Gaming PC. Pre-build or DIY?
Discussion
I’m looking to go back to PC gaming after a long, long break. I’m debating whether to have a go myself rather than buying a pre-build but I don’t know what to do for the best, I’m not particularly technically minded but having watched a few videos on youtube it looks pretty self explanatory, as long as you go slow and methodically.
Any thoughts or advice? Budget around £1k all in.
Any thoughts or advice? Budget around £1k all in.
Building your own PC these days is as simple as its ever been.I certainly wouldn't let your technical ability play a factor in your decision. You also lose man and internet nerd points simultaneously.
Generally pre builts have poor value for money in terms of what you get for the price and more importantly they tend to come with weird configurations which make future improvements difficult like strange motherboard choices, Poor power supplies etc. meaning if you wanna upgrade down the line your having to effectively scrap the existing build and scavenge parts from it.
Theres been a few exceptions recently. awd.it.co.uk has some prebuilts that were actually cheaper than the individual component cost. Mainly all AMD Ryzen CPU's which have dived in price with the new 3000 series coming out soon. This is the only time I would of went for a pre-built.
Generally pre builts have poor value for money in terms of what you get for the price and more importantly they tend to come with weird configurations which make future improvements difficult like strange motherboard choices, Poor power supplies etc. meaning if you wanna upgrade down the line your having to effectively scrap the existing build and scavenge parts from it.
Theres been a few exceptions recently. awd.it.co.uk has some prebuilts that were actually cheaper than the individual component cost. Mainly all AMD Ryzen CPU's which have dived in price with the new 3000 series coming out soon. This is the only time I would of went for a pre-built.
paulwoof said:
Building your own PC these days is as simple as its ever been.I certainly wouldn't let your technical ability play a factor in your decision.
This, everything is plug and play... and only fit in one way. Long gone are the days of having to manually set jumpers on the motherboard.It's usually better value for money as well.
I build my own for the enjoyment of doing it and also being able to choose exactly what components goes in it. Also as you know how it all went together any future upgrading should be easier.
Plenty of you tube ‘how to’s’ out there. Watch the build guide from The Verge with critical comments to learn how NOT to do it. The memory in the wrong slots and the PSU fan facing the wrong side being 2 quite major errors, amongst others.
My first advice would be unless you have space constraints start with a good quality and roomy mid tower and then a quality PSU.
From there you can decide what path to take. AMD v intel, AMD v nvidia, air or water cooling, stealth build or lots of jazzy leds, etc.
I’m just finished building myself a new pc around an 8th gen core i5. That’s just over 1100 spent so far. Still a 1440p monitor to buy to finish it off.
Nowadays the trickiest part is getting the header cables connected to the motherboard (and, if you get a windowed case, making it look relatively tidy inside).
The only potential pitfall of self-build is if a component is faulty, you have to muck about with returning it to the retailer, whereas pre-built machines often come with collect-and-return warranties, which can make life easier.
The only potential pitfall of self-build is if a component is faulty, you have to muck about with returning it to the retailer, whereas pre-built machines often come with collect-and-return warranties, which can make life easier.
Edited by Monty Python on Tuesday 7th May 15:37
DIY it if you are on a tight budget, buy pre-built if you want to save hassle and have some cash to burn.
I used to build gaming PCs in my younger days, but i would get something off the shelf now.
Depends if speccing and building the machine is part of the experience for you, or a means to an end.
I used to build gaming PCs in my younger days, but i would get something off the shelf now.
Depends if speccing and building the machine is part of the experience for you, or a means to an end.
https://m.dell.com/h5/m/r/outlet.euro.dell.com/Onl...
Use the code and it comes under budget, I haven't checked it against retail prices for individual components but it's usual either close or cheaper than DIY.
Use the code and it comes under budget, I haven't checked it against retail prices for individual components but it's usual either close or cheaper than DIY.
PHuzzy said:
https://m.dell.com/h5/m/r/outlet.euro.dell.com/Onl...
Use the code and it comes under budget, I haven't checked it against retail prices for individual components but it's usual either close or cheaper than DIY.
Yet no SSD....Use the code and it comes under budget, I haven't checked it against retail prices for individual components but it's usual either close or cheaper than DIY.
PHuzzy said:
There was an £1100 option that was there when I posted that had a 256GB NVMe drive.
Moot point now as the 30% off code is finished.
So with the added VAT it's over budget by a distance.
Check Friday afternoons - my last 3 machines have been Alienwares from dell outlet (even after having my latest over a year I would struggle to put a machine together that was better for the same price). Moot point now as the 30% off code is finished.
So with the added VAT it's over budget by a distance.
I would also keep an eye on the second hand market. If you are lucky you can do well on full built systems, they sometimes cost less than the sum of parts. CEX also do a warranty so sometime a bargains can be had there.
If you plan to have lots of games get 2 SSD, one for the OS, one for games and then another standard HDD to store music, films and spare games (although most can be re-downloaded from steam in about 3 hours).
Does £1k include the monitor? You need to think about fps/Hz/resolution which will then connect to the graphics card.
I would definitely recommend building, it's good fun and quite easy if you do plenty of research and take your time. Don't forget to save a few ££ for OS and any other software.
If you plan to have lots of games get 2 SSD, one for the OS, one for games and then another standard HDD to store music, films and spare games (although most can be re-downloaded from steam in about 3 hours).
Does £1k include the monitor? You need to think about fps/Hz/resolution which will then connect to the graphics card.
I would definitely recommend building, it's good fun and quite easy if you do plenty of research and take your time. Don't forget to save a few ££ for OS and any other software.
Jinx said:
Check Friday afternoons - my last 3 machines have been Alienwares from dell outlet (even after having my latest over a year I would struggle to put a machine together that was better for the same price).
Yeah my latest PC (Aurora R7) was a bargain, £1250 for a watercooled i7-8700k, 32GB RAM and a 1080Ti about 15 months ago, added 2 x £40 SSDs on top and that'll last me another 4 years or so.The 1080Ti alone was about £800 at the time, absolute no brainer when they have the offer codes up.
Very much disagree with those that say DIY is a good way to save money - it really isn't. If you're paying retail price for your components (and full price for Windows) then places like PC Specialist will almost certainly beat or at least match your DIY price for a pre-build and indeed will give you a very good, well-matched and completely upgradeable system. They'll even safely overclock it for you if you want.
On the presumption that you go somewhere that knows what they're doing (i.e. not PC World or some dodgy Ebay or Amazon no-name special) then pre-build is the easy, good value and safe option. DIY is great - I DIY all my systems - but that's because I enjoy doing it, not because I think I'm saving money.
On the presumption that you go somewhere that knows what they're doing (i.e. not PC World or some dodgy Ebay or Amazon no-name special) then pre-build is the easy, good value and safe option. DIY is great - I DIY all my systems - but that's because I enjoy doing it, not because I think I'm saving money.
Jinx said:
Check Friday afternoons - my last 3 machines have been Alienwares from dell outlet (even after having my latest over a year I would struggle to put a machine together that was better for the same price).
You can get 10% off as a "first purchase" discount at any time (though obviously not in addition to a 30%)Those Alienware look good. Time to google to see if I can do a hackintosh with one.
Ruskie said:
If I buy everything separate does the correct cabling come with each individual component?
One thing that doesn't come with cables are SSD/HDDs. You will get one SATA cable with the motherboard but if you go with SSD boot drive and HDD storage (a must really) you will need to buy an extra cable, they aren't much. Yes you can get NVMe plugin SSDs but they are more expensive and not really necessary.FourWheelDrift said:
One thing that doesn't come with cables are SSD/HDDs. You will get one SATA cable with the motherboard but if you go with SSD boot drive and HDD storage (a must really) you will need to buy an extra cable, they aren't much. Yes you can get NVMe plugin SSDs but they are more expensive and not really necessary.
Your motherboard will have most of the cables, however check because often they only come with 2 or 4 SATA cables. It cant hurt to buy a few extra and maybe some extra Molex to SATA power cables (both of which can be bought from a PC world if you're in a hurry). Vaud said:
Jinx said:
Check Friday afternoons - my last 3 machines have been Alienwares from dell outlet (even after having my latest over a year I would struggle to put a machine together that was better for the same price).
You can get 10% off as a "first purchase" discount at any time (though obviously not in addition to a 30%)Those Alienware look good. Time to google to see if I can do a hackintosh with one.
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