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+--- Thread: Time for a new one (/showthread.php?tid=13940)
Time for a new one - Jakensama - 04-25-2015
It's that time, need to update to a new rig.. Any advice for pre-builts? Is ibuypower okay?
I realize building is cheaper, but unless I am going to save a huge amount of money I'd rather not risk fucking it up - its been a long time.
Re: Time for a new one - Jakensama - 04-25-2015
Or alternative - what would you add/remove from a build like this?
(Edit)
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Re: Time for a new one - Snowreap - 04-25-2015
build looks ok to me, but it's been a while.
I know years and years ago building your own was cheaper, but I understand that's no longer the case. unless it has recently become true again?
doesn't matter, I usually build my own anyway, at least for a primary gaming rig. for anything else I generally start with an off-the-shelf system then substitute specific components as needed.
-ken
Re: Time for a new one - Jakensama - 04-26-2015
Ending up going the building route... I've never dealt with SSDs before, I see only people talking about setting them to AHCI in the bios - is this something I need to do?
Re: Time for a new one - Snowreap - 04-27-2015
you don't "need" to enable AHCI, but it's better if you do. the reason this is important is because it can be very difficult to 'upgrade' to AHCI later. this is something best done right at the start because it affects the device drivers that Windows uses to boot itself up.
AHCI is required in order for your OS to be able to use the SSD 'TRIM' command, which can extend the life of your drive by eliminating certain types of unnecessary writes.
-ken
Re: Time for a new one - Zirak - 04-27-2015
My youngest daughter and I just built a new machine for her. I typically buy pre-built because, while I can build them myself, I don't consider it to be worth the hassle. My daughter decided she wanted the slightly better components she could afford by purchasing them herself on the budget I allowed rather than going pre-built. We got it all put together and running over the weekend. She ended up with
motherboard with X99 chipset
Intel i7 CPU
16 GB RAM
125 GB SSD
2 TB spinning disk
GeForce GTX 970 with 4 GB RAM
650 Watt power supply
Windows 7
We didn't have any issues with the SSD although I didn't have any idea about what you mentioned so I don't know if hers is set up that way or not. Her takeaway from the experience is that next time she is buying one pre-built.
Re: Time for a new one - Skelas - 04-27-2015
Man, I love building my own, It's always a good refresher course. It's also a big bonus that when I tell friends of my parents, and even my sister, that I build my own computer they think i'm some kind of wizard.
Re: Time for a new one - Slamz - 04-28-2015
Plus when something goes wrong, you have the expertise to experiment by simply unplugging things. Computer simply doesn't turn on, take out one RAM card, computer turns on. Computer does not turn on, remove all expansion cards, computer turns on.
Sometimes it doesn't make sense (there was....a short....in the expansion card....? I guess...?) but knowing you put everything in yourself and therefore can take them out and replace them if need be is a good and relatively easy skill to have.
It is kind of a pain in the ass though.
These all look like good systems, anyway. Really the only question is how big of an SSD should you get. Minimum probably 120 GB for Windows and like a game or two. More if you're an avid gamer and don't feel like managing your game supply via install/uninstall. I ended up with a single 120 GB for Windows and then added a new 240 GB just for games.
Just be sure to redirect your Windows folders (like Documents, Music, etc) onto a standard drive. I can't remember the process for changing those settings but it wasn't too hard and Windows does a nice job of moving existing content for you. So my many-GB of music are all on a regular old spin drive.
Re: Time for a new one - Jakensama - 04-28-2015
I got a 240 gig SSD, figure I'll load my OS and whatever big game or two I'm playing at the time there and dump everything else on the standard drive..