im getting a new pc soonm and having problems deciding what to to do. so far i have a HP machiene which i hate, motherboard blows, no agp slots. but anyway i was thinking about getting an alienware pc from bestbuy, then i thought about completely building a pc on my own. another thing just passed my mind, buying a dell pc with basic internals but with the processor and mobo allrdy installed. installing the processor and mobo is the only thing that is stopping me from building my own pc. if theres nothing to it let me know, if its only for the advanced ill prolly get alienware or the basic dell and put in my vid card and etc..

thx all

deezy

Why would it be hard to install your processor and mobo? lol, its a synch. I would say build your own! It is a BLAST and definantly worth the time and effort. If not though, you should go with Dell.

Dell's ain't the fastest machines around (although they're usually the best value). If you're looking to make a speed demon, the Dell units tend to focus on stability over speed. Alienware are fantastic but insanely expensive to match - not good if on a budget.

Building your own machine tends to be a good solution as you can balance price/performance on every single component to get exactly what you want. Physically assembling the machine (motherboard and CPU included) usually only takes 30 minutes, and it's very easy to do, even for the uninitiated.

ok i feel a little better about it, yea i agree i would be alot happier if i built my own. and it looks like its going to be alot cheaper to build my own v/s alienware or dells XPS gaming pc. i like the full size cases bc of the room, but they appear a little too big, what cases you all into that arent too terribly huge but still have workaround room and expansion?

QUOTE (deezy @ Jun 22 2003, 02:05 PM)

ok i feel a little better about it, yea i agree i would be alot happier if i built my own. and it looks like its going to be alot cheaper to build my own v/s alienware or dells XPS gaming pc. i like the full size cases bc of the room, but they appear a little too big, what cases you all into that arent too terribly huge but still have workaround room and expansion?

If I were you I would go with the Antec cases! http://www.pcmods.com/details.asp?prodID=712
^ that woodgrain one is probably NOT what you would want (way to expensive) but the Antec chassis is what I have, tons of room for Xpansion and still really cool looking. But the cases are beasts so, if you are looking for small, this is not your cup of tea.

for your componets i suggest you check out http://www.pricewatch.com but before you buy ANYTHING please look for reviews on google, just search like "pcimicro ratings", otherwise you will be utterly fucked over by deadbeat merchants...

Buu

As i think of things i will come and post them....

Make sure you buy a motherboard/processor combo, it usually ensures compatability and you will save $75-$100...

Buu

okay...and this is kind of common knowlege, but it can slip your mind, make sure that the motherboard has 2 ide channels, because you want to put the cd/dvd drive on a seperate channel from the HDD. Why? Because if a cd/dvd drive is on a channel, it limits that channel to ata33 (i think, it serverly limits the speed neways) and also you want to be able to add more devices...blah blah blah....am i making sense?

yea sounds good so far

i just discovered this yesterday, but if you're planning on getting an AMD cpu, www.amd.com has a list of reccomended motherboards and power supplies.