Sites that will build you a PC

Ross Murphy

Ok, I'm looking to get a new high-end Gaming PC soon (preferably before Christmas), I've already looked through a few websites that will build and deliver you a PC (selecting components, etc), but most of them are British and some only deliver inside the UK (I'm in Dublin).

I'd like to know if there are any Irish websites that do this, or any UK sites that will deliver to the Republic (I already know that PCSpecialist will). Basically, just some recommendations for where I can get a whole new PC.

Oh, also, I see that some companies will overclock the CPU and GPU for you. I'd certainly like that, as I don't really have the skills or patience that's required for that (getting a professional to do it seems safer to me to).

So, if you guys could just give me some advice on where to buy, that'd be great.

refusetolose

most use http://lb.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp on here

Ross Murphy

refusetolose wrote: »

most use http://lb.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp on here

Ok, but does that site actually build and deliver whole PCs? Or is it just for buying components and then putting them together yourself?

I should also have mentioned that I need a company that will fix the computer if anything goes wrong with the hardware (which in my experience it usually does). Does that site have warranty/insurance options? i.e. will they send someone out if my Hard Drive crashes or something?

That company is based in Germany, isn't it? Would they do that sort of thing in Ireland?

ED E

If you need onsite support, Dell. Only option. And you'll get terrible stuff for your money.


HWVS will build it for €20. If something breaks, you pull it out and they send a courier to pick it up.

Ross Murphy

ED E wrote: »

If you need onsite support, Dell. Only option. And you'll get terrible stuff for your money.

Yeah, I currently have a Dell (bought 6 years ago) and on two occasions they did send people out to fix hardware issues (and replaced a few parts). They were quite good at that and it was free, but from my comparisons Dell are clearly significantly more expensive then the other online retailers. They also don't have as wide a selection of components either.

ED E wrote: »

HWVS will build it for €20. If something breaks, you pull it out and they send a courier to pick it up.

HWVS, is that that German website? Why do you recommend them in particular? Cheaper? Better quality components?

What about PC Specialist, what do you think of them? Anyone with experience dealing with them?

ED E

This whole forum recommends them really. Just have a read. MOST of the time they're cheaper, the odd time you'll find stuff cheaper elsewhere, but not often. Shipping is €19 or w/e but thats cheap for a full rig worth of parts.

Also, with lots of parts, you get 3/5yr warranties included, so if something goes wrong just get onto the manufacturer even after the normal retailer warranty has expired.

Ross Murphy

ED E wrote: »

This whole forum recommends them really. Just have a read. MOST of the time they're cheaper, the odd time you'll find stuff cheaper elsewhere, but not often. Shipping is €19 or w/e but thats cheap for a full rig worth of parts.

Also, with lots of parts, you get 3/5yr warranties included, so if something goes wrong just get onto the manufacturer even after the normal retailer warranty has expired.

Hmm, ok I'll give them a look (I'll try building the same PC I did on the other site and see if the price is different). But their website is a bit confusing looking, do they offer any options to overclock stuff for you?

Ross Murphy

I've been in contact with the people at PC Specialist and they told me that their full warranty/repair services are not available in the Republic of Ireland. They said...

"Unfortunately the collect and return warranty is not covered to this address, the parts would be fine but you would need to use your own method to send the item back to us if ever it needs repair."

So I think this means that if something ever goes wrong with my PC I would have to diagnose the problem myself (not an easy task) and then pay to have the faulty part sent back to them.

ED E, you mentioned that Hardware Versand will pick up the part with a courier sent to your house. Is that correct? Does anyone have experience with that? Do you have to pay extra and wait weeks for it to come back?

Basically I just don't know what I should do, should I go with Dell and their over-inflated prices, but with total assurance that they will fix any issue for free? Or go with one of the much cheaper Internet sites and basically have to diagnose and fix problems myself? (or have to pay a guy to come fix it).

ED E

Its your call really. The RMA process is free, they organize and pay for transit. It takes time though.

Another thing to take into account is upgrades. You buy dell, in 3/4 years you'll probably want to upgrade, that means a full buy again with a dell, other than the graphics card. If you you go with a custom then you can swap any parts you like.

I've ordered 3 full rigs from the germans, all of them running 1-2yrs now, not one part has failed

kirving

The likihood of having a hardware issue is extremely low if you take care of the PC. Most people I know have never cleaned the inside of theirs, which can lead to problems. The vast majority of problems people have are software related. Keep the returns process in mind when buying a PC, but don't overthink it.

I bought a Dell XPS nearly 3 years ago now, and I've had no problems at all. I didn't go with their overpriced extended warranty as consumer law protects me for years in case anything ever did go wrong. The reason I went with the Dell was because I was getting more for my money at the time, as there was a very good sale on.

I did lose a lot of upgradeability though, something I kept in mind the whole time when browsing online. I figured that a few years after buying,(2013 now maybe), I'd want to upgrade a few bits, and the price difference between upgrading a Dell vs a Custom PC would be a new case and PSU.

Jonny7

Ross Murphy wrote: »

Basically I just don't know what I should do, should I go with Dell and their over-inflated prices, but with total assurance that they will fix any issue for free? Or go with one of the much cheaper Internet sites and basically have to diagnose and fix problems myself? (or have to pay a guy to come fix it).

It's your call, give your budget, pick a Dell

Then see what you can get at hardwareversand for the equivalent price.

Also, with hardwareversand, they can install Windows for you after they build it (for a fee) so you can be sure it works out of the box. Parts can always fail, but it's rare.

Ross Murphy

Yeah, well my worry is that with my current PC (Dell) I did have hardware problems with it on two occasions (I can fix software problems myself).

When I first got that PC, for the first year it would randomly crash when intensively playing games, I had no idea why, thought it might be something wrong with the Graphics card or the Power unit, or something. I later found that the issue was to do with overheating, so I tried my best to keep it cool, but the problem persisted. So I eventually rang up Dell and they diagnosed the problem as a fault on the Motherboard, they sent a guy around and just replaced the whole Motherboard with a new one and the issue was fixed.

Then, a few years later, one of my Hard Drives (I have two in a RAID 0 setup) failed (it just put up a message on screen saying it couldn't write anything to the disc). Luckily I managed transfer all my data to an external drive, rang up Dell again and they just replaced both drives for me.

Since I've had these experiences I'm concerned about what I could do if something similar happens again. I know a fair amount about computers, but I wouldn't have been able to fix those problems without professional help.

If my PC just stops working for some reason in future, how am I supposed to deal with that? What if I can't diagnose what part is at fault? Do I have to send the whole PC back to the UK or Germany and wait weeks to get it back?

deceit

Ross Murphy wrote: »

Yeah, well my worry is that with my current PC (Dell) I did have hardware problems with it on two occasions (I can fix software problems myself).

When I first got that PC, for the first year it would randomly crash when intensively playing games, I had no idea why, thought it might be something wrong with the Graphics card or the Power unit, or something. I later found that the issue was to do with overheating, so I tried my best to keep it cool, but the problem persisted. So I eventually rang up Dell and they diagnosed the problem as a fault on the Motherboard, they sent a guy around and just replaced the whole Motherboard with a new one and the issue was fixed.

Then, a few years later, one of my Hard Drives (I have two in a RAID 0 setup) failed (it just put up a message on screen saying it couldn't write anything to the disc). Luckily I managed transfer all my data to an external drive, rang up Dell again and they just replaced both drives for me.

Since I've had these experiences I'm concerned about what I could do if something similar happens again. I know a fair amount about computers, but I wouldn't have been able to fix those problems without professional help.

If my PC just stops working for some reason in future, how am I supposed to deal with that? What if I can't diagnose what part is at fault? Do I have to send the whole PC back to the UK or Germany and wait weeks to get it back?

When you are buying computer parts yourself they very rarely break unlike dell who use the cheapest mass producer which for their boards is 99% of the time foxconn which are piles of crap.
I've been building computers since i'm ten (18 years) and only twice have parts broke on me bar the dells breaking in workplaces, once in a dell computer a capacitor blew on a motherboard (cheap capacitors are always used in dells (not my computer) and another occasion an ecs motherboard broke which was 5 years old but it had been mistreated by the owner (overclocking it past its limits without active cooling too the board.
If you buy decent computer parts the only parts that may not out last their use is a harddrive but i've not had any experience of them breaking.

If a part does fail it is fairly easy to ask for advice on forums like this and their will always be people that will help you.