The Benefits of a Custom PC

Custom PC's provide users with many benefits such as:
1. Quality, durable components
2. Customization
3. Easy upgrading...

[champ21]

For about 600usd you can make a custom PC, which will run all of todays games in real 1080p 60fps 2x-4xaa.

PC has alot of exclusives from this gen and the previous years. Also it out does all the systems in multiplats by a large margin.

Not only that the games on PC are cheaper by a good margin too. So over time you save on every game bought, also you dont have to worry about losing all your games when the next gen comes out, PC has the best backward compatilibility of any system.

Also you can play games from all the old consoles, be it nes, snes, n64, any sega system, ps1, ps2, wii and many more. Thats a huge libruary for one system.

[t850]

I been recently playing the old classics on my PC. Games like:

Marvel vs Capcom (mame version)
Wrestle Mania the Arcade (mame version)
Yoshis Island

Its been a ton of fun.

[TheIneffableBob]

And you can play those old console games with much better graphics. You can run them in any resolution you'd like and you can even apply anti-aliasing.

Shadow of the Colossus looks especially great with the graphics settings cranked all the way up.

[Darkfocus]

wait SotC runs good now? what emu do you use I get graphic glitches galore in PCx2. if your using that can you tell me the settings or plugins you use ?

edit: never mind I just checked the site apparently the euro version doesn't work properly yet that would explain it.

[ProjectVulcan]

My 360 that was 'fixed' apparently by Microsoft a mere six months ago RROD on saturday morning. The week before that my PS3 crashed in the middle of a video and refused to restart showing YLOD.

Needless to say good old PC hardware is the most reliable. Sure, you could argue its more complex to keep in good shape inside the operating system, but truth is its a kind mistress these days when my consoles are so suicidal. Its reassuring to know the components inside my PC have at least 3 years guarantee for any manufacturing defect, with several having 5 years and many even lifetime. Now THAT is a warranty....

[ps3ftwin]

@t850

Wow playing Yoshis island. Dam i need to play that game again.

Looks like PC picks up where console companies dropped support and closed shop.

GG PC.

[Bubbles_Kitty_Cat]

I'm in the process of building one.

Got everything but the GPU. I can't decide whether to go with a 5770 or something with more horsepower (I'm thinking about going with a 5850).

I can only run one card, so I'm worried that I will be wanting/needing to upgrade the 5770 not long after I get it.

[dirthurts]

Go 5850. You won't regret it.

[t850]

@vulcanproject

Agreed PC can be very versatile in that way. Once a console dies the only way to fix it is giving it in for repairs or maybe buying a new one.

With PC things are different. Sometimes even with damaged parts there is no downtime:

GPU failed.. plug in an older GPU or activate the intergrated GPU
Hard drive fails.. install windows on the second hard drive if there is one.
Ram chip goes bad.. remove the bad chip systems still working.

It can keep functioning until some of its parts are replaced.

@ps3ftwin

Its great playing older games mate, specially chances are slim these games ever will surface again on any system.

[Bubbles_Kitty_Cat]

That's probably what I will do.

Got my eye on the Sapphire Vapor-X 5850.

[presto717]

But my question is dont you feel you're missing out by not playing a lot of the good games only on consoles? Just asking... cuz that's how I felt back then.

[toxikon]

"Windows 7 Ultimate Genuine Keys are sold for less than $20 at some places online."

anyone know some of those places? really need to upgrade from vista :\

[crck]

Ebay. Although they are genuine keys they aren't really suppose to be sold. They are given away by Microsoft for joining various programs like technet. So you may still get blacklisted though the chances are very slim and you will still need to get your own copy of Win 7. Up to you if you want to take the chance.

[Hidden Star]

Say if you don't want to use a computer for gaming. Is it still the better option to custom build it - even though I'd only want to use it for running loads of applications just except games?

[champ21]

sure its still better to custom build it. since you would get better parts. you can easily make a non gaming pc for 300usd-400usd. adding in a 150usd graphics card is the only extra thing needed to make it into a 1080p hd gaming machine.

[Pandamobile]

It's a lot cheaper to buy all the parts separately and build it yourself than to buy a Dell or HP.

[crck]

Its always better to build you own pc if you have the time and know how.

1. You get to choose the parts that go in and fit your specific needs. But it could take you months to piece together the parts if your picking like I am about what you're willing to pay.

2. You get a longer warranty 2-3 years for most computer parts vs 1 year for buying a prebuilt system. If something dies you only need to RMA that part and not the whole system(not sure about this but I assume they would make you send in the whole unit?)

3. No bloatware/crapware that may bog down performance and effect stability.

4. Overclocking in the bios if you need the extra performance.

5. Better parts. You choose what goes in and even if you buy middle grade stuff its usually better then the stuff they throw in. Especially when it comes to the motherboard and power supply. They almost always skimp on those two parts.

6. Easy upgrades. Like I said before you choose what goes in so you know exactly what you have to work with instead of working around the constraints of what's in there.

7. Price. This one is a bit iffy in my opinion. Dell/HP etc have infinitely more buying power. So they do have some great specials from time to time that will match if not beat prices what you would get doing it yourself unless you patient and live near a Microcenter or Frys. I can't say its definitely cheaper to build your own like the guy in the article tries to make it sound but most of the time it probably is.

[Lemon Jelly]

not to mention building your own PC is very gratifying. "I am MAN and I built this machine!"

[Hotel_Moscow]

but what made the parts that allowed the man to build the machine

[CosmoK]

...that every part is covered by it's own warranty (something he should've mentioned in the article, as it's one of the best arguments for custom building a PC, IMHO).

More often than not, OEM/retail PC's have to be sent in as they were sold when something goes wrong (even when the problem is something as minor as a faulty RAM module). If it's custom built, you just have to whip out the component that's bad and return it. Less downtime associated with this as well. This is, of course, assuming you've learnt anything at all during the building process...

[killalot100]

i hate to buy a dell of any other prebuilt pc. they usually come with terrible motherboards. the only ones that dont are the ones that are for pc gaming those are overpriced. its very hard to oc on them too. its way to easy now days to build your own pc its a joke when people charge for it. if your going to buy low quality parts might as well get a prebuilt.

[dirthurts]

I try to build a new rig every year or two. Not that I really need to. In fact I really don't. I just love the experience. I would build one a month if I had the money.

[Letros]

WARNING! PC building/customizing is an addictive hobby, enjoy =)

[Pandamobile]

Tell me about it. I remember when I was 13 and bought and installed a Geforce 6200 all by myself, how proud I was :)

It's all been uphill from there, lol.

It's strangely exciting (and nerve-racking) pushing the power button on a freshly built rig for the first time. "Oh god did I do everything right? what if I forgot to ground myself when I put in the RAM? What if the CPU's defective?!"

All that goes through your head for the 5 seconds between when you power it on and it finishes POSTing; and when it does successfully POST, you have to let a big "F*CK YEAH!"

[ChrisW]

Every time I go to a PC store I look at what's new and feel my money burning a hole in my pocket. But I have to stop myself because the setup I have now will [probably] run all new games on MAX graphics for the next year or two. Nonetheless, I get very giddy every time I see the next CPUs and GPUs come out.

The only thing that I'm getting really REALLY interested in is nVidia's 3D Vision / 120Mhz Refresh Rate Monitor combo. But the monitors are only 22" at 1680x1050. I'll wait until they reach 26" and much better resolutions, like a minimum of 1920x1200.

[edit]
I did, however, pick up an 80Gb Intel SSD last week for $250. Now Win7 fully loads from login to desktop in about 3 seconds.

[Letros]

Asus has a 27in 120hz monitor coming out very soon, though it's only 1080p...which I guess is ok considering how demanding 3D is.

http://www.guru3d.com/news/...

I have that same SSD and it was the best decision I've ever made, I love how I can drag a Steam game I just beat from the SSD to my slave HD and it plays perfect on it(if i ever do play it again). I'm actually selling my rig because I'm going to europe for 4 months, I just bought a Asus U30JC and gonna pop that SSD in it =) When I get back I'm gonna probably build a AMD 6-core system or go Intel if the performance is vastly superior for gaming.

@panda yea that feeling is nice because you know its only a few installs away from some awesome gaming, though I had a DOA motherboard once, that wasn't fun trying to figure out what was wrong in order to make a return.

[GrilledCheeseBook]

not having to deal with bloatware is wonderful

[cheese]

While not entirely so just yet, PC is looking to be the last refuge for people who don't want to be treated like fools by their games. Civilisation IV, Stalker, The Witcher, Risen; complexity is equal to quality, and a consolised development mentality is producing more and more junk.

Not going as far as to say it's a rule on consoles (as Demon's Souls and Darksiders suggest), but PC is where pure creative visions get a chance. And if the devs can't get it right, modders can lend a welcome hand : )

[Letros]

probably the truest words I've have ever read on this site

[karan8624]

Asus Rampage II Extreme
i7-920 OC 4.2 GHZ
Radeon HD 5850
Cooler Master HAF-932
6 GB DDR3 RAM

I is building it myself :)

[stuntman_mike]

im just starting to build my gaming pc, bought some books on it (never built one before).

I choose some parts hopefully i will be able to play the latest games on:

AMD Phenom 2 x4 3.4ghz
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO 790x
XFX 1GB HD5770 (planning to xFIRE two of these, equivalant of HD5870 by all accounts and cheaper)
6GB DDR3 RAM
Antec 1200 gaming case
planning to O.C on this (will read up on it)

Hopefully i wont eff it up.

[crck]

Just take your time. It's very hard to screw something up unless you try forcing in a part wrong.

[ChrisW]

ASUS MBs are awesome for OCing! I recommend http://www.overclockers.com for FAQs and help on your MB.

BTW, in your 6Gb of DDR3, are you running two 2Gb DDR3s and two 1Gb DDR3s? Otherwise you won't get the best out of your dual-channel RAM.

[Letros]

Nice rig man, I'd recommend to OC your GPU to stable first, then OC the CPU as GPU can cause a lot of heat and might destabalize your CPU(very sensitive to heat, get a good aftermarket cooler).

For ATI I use MSI Afterburner as there are some funky idle downclocks with ATI powerplay, its rather easy, can even up the voltage, just read on forums and look at voltage/core/memory settings to see what other people have reached and try for yourself, just be sure to setup your custom fan profile to make sure it does not overheat(85+ C is bad)

@Mike, go either 2x2gb or 2x4gb IMO, AMD is limited to 2 slots only for 1066 MHz(may be wrong here, think that's what my Asus manual said) Honestly if you only plan on gaming, 4 gigs is more than enough. 750W is plenty for that setup.

[stuntman_mike]

i was planning on 3*2gb if poss im gonna get dual channel 4gb ddr3 and add another 2gb too it. also can i use different make RAM together as long as the same spec or should i stick to one make (i was looking at G.Skill, Kingston, and Geli makes)

do you know what wattage PSU i should use especially if i want crossfire? i was thinking 750W should be enough?

@letros
i think the card is pre O.C when you buy it (if theres such a term lol) mainly i just want to get it built and make sure it runs good before messing with any O.C adjusts. i will probably stick with 2-2gb for now and when im a bit flush or if needed go 2-4gb.
thanks for the info. :)

[Letros]

here Mike is a really good article on modern RAM usage with applications.

http://www.tomshardware.com...

[evrfighter]

don't skimp out on your power supply if your going to Xfire/Sli and overclock.

Pick something rated 80 plus silver at least.

[ChrisW]

I'm not doing SLI on mine. So far I have no need to with a nVidia GTX275. But just in case I ever do, I decided to go with a Goryoku 1000W power supply. I know it's overkill, but it was on sale for the same price as a 750W.

http://www.legitreviews.com...
Here it states that the HD5770 CrossFire max is about 396W, so even a 650W power supply should be sufficient with your setup. But more is always better! :)

[Modestmex]

PC gaming for life!

[kraze07]

I have a gaming laptop that I'm using at the moment since I travel so much, but once I can settle down for a while I'm definitely building me a rig.