Where to Buy a Desktop?

[Enderet]

I am looking forward to purchasing a new desktop, but I am unsure of where to buy it from. I have decided to go for the following specs(or similar):

P4 3.2GHz HT 800MHz FSB
512 PC3200 DDR Ram
Video Card doesnt matter.

This is what I want (the core). I got a good price from micronpc.com but I still wanted to know if you guys had any recommendations.
I dont need a keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, etc. I just want the barebones box with the following. Mobo doesnt matter to me either...but I really want recommendations. 0X

[sixsixty]

in my opinion, you don't truely know your computer until you built it yourself. for me, that is where the true joy in computers come from.

in my area we have computer shows about once or twice a month, and they sell computer parts there wholesale. so when i'm itching for a new computer, ill head down to one of these shows and pick up all the parts i need, and slap it together myself.

this is the one in my area, there might be similar ones in yours
http://www.robertaustin.com/

[ignar]

I'll probably just go with Dell if the price is not bad. Otherwise, http://www.ibuypower.com gets good reviews and they allow detailed customization.

[Enderet]

Is it easy to build a PC? I am completely inexperienced in that area.

[Jason Dunn]

Is it easy to build a PC? I am completely inexperienced in that area.

It can be challenging, especially mounting the motherboard if you haven't done it before. Can I make a suggestion? Check out a Shuttle XPC barebones PC - the motherboard and power supply are pre-mounted, but you add the CPU, RAM, video card, hard drive, etc. They come with a nice guide to give you step by step instructions, and of course the Shuttle boxes are just plain sweet. I happen to be building my new Shuttle box today actually. :-)

[Rondjones54]

I built my PC from a barebones kit several months ago. It was a lot of fun and amazingly everything worked!

[David Prahl]

I'm guessing Dell or HP won't like to sell you a 3.2 GHz machine for cheap. I agree - you should build one.

(For work) I built three 2.4 GHz P4s for audio editing in an afternoon. It depends on the brands of parts, but some can be really easy to build.

In fact, I'm building my first good computer now. Our family computer is a piece of crap (Win98, 450 MHz, 64 MB RAM). My new PC, which I need to find a good name for, will have these specs:

http://www.milwaukeepc.com/SKUIMAGE/050292.jpg
-Pentium 4 2.6 Ghz: w/ HyperThreading, 800 Mhz FSB
-Decent Asus motherboard: 800 MHz FSB, 8x AGP, supports 3200 DDR-RAM
-512 MB PC3200 DDR-RAM
-Decent video card (I'm not a gamer)
-60/80 GB hard drive (don't download music)
-CD-RW and DVD-ROM

Head over here to help me decide what color lights to put inside of it!
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20137

Building a PC isn't that hard. You might start by building a cheap PC and move on from there.

[JustinGTP]

Maybe you could find a class or go down to your nearest shop or ask someone in your area to help you, its a lot of fun and its cheaper too! I built my PC with some guidance from my dad, the PC Genius in our family - :D

-Justin.

[Sven Johannsen]

Take a look at www.tigerdirect.com for barebones kits and complete boxes. Also look at www.techforless.com for refurbished machines. I've bought a couple from the latter and found the quality good and the price better.

Jealous of your Shuttle, Jason. Been wanting a XP Media Center PC in that format, as it would actually fit in the stereo cabinet.

[smashcasi]

Other benefits to building yourself - you're out less money and you don't have to wait weeks to get your new toy.

I recently built a new system from scratch, buying everything from newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com) which I now highly recommend. They have some of the best prices I was able to find and their shipping charges are rediculously low. $18 for everything (didn't get a monitor) and it arrived in 3 days!

As far as the difficulty of building a system goes, it's really not hard at all. If you've popped the case on a PC once or twice and have a passing familiarity with how everything is hooked together then you should have no problems.

[Darius Wey]

Blech...unless I get a laptop, I refuse to buy desktops from companies (e.g. Dell, HP, etc.)

I built mine from scratch and replaced some parts as I went along. And it's not that hard to build your own...you become more experienced as you build more PCs. Now I have friends who ask me to build desktops for them.

BTW, don't they have computer stores in the US which just sell parts? Because you guys are talking about getting it from Dell and buying barebones kits...making me confused about what they have in the US. In Australia, we can just go down to the local computer store, buy the parts we need, slap it all together ourselves, and have what we want sitting on the computer table up and running in a few hours.

[TopDog]

It can be challenging, especially mounting the motherboard if you haven't done it before. Can I make a suggestion? Check out a Shuttle XPC barebones PC - the motherboard and power supply are pre-mounted, but you add the CPU, RAM, video card, hard drive, etc. They come with a nice guide to give you step by step instructions, and of course the Shuttle boxes are just plain sweet.
I totally agree, what model did you go for Jason?

Here is a picture of my SN41G2 (buildt it three months ago):
http://www.pdanorway.com/images/shuttle_in_action.jpg
Read my specs here: http://www.pdanorway.com/shuttle.htm

It took me 30 minutes to build it, I'm an exerienced PC builder, but with Shuttles picture-by-picture manual, it should be a piece of cake for anybody, just be careful.

[karinatwork]

Ok, let me pitch in here: I know how to put in a DVD player. I know how to install memory cards. Would I be able to build a computer with a barebone kit?

What would I need, other than that kit? I want a computer with a DVD RW, firewire port, at LEAST 80 Gigs of harddrive, ethernet card and a really good graphic card (hubby wants to play Simcity 4 and it doesn't work on our old toasteroven).

I like the small form factor! :) But how practical/expandable is it?

Karin

[TopDog]

Ok, let me pitch in here: I know how to put in a DVD player. I know how to install memory cards. Would I be able to build a computer with a barebone kit?
Yes, just be carefull when placing the CPU.

What would I need, other than that kit?
You need CPU (but not a fan), RAM, DVDRW, Floppy(if you want one), harddrive and a Graphic-card if you are a gamer (there is one buildt in, but it's not good for gaming).

After that, the barebone is full, so you won't be able to put more stuff in it... well there is one PCI-slot, but if you use a graphic-card with a big fan on, you won't be able to use it because it's so close to the AGP-slot.

[TopDog]

I like the small form factor! :) But how practical/expandable is it?
It's very practical, I love the small form, being able to have it on the desk in my livingroom without having the "boysroom" feeling :-) And with all the USB2, sound and firewire-ports in front, it's very expandable with my camera, smartphone, printer, USB-stick, headphones etc...

[karinatwork]

Ahem... :oops: that's why I probably SHOULD NOT build my own pc... because I don't know why I have to be so careful when handling a CPU. (Something about electrostatic discharge??)

I'm definitively going to look into it. Plus, my neighbour builds his own computers, he can help me out I'm sure. :)

K.

[JustinGTP]

Cool stuff. I like the small factor too, but probably a little too small for all of the junk I have in my PC!

-Justin.


- P.S - ...toasteroven...
Hahahahah, that is so funny!

[TopDog]

Ahem... :oops: that's why I probably SHOULD NOT build my own pc... because I don't know why I have to be so careful when handling a CPU. (Something about electrostatic discharge??)
Because it's the most expencive part ;-)

No, it's no problem, just dont push hard in any way, it should slide in place without any force what so ever, and don't forget to use the cooling-paste. As I said before, the picture-by-picture explenation from Shuttle is very good.

[David Prahl]

[quote="smashcasi"]$18 for everything (didn't get a monitor) and it arrived in 3 days![quote]

$18.00 USD? Did you mean to say $180?

[Kati Compton]

Ahem... :oops: that's why I probably SHOULD NOT build my own pc... because I don't know why I have to be so careful when handling a CPU. (Something about electrostatic discharge??)
Yes. But many places sell barebones *systems* in addition to kits. They install the motherboard, CPU, and power supply into the case (and usually test them). The rest would be up to you, and *that*'s probably something you can do.

I should note... Whenever I've built a system they've been surprisingly unstable. But as far as I know, I'm an unusual case. I seem to have an electromagnetic "breakage" field that makes computers go nutty. I've been fine with my Dell - I bought the full complete system, and had my husband install the extra RAM just to be sure I didn't ruin it with my field. :razzing:

[maximus]

Ah, there is no satisfaction greater than watching a self-made PC running flawlessly at 4.0ghz, using an ABIT IC7 and pentium4 3.0ghz ... water-based cooling ... screaming data running through FSB 800 and Dual DDR400 ...

Ahem... that's why I probably SHOULD NOT build my own pc... because I don't know why I have to be so careful when handling a CPU. (Something about electrostatic discharge??)

Antistatic grips on both wrists ! :D

[smashcasi]

$18.00 USD? Did you mean to say $180?

I meant to say that shipping was only $18 USD for everything, which I thought was pretty good considering what Dell charges. Newegg offered free shipping on most items, I think the case was the only thing I had to pay for.