new pc advice

[zanthia]

I am looking to get a new PC. I would like it to be a prebuilt as I have been out of the loop a far as new technology goes.

does this sound like a good deal at $1299 ( no monitor). I saw this pc locally

* Intel® Core i7™ 860, 2.8GHz w/Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.46GHz
* ATI Radeon HD5850 w/1GB discrete video memory
* 8GB memory (DDR3 dual channel 1333MHz)
* 1.5TB SATA hard drive (1) (7200RPM)
* 16X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive
* Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
*Audio High-definition audio with 7.1-channel audio support
*Power Supply 750W
*multi card reader with photo frame button
*optical mouse and multimedia keyboard ( would use my logitech 518 mouse)
*1 year parts and labor limited warranty with toll free support

I saw this pc locally but it is also available at newegg/amazon where one person said they could not built it for less . it is the same price everywhere

It is a Gateway® FX6831-01

 

[Dangman]

Find out who makes that 750W PSU. More than likely it's a crap 750W PSU which means that it's gonna end being troublesome later on.

With that said, assuming that 750W PSU is actually ok, then yeah, that's a decent deal for a PC.

 

[akirarat]

If you lived in california, I would say this is too expensive. $900 would be the approximate cost in the bay area. If you lived elsewhere, it could be more expensive.

 

[ryken]

you can build that yourself with an Antec 750W psu and a $100 case and have a hundred or two left over.

 

[zanthia]

I did look inside the case and it said on the power supply FSP group.

Ryken, I just priced components at newegg using the cheapest possible ones and it came out to 1300. I even used 50 for the case in my pricing. So I don't know how you can have 200 left over. Are you forgetting the cost of buying windows ( which is about 200 for win 7 home premium - need full version)

 

[Dangman]

I did look inside the case and it said on the power supply FSP group.

That's a major red flag then. Considering that the last few FSP made PSUs were based on the Episilon platform or a derivative of that platform, that "750W" is actually a 500W PSU under the best case scenarios and reality.

With that said, that PSU, even in its normal and safe 500W state, would still be enough for that system. You just won't be able to do any kind of upgrade safely. Well maybe another hard drive or two.

Also note that the Gateway does not come with a full version of windows: Just an OEM version tied to that PC.

Now since you brought up how you couldn't price a PC to match that setup, I will have to show you this:
$383 - Intel Core i7-860 CPU + ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard Combo
$500 - XFX HD-585X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card + G.Skill Ripjaws Series F3-10666CL9Q-8GBRL 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 RAM Combo
$150 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU + Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive Combo
$25 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$100 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
----
$1228 plus tax and shipping. Choose your own keyboard and possibly multi-card reader.

Gateway Pros:
- 500GB more storage
- Already assembled
- Keyboard, mouse, and multi-card reader wtih photo frame button
- Can blame and hold Gateway accountable for any defect or issue.

Gateway Cons:
- 500W PSU under best case scenarios
- More than likely slow 1.5TB drive
- Only 1 Year warranty. Which means you can only blame and hold Gateway accountable for any defect or issue for one year. After that, any part that dies, you're gonna have to eat the cost of a replacement as none of those parts will have manufacturer warranty.

My Build's Pros:
- Better quality Power supply with room for upgrades
- Chance of overclocking for better performance
- Faster 1TB HDD
- Full manufacturer warranty on all parts. With exception of the case and DVD burner(only one year), every part has a warranty ranging from 3 years to lifetime.

My Build's Cons:
- You have to build it yourself
- It's all on you to troubleshoot the PC
- You have to deal with multiple companies should you run into a problem that spans multiple parts.
- 500GB less storage.

 

[bigdogchris]

That seems to be a pretty dang good price, especially for pre-built which usually is 1.5 to 2 times more that the cost of building it yourself.

 

[eslik]

I have an Alienware.Super Computer in my opinion. You can configure one for $1100cdn and up. The warranty is well worth ordering a pre-built system.

 

[rive22]

Danny's build is spot on & all high quality parts of course. OP I would consider something like that. also for down the road if you were to consider oc'ing upgrade to some ddr3 1600.

 

[zanthia]

I am torn about what to do.

I read user reviews of this pc on newegg and amazon and while a high majority were very good to excellent , just about everyone said dealing with gateway tech support is awful and gateway locked down the turbo boost to 2.9 instead of 3.4 ( is turbo boost a legitimate way of overclocking that doesn't void warantee?).

the most common positives were that it was very quiet , fast and many said it was cheaper to build from those who had previously built computers before.

I did realize that it did not come with any backup windows. i figure it comes with a very cheap keyboard and mouse. my current keyboard is probably not much better but I do have a logitech mx518 mouse.

I never saw any mention with problems with the power supply.

as far as building a pc, i know nothing about parts these days. my husband built me my current pc and that was his first time doing so(he can follow directions but he knows less than me as least i had some idea about video cards and cpu to get back then )but it was a very low end pc and he knows nothing about optimizing anything. Everything is at its default such as bios, window settings, etc with no overclocking at all as he will not do anything that will void the warrantee. when i ran benchmark test( 3dmark I think?), it was below average . I have nobody to help if there are any problems but he did say he was willing to build if i find the parts.

 

[badcookies]

the last pc i built was 10 years ago on a nforce3 chipset. after that i stopped and fell out of the loop as well. this year after taxes i realized im waaaaaay past due on a new build. it took me about 2-3 weeks of research to pick the parts based on budget. and 2 days to put everything together and set up windows along with apps/games to get to where i am now.

my point is not to be afraid of DIY projects. you know a bit. and you've had experience...if you have the time to read up on a tutorial or watch a youtube clip or two, you should have no problems putting together a rig. the both of you can work on it together and im pretty sure [H] will help should you ever run into an issue you cant solve from google or what not.

plus, danny's build is one that might be perfect for you so you kind of already have an idea of what parts you'd have instead of going around comparing this and that.. but the prebuilt is nice too... the pros and cons have been weighed so its ultimately which outweighs which for you

either way, let us know what you decide to do!

 

[Dangman]

I did realize that it did not come with any backup windows.

Usually, Gateway will prompt you to burn your own backup/restore DVDs when the system starts.

I never saw any mention with problems with the power supply.

Still doesn't mean that there aren't problems with the PSU. Many Newegg reviewers know little to nothing about power supplies and their effects on a PC.

I have nobody to help if there are any problems but he did say he was willing to build if i find the parts.

Well I do recommend checking out this FAQ which has a ton of links on how to build a PC:
Gen[H]ard FAQ

And a Basic Troubleshooting Guide:
Basic Troubleshooting Guide (Please read before seeking help)

Unfortunately you waited a bit too long to decide and now all of the combo deals that I used in the build list no longer exist. As such, it is now gonna be more expensive to build it yourself. Though I'm willing to bet that similar combo deals will be out in about 2 weeks or so.

 

[BodyBagz]

Dell Studio XPS 8100, Core i7 2.80Ghz @ $1297.98 + Shipping ...full specs below

Intel® Core™ i7-860 processor(8MB Cache, 2.80GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
21.5" Dell ST2210 Full HD Monitor with VGA cable
ATI Radeon HD 5670 1GB GDDR5
1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Speaker System
Dell Studio Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
Dell Studio Optical Mouse
2 Year Basic Service Plan Included

If you want to get a pre-built, store bought system, this would be a fairly nice system when you factor in the monitor and speakers, as well as a standard 2 year warranty. I used to not like Dell systems, but over the last 5 years or so, I can honestly say they have won me over for their reliabilty vs cost...well worth checking out....

 

[munkle]

Dell Studio XPS 8100, Core i7 2.80Ghz @ $1297.98 + Shipping ...full specs below

Intel® Core™ i7-860 processor(8MB Cache, 2.80GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
21.5" Dell ST2210 Full HD Monitor with VGA cable
ATI Radeon HD 5670 1GB GDDR5
1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Speaker System
Dell Studio Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
Dell Studio Optical Mouse
2 Year Basic Service Plan Included

If you want to get a pre-built, store bought system, this would be a fairly nice system when you factor in the monitor and speakers, as well as a standard 2 year warranty. I used to not like Dell systems, but over the last 5 years or so, I can honestly say they have won me over for their reliabilty vs cost...well worth checking out....

This one has a considerably slower video card than the other, the gateway is a good deal, if you don't want to put together your pc I would go with the gateway. Most custom built pcs are loud unless you buy quiet fans or a fan controller which adds on to the cost

 

[Chuckiefresh]

I second BodyBagz Dell recommendation. They've been dependable for me and I generally like their prices.

It's ironic to see the Dell xps 8100 being recommended because I actually ordered a similar model w/o the monitor the other day from the Dell outlet. It was a scratch and dent model and after coupon including taxes it was $799. I'm still waiting for it to arrive or I'd give you my impressions.

Studio XPS 8100 Desktop
Processor: Intel Core i7-860 Processor (8MB Cache, 2.80GHz)
16X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
USB Keyboard
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (4 DIMMs)
1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Dell USB 6-Button Laser Mouse
64BIT Operating System DVD
Scratch & Dent
Power DVD Software
1024MB ATI Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium


Subtotal: $738.65
Shipping and Handling: $29.99
Shipping Discount: -$29.99
Sales Tax: $60.83
Total Amount: $799.48


If you want to see reviews Best Buy has quite a few on this particular configuration.

The only thing I'm going to add to the machine is a new power supply. I ordered a 550w antec from newegg since this system only comes with a 350w power supply. The 5770 video card doesn't require much power but just to play it safe and for future possible upgrades I'll replace it sooner rather than later.

I'm not sure why I'm going through all the trouble to link all this because I hardly ever visit this forum but here is the link to dell's outlet site with a search for the xps 8100 (Edit: It won't save my filter results so you'll have to use the filter on the model to get the xps 8100 results to show up. There are different video card options available but I believe the 5770 is the best they offer for this particular model).

You can enter coupon code NGFLW5RZ$Q61B8 for 15% off the price when you check out. Good luck, hope this helps somebody.

 

[zanthia]

thanks I will look into dell and see if they offer any pc's with better vidoe cards, but i am pretty sure the minimum video card I would like is the 5850 (or nvidea equivalent). 350 power supply, boy that seems low as even my current pc has a 500 power supply that is 3 years old. Also I don't need the pc to come with a monitor. currently have a 22 inch lcd.

danny, thanks for the links. I would think that there would always be deals available. if i should decide to go that route, i will read the general hardware forum a bit and them answer your questionairre.

snoozininsomniac , thanks for telling me your situation. this is a big decision for me about which way to go.

 

[ditzilla]

Unless their CS has changed a LOT, I would never, ever buy a Gateway. Bought one once, now this was years ago (came with ME, ok?). HDD fried in under 3 months. Took several letters from me, a formal complaint with the BBB and contacting the state's AG to get them to finally come up with a check for HALF the cost of me buying a new HDD and having it installed/formatted, etc. (I'm a noob with the formatting, OS installation - and this was the OEM tied to the Gateway, so yeah). It took, iirc, about 4 months to get that all straightened out.

By that time other parts of the stinkin' thing were going. That computer lasted just a little over a year and I am kind to my computers. They get shut down every night, they get the case opened and all the dust blown out once a month, they get wiped down, if they seem to be getting too hot (no AC, 3rd fl apt, uninsulated attic so it's either an oven or a meat locker in here) - they get shut down.

But I also wouldn't buy HP - have friends who did, begged them not to, they went ahead and none of them are happy.

Dell? I have no experience with other than my roommate buying a used from her office when it closed and that died like a week after she brought it home. And no I have no clue why; told her I thought it was either the psu or the mobo. But again I'm in no position to be able to really know.

When it's time for my next (and possibly last) computer I will be looking more than likely at Puget or Maingear - or wherever Heather's working if she's still in the business.

Will NOT go back to VM. My first experience with them was flawless which led me to buy from them a second time. I'm $500 away from paying this thing off and I still hate it, it still doesn't work exactly right - but at least it now works after 2 return trips to VA. Think that outsourcing to Mexico to do the "bare-bones" part of assembly, cutting staff in VA led to a big cutting back on Q&A.

If I could I would build my own. But ... it's just not happening and there's no computer repair shops in the area. Well one, but I know more than they do which is really scary.