Super Computer - build or buy

[Deleted User]

What do you want to do with the computer?

Andy_L

Building your own is unlikely to be cheaper than buying as you can't compete with the bulk buy discount price of components and especially not if you value you own time.

IMO the advantages of DIY are:
1. As a fun hobby project
2. You can specify exactly what individual components you want.

blacksta

anewhope wrote: »

What do you want to do with the computer?

General home use - no gaming - but i plan to run some work related applications - which requires atleast 4MB of ram and at least 300 gig of Memory

blacksta

Andy_L wrote: »

Building your own is unlikely to be cheaper than buying as you can't compete with the bulk buy discount price of components and especially not if you value you own time.

IMO the advantages of DIY are:
1. As a fun hobby project
2. You can specify exactly what individual components you want.

I have done a rough estimate - I am sure they get componets cheap but the labour cost is bumping up the cost. I believe i can build a better spec for under £650

Spank

gonzo127 wrote: »

it does do, however the basic OEM license is limited to the hardware configuration you first install it on (give or take minor changes such as more ram or a better graphics card)

You can change quite a lot, I got an OEM Vista in 2007 & over the years the only original hardware is the PSU MOBO & DVD drives. It's been reinstalled about 6-8 times & auto validated on line all but the last 2 when I had to use the automated free phone system

Spank

DJSKYLINE wrote: »

Build
Go for an Asus motherboard and Corsair PSU if possible.

Corsair have gr8 warranties, but if the go wrong it will cost around £20 to ship it to the Netherlands.

[Deleted User]

blacksta wrote: »

General home use - no gaming - but i plan to run some work related applications - which requires atleast 4MB of ram and at least 300 gig of Memory

What applications are they?

expatdave

Building it yourself is fun and you can also ensure that no rubbish software is added to the computer that you do not need.

Many of the big PC manufacturers now insist on bundling loads of rubbish games and trial anti-virus software that you just do not need. If you build it yourself you can just use a windows 7 disk and there will be no unwanted software on the computer!

23n1th

I'd recommend building it yourself, that way you can control everything that goes in it.

My personal preference would be to go with AMD, I only say this as I like to upgrade gradually which with AMD is easy as they are very backwards compatible compared to intel who seem to kill off platforms willy-nilly.

You need to decide what you need from your computer and then the processor type. I then look for a really good motherboard and base the rest of the spec around that motherboard. My personal preference is Gigabyte as they are the only boards I never had troubles with. I would also suggest 64bit operating systems over 32bit.

tonyh66

blacksta wrote: »

General home use - no gaming - but i plan to run some work related applications - which requires atleast 4MB of ram and at least 300 gig of Memory

You of course mean 300 gig of disk space, ram is memory...........

Personally I would look for a built system with these requirements, it should be reasonably cheap, any box will do seeing your not gaming. Then see if you can build one of the same spec for cheaper, I doubt you will be able to.