[fionaB]

ok whats cheapest,, buying or building a computer and how cheap can u do it for?

Fi

[PeteT]

Originally Posted by fionaB

ok whats cheapest,, buying or building a computer and how cheap can u do it for?Fi

Depends what you want to use it for - there are probably 3 tiers of usage which are likely :

1. Low power requirement - web surfing, word processing & other office type stuff
2. Medium power - Photoshop, Lightroom, etc etc
3. High power - Video editing, 3d rendering, gaming

now the answer to the "how much" question rather depends on whether you are a type 1,2 or 3 user.

Also whether you want a desktop of laptop machine (laptops are generally not suitable for high power users).

As for how easy - it's like most things, it is easy if you know how, and not if you don't.

Building from bits is nearly always cheaper than buying ready built. One thing is certain though - buying from the high street big names is unlikely to get you a good deal.

Buying a copy of "Micromart" magazine is an eye opener on the price of computers, but I'll warn you it can be a bit daunting. Worth a look to see if there is an independent supplier near to you who you can go see.

[Chris H]

If you have a decent Monitor, keyboard and mouse just build a new Box.

I recently worked this out

Antler TX312 Piano Black mini tower 400W air guide microATX case

Zalman 9CM Silent System fan 5-12V ZM-F2 extra case fan

Lite-on DH-20A1S-18C SATA Black 20x DL DVD +/-R/RW RAM oem (DVDLIT20A1S18*)

ATi Radeon X1650 PRO 512MB PCI-E DVI, TV Out Oem (VIDUNBX1650512PR)

Hitachi 500GB Deskstar T7K500 7200rpm 8MB Cache SATA 300 (HAR500HITS728)

Asrock motherboard ALive XF-eSATA2 AM2 ATI XF1600 DDR2 Gigabit LAN ATX (MOTASRALIXFES2)

AMD CPU AM2 Athlon 64 Dual Core 5200 Retail Box inc Fan Socket AM2 940 PIN (3yr Manufacturer's Warranty) (CPUAM2D5200)

XPRO Black 17 in 1 Internal Card Reader USB 2.0 (MEMACCXPR171B)

2 x Geil Value DDR2 2.0GB PC6400 Dual Channel memory kit (2 x 1GB) 800MHz (5-5-5-15) +Aluminium heat spreader, ATI Crossfire Ceritified (MEMGEIVD2D642G) ( makes 4gb )

Microsoft Windows XP Pro (oem) Hang off for Vista for now

Norton Internet Security 2008 Vista Compatible OEM


Total cost to build and set up £413.72 plus a trip to manchester

This will give you a machine capable of just about anything.

For running XP pro which for now I'd recommend having spent 8 months with Vista and I gave up and re-installed XP you could drop the memory to 2gb.

If you wanted one building you could order the parts and I'd build it for you, the only cost would be meeting me half way to Manchester to collect it.

Silkstone I'm sure would vouch for me being a good guy.

If your going to buy be very carefull what you get, and I know I'll get slated for saying this but steer clear of Dells.

[silkstone]

^^^^^ He's a good guy.

[Markulous]

Only real prob with ready made is that there's often an unwanted item (like an overspecced graphics card, for instance) or a weak link (poor power supply, rubbish case) but if you build to the same spec it'll usually be more expensive. I build from 'barebones' systems nowadays as I reckon it's the most cost effective method

[fionaB]

would i be able to save money re-using what is ok to use in my own comp? like the memory and DVD and CDrom drives for example?

useage is most definately medium use....... photos is really the main thing that it gets used for and internet of course!

Fi

[orangepeel]

self build is the most cost effective but it's not always the cheapest. It's certainly not for the faint hearted, especially if you buy budget parts (crap drivers, flakey hardware).

Not to mention the world of pain in the event of faulty components.

At least with a fully built system there is usually some sort of on-site warranty available. That's not to say a retail system isn't going to fail - it's just in the event of failure there is usually some comeback.

With self builds you've gotta go through the hassle of locating the faulty part, proving it's faulty to the retailer (some are better than others), pulling the part, shipping it back, getting the replacement and hoping it does the trick.


If you've got time, patience and a willingness to learn then do a self build. Otherwise it tends to be a false economy in my experience.

For the record all my PC's dating back to 1992 have been self builds with the exception of a Dell I bought in 1997.

[fionaB]

the comp i have is a self build. well not exactly self build cos i have to leave the house when it gets opened never mind me building it! so needlessto say i gotsomeone to build it for me and other than a few glitches i had to get soeone else to sort it has given me no problem whatsoever in the nearly 5 years i have had it.


C-Man..... ummm u wanna put that list in English! ?lol it means absolutely Nowt to me, i know a computer has a hard drive, memory, motherboard, graphic card sound card drives and power supply, and THAT is all i know!
Simple fact is i dont think i can afford a new comp, so the only way is tore use whati can from my own and buy whati need to build a new one........

Fi

[j sotelo]

It's a little more expensive to build it because we always put some of the best parts in it. if you plan on using some parts make sure its compatible, but as we all know components for PC's become obsolete quick like DVD and CD Roms now you can get a Lightscribe DVD and CD writer for next to nothing. so the best way to do it is to build you PC in paper and see how much it would cost and then look at some that are already built, see if those meet those needs and make your decision then.

[Chris H]

Fi

You could use a few parts from your old machine but they tend to be the cheapest bits anyway.

Your CD drive and DVD drive would certainly work, your monitor and mosue / keyboard would work however your Hard drive probably won't be SATA and most mainboards now are SATA only for hard drives, your memory probably won't work ( much like mine ) and so on ...............

If you just wanted it for photo's then you could probably do it cheaper than the general price in my previuos post.

However there is really a need for self built machines to have a little bit of background understanding of what does what and how they are put together.

Ask away if you want to learn and we will try and guide you to making your first PC yourself, something that with a little care is not too hard and very rewarding

[fionaB]

C-Man........ htere is no WAY i am going to attempto put anything remotely lik a computer together..... give me softwareto figure out and i havent got a problem..... hardware is just not going to happen............

anyway, what i was going tosay is that i thought DDR memory was what comps used now? I have 1gb or justover of DDR ram in the comp

Fi

[j sotelo]

Originally Posted by fionaB

anyway, what i was going tosay is that i thought DDR memory was what comps used now? I have 1gb or justover of DDR ram in the comp

Fi

Theres DDR, DDR2, and now we have DDR3

[Dabhand16]

I knew a guy who built his own computer and it was not much cheaper than a ready made system, had no manual, warranty or help available. I think it is for those who know what they are doing rather than the rest of us.

'They' will get best value and least hassle, whereas we will end up pulling our hair out.

[Chris H]

It's all DDR2 6400 800mhz now LOL

To be honest if your machine does what you need to now, even if a tad slow then stick with it.

Just make sure you remove all unwanted applications, defrag your drives regularly and keep the machines hard drives tidy

I upgraded last year to run Vista 64bit, funny thing is I'm now back running XP pro

oops seems I'm out of date now with memory LOL now where am I