Buy or build? Kind of long . . .

[xlucix]

For the last 8 years I've been buying and letting people buy my own computer for me. I never really had a passion for computers . . . as long as it could play the games I want and keep on par with the times, at the time. So I'm far from a whiz kid in this field.

So it's come to 'that time' again where my computer needs a major upgrade of some sort or it's time to find a new one. But what should I do?

I currently have a deadbeat computer shell[frame] filled with the motherboard, HDD and all that but that computer is dead, simply put. It won't turn on at all, the HDD has been on the fritz for a while and I'm not entire sure what the problem was. I don't know what can be salvaged or what can't be, some help on this would be wonderful. I know you'd probably want some specs on the computer but there's not a whole lot that I can say . . . other then I bought it 3 years ago, and it's Windows home edition . . . sorry. The HDD had about 200 gigs and I believe the RAM was 512MB of some sort . . .

I used my computer for downloading large quantities, the odd gaming and the usual other waah~hoo's you do on the computer. So I've been looking at computers and parts for the past few hours with an online buddy of mine and I can't tell which would be cheaper but I know that customizing would make a computer more precise. So far the best looking computer that I see for myself would be an alienware computer, I've been to Dell, Apple, Panasonic, even shops like Best Buy and Future Shop but I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking for.

So this is what I'm asking for. Any references to any good stores or even desktops in general would be great. A list of parts and pieces would also be good, though I don't know how to personally build the computer, if worse comes to worse I could just pay someone to do it at a shop. xD The Alienware computer that I was looking at would cost me roughly around $1500 so anything below that but still very good in a gamer/...computer personal's eyes would be greatly appeciated.

And in case anyone was interested, the PC specifically I was looking at was called the Aurora.

Thanks in advance for any replies. <3

Edit: I customized a Dell computer that came out to roughly 2000 . . . which wasn't bad as well. Also 750 Gig - 1 TB would be great. :]

[mjc]

Ok...the first thing to do is to figure out what, if anything, is salvageable...

What are the complete specs, as detailed as possible, of the faulty system?

What are the exact symptoms of its problems...something more specific than 'it doesn't turn on'...does it briefly flash on? is it completely dead? what was the behavior before it completely failed?

Are you concerned with recovering the data off the defunct drive?

Lastly, what exactly is your budget for a new machine and how long can you wait?

[xlucix]

Well I still can't remember the exact specs and like I said, I don't know what I'm looking for . . . I'm pretty sure the RAM is salvageable . . . maybe the HDD. That's probably about it.

For the last few months it would take a while for my computer to load . . . a few resets, and sometimes some time to get it running before Windows XP would finally load then everything was fine~with the odd lag here and there every so often. But then yesturday my computer just wouldn't turn on anymore, first it would actually briefly flash on for about 15 seconds then shut itself off but now it's just completely dead.

It'd be NICE to recover the data off of the HDD however, I wouldn't be incredibly deathly concered to lose what I had.

My new budget is anywhere from $1k - 1.5k but depending on the specs I can push up to $1.8k for a new computer.

[357mag]

You can build a great computer for less than $1500. My recent build probably cost me around $900 to $1000 tops. And it's pretty hefty and works damn good for everything. You are better off building your own. Pick the parts you want and have it assembled for you if you don't want to do it yourself. Intel Motherboards, Intel Processors, nVidia Graphics Cards, Antec Power Supplies, Crucial RAM, Seagate Hard Drives, are all good choices.

[xlucix]

Thanks 357mag. That was actually very helpful.

Do you think if I bought the same (or close) the parts of the same computer I want, it'd be cheaper as well? Cause like I mentioned, I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for.

I know that, a motherboard judges the size of and output of like, your sound card, video card and all that (Right?) Would you by any chance be able to give me some references?

[357mag]

Yeah the motherboard is all important because it determines everything else that you can put in your machine. I personally put in an Intel DP35DP. It was recommended to me by a tech friend. Works great so far. Some people prefer Asus boards over Intel though. Plus it comes with an eSATA port, a Firewire Port, plus your USB ports. I use my computer for recording since I'm a guitarist, plus some photo-editing, and some word processing plus web surfing of course. Works great for all that.

I'm not really up on what pre-built computers cost now, but I won't be buying any more of them. When you buy a pre-built computer it usually always comes with a bunch of useless software that is already installed on it. All it does is slow you down.

If you do decide to buy a pre-built one reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows. Get it clean and fresh, and only install the programs you need. No other useless bloatware.

But I think the way to really go is pick your own parts and have it put together for you if you know someone that will do it. You can go to PCMech and ask some questions there also. They can help you assemble a machine.

A computer is just a motherboard with a bunch of components plugged into it. If you look inside, you will see a whole bunch of components plugged into this motherboard.

You can even go to YouTube and search for videos that demonstrate how to install motherboards or processors or hard drives or whatever.

[mjc]

At this point...probably nothing is going to really be 'reusable'...without complete specs, it is hard to say for sure.

What was the Dell you configured?

What is the primary purpose of the machine?

For $1500 you can build a pretty awesome machine...

[hockey man]

I would definitly build. You can really pick out the hardware you want rather than be a the mercy of what the builder offer you.

[stepfinder]

It is always better to build one if you are good at it, but if can find some really good deals it is more convenient for you to buy one.