A "Famous Maker" machine v. This....

[ssalb]

OK, so I'm debating building a system versus buying a Dell. I'm wondering what ya'll think of these two systems:

From NewEgg for $1,990:
GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD9600WCGDBOX - Retail
SAPPHIRE 100215L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
GeIL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model GX24GB8500ESPDC - Retail
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Business for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO CPU Cooler - Retail

versus....

From "a famous maker" for $1,575:

OptiPlex 755 Minitower Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (2.40GHz, 8M, 1066MHz FSB)
Operating System(s) Genuine Windows Vista® Business and QuickBooks Pro 2008
Memory 4.0GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM, 800MHz, (4DIMM)
Video Card 256MB ATI Radeon 2400 XT, Dual Monitor DVI or VGA (TV-out), full height
Boot Hard Drives 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB DataBurst Cache™
Removable Media Storage Devices 48X32 CDRW/DVD Combo, Roxio Creator™ Cyberlink Power DVD™

Its probably obvious that I've never built a system before. If I build my own with this configuration, I'll spend $400 more, get lots of frustration, and not have the three years of tech support (as mediocre as it may be!). But is it worth it anyway? Could (should?) I change the components (up or down) that I've listed and get a better and/or more comparable system?

I'm actually not a gamer, just a bit of a techie who is sick of middling computers that can't run a database without crashing!

All opinions welcome.

 

[ssalb]

Ooops. Don't flame me. Yeah, I've obviously posted this in the Intel room instead of the AMD room. Um, I guess I could re-post there, but I think that the question works either place, doesn't it?

 

[ashmedai]

General Hardware would have been most appropriate. I suspect a mod may sort it out eventually.

Intel does substantially better per clock these days. I'd go with that. BYO is great for home users that want to learn a little about their systems, and gives you full control over the computer's schematics which can lead to greater power and stability than a comparably priced OEM build if done correctly. Sometimes OEM has perks, primarily if you want something built very cheaply but are ambiguous about certain details, for servers, or if you're getting a meaningful service contract and have need for one (*cough*businesses*).

I think you could do better than either of those builds for the money.

 

[taylorwilsdon]

Both of the builds seem fairly expensive for what you're getting. The dell would need a new graphics card if you want to get any graphic power out of it, and the phenom rig... just doesn't sit right with me. I would go intel, but I wouldn't go with that one.

 

[alg7_munif]

Your built would easily beat the crap out of the famous rig in games. If you are gaming the GPU means much more than the CPU.

 

[ashmedai]

Your built would easily beat the crap out of the famous rig in games. If you are gaming the GPU means much more than the CPU.

This is true, but I'd nab an 8800GT first, a solid PSU second (550W Corsair VX in [H]otdeals now, great solution for this), some sort of Intel dual or quad core after that, and fill out the rest of the parts with what remains of your budget. This will kick both above systems in the nuts.