PC Upgrade

halifax

I am running a 1400mhz pc at present but want to upgrade m/board processor and memory for some CAD work. Is it better to buy a Dell pre built on offer and customise myself or build one myself from scratch.

i've built a couple of pc's before but wonder if the Dell option is the cheapest.

Any ideas folks!!

Pink.

Hi halifax,

I hope that you don't mind, but I am going to move your thread over to the techie board where hopefully you will get some replies.

Pink

Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [email="andrea@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/email].

wolfman

Depends how much you're looking to spend. What's your budget. I generally find that (for a base unit, ie case only) when you get close to £350 or below it's often best to buy from a place such as Dell. Anything over £400 and I'd build my own machine.

In fact I've built all my own machines, just prefer picking select and well reviewed components to make up my machine.

If you do decide to build your own machine, make sure you get a decent case and psu. They are often under-valued. The Antec Sonata II is a great case/psu combination to start off, brilliant build quality and a decent 450W psu, and it's only £80. I've yet to read a bad review about it. Also try and go for an AMD64 (socket 939 version), they run cooler, and are generally faster than their Intel equivalents.

halifax

Thanks 4 info Wolfman.

smcicr

also you may want to investigate the room / flexibility inside the dell units for upgrading - it may limit you in terms of what you can install (not sure if this is still the case but i have known people have problems trying to upgrade dells before).

pc's are essentially electronic lego i'd always prefer to build my own - that way you get exactly what you want and don't have to compromise (unless it's a cost issue!)