What kind of system would you build?

[dying_inside]

If I had the money?

Powermac Pro

Quadcore 3.66 GHZ
500mb hard drive
256MB graphics card
Gig of Ram

Whatever else  it was that the main specs are for that computer.

I want one. But I'm hardly going to get one any time soon hahah!

[Atomica]

I've always been a loyal Gateway fan. 'Til they pulled out after 9/11 

[Goldir]

Sweet!  This is some good advice.  When I was trolling the dell XPS Laptop section I didnt see the quad core processor listed.  Maybe I need to check again.  I wouldn't mind having portability and power.  I did notice that it was almost 3000 dollars US for the upgraded max RAM.  I wonder If I can just buy the RAM separate from the manufacturer directly... That is what I did with my wife's compaq that she bought a few years back. 

[Karyuu]

I don't understand why anyone would spend 4k on a system that they can build themselves for half as much Unless you're going with something as seriously awesome as Boxx, which offers workstations for studios. Or if you're going for a laptop, where it's understandable that building "from scratch" is a lot harder. But a desktop PC? Crazy :]

[Goldir]

I love building my own systems, rather than paying some company exorbitant prices to do it for me.  Have you ever tried to convince someone who thinks computers are a necessary evil to allow you to buy all the components for a high quality one?  However, I bet I could probably do some creative accounting and hide most of the expense from her... We shall see. hehehehe

[ThomPhoenix]

True, Thom, but building your own laptop is a bit more annoying than building a desktop.  Atleast, in my limited knowledge.

Obviously, I was referring to desktops.

And again, it's fun building your own pc!
Except when you completely destroy your harddisk in the process.
Not that I ever did that >.>

[Xordan]

Personally I wouldn't go for the quad core... you don't need it, plus it's just two glued together dual cores sharing the same bus links (big bottleneck). Save yourself a lot of money and get a high-end dual core (T7600 for laptop, E6700 for desktop)

I don't understand why anyone would spend 4k on a system that they can build themselves for half as much

Tech support And sometimes it is cheaper to buy from Dell. Depends on what you're buying.

[neko kyouran]

Something to keep in mind when building your own pc...

In some places (referring to the USA since thats where I am at) if you aren't CompTIA A+ certified and you go to build your own system, and a part breaks in the process, even if it wasn't your fault, the company can choose to not accept the return and say you voided the warrenty as you aren't a certified indivdual.

That happened to me before, had to send them proof of my certification before they would send me my replacement parts.  I don't really blame them that much though.  When I recieved my 1500+ dollar order, over half the parts were dead on arrival.  I guess they were just being cautious.

Never the less, that's the last time I ordered anything from that place.

[Atomica]

CompTIA A+ certified, eh?

That's some hot shiz you got there

[neko kyouran]

Back in the 90's, the CompTIA certs meant something and were internationally recognised for being the best entry level certification award out there in the IT field.  Starting a few years back, about the same time they updated thier tests to include Win XP, the test went down hill and everyone and thier dog started to pass the test.  Nowadays, the A+ test is kinda treated as a joke, much like the I-Net+ test.  Only worth while CompTIA cert worth getting nowadays IMO is the Security+ cert.

I got my A+ cert when the test was actually worth something by the way.

[emeraldfool]

Everything education-related seems to be getting easier for some reason...

[Goldir]

I am currently working on my A+ Cert right now.  I guess they changed the test banks again as of 1 Jan 2007.  I know one guy in my A+ Software class hurried to take the test before the end of the year last year and passed.  I wonder if I shouldn't say heck with it and take it early as well, because I scored higher than he did on the final exams in every class I took with him.  Personally I think I still have much more to learn, but the A+ cert is an extra 3 bucks an hour working pc service tech jobs if I can pull it off. 

Thanks for the warning on that one Neko.  You wouldn't happen to be able to PM me the name of the company that tried to shaft you would you?  I really don't want to get trapped like that. 

I think emeraldfool has it right: "Everything education-related seems to be getting easier for some reason..."

[miadon]

Indeed in my HND Computer Systems Engineering class, the tutors even admitted it. Basically if people failed in the class,  the tutors would get told of by the University and were MADE to make the exams, projects easier so people could pass. most people in my class did not deserve to pass, but the tutors had to make things easier just so they would, but even then people struggled.

[neko kyouran]

Thanks for the warning on that one Neko.  You wouldn't happen to be able to PM me the name of the company that tried to shaft you would you?  I really don't want to get trapped like that.

It was a wholesale company that TigerDirect.com used/uses.  Don't remember the name off the top of my head.  It was quite a few years ago, not even sure if they are still around.  Back before newegg.com was around, tiger was actually worth something. 

My situation went something like, call TD about all the DOA parts, they refer me to the wholesale company as the warrenty is through them, not TD.  I call that place, they try to give me the run around, but i eventually get all new parts.

Like I said, last I used them and TD for my computer buying needs.

[Polecat]

True I would never buy a Dell myself for all the above reasons, but then I never buy prebuilts anyway.

However I quite often reccommend dell to pople who are not techies and only want their pc to browse the latest menu online and/or write a letter to cousin Sally.