Going Rogue

In anticipation of Going Rogue I am looking at a new computer, my current one is 6 years old, I am looking a Dell, Microtel, and 1 from iBuyPower (Zephyr System) anyone have any experience with either Microtel or iBuyPower?

To be honest, you will be much better off hitting up a vendor like Newegg, buying components and putting it together yourself. You will get a much larger bang for your buck that way, and you'll end up saving money in the long run too when the time comes around to upgrade your system.

It's not nearly as complex as most people think it is. If my 62 year old mother can build a PC, anyone can...

There are tons of guides out there covering assembly as well as component selection. Tom's Hardware is a great place to start.

Back in time, it was really hard to build it yourself... But now, it's a pleasure.

Ask some geeky friend about the compatibility problems, follow his advices. I've done that with my last computer, cost me 700€ and a bottle of whiskey (for the geeky friend) instead of 1300€.

Another great thing with a " I build it myself!" computer: you'll know every pieces of it, how they are connected, and if anything goes weird, you'll be able to fix it by yourself.

Before I built my current computer, I ordered one from Ibuypower. When it arrived, the deluxe CPU cooler had broken off. My ONLY recourse was to send it back for repair. This is after waiting 3 weeks for the delivery, mind you.

This of course, was going to take another 3-4 weeks, for repair and shipping back to me.

I told them to stuff it, and give me a refund. Fortunately - they did.

So - in the end I built my computer with parts purchased from NewEgg.

Although, I do have a friend who bought their system from Ibuypower, and they've had no problems other than the 3 week wait to get it.


Honestly - if you have the technical skills, build it yourself. Not only will you save some money, but you can build a much better system.

I have never bought from ibuypower, but I am planning to order a system from them in the next week or so (curious what their Feb. deals are). I have heard some rumbling/complaints, but most of it seems to be with shipping issues (which were, perhaps, aggravated by the holidays). If you are willing to go into your order expecting a month wait for your system, they seem to be a good choice. Additionally, those people who have had issues with damage (and I have read those reports too), like the above poster, seem find customer support willing to help.

One of my friends bought a complete machine from iBuyPower. I bought a barebones case and basics (PSU, mobo, CPU, RAM, HDD) from CyberPowerPC (basically the same as iBuyPower) and added extras purchased from Newegg/TigerDirect. Both have had no issues so far. My computer ended up better than his for less money since I was willing to buy pieces (often waiting for sales) and install them myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

OK I am willing to purchase the componenets from Newegg can someone post some good specs for the system. I am a programmer but not up to speed on hardware. I know Posi mention the GeForce GTX 265 to get the most out of the video. Here is a config that I am thinking about form iBuyPower. this is just for the component list I would like to know if this is a good config that will take me to at least 4 years out?

Component ............ Description
Case ................. NZXT Tempest EVO Gaming Tower Case-Black
Processor ............ Intel® Core i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling .... [Free Upgrade] Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ 120mm Radiator [SOCKET-1366]
Memory ............... 6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1333 Triple Memory Module-Corsair or Major Brand ** Free Upgrade to DDR3-1600 **
Video Card ........... NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 - 1GB-Single Card
Video Card Brand ..... Major Brand Powered by ATI or NVIDIA
Motherboard .......... ASUS P6T SE -- Intel X58 Chipset CrossFire Supported w/8-ch HD Audio, Triple-Channel DDR3, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, 3 PCI-E MB
Power Supply ......... 700 Watt -- Power Supply-SLI Ready
Primary Hard Drive ... 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s-Single Drive
Optical Drive ........ 22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black
Sound Card ........... Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Network Card ......... Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System ..... Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....)-64-Bit
Keyboard ............. iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard-Black
Mouse ................ iBUYPOWER Internet Mouse-Black
Monitor .............. 22" Widescreen LCD 1680x1050
Warranty ............. Standard Warranty Service-Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
Advanced Build Options Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound-The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks
Advanced Build Options Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower-Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis
Subtotal ............. $1970.00