$250-300 Budget Build. Costco or Build My Own?

[Howard Banister]

I'm looking for a computer that is capable of running Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, internet browsing, and the occasional youtube video.

These are the parts I've come up with so far:

ASRock B75M-GL LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard ($60)

Intel Celeron G540 Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G540 ($50)

ADATA S510 Series AS510S3-120GM-O 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM ($90)

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($45)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH ($30)

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM ($17)

APEX TX-381-C Black Steel Micro ATX Tower Computer Case ($23)

Windows 7 - $90

TOTAL - $395

I have a couple questions:

1. This is $100 over my budget. What am I overbuying? I'd prefer to keep the SSD as I know I would see a noticeable difference in load times and boot times.

2. I plan on building another PC in a few months. Would I buy two copies of the $90 System Builder Windows 7? Or would this $175 full version allow me to install Windows 7 on this PC and my future PC?

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-7-Home-Premium/dp/B002DHGMK0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348254940&sr=8-4&keywords=windows+7

3. At almost $400 for this build, why would anyone build this when they could buy this with Costco's fantastic 90 Day Return Policy?

http://www.costco.com/HP-Pavilion-Slimline-s5xt-Desktop-with-Intel%C2%AE-Core%E2%84%A2-i3-2120-Dual-core-3.3GHz-Processor-.product.11768337.html

 

[dingo07]

if you plan on building another pc in a couple months, then don't waste time and money on this one - wait until you have more to spend and build one that is twice as powerful

unless you absoultely must have this one now

if you do, then you can save a couple bucks by getting a 60GB SSD

 

[jrau]

I'm looking for a computer that is capable of running Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, internet browsing, and the occasional youtube video.

These are the parts I've come up with so far:

ASRock B75M-GL LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard ($60)

Intel Celeron G540 Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G540 ($50)

ADATA S510 Series AS510S3-120GM-O 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM ($90)

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($45)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH ($30)

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM ($17)

APEX TX-381-C Black Steel Micro ATX Tower Computer Case ($23)

Windows 7 - $90

TOTAL - $395

I have a couple questions:

1. This is $100 over my budget. What am I overbuying? I'd prefer to keep the SSD as I know I would see a noticeable difference in load times and boot times.

2. I plan on building another PC in a few months. Would I buy two copies of the $90 System Builder Windows 7? Or would this $175 full version allow me to install Windows 7 on this PC and my future PC?

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-7-Home-Premium/dp/B002DHGMK0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348254940&sr=8-4&keywords=windows+7

3. At almost $400 for this build, why would anyone build this when they could buy this with Costco's fantastic 90 Day Return Policy?

http://www.costco.com/HP-Pavilion-Slimline-s5xt-Desktop-with-Intel%C2%AE-Core%E2%84%A2-i3-2120-Dual-core-3.3GHz-Processor-.product.11768337.html

You could save some dollars my going to a mobo with a 6x series chipset ... they are less than the newer 7x boards and still have a SATA3 connection.

You can get good 120GB SSD drives for about $60 on sale now ... newegg and micro center are pushing them most of the time.

You would be happier getting a little better cpu ... the Pentium 6xx chips are about $50 on sale now ... newegg has a G630 for $38 in an email I just got.

I just bought all the parts for a PC through newegg one deal at a time and paid a lot less than their good prices ... it took three weeks to get everything. Partspicker website also shows least expensive sources too ... if you are in a hurry to get everything.

 

[ctomster]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hkKf

If you really want a SD instead of a HD you can swap them.

I agree that a little more investment may make you happier.

you can do some light gaming with this one
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hkL1

 

[Surgeking]

Only thing i see that you are overpaying on is the ram. 4g can be found for under $20

both the build and prebuilt will suit your needs. differences are the quality of the parts you get. Benefits of a build is you get to pick and choose the parts, allow for expansions/upgrades, and it's fun! Benefits of prebuilt are convenience (buying and assembling), and Can be found cheap.

For something in between you can also try barebone kits and combos. I see them a lot @tigersdirect.

As for windows, I can not answer you out right with 100% certainty but I do know that they do not like 1 licensed windows running on more than 1 machines.

 

[jrau]

As for windows, I can not answer you out right with 100% certainty but I do know that they do not like 1 licensed windows running on more than 1 machines.

I believe the whole point of on-line authentication and such is that Microsoft blocks Win7 from running on more than 1 PC. So the days of buying one disc and installing everywhere are gone.

Someone had posted a while back that a subscription to TechNet would include Windows software that you can install on multiple PCs ... and a lot of other things too.