Buying a New PC

Is there a forum where I can find advice on buying a new PC? I think mine is close to breathing its last.

 

And do you want to build it yourself or buy a prebuilt?

 

Thanks for moving me! Here is way more information than you'll want to wade through, let alone respond to! But it was cathartic for me to write it up.

I'm editing this because I didn't really answer your questions. I'd like to spent $2K, but I'm up to about $3K. I can re-use my keyboard, mouse, monitor (though I do need a new monitor at some point). The innards of my current PC are otherwise too old to be worth salvaging. I'd consider building but have reservations (discussed way below).

Usage: What will I use it for? I keep open multiple windows of Word (often with 30 files open and with very long documents with track changes, footnotes, etc.), Excel, Quicken, Firefox, Outlook, ITunes, lots of family photos and plan to add family videos; I connect to my office using Citrix and use that very heavily; sometimes stream video. I'm on the computer a lot.

I don't play games now, but I don't want to foreclose that....

My current PC is an 8 year old Dell. Everyone in my house has newer PCs (which I have bought and maintained), but I've been able to keep mine limping along (by adding lots of memory, hard drives, etc.). My PC still works, but it is definitely on its last legs. The USB ports are acting odd (it seems to burn out keyboards, for example).

Reliability and longevity are hugely important to me. I want to use this new PC for a long time. I don't like trading up every few years.

I want a PC, not a MAC.

Current Plan: Currently I am leaning towards an $3357 Dell configuration, currently priced at $3,017: Dell Alienware Aurora (this is the only Dell model I could find where I could get both a sound card and video card w/o maxing out the slots -- though I may have changed the configuration I initially was looking for so that might not be accurate. At one time I wanted a TV tuner. Can't remember why now.)

I thought about HP which seems both a little cheaper and a little higher-end, but they told me that if I made ANY changes inside the box I'd void the warranty. (Dell said that if I made any changes, the warranty would not extend to what I had changed, but other otherwise would stay in effect.)

I understand Dell has back to school sales in late July and August, so I'm waiting for a price break. www.dealhack.com also seems to have some great Dell coupons. So I'm waiting a bit ....

I looked a bit at Asus but found their website irritating.

Here is what is currently in my Dell configuration:

• Alienware Aurora R3
• Intel Core i7-2600, 8 MB cache, overclocked to 3.9 (I don't need the overclocking)
• 16 GB dual channel DDR3 at 1333 MHz
• 2 GB AMD Radeon HD 6950 (I know; I don't need this; I'll probably drop to the 6870)
• 256 GB SSD SATA (as primary hard drive, to speed things up)
• 1TB SATA (as secondary drive)
• (there is a third slot I'd probably use for a 3rd hard drive if needed because I understand larger drives can really slow the system down
• Media card reader
• Blu-ray drive (don't think I need it)
• DVD drive
• 4 year service plan (on some of our computers I fix them myself, but I rely too much on my own computer for that)
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium (need to check whether that is ok for music or is just intended for gamers)
  Various MS software (might buy elsewhere; this of course adds to the price)

I'll probably get a 27" Asus monitor (my 19" SyncMaster is too small for my aging eyes). I may get a 24" Dell Ultrasharp for my office ($600), but with a www.dealhack.com coupon that expires today (coupon VC9RJMFJ$KKP9M) I can get a 27" ultrasharp for about $825.

If I get a Dell I have to pay sales tax, which adds significantly to the price.

Building my own? I'm really tempted to build a computer -- I've replaced/added hard drives, memory, DVD drives, adding PCI cards (sound and video), etc. and I've reformatting plenty, so I'm not intimidated at the prospect, but I am worried about having unexpected glitches, and since I rely heavily on my PC for my job I am not confident that that is the right route for me. I need to know I can call someone like Dell to scream if I have a problem I can't fix on my own. I can't have it out of commission for a day or two once I am using it. But I'm toying with that possibility. I am pretty unhappy at the price tag for what I want if I get it pre-assembled. And I don't need/want anything fancy -- plain vanilla is perfect.

I might buy a copy of Building the Perfect PC - Robert Bruce Thompson - which gets good reviews on Amazon. I've studied a bunch of websites and videos on building a PC.

I appreciate the fact that I would be able to buy sturdier components than Dell is likely to include in my machine.

If I knew of a configuration that would absolutely work, I'd do it. I don't need any bells/whistles. But I keep reading about people who did it and had to finesse this or that or the other, and I really can't afford to have many problems. I would be ok devoting a long weekend to it -- but then once it's done I'd need a machine that will be durable and reliable.

The suggested parts lists that I see on-line are a bit out-of-date or not quite what I want. For example, I don't know if I need to do anything special for the SSD drive. I don't know how to decide what to put on the SSD drive, and what on the big drive (I know the OS and programs go on the SSD, but I'm not sure how to divide that up). So if I play with those, I might end up with components that don't play nice.

 

That is a seriously hefty budget. For what you are wanting to use it for it is serious overkill. I appreate tht you want a PC that will last but I would be tempted to cut you budget in half and save yourself a few pennies as the components will fail before your system cant do what you want. My current main rig cost me about £800 five years ago and it will still game now (albeit not at full res). For $1500 you could prob get a decent rig that will last and do what you want for 5-8 years.

If you build it yourself the price will prob be comparable or maybe a bit more expensive but you will get better quality components that will be more durable. You dont get the same warrenty but you still get the warrenty on the individual components. As for help trouble shooting, if you still have access from other PC there are plenty of frendly people who can help you out.

As far as SSDs go they will access small files quickly but larger files take as long to access. The other issue with SSD is that you have a limited number of writes to each memory sector and that is much lower than number number of writes to a traditional HD. On that basis I would put OS and Programs on SSD and all files on traditional. You can get hybrid drives that have both SSD and traditional disk storage. The controller card will then save the data to the best area on its own.

Thats my first thoughts. Would you like me to put together a spec for a custom rig? if so where abouts are you? USA or Canada or Austra?

 

Tueur:

I'd love for you to put together specs for me, but that seems like a lot of work on your part, and since I'm not sure I'd use it I don't want to put you out!

I was shocked at how much my design cost, gotta agree with you.

I'm from the US.

Devon