to build or buy?

soups05

Hi guys, i have been lurking here the last couple of weeks, gaining info, doing research and basically working up the nerve to post lol.

I had just about decided to build my own pc, based on the great info i found here, but a friend threw a spanner in the works.

he advised that for my budget i am better off buying a "barebones" pc and just adding an OS from links i found in this forum. or perhaps buying a ready made system like this one :

http://www.custompc.ie/amd-black-edition-dual-core-gaming-pc-with-radeon-r5-graphics-217658-p.asp

he claims the (minimal) savings i would make would be offset by the frustration of a self build, picking parts,waiting on delivery etc.

building my own pc would always have been a dream of mine but until i found this forum i thought i had no chance with all the different specs on processors, mother boards etc.

its possible i just got carried away with great info and advice i have seen here.

my budget is 450 max and i have my own monitor,hdd,keyboard and mouse.
i have seen parts lists posted here so i know its possible to buy and build in that range, but is it worth it overall is my question.

if i decide to build i can start another thread with the list of questions i have seen posted. this is more of a general advice question

vlad2009

I would say it depends on what you are planning on using the computer for, but even then building a pc is an experience and an interesting process, so since you've always waned to build one, you could give it a go.

In terms of hassle and ordering you can order everything of one site usually, so it would be fine, and wouldn't take long at all as long as ecrything is in stock

soups05

as an example, i know very little about the difference in processors, i have always stuck with AMD as they are cheaper. but when i compare the price of the processor in that link (£45) with the price of the i3 processor that was advised in a different thread (£85) i know there must be a better performance from the i3.

for myself i would use it for 2nd year computing(assuming i get the results i hope for lol) but gaming wise i would be playing War Commander or CnC (you younger guys may have to google that one). my son (17) complains he cant play first person shooters on my 9 year old main pc lol. so he tends to stick to the xbox 360. that is something he wants to change.

Digital Solitude

Can build a PC for 500 to rival Xone or PS4. Minus the hard drive you've got brings us to below 450.

As per the build above, I'm not into PCs very long (3 years) but I haven't seen an R5 graphics card before so I'm making an assumption that it's integrated or a very cheap card. Even the R7 listed is weak.

I can throw you up a build here if you want, to be honest there isn't much wiggle room at this price range so there won't be very many, if any adjustments made.

soups05

i have seen your builds before. in fact they are the reason i thought it would be possible lol. to be fair my old pc is a amd phenom boasting 2.2 ghz lol. anything would be an improvement i am sure.

i have 6 gb of ram but its ddr 2 (pc2-6400/800 mhz) so i assume it way too old to be of any use. but i would be glad of any advice .

Digital Solitude

I do too many builds :pac: No newer motherboards are DDR4 actually, but most use DDR3 so DDR2 is a fairly old standard! I'll get a table now, do you need windows?

soups05

i have seen the links in another thread to buy windows so am sorted on that front. i had planned to buy parts over the next few weeks so i may be able to squeeze a few extra euro out if it come to it

Digital Solitude

Item|Price
Zalman T4 Mini-Tower - black mATX, without power supply|€€ 18
be quiet! PURE POWER L8 400W|€€ 48
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, 2x HDMI|€€ 135
Intel Core i3-4160 3.6 GHz LGA1150 3MB cache Boxed CPU|€€ 115
8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Crucial Ballistix Sport CL9 1600|€€ 51
MSI H81M-P33, mATX, base 1150|€€ 42
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€425

There we are anyways. 425 delivered. Whatever suits it's one click for me to repost it handy for ya. Depending on HDD size, whenever you get some disposable income a larger HDD may be useful, 1tb is €55 or less. After that an SSD is the next best upgrade, with 250gb going for €90 roughly.

If you live near a Cex or will be near one soon then drop the GTX 750Ti from above and get an R9 270X for €135. You can buy them online either but I don't know the delivery cost. 270X is about €175 new either.

Moon54

Personally, I always go for the build option.
What some people call hassle, I'd call it a fun learning experience that will serve you well in later years, and save you $$$.

That AMD PC is only OK, spec-wise (No OS included). It has over-clocking potential, but lacking in every other area.
It's roughy equivelent to a Pentium G3240; http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-G3240-vs-AMD-A6-7400K

Best advise I would have is to get a modern CPU/Motherboard/Ram and have upgrade potential for later on.
For the €450 budget you should be able to get an modern i3 CPU in there, or even an i5 4460
if you are willing to compromise elsewhere, such as getting a second-hand GPU.

soups05

that is brillant, thank you for the info. i am in Dundalk so i will pop into cex in the next few days for that r9 270x

i am also considering adding an extra set of usb ports at the rear, thanks to a video in the off topic thread lol.

Digital Solitude

Check online about the 270X stock to be sure anyways, good luck with the build