 or Psychonauts). This was just posted on slickdeals and im thinking of biting. Any thoughts? Pretty decent for the price or a junk laptop and wouldnt even play those older games?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachin...ategoryId=pcmcat196200050013&id=1218159404821
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Wife said she still would love to get a laptop if we are not doing the second PC thing. Hated to spend too much on a laptop and $300 was the sweet spot for a laptop that would play some basic games(popcap, emulated stuff, maybe older stuff like Diablo 2 or Psychonauts). This was just posted on slickdeals and im thinking of biting. Any thoughts? Pretty decent for the price or a junk laptop and wouldnt even play those older games?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachin...ategoryId=pcmcat196200050013&id=1218159404821[/QUOTE]

Not sure how long you can hold out but that same machine or something of it's quality will be just as cheap right before school starts in September. I got 2 netbooks from Bestbuy for $159.00 with the same specs. It's for email, skype, arcade games and writing in my home.
 
[quote name='Megazell']Not sure how long you can hold out but that same machine or something of it's quality will be just as cheap right before school starts in September. I got 2 netbooks from Bestbuy for $159.00 with the same specs. It's for email, skype, arcade games and writing in my home.[/QUOTE]

In other words the price is pretty meh. If the wife really doesnt want to wait though do you think those specs are enough to run some basic stuff like popcap/SNES games and maybe a few older games like Diablo 2?
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']In other words the price is pretty meh. If the wife really doesnt want to wait though do you think those specs are enough to run some basic stuff like popcap/SNES games and maybe a few older games like Diablo 2?[/QUOTE]


I think that's a good price for the specs. Generally any new laptop under 300 is a deal IMO if you know what you are getting... it will definitely run older stuff with no problem and those popcap games.

If you get a netbook it will have no built in CD/DVD drive and your wife might need one and not want to lug around a USB one.

I have a cheap Toshiba with weaker specs than that and it ran some older games decently and my brother even played his World of Warcraft on it decently.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']In other words the price is pretty meh. If the wife really doesnt want to wait though do you think those specs are enough to run some basic stuff like popcap/SNES games and maybe a few older games like Diablo 2?[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah you will be fine. My netbook has over 500+ games many of them from my post.

I have the entire history of console games from Atari to PSX on my netbook (same specs as yours) running in emulators with NP.
 
And its not a problem that its an Emachine? Iv seen a number of people suggest Emachines are total junk, others insist that emachines have improved over the last year or two? Also a friend of mine thats given me some good advice in the past but a lot of bad advice too said PCs in general dont worry about warranties, but laptops you always want to get the longest warranty possible. Think if the wife insists on going for it I should upgrade to the 2 year warranty for $80 extra? Currently im kind of leaning towards a yes on the warranty end.

Thanks for all the advice guys! Again personally I am leaning towards waiting till around September then looking into building a new PC...but something tells me if we dont get a laptop now the wife is going to start REALLY pushing far before Sept comes around.
 
well, keep in mind that at best buy any warranty you buy will start instantly... so a two year warranty technically will only extend it one year past the manufacturer's warranty.

If you want to wait for another brand you can. I have heard some bad things about emachines, but a friend had a emachine cheapie desktop and it lasted 3 years with no problem.

I used to pay a lot for laptops but now I just wait for cheap ones at best buy and no warranty.

3 years ago I got a toshiba laptop for 350 there... no warranty... it lasted me three years and once it started giving me problems I just went ahead and upgraded to another cheap laptop.... warranty would have given me the lowest spec laptop out...

The one I bought is an HP for 399.99

Specs are:

Pentium Dual Core T4200 @2.00GHZ
4GB RAM
250GB HD


The integrated graphics on it are crazy good too as I am able to play everything from Nation Red to Killing Floor on it with lower res.
 
HP's seem to always have great integrated graphics on laptops from my experience. I would really stay away from Emachines though heard nothing but bad things about them.
 
[quote name='spoo']I hate to say this Magus but I'm glad you ended up buying a pre-built. Some of us are the type that loves building our own PC and love learning and studying every little detail to it and others that are just looking to save a buck. To me Magus you are more of the instant gratification type, not that their is anything wrong with that, as the saying goes different strokes for different folks.[/QUOTE]

+1

No what games are you gonna be playing Magus? Peggle Extreme? lol
 
[quote name='Actionhank']+1

No what games are you gonna be playing Magus? Peggle Extreme? lol[/QUOTE]

Wow you must be very lonely in life....
 
[quote name='Hydro2Oxide']You best not be dissing on Peggle.[/QUOTE]

Not dissing on peggle what so are. Pointing out the obvious about someone that spends time on a Sunday night making fun of someone just because he would rather buy then build a PC.

Peggle = Awesome....hell most of the popcap games are awesome. Id call them the perfect little blow five minute games but truth is its hard to blow just 5 mins. Ill think eh before I play Borderlands ill play 5 mins of peggle or bookworm or something...next thing you know 2 hours have passed.
 
Heh... I play Peggle and Bookworm on my phone, it literally replaced my PSP and DS for simplicity reason. But once I'm at my computer I wanna fire up CODMW2 or TF2.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Not dissing on peggle what so are. Pointing out the obvious about someone that spends time on a Sunday night making fun of someone just because he would rather buy then build a PC.

Peggle = Awesome....hell most of the popcap games are awesome. Id call them the perfect little blow five minute games but truth is its hard to blow just 5 mins. Ill think eh before I play Borderlands ill play 5 mins of peggle or bookworm or something...next thing you know 2 hours have passed.[/QUOTE]

Lol I wasn't making fun of you or anything. I was just pointing out how it would be funny if you spent this much time and money on a new PC only to play a game that would run on your old one.

Guess what game I played first after I spent $2500 to build this rig about a year ago..... Starcraft :D

I wanted to replay it. I thought SC2 was coming in december. :)cry:)

Sorry if you were offended.
 
[quote name='SOSTrooper']Although it's a shame it has no SSD for that monster of a PC...[/QUOTE]
Good call. If you're going to drop a G on two 295's, might as well pony up for solid state lol.
 
want to know whats funny. wow probably would still have slight problems in dalaran due to it not taking advantage of multi gpus. actually lots of games still dont take advantage of multi cores yet. :)

i just got a i7 295 air cooled pc with wires hanging all over the place here btw hehe
 
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