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PC question

Ambroas

By Ambroas
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Zoichan Explorer

Zoichan

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I once read an article that detailed how Walmart had companies build them lower quality electronics, so they could keep the price down and their profit margins up. Ever since, I look to find deals online. The one I linked is a better computer hands down and cheaper. (in my limited computer knowledge) I guess it boils down to if you are ok with a factory refurb (I usually am) and if you are willing to wait on the item to ship.

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Pali Newbie

Pali

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7 hours ago, Zoichan said:

The one I linked is a better computer hands down and cheaper.

I'm not sure I'd agree with the better part... it's only advantages are that it comes with a low-end graphics card and has a larger case, making later upgrades easier.  The CPU is significantly worse, 2.2 vs 3.3GHz, and the power supply is also a bit weaker - though either PC would need a new power supply for any upgrading, so it doesn't really matter.  Personally, I'd rather get a better CPU with no graphics card than mediocre versions of both, because you can always add a decent graphics card later when you can afford it.

 

I'd also never trust WalMart for a PC, and preferably not for high-end electronics in general.  Best Buy isn't bad if you don't want to get too complicated in your shopping and want a great warranty, and if you don't want to do the actual assembly yourself but want control over component choice, I've had good experiences with CyberpowerPC - yes, you're paying for assembly (with a warranty), but I've done price comparisons in the past and found them pretty reasonable.  My last computer from them lasted about 5 years until I melted the processor, and it was very much ME who melted it (damn Battlefront beta...). ;) 

 

edit: Something very important - you say you're considering getting back into PC gaming.  Keep in mind that staying top of the line for PC gaming is a significant investment - my PC cost about $1700 when I put it together a couple years ago (NOT including the monitor), and while I can run Witcher 3 in 2K resolution at 60fps with MOST settings on ultra (and OH IS IT PRETTY), even my PC can't have every single graphical feature in that game at absolute maximum without framerate starting to suffer.  Either of the PC builds given above will run KOTOR or most other decade+ old games just fine - neither will even be capable of running Witcher 3, or many other brand new games, not even at minimum settings.  Exactly what kind of gaming you're interested in doing is going to matter a lot.

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Ambroas Newbie

Ambroas

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I'll check cyber pc, I have 5 kids and warranty is a huge deal to me. I've never built one but may try one day but right now I need one quickly.

 I'll try building when I have the time to look it up and compare prices, guides and such.  Knowing my luck I'd get something that doesn't fit or match then set up cooling wrong.

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Pali Newbie

Pali

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If I remember correctly, the CyberpowerPC usual warranty is 1 year on assembly work, 3 years on the parts involved - not too bad at all, I think.  I really don't have any complaints about them, and I've gotten 3 different PCs from them thus far that all ran just fine right out of the box.  I don't build from scratch myself, but some upgrading here and there is easy to learn from a 5 minute Youtube video - installing a new graphics card is probably the easiest to learn.

 

Just keep in mind my edit above - if you have games in mind you want to play, make sure to look up their requirements first and make sure the system you're looking at meets them.  You really don't want to buy a PC and realize that the game you bought it for requires a better CPU.

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Pali Newbie

Pali

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Oh, also worth noting is that the Cyberpower warranty does NOT, to my knowledge, cover wear and tear damage - say from a kid knocking the tower over.  If that's the level of warranty you want, Best Buy and a Geek Squad warranty are the way to go, and they'll have some decent PC gaming builds (but don't expect them to only be $400 - a PC able to play new games is simply going to cost a few hundred more than that from any source).  Geek Squad warranty itself costs more money, on the order of 5-10% of the item's cost usually, but it usually will cover failure whatever the cause - my monitor's warranty is good for three years and covers me picking it up and throwing it on the ground in anger at newbs failing my team. ;) 

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egreir Contributor

egreir

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Building a pc really isn't much harder than a color by number book.  The parts pretty much only fit into certain slots. You aren't gonna plug your processor into where your RAM is meant to go, etc.  Making sure you thermal paste and line up processor pins is about the most you need to even bother paying attention to. 

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Magick Apprentice

Magick

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12 minutes ago, egreir said:

Building a pc really isn't much harder than a color by number book.  The parts pretty much only fit into certain slots. You aren't gonna plug your processor into where your RAM is meant to go, etc.  Making sure you thermal paste and line up processor pins is about the most you need to even bother paying attention to. 

Notch placement for your RAM, too.  But I agree, building your own PC is little more than plug and play these days.  So long as you double check to make sure that things fit, you'll be fine.  I built mine about 7 years ago now with the intent on running StarCraft II: WoL when it launched and it's still pulling its weight to this day.  Think at the time it only set me back about a grand.  Including monitor and necessary peripherals.

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Pali Newbie

Pali

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The difficulty of building a PC from scratch is really less the actual assembly and more making sure you've got sufficient and compatible parts.  For someone completely new to the hardware side of computers, this is going to take some research, maybe even just some time to get used to the lingo (should I care if I have DDR3 or DDR4 RAM and what is the difference, etc.).  It's not quite at the paint by numbers stage yet, but given the multitude of resources out there (Reddit and YouTube alone are more than enough) it isn't that hard to get going either.

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Zavero Contributor

Zavero

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Just do a google search on building a budget gaming PC and it will literally give you all the info you need.  Do not pay premium best buy prices. Most warranties won't cover accidental damage and if they do it will end up costing you even more.

Edit: If you're really tight on budget I have three older video cards, I will give one to you. I will even pay shipping. I think one is a 4870 Radeon card and the other two are comparable. They are older but still work depending on what you want to play. I'll look at what the other two are... They were crossfired at one point.

2x MSI M460GTX Cyclone and a Radeon 4870HD are the cards.

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English lad Newbie

English lad

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On 06/03/2017 at 1:27 PM, Pali said:

The difficulty of building a PC from scratch is really less the actual assembly and more making sure you've got sufficient and compatible parts.  For someone completely new to the hardware side of computers, this is going to take some research, maybe even just some time to get used to the lingo (should I care if I have DDR3 or DDR4 RAM and what is the difference, etc.).  It's not quite at the paint by numbers stage yet, but given the multitude of resources out there (Reddit and YouTube alone are more than enough) it isn't that hard to get going either.

Use Partpicker to ensure compatibility - when you think you have a build - post it to reddit buildapc - watch 3 or 4 "experts" pull it apart and come up with a better bang for buck version.

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