buy or build?

bikr

Hi All,

I found this computer online
http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2309219#options

The question is should i buy it or should i biuld one?
Can I get something better for same money?
Thanks in advance.


Product Description
HP Pro 3400 - Core i5 2400 3.1 GHz
Form Factor
Micro tower

Dimensions (WxDxH)
16.5 cm x 38.9 cm x 36.8 cm

Weight
6.9 kg

Processor
1 x Intel Core i5 2400 / 3.1 GHz ( 3.4 GHz ) ( Quad-Core )

Processor Main Features
Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2

Cache Memory
6 MB

Cache Per Processor
6 MB

RAM
4 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR3 SDRAM - non-ECC - 1333 MHz - PC3-10600

Storage Controller
Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 )

Hard Drive
1 x 500 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300

Optical Storage
DVD±RW / DVD-RAM

Graphics Controller
Intel HD Graphics 2000 Dynamic Video Memory Technology

Audio Output
Sound card - 5.1 channel surround

Networking
Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet

Power
AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )

OS Provided
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit Edition

Manufacturer Warranty
1 year warranty - on-site

uncle_sam_ie

Lol, it has a one year warranty. You could build a better one for that price.

I had a second look at that PC. 661 euro is a rip off for what your getting.

Serephucus

I love how it was €661.49, and is now €661.74, and you "save" €-0.25.

Over €100 cheaper from Hardwareversand.de

Item|Price
Total build cost: €512.92 + €30 shipping
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€31.78
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€41.07
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€87.44
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€33.65
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€75.00
Intel Core i5-2400 Box, LGA1155|€166.99
ASRock H61M/U3S3 (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€56.99
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€20.00


Oh, and my build has twice the RAM, if that matters to you.

bikr

if it was to put another 50-100 euro to it, what would you change?

a quick question, sicne i haven't done this before, do all teh parts come with drivers, or windows 7 has the drivers... you know what i mean: how difficult is it to make it work after i put everything together?

thanks

uncle_sam_ie

Another 50-100 euro would be a waste of money. Building a PC is very easy. There are many video's on Youtube on how to do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw&feature=relmfu

Serephucus's build includes 20 euro for them to build it.

bikr

i was wondering what that last item was.

am i right to say that there is no optical drive?

uncle_sam_ie

Looks like it . Just add 22 euro to the list.

Edit 15.58 euro http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=47362&agid=699

Markd250

If you add a Radeon HD6870 to serephucus' build, it will bring it up to the same price as the Elara computer, but it will run almost all modern games extremely well.

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46795&agid=1004

uncle_sam_ie

Not only is Serephucus's build better all the components will come with warranty longer then the one from Elara. I don't know what Hardwareversnd's RMA policy is having never used them, maybe someone here could elaborate on that. I'm sure it's better though.

Serephucus

OP, what are you planning on doing with this computer? It might be that an extra €50-100 is very useful, or not so much, but I'll need to know what it'll be used for first.

It doesn't have an optical drive, no, sorry. I don't use one, so I pretty much always forget to put them in builds for others. :P

As regards it working after you put it together:

First off, I think you should build it yourself. To be perfectly honest, not only is it a great learning experience, but it's fun.
And to get it working, all you do is boot into your BIOS once you turn on your computer (usually hit the delete key) then somewhere in the options in there, you set your computer to boot from your optical drive. From there, you stick in your Windows disk, and it's basically the same thing as installing an application from there.

Once Windows installs, it should download most of your drives automatically, though I would recommend manually installing your graphics card drivers, which you can get from AMD's/NVIDIA's website. Mind you, that's only if you have a dedicated card, which you don't at the moment, so they'll install themselves.

Hope that helps. Any more questions, feel fee.

bikr

Guys, thanks a mill for your advice. I think you “converted” me to build this computer myself.

I use the computer for general "house work"
- web browsing
- web streaming
- Microsoft Office type of work
- I do a bit of Photoshop work (as hobby)
- I occasionally play games - strategy games like “command and conquer” or “rise of nations” - I am not big into it by any means but it relaxes me.
- This computer will be the one that I will use for remote work using citrix (to connect to specific work applications)

However I had couple of laptops so far and this will be my first desktop.
The lesson I learned with the laptops is that if you don’t buy close to top end speck, very quickly the machine will be outdates and more importantly feels slow and that only frustrates me.
I don't know if this is the case with desktops too, I only assume so. The last laptop I got I got it 4 years ago, it was the best in its range and it’s still very fast and reliable.

Nothingbetter2d

building is almost always the better option for personal use pc's

buying tends to be the better choice for IT Admins because of convenience (using images to setup multiple pcs at the same time)

Serephucus

Well it depends just how much gaming you do, and what you're used to. You could add in a cheap-ish graphics card to give you a boost - and help with playing any of the newer games - something like this maybe:

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=49395&agid=1004

Or you could add in an SSD to speed up the computer generally. SSDs are small, but very fast, hard drives. They speed up pretty much everything - boot/shutdown time, application loading, etc. Instead of your browser opening in 3-4 seconds, it'll open instantly. Same thing with any applications you have on it. The best one to go for would be something like this:

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46113&agid=1145

Come to think of it, both of those would fit in the "extra €150" category. I suppose you have to decide if you want/need them.

bikr

how does it work?
i install the operating system on SSD and keep data on the HDD?

is it not "slowest" point of reference that will influence the speed of system?

either way, i'm going to buy the computer you recommend (inlcuding SSD)

because this is the first time i buy from this website, what is their return policy... i read someone being a bit dissapointed with this aspect. (i hope everything is ok i i won't need to return anything)

is the waranty with the manufacturer or with the seller? (if in 2 years something goes wrong do i go to manufacturer to fix it or to seller?

I'll probably have another million questions, so thank you in advance for help

uncle_sam_ie

I don't know the return policy for the German site but, a lot here use it and are happy with it. I went with Komplett.ie. They have a 2 year return policy on all there stuff and they have an office in Dublin so, it's easy to talk to someone if you have a problem. After that, a lot of the manufacturers have warranties on there parts that go from 2 years to life in some cases . An example, the PSU I bought has a 7 year warranty. I bought my memory from MemoryC.ie and it has a lifetime warranty.

uncle_sam_ie

Here are a couple of links for setting up the SSD
http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-guide-optimization-for-ssds-hdds
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/124198-user-profiles-create-move-during-windows-7-installation.html?ltr=U

Serephucus

bikr wrote: »

how does it work?
i install the operating system on SSD and keep data on the HDD?

is it not "slowest" point of reference that will influence the speed of system?

either way, i'm going to buy the computer you recommend (inlcuding SSD)

because this is the first time i buy from this website, what is their return policy... i read someone being a bit dissapointed with this aspect. (i hope everything is ok i i won't need to return anything)

is the waranty with the manufacturer or with the seller? (if in 2 years something goes wrong do i go to manufacturer to fix it or to seller?

I'll probably have another million questions, so thank you in advance for help

Yup, install OS and your most-used apps to SSD, and anything else on the HDD. You can pretty much put whatever you like on the SSD, just leave documents/music/movies etc. off it, as they won't show any speed up, and will just take up space.

In theory, yes. In practice, no. If you have Office, browsers, Citrix, and media players on the SSD, virtually everything you do will be faster.

I haven't used HWVS myself, as I haven't bulk-ordered anything in a while, but I've heard of very few problems with them. As far as I know, the warranty is with HWVS for one or two years (not sure which) and if any components have longer warranties than that, you go direct to the manufacturer.

bikr

i read acouple of treads about HWVS and i got a bit of cold feet to buy from them...

i looked at an irish website and a similar machine come aroun 700...

is there an irish supplier where you can get parts less expensive?

Tij da feen

bikr wrote: »

i read acouple of treads about HWVS and i got a bit of cold feet to buy from them...

i looked at an irish website and a similar machine come aroun 700...

is there an irish supplier where you can get parts less expensive?

Most of the people around here have glowing reviews of them. They work out way cheaper than any irish site since HWVS have a lower rate of VAT 13% or something like that as opposed to our 23%/.

Serephucus

Dabs.ie is about your best bet, but to be honest, you'd have an easier time dealing with HWVS; Dabs don't have a phone number at all, and their email support can be a bit on the slow side.

bikr

Tij da feen wrote: »

Most of the people around here have glowing reviews of them. They work out way cheaper than any irish site since HWVS have a lower rate of VAT 13% or something like that as opposed to our 23%/.

who are most of the people?
i did a quick search for hwvs and i found only "negative" reviews.

are all the happy people keeping quiet???

Serephucus

That's usually how it works on forums unfortunately; people only post if they have a problem.

Believe me, on average I spec about five builds a week here, most of them with HWVS, and I haven't heard anything bad back yet. I know there was one poster with a motherboard problem that was finding it hard to get a refund, but that's the only bad one that comes to mind.

deconduo

I've built 12 computers from HWVS, never had a problem with them. If you need to RMA something you just ring them up and they'll sort you out in no time. They even refund you for the shipping, which I don't think any other company does. They probably get 5-10 orders a week from people on boards and the number of people that ever complain are minimal.

The only problem I've seen recently was this guy, which sounds like a lack of communication and will hopefully be sorted out. FYI don't order any 'Special Item' components, these are items that have been opened already and returned. They can often have bits missing, hence their lower price.

uncle_sam_ie

Just make sure everything is in stock when you buy it or you could be waiting a few weeks for your stuff to ship.

I never used HWVS. I just don't like using bank transfers and the wife seeing that money coming out of our account would go nuts. But saying that, I do trust deconduo's and the others on here recommending HWVS.

bikr

thanks for all guys.
I willl order the parts over the weekend.

can you recommend a monitor too?

what do you think of this?
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=52559&agid=1650

Serephucus

Can't say anything about that one.

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30854&agid=1650

That gets great recommendations here though.

Markd250

+1 for the BenQ, great image quality. Very bright though, some people don't like that!

bikr

didn't order over the weekend.
i will order afte 15 next month.
@Serephucus i'll give you a buzz to check if anything better comes by than.
thanks.