Need a good pc builder

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rick Williams
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Rick Williams

I'm sick of Dell and their not so hot tech help. And my 10 month old Dell
has been giving me problems for 6 months.

Can anyone recommend a really, really good and reputable pc builder. I'd
like to switch to AMD.

I will be very grateful for any referrals you can provide.

Rick
 
do it yourself - it is the only way you can know for sure - if you
start now youll be able to make your own decisions fairly soon.....
return here to polish it off....NO wait, your already here!, that's the
first step..

Whatcha' thinking of buying or spending?
 
Rick Williams said:
I'm sick of Dell and their not so hot tech help.
Click to expand...

Live from India.
And my 10 month old Dell has been giving me problems for 6 months.
Can anyone recommend a really, really good and reputable pc
builder. I'd like to switch to AMD.
Click to expand...

I'd like to answer, but I'm really not sure what is the question?

Make friends with a techie, it will do wonders for your computer
problems.

Good luck.
 
I've thought about doing it myself but am a little intimidated and
overwhelmed.

Have you built before? If so, what site or info did you use as a guide?

I would like to have something fast and big. I use photoshop and burn a lot
of dvd's and cd's.

Rick
 
I'm sick of Dell and their not so hot tech help. And my 10 month old Dell
has been giving me problems for 6 months.
Can anyone recommend a really, really good and reputable pc builder. I'd
like to switch to AMD.
I will be very grateful for any referrals you can provide.
Click to expand...

We have been a reputable PC builder since 1991 and we are normally
tied for #1 for 6-month customer satisfaction at
http://www.resellerratings.com/topstores.pl
Send us e-mail if you are interested.
 
Rick said:
I've thought about doing it myself but am a little intimidated and
overwhelmed.

Have you built before? If so, what site or info did you use as a guide?
Click to expand...

I agree it can be a little intimidating the first time, but it's not
rocket science.

I've found that picking the components is step one, and as rbt
mentioned, you can always post here what you're thinking of purchasing
before you actually buy it in order to get advice and confirm everything
is compatible.

Step two is putting it together. I've found that the motherboard manual
guides you through this process pretty clearly.

Good luck.

-Carlos
 
What is wrong with your Dell? I have 41 new ones, and
probably another 20 older models. They have their little
problems, but I learned early on to wipe the Dell installs
and start over. If you didn't do that, I don't see how you
are still up and running. The biggest hardware problem
I've seen with my Dells is ram. You should run their
diagnostic on ram and really check it. 2nd problem was
their weirdo mouse. It is a piece of crap, and will suddenly
just not work. Toss it. 3rd problem is outdated SATA
driver in their BIOS. It is a driver for SATA150, and they
ship SATA300. If you do any DOS level work, that
hard drive will drag down very slow. There is no fix
because WinXP compensates for the SATA150 driver.
Still, you can't do any low-level work like that. 4th
problem in my machines is the video card lies face
up !!!! It loads up with dust and the fans stick and cause
the video cards to overheat and shut down. Have a
look at that, and see if your video card fan is spinning.
All this stuff is minor, and easy to fix if you know about
it. Then, the Dells are pretty good machines.

johns
 
Hey Johns,
thanks for your post.
The problem with my Dell is the sound card (Audigy). It keeps producing
static in the right channel. It's been replaced x2. Last time they
replaced the control panel. STILL there's static in the right channel.
They sent a replacement pc but definitely nothing near my original. So I
sent it right back.

Any ideas about static in the R channel only? I've tested the speakers
(Logitech) and they're not the cause.

Thanks for your help.

Rick
 
Rick Williams said:
I'm sick of Dell and their not so hot tech help. And my 10 month old Dell
has been giving me problems for 6 months.

Can anyone recommend a really, really good and reputable pc builder. I'd
like to switch to AMD.

I will be very grateful for any referrals you can provide.

Rick
Click to expand...

Tell ya what, I'll do you one better. You want fast and big, I'll spec. it
out for you. Then all you have to do is read the motherboard user's manual
and throw it all together.

The following is from www.mwave.com I threw in a monitor in case you want
to upgrade. I threw in a floppy drive in case you want to upgrade to a SATA
hard drive eventually (IDE is just as good, and easier to build with). All
these components are the very highest quality available. You want to switch
to AMD and do photoshop and burn DVDs? Here's your dual-core AMD system,
fully ready for Microsoft Vista. I started you out with 1Gig of RAM. You
really need 2 Gigs of RAM. But, wait until Vista is released so that you
can purchase another Gig of RAM and get the OEM discount on Vista (with the
purchase of RAM)

You should be able to build this yourself in one day (maybe half a day),
including OS installation, simply by following the instructions in the Epox
motherboard user's manual carefully. If you get stuck, use your current
system to post questions here, and you will get plenty of helpful
suggestions. Then when you get the new system online, use it to sell the
old system on ebay. :) -Dave

Description Qty Each Total AMD ATHLON 64 X2 3800+ (ADA3800BVBOX) RETAIL
BOXED W/512KB X 2 CACHE 90NM (MANCHESTER) BUNDLE W/
(*Free copy of the Nero 7 Ultra Edition w/Purchase! )
a.. FREE NERO 7 ULTRA EDITION
a.. EPOX EP-9NPA+ ULTRA
a.. KINGSTON 1GB DDR400
a.. NO TESTING

$470.00 $470.00 SKU: MB-BA21810 -BA22054 -BA21121 -BA20668 -

ENERMAX ELT400AWT LIBERTY ATX 12V VERSION 2.0 400W UL & FCC POWER SUPPLY FOR
ATX CASES
a.. NO TESTER

$72.00 $72.00 SKU: BA22026 -

EVGA 256-P2-N553-AX GEFORCE 7600 GT CO 256MB PCI-E W/HDTV& DUAL DVI $10
manufacturer's mail in rebate available till 5/31/06
a.. FREE Age of Empires III PC GAME

$175.00 $175.00 SKU: AA43810 -BA22515
You saved $14.00 ( 1 x $14.00 )


ASPIRE X-GEAR (BLACK) MID TOWER W/350W ATX POWER SUPPLY 4x5.25" 2x3.5"
4x3.5"(hidden) W/SEE THROUGH SIDE WINDOW,FRONT USB CONNECTOR & 80mm CASE FAN
x 2
a.. NO CASE LIGHT
a.. NO EXTRA FAN

$43.00 $43.00 SKU: BA20618 - -

MITSUMI 1.44MB FLOPPY DRIVE (Black) (Bare drive)
a.. NO FDD CABLE

$7.90 $7.90 SKU: AA17310 -

WD 160GB 1600JB UATA-100 7200RPM 8MB (Bare drive)
a.. NO EXT.ENCLOSURE
a.. NO DATA CABLE

$69.00 $69.00 SKU: AA24210 - -

HP DVD840I 16X LIGHTSCRIBE DUAL DVD REWRITABLE SUPER MULTI DVD WRITER
w/Nero Software (Black)(OEM)
$59.90 $59.90 SKU: AA46000

LOGITECH DELUXE KEYBOARD (Black) (White box)
$7.98 $7.98 SKU: 3592318

LOGITECH OPTICAL MOUSE USB/PS2 (Black) (Retail) (*Regular $16 - $3 Mwave
Instant Rebate = $13, While Supplies Last!)
$12.97 $12.97 SKU: 3450294

VIEWSONIC 19" VA1912WB 1440X900 TFT LCD (BLACK) ($50.00 Mail-In Rebate
Available w/Purchase any Notebook or PC Systems from 5/19/06 to 6/30/06)
a.. NO ACCESSORIES
a.. NO FILTER
a.. NO TV TUNER

$236.50 $236.50 SKU: BA22064 - - -

TURTLE BEACH RIVIERA 5.1 CHANNEL SOUND CARD 24BIT W/DIGITAL OUT &
MIDI/GAME PORT
$32.90 $32.90 SKU: 3460072

ALTEC LANSING VS2121W 3-PC MUSIC & GAMING SPEAKERS SYSTEM (Black) (White
box)
$34.00 $34.00 SKU: 3477769

MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME W/SP2 (OEM/DSP)#N09-01625/01624*Must be
Purchased w/Hardware!!*
$81.00 $81.00 SKU: AA15060

Sub Total $1,302.15
 
The Far Cry posters spotted a driver problem with the
Audigy sound card. Seems that card was causing
all kinds of stuttering and pauses in Far Cry .. and
they have a fix. I vaguely remember some kind of
hardware acceleration setting, but that would take
a search ...

http://www.tweakguides.com/Farcry_6.html

This Tweak Guide talks about it, but I remember more
posting about the "compatibility" issues, and need to
disable settings. If you go to the UBI Far Cry Discussion
Forum, and post about it in the Technical group, I'm
sure they will jump all over you for dragging that discussion
out again, but then they will point you to the threads
on it. Still, my experience with the Dells is you
absolutely have to reinstall the system from scratch,
and bring it up testing each element as you go. Do
not install their DVD /RW software. Go get and pay
for EasyCD Creator. Also don't install anything that
supposedly plays DVDs. Get PowerDVD. And don't
even think about installing NERO. Holy cat! That is
a piece of garbage. I'm guessing you used the Dell
driver for your sound card. Their drivers tend to be
out of date. Get the latest driver. In addition, check
that you have the on-board sound disabled in the
BIOS .. and you did not load an on-board sound
driver. Also, I remember from the Far Cry group
that sometimes loading mouse drivers will give
duplicate mouses and keybds. Delete these things
if you see them. Don't load any mouse or keybd
drivers. They will conflict with hardware that the
sound card is sharing. Usually that will give a
crackle in the speakers when you move the mouse.

johns
 
Rick Williams said:
Can anyone recommend a really, really good and reputable pc builder. I'd like
to switch to AMD.

I will be very grateful for any referrals you can provide.
Click to expand...

I bought mine from NTSI (www.newtechsolutions.com). They specialize in CAD
workstations, but will custom-build almost anything you specify.

One of their former employees went over to BuyTechware (buytechware.com). You
can check them as well.

For both, call their 800 number and discuss your desires. They have more
options than show in their on-line lists.
 
Rick, I also seriously recommend building your own. I started playing
around with the insides of computers when I was in 7th grade, I am a
senior now and I enjoy building computers for whoever needs them. It's
pretty exciting when I get an opportunity, yet I still get a little
intimidated, but if you can get past that, it's easy, and fun! Really
the only things you need to help you with putting together your
computer instruction wise, should come with all of the parts that you
purchase, otherwise, we are all here to help you. All of my builds so
far have been with an ASUS motherboard, and their manuals are
excellent, besides using the cases' to prep the case, the motherboard
should be all you need to assemble your computer.

If you are interested in doing this, what I like to do when coming up
with what I want in the computer, I like to go to www.cyberpowerpc.com
and choose one of the configurators and choose the parts there to get
an idea and price range ( though you can get the parts by different
companies, and building yourself will always be cheaper) and then go
to what ever online retailer you prefer, I highly recommend
www.newegg.com. They are the only people I have ordered from for all
of my builds, have never had problems with them or the products from
them. The reviews of the products at that site is probably my favorite
thing about it, and prices are hard to beat. And then when you have an
idea of what you want to buy, tell us here and like give us links or
something, and hopefully we can give you good advice. Also here is a
site with a little walk along list that might be helpful, but I've
never needed such a thing, a good manual will most likely be better and
more specific.

Johan
 
I wouldn't recommend doing it youself,if it's your first. Some local stores
will charge you an arm and a leg. Alienware or Falcon Northwest are good.
Pick up a PC Gaming Mag and go thru the ads in the back. There's some good
companies adverting in say MaximumPC
 
dawg said:
I wouldn't recommend doing it youself,if it's your first.
Click to expand...

Why not? There's always a first time. The only reasons I wouldn't
recommend someone build their own rig is if they simply don't enjoy
dealing with hardware or are looking to buy a lower tier machine that
can be obtained cheaper pre-built with a monitor, keyboard and mouse
included.
 
Why not? There's always a first time. The only reasons I wouldn't
recommend someone build their own rig is if they simply don't enjoy
dealing with hardware or are looking to buy a lower tier machine that
can be obtained cheaper pre-built with a monitor, keyboard and mouse
included.
Click to expand...

It also depends on how much you like sending things back and how long
you're willing to wait. You can spec parts until heck won't have it,
but one bad one means you either replace it locally at a high price or
wait a week for ups to get it to you cheaper. I'd only build a
machine if I just couldn't find anything close already available; it
isn't worth the aggrevation for nothing less than bleeding edge and I
don't care to be at the bleeding edge because the price is too high.
It is different if you are going to build a few machines at a time,
then you have parts to swap so you can find the problematic part if
you have a problem; this is much harder on a one-off.
 
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