Hi Folks! Well a quick hello from me - first post, and really a question to all of you if you don't mind!! Got a bit to spend on a new desktop, and it's a toss up between building and buying a pre-made. I'd go for the build-self, but adding up the component prices it seems buying from flea-bay seems cheaper. I've bought off flea-bay before 3 times for PCs, so know the risks etc, but wanted your opinion on the best option. The Buy option: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SOPRANO-PC-IN...pPCs?hash=item1c0c189f5d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 The Build option: - Needs to be of the same spec as above and/or better - Must be a good quad core / i7 - Must have DDR3, ~6GB or + - Must have fairly good GFX card, don't mind if it's not top-of-range - No need for Windows / software etc - Peripherals were always going to be extra anyway, so don't need to factor that in now (although I'd appreciate the help on good monitor in the future!) Cheers all, and any general feedback on the pitfalls of the Buy option above. I think cheap RAM but unsure. And anyone heard of Ethiocom / dealt with them? I've searched the board but no posts. Thanks for all your help!
I wouldn't buy from them Build your own, it will look nicer, you will have peace of mind and you can directly control what goes in it.
Heh, I appreciate the stupidity of the 10Ghz - but just see it as an advertising ploy that many eBayers use (non techs might stumble upon one that displays an accurate 2.66 and one that displays the 10 and just plump for the 10, so i can see why they do it). Do you think it's reasonable to build a comparative desktop at that price? I've tried looking at each part separate but seems to come out over £1000
Yeah but at the end of the day, saying you have a 10GHz processor is a lie, if they're going to lie to you about what they're selling I wouldn't want to buy from them. An i7 rig will be costing you over a grand, have you looked into Phenom II ?
That may have been the case 6 months ago, but it can easily be done for less than a grand at current prices.
Fair enough, I've not really looked at current prices in a good while (I think I'm becoming less geeky these days)
Yeah, and to the OP: eBay is by no means cheaper. I've just specced a similarly performing i7 system for around £700, cheaper than the one you linked to.
I'd love to have the link smc!! I'm all for keeping costs down, I've got around £820 to spend without peripherals so either buy or build, I'm not too fussed!
I gave it my best go and managed to made up a basket with all the specs you'll need (in some cases better than the fleabay in other areas cut back) for £986 from scan: The case is better, 250gb more HD space, much better graphics card, i presume a better cpu cooler due to the fact that ebay doesn't state the cooler, 100w less power from psu, but i reckon that this one is better because the ebay listing doesn't state the psu make/model. As you can see from the search bar i had to google how to take a screen shot in OS X
Sounds about right, although if you don't mind sources components from different e-tailers, you'd probably be able to knock a bit off that. I'd opt for a gtx260 over a 4870 tho. Personal preference Slightly off topic.....I may be imagining it, but isn't the price of DDR3 starting to rocket a little? I purchased a 6GB kit of Corsair 1600mhz CL8 for about £70 inc del 3 months ago.
The build I specced was: Antec 300 Gigabyte EX58-UD3R i7 920 D0 6GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-10666 GTS 250 640GB WD Caviar Blue Corsair HX450W Samsung ODD Cost: ~£660 from Scan, excluding delivery. You can add £50 for a GTX 260 if you'd prefer that to the GTS 250, then whatever you want for your peripherals. Oh, and maybe £20-30 for an aftermarket HSF if you want to overclock, but not essential if not.
PSU is a little on the weak side, even more so if you opt for a 260. Leaves absolutely no headroom, maybe even not quite enough in the first place.
As long as you install in equal banks of 3, it'll run tri-channel. i.e. 3 x 2gb , tri-channel 3 x 2gb + 3x2gb , tri-channel 3 x 2gb + 1x2gb , dunno! But it's not tri-channel!
It's quite a recent phenomenon that people think you need 1000W PSUs to power a mid-range, non-overclocked PC, and one which I don't fully understand. I'd take a decent 450W PSU over a cheap 600W PSU any day, it's all about efficiency (saying that I'm not actually sure of the HX450's efficiency, but Corsairs are usually pretty good in this regard). But feel free to spend another £20 for a ~600W PSU if you want a bit more headroom.
I didn't suggest buying a 1000W PSU, or a cheap 600W PSU either. I was merely saying, that, no matter how efficient a PSU is, if it's not strong enough to power a system, leaves no room for upgrades in the future, or borderline and will be running fairly close to full load, it's not ideal and he would do better to get a PSU with a little headroom. I would suggest a quality 550-600W unit would be better.
