All right... I really don't know what to do.

[Gravijah]

I've been saving money up for the past few months, So I can FINALLY buy myself a gaming computer... I was going to use www.ibuypower.com but further research has me on the fence.


The computer I've been planning on getting includes a 3500, a 7800 GT, a gigabyte of corsair XMS ram... SLI motherboard, So that upgrades down the road will be much easier.


I really don't know if I should buy all the parts from newegg or just squash the paranoia and go with ibuypower though. If I were to do the former, I could see myself really messing something up as I do NOT know how to assemble a computer.


Opinions, PLEASE.


(PS, my budget is 1300-1400$)

 

[recreational_user]

First time builds are a bit scary sometimes. For example, my brother ruined his motherboard by attaching it directly to the case without using the standoffs. I had to laugh, but I thought if you have never installed a motherboard before and the standoffs weren't preinstalled, how would you know? The manuals included with most mother boards are pretty sketchy (not that he would have read it anyway). Trying to make your dream system your first build is kind of risky, but there is really no other way to learn and there is a lot of satisfaction by doing it yourself. Do you have a more experienced friend who could help you out? How much are you likely to save by building it yourself? Are you a "handy" person in general?

 

[Gravijah]

Skimming over some basic prices of the components I want, I was looking at a saving of a few hundred dollars. I know OF somebody that MIGHT be able to help... Kinda sketchy there. And no, I'm not very handy in general.


Basically, I don't know how well I'd do at building it myself... But...


Another question, Under the budget in my earlier post, What would be recommended for parts? Other than the 3500 and 7800GT of course, though I'll take other recommendations for processors too. I'm a hardcore gamer who doesn't really care much about things like soundcards, as I play with headphones on and don't mind lower quality sound as long as it's audible and reasonable.

 

[recreational_user]

You may want to look at some of the other build posts for suggestions, such as
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/build-ftopict169312.html

They suggest the following:
MB: EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra
CPU: AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ VENICE 2.0GHZ
HSF: THERMALRIGHT SI-120 w/SILVERSTONE FM121 120mm
RAM: 2 x Corsair XMS Extreme Memory 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz
PS: FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN ATX12V 450W Power Supply 115/230
GPU: XFX PV-T70G-UDF7 Geforce 7800 GT Overclocked PCI Express 256MB DDR Video Card w/HDTV-Out, Dual DVI & VIVO Retail

You would also need a harddrive, case, and DVD drive. As I say, some of the other posts have some good suggestions. Are you planning to overclock?

By the way, I looked at the ibuypower site. Looks like their prices aren't too bad. They get a few negative reviews, but even if you order the parts yourself, you run the risk of things being DOA. If you build it yourself you get to troubleshoot it yourself too, with the help of forms of course

 

[Gravijah]

Thanks for the heads up. But I think I'm gonna rule out building my own custom system as I've come across Monarch Computer... Would anyone recommend them?

 

[recreational_user]

Never used Monarch, but hope your system will rock! Good luck!

 

[Mills]

I've used ibuypower.com. The components and system were very good but the tech support was trash. And they sent my machine in the wrong case and didn't respond when I asked for the correct one.

I didnt know Monarch did custom builds... i've bought components there with no problems.

 

[Gravijah]

Hmm. From what I've heard the tech support was good, but quoting something I read "they use worse parts than an e-machine"...


But it comes with a 1 year warranty and I'm pretty sure they would refund my money... Now I'm stuck between Monarch and Ibuypower.