Advice for Buying NEW prebuilt PC

[suelynn]

Hi:

We need a new PC and really do not want to build our own, so we are looking for recommendations for buying a ready-made one.


Approximate Purchase Date: This month

Budget Range: After Rebates: 1,000

System Usage internet viewing & downloading, photo/video editing, movie viewing, no gaming whatsoever

Parts Not Required: have new external samsung SE-208 DVD writer so may not need internal one, but not sure

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: want relatively high quality

Additional Comments: want a dependable fast and powerful prebuilt pc with lots of USB ports to access multiple external hard drives, to download from internet, work with photos and videos, play music, videos and dvds, but hooked up to our stereo system so speakers etc not required. We do not need anything for gaming.

 

[allanitomwesh]

make a configuration at ibuypower or cyberpower or wherever and post it here for correction.

 

[aqualipt]

Why wouldn't you want to build your own PC??? its strangely funny and only a retarded person would mess it up there are TONS of guides out there that are very useful and show how easy it is to build a PC

 

[aqualipt]

Peeps are afraid of the unknown ... even if it's childsplay.BTW,Could you build a £700 rig and PM me?

Sure buddy but you're gonna have to awnser me a few things first, lol... check your mesagges..

 

[allanitomwesh]

Peeps are afraid of the unknown ... even if it's childsplay.BTW,Could you build a £700 rig and PM me?

 

[allanitomwesh]

And it's for gaming @ 1080p

 

[suelynn]

Why wouldn't you want to build your own PC??? its strangely funny and only a retarded person would mess it up there are TONS of guides out there that are very useful and show how easy it is to build a PC

Guess I came to the wrong place for help. Intellectual or cognitive disabilities aside [which believe it or not strike all sorts, not just "retarded" people, and even they might enjoy a good rig anyway] there are many reasons someone might not want to build their own. Consider, for example, someone who might have any of numerous physical disabilities - visual impairment, restricted or no use of hands, arthritis, stroke damage etc - or someone whose life keeps them too busy to spend the time or energy to learn to assemble electronics, or even someone who just would rather not waste their precious spare time doing something they don't particularly enjoy. Believe it or not, there are brilliant, successful and happy people who just don't want to be bothered building their own computer. I happen to be physically disabled and cannot even handle a screwdriver, but oh well -- this forum is obviously not for me.

 

[jay2tall]

^ There are just a lot of younglings that troll the forums during the day. Wait until school starts up again, there will be less of them.

Anyway. I saw the recommendation for iBuyPower and CyberPowerPC. They can tend to be a little "flashy" in their appearance, unless you are ok or looking for that. I do have a few additional questions for you.

1) What size desktop are you looking for? standard, slim, ultra slim?
2) What appearance are you looking for? There are flashy cases with LED fans, windows, etc. There are your plain Jane cases like Dell, HP, etc. There are also very ellagant and stylish cases.
3) I am assuming you need a monitor. What size are you looking for and does it have to match the PC brand/style?
4) Warranty. Typically PC's come with a 1 year warranty. Do you require a longer warranty? That will factor in the price.

 

[allanitomwesh]

Guess I came to the wrong place for help. Intellectual or cognitive disabilities aside [which believe it or not strike all sorts, not just "retarded" people, and even they might enjoy a good rig anyway] there are many reasons someone might not want to build their own. Consider, for example, someone who might have any of numerous physical disabilities - visual impairment, restricted or no use of hands, arthritis, stroke damage etc - or someone whose life keeps them too busy to spend the time or energy to learn to assemble electronics, or even someone who just would rather not waste their precious spare time doing something they don't particularly enjoy. Believe it or not, there are brilliant, successful and happy people who just don't want to be bothered building their own computer. I happen to be physically disabled and cannot even handle a screwdriver, but oh well -- this forum is obviously not for me.

It wasn't a troll,it really is easy. Guess not for you,but it's not really meantioned. Apologies. Aqualipt was being his usual self,but he's not heartless and referring it with malice.

 

[jay2tall]

^The OP was, and rightly so offended, because it was initially stated he did not want to build a computer, but rather wanted advice on a standard desktop. Your initial suggestion was relevant as ibuypower and cyberpower both allow you to custom build your PC through their website, they put it together and send it your way. The following comment by aqualipt was terribly disrespectful and in no way answers the initial question.

How is it any different from me asking someone "Hey, where is a good place to get the oil changed in my car". Would you respond with "Why wouldn't you want to change your own oil??? its strangely funny and only a retarded person would mess it up there are TONS of guides out there that are very useful and show how easy it is to replace your oil"? I know how to change my oil, and even if I didn't, I have may have no desire to know how. I may be a busy person that just wants the job done for me. I also may not have the physical means to do the task.

Just saying.

 

[aqualipt]

Guess I came to the wrong place for help. Intellectual or cognitive disabilities aside [which believe it or not strike all sorts, not just "retarded" people, and even they might enjoy a good rig anyway] there are many reasons someone might not want to build their own. Consider, for example, someone who might have any of numerous physical disabilities - visual impairment, restricted or no use of hands, arthritis, stroke damage etc - or someone whose life keeps them too busy to spend the time or energy to learn to assemble electronics, or even someone who just would rather not waste their precious spare time doing something they don't particularly enjoy. Believe it or not, there are brilliant, successful and happy people who just don't want to be bothered building their own computer. I happen to be physically disabled and cannot even handle a screwdriver, but oh well -- this forum is obviously not for me.

Well... I guess you're right, my apologies...i wasn't expecting that.

someone whose life keeps them too busy to spend the time or energy to learn to assemble electronics, or even someone who just would rather not waste their precious spare time doing something they don't particularly enjoy. Believe it or not, there are brilliant, successful and happy people who just don't want to be bothered building their own computer.

How can you say that??? dude, i am 28, i run a big business with my father's and i have 3 Mc's franchises and a forth coming up, my wife is pregnant with my 4th kid and i have triplets and i have to take of all at the same time!! it's really exhausting BUT, i always take time for doing what i like...you seriously don't expect that someone will only work,work,work and work right??

Anyways... give me a minute and i will come up with a nice build

 

[aqualipt]

^The OP was, and rightly so offended, because it was initially stated he did not want to build a computer, but rather wanted advice on a standard desktop. Your initial suggestion was relevant as ibuypower and cyberpower both allow you to custom build your PC through their website, they put it together and send it your way. The following comment by aqualipt was terribly disrespectful and in no way answers the initial question.

How is it any different from me asking someone "Hey, where is a good place to get the oil changed in my car". Would you respond with "Why wouldn't you want to change your own oil??? its strangely funny and only a retarded person would mess it up there are TONS of guides out there that are very useful and show how easy it is to replace your oil"? I know how to change my oil, and even if I didn't, I have may have no desire to know how. I may be a busy person that just wants the job done for me. I also may not have the physical means to do the task.

Just saying.

I was not my intention to offend the OP, i supposed that he didn't want to build a computer himself because he was afraid of messing up something, i just wanted to point out that everyone can build a PC, that's why i used the word "retarded".... i seriously wasn't expecting what the OP said.

About the oil thing..... i know how to change the oil of my car but in the case i didn't know and someone offers me a dummy guide instead of complaining about it i'd give it a look and put that new knowledge in practice, it's always good to learn new things.

 

[aqualipt]

OP, buy this: http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1EDNA5 it's a little bit over budget but it's worth it... you can add a second GPU if you ever need too.

 

[allanitomwesh]

^The OP was, and rightly so offended, because it was initially stated he did not want to build a computer, but rather wanted advice on a standard desktop. Your initial suggestion was relevant as ibuypower and cyberpower both allow you to custom build your PC through their website, they put it together and send it your way. The following comment by aqualipt was terribly disrespectful and in no way answers the initial question.

How is it any different from me asking someone "Hey, where is a good place to get the oil changed in my car". Would you respond with "Why wouldn't you want to change your own oil??? its strangely funny and only a retarded person would mess it up there are TONS of guides out there that are very useful and show how easy it is to replace your oil"? I know how to change my oil, and even if I didn't, I have may have no desire to know how. I may be a busy person that just wants the job done for me. I also may not have the physical means to do the task.

Just saying.

what if the guy telling you how to change the oil yourself is really good at it. It doesnt justify anything but aqualipt comes up with awesome builds for the budget,it's his expertise .... he'll always recommend a build and do it better than a site. This is one seriously big mishap.

 

[aqualipt]

what if the guy telling you how to change the oil yourself is really good at it. It doesnt justify anything but aqualipt comes up with awesome builds for the budget,it's his expertise .... he'll always recommend a build and do it better than a site. This is one seriously big mishap.

Thanks a lot buddy! btw... you didn't anwser my question about the case :lol:

 

[allanitomwesh]

Just seen it now, oops.

 

[jay2tall]

To keep things simple and around budget you could go with a Dell XPS 8500 and Dell UltraSharp 24" display. The links below are 2 different online resellers but have decent prices on each. The Dell professional displays are great and have a 3 year warranty. I usually stay away from the consumer models. I also normally don't go with Dell unless it is their business models, however, I know people that have had XPS's and they never seem to have any hardware issues. It seems to be the Inspiron's that always break down.

XPS 8500 $700 http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0390449

24" UltraSharp $290 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260047

 

[suelynn]

Thanks jay2all -

for directly answering my question and also for having my back in the greater discussion. It is always a little risky posting for the first time in a new forum, especially when the whole reason for the post is to get advice from more knowledgeable people in a highly technical area. Posting here, I knew people would urge me to build my own, but I hoped it would be in a friendly rather than off-putting manner. Anyway, that's water under the bridge now.

Since my original query, I've done much more research, refined my priorities, totally reconsidered my options and my budget, and we are now considering spending twice as much in order to get a custom build that truly meets our needs. I probably should have waited to even post here. BTW, the Dell 8500 was the pre-built I had originally considered.

Because I wasn't that clear before - our primary use of the PC is for listening to music through our higher-end stereo system [amp hooked up to the pc]. So an audiophile sound card is a must. But we don't do any gaming, and don't have optical connections or home theater needs. We also have significant storage needs [7T of music, videos and photos currently mostly on external drives] and use photo editing software a lot.

Given all that, how does this rig look:

NZXT Phantom 410 White Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Steel/Plastic
ANTEC EarthWatts EA 650 Green, 80 PLUS® Bronze, 650W, 24-pin ATX12V 2.3 EPS12V, Two 8/6-pin PCIe, Retail
ASUS P8Z77-V LK, LGA1155, Intel® Z77, DDR3-2400 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI CF /1+1*, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 6Gb/s /2, DP + HDMI + DVI + VGA, USB 3.0 /6, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
INTEL Core™ i5-3570 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 2500, LGA1155, 6MB L3 Cache, 22nm, 77W, EM64T EIST VT-d VT-x XD, Retail
MUSHKIN 16GB (4 x 4GB) Blackline PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
EVGA GeForce® GT 520 810MHz, 1GB GDDR3 1000MHz, PCIe x16, 2x DVI+mini-HDMI, Retail
SEAGATE 1TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache
SEAGATE 3TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache, Retail
SEAGATE 3TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache, Retail
SEAGATE 3TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache, Retail
RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SONY AD-7280S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, OEM
CREATIVE Sound Blaster® X-Fi Titanium HD, 24-bit 96KHz, PCIe x1
ASUS VE247H Black WideScreen LCD Monitor, 23.6" TFT Full HD LED, 1920x1080, 0.272mm, 300cd/m², 2ms, VGA/DVI/HDMI, VESA, w/ Speakers
MICROSOFT Windows 7 Professional 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM

Pricey for all that internal storage, but seems much better than having all those externals.

 

[allanitomwesh]

The core i5 3450 would save abit of cash.
Which editing software do you use?
Swap the 1tb for an ssd to hold windows.
The gt 520 isn't necessary.

 

[jay2tall]

Wow you completely flipped that around a bit. It seems you have a lot of internal storage needs. What site are you building this from, may I ask? It looks like it might be CyperPowerPC or something like that.

I'd like to ask one question as well. How will you backup 7TB of data? Just a question.

 

[suelynn]

Thanks allanit & jay2all.

The core i5 3450 would save abit of cash.
Which editing software do you use?
Swap the 1tb for an ssd to hold windows.
The gt 520 isn't necessary.

We have used photoshop elements but want to be able to use photoshop itself. I understood that a gpu would improve photo/video viewing even if we don't need a lot of the features. Certainly don't want one if there would be no or only minimal benefit. What do you think?

Wow you completely flipped that around a bit.

yeah - I know - a lot more thought about our goals and realizing it was worth it to spend more now to get what we really need.

It seems you have a lot of internal storage needs. What site are you building this from, may I ask? It looks like it might be CyperPowerPC or something like that.

AVADirect

How will you backup 7TB of data? Just a question.

Right now we will use all those externals we now have rigged up, but really have no good plan. Always looking for software and hardware ideas for backup - any suggestions?

 

[jay2tall]

For backup I would suggest some kind of actual software that creates backup files on an external drive, or for THAT amount of data, it may not be bad to have an actual tape drive. Not exactly sure what direction to go with that. I think it depends on how often the data changes.

 

[allanitomwesh]

For Photoshop get this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B000X4QZ2K/ref=aw_d_ol
It doesn't game though, you can't have both worlds.

 

[aqualipt]

For Photoshop get this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B000X4QZ2K/ref=aw_d_ol
It doesn't game though, you can't have both worlds.

lol, a GTX460 will be much better than that for photoshop and it still can game

 

[allanitomwesh]

They're hard to come by and cost double.