Need a new desktop: Alienware, Mac Pro, Falcon Northwest, or full custom build?

[Glacked]

I have a FNW Talon system. I went with them after looking at Alienware (aka Dell) as well as Voodoo. I like their view on customer service. They might not always be open, but you'll talk to the guy who built your system or someone who knows him. When I bought mine, a friend copied my specs and came out $300 less than what I paid. Yep, he saved some money and he didn't have the warranty I had.

I have been very close to building my own as I've got friends who have and they always insist on the savings. From them, I've had to listen to the stories of this burning out and that frying over and over. It's usually an easy fix where they have newegg ship them a new part. Some have royally screwed themselves a few times with improper installs. I've had no issues with my purchased machine. I've called FNW a few times when upgrading a GPU or thinking about adding something. They are always friendly and willing to discuss things even though my warranty ran out a while back.

If you build, good luck. I've heard horror stories and I've heard success stories. If you buy, I can recommend FNW. I've owned Dell - brother worked there for years. I've owned Gateway way back when. I've got friends with Alienware and Voodoo. I'd stay away from Alienware due to QC issues and Voodoo for price. FWIW

[quagmire]

Originally Posted by SolidSnake2634

Actually, screw that. I just looked again on the specs of the Mac Pro, it has the capacity to hold 32 GB of ram. Though it costs $9100 to get it from Apple.

[lm1z]

Make sure you run 64-bit Vista or XP if you plan on using more than 3gb of ram

[.:bHd:.]

I built a top of the line PC that cost me about $2500, but the problem was i was running windows. It really isn't worth it man. I got a mac pro a couple of months ago and not a single problem yet. You can run windows on it too if you still want to lol.

[FirstClass]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

I built a top of the line PC that cost me about $2500, but the problem was i was running windows. It really isn't worth it man. I got a mac pro a couple of months ago and not a single problem yet. You can run windows on it too if you still want to lol.

This is a really dumb statement simply because top of the line gaming PC running OSX is an oxymoron. Mac Pros are a terrible choice if you want to play games. They're for media editing.

[Neema]

Mac Pro is out of the question because of their pricing.

[.:bHd:.]

Originally Posted by FirstClass

This is a really dumb statement simply because top of the line gaming PC running OSX is an oxymoron. Mac Pros are a terrible choice if you want to play games. They're for media editing.

I didnt say i was running osx on a gaming pc I was just saying that if you want a powerful computer that is stable get a mac pro. But since its out of the question then i guess you're stuck with a windows lol

[FirstClass]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

I didnt say i was running osx on a gaming pc I was just saying that if you want a powerful computer that is stable get a mac pro. But since its out of the question then i guess you're stuck with a windows lol

I agree, the Mac Pro is powerful and stable. I thought the OP said it was gaming, they actually said editing and a bit of gaming.

[jadeddjay]

here is something i did this weekend for a friend of mine.. so yeah. build it yourself. hell, i will build the damn thing for you lol

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by Boost_Nation

Yes, but I'd have to buy a Mac Pro to get the same computing power as the PC I'm going to build, and the Mac Pro would be 3-4 times as expensive.

For about $2,000 I'm getting:

4 GB of RAM
250 GB hard drive (dont need more then that)
750 watt power supply
Q94-50 Intel Quad Core processor
9800 GX2 graphic card
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit edition, or XP Professional 64 bit

.... and then all the petty stuff, like two decent CD/DVD drives, memory card readers, a decent mid tower case, and so on.

You can build a comparable system for much less than $2000. MUCH LESS.

4gb of ram in XP with a graphics card that uses up 1gb total is not smart. You probably need to go with vista 64 as much as you might hate it.

You can get a Intel quadcore, top of the line nvidia graphics card, 4gb of ram, and a 750gb hd for around $1000. You just have to spend more than 5 minutes looking for components.

www.resellerratings.com is a GREAT site for finding deals on components. Especially ram.

If you are really interested in building your own system but would like some help, shoot me a PM and ill pick out parts for whatever price range you would like to be. I'll also give you some general tips on how to build it and what to look out for.

Dell, Aleinware, and all those other builder shops aren't that great. They use the same components, alot of the time they are older components, as the rest of us can get. They might have a warranty but honestly if you are competent with computers I doubt you'll ever use it. They also charge you ALOT just to plug all the components in, which is bogus.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by jadeddjay

here is something i did this weekend for a friend of mine.. so yeah. build it yourself. hell, i will build the damn thing for you lol

How the hell are you getting Vista for $35? Also, might want to elaborate more on the type of graphics card. But other than that, a full systems with monitor, keyboard, etc. for $1300 is nice.

[jadeddjay]

m$ company store lol


HIS Hightech H365P512GNP Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported iSilenceIII Video Card - Retail
^^^fanless version

i dont think he cares about elaboration, tbh. he said "make me a computer." i said "what do you want, how much do you want to spend, what will you use it for" he said "stuff... whats a good price?" i said "1000-1500" so he said "ok, 1300, make sure i have a nice monitor"

oh and the 500gb hd has 32mb cache, thought it was worth mentioning

[wrestleSBA]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

How the hell are you getting Vista for $35? Also, might want to elaborate more on the type of graphics card. But other than that, a full systems with monitor, keyboard, etc. for $1300 is nice.

Seriously I need some of that action on the OS price. I am currently waiting on parts to build a new computer this weekend.

Picked up case, processor, MOBO, fans, hard drive, dual DVD Drives, 4GB of RAM, 650 W PSU, and a few other accessories for about $850 pre-rebates. The only thing I am debating about now is whether I want to pull the hard drives from my old computer and then try and clean the OS and apps a good bit or start with a clean and fresh install. If I could get that kind of pricing on a full version of windows I wouldn't have a problem wiping the system and going for the clean install. Otherwise I think I am going to avoid the hassle and just use the old hard drives and OS.

Oh I should mention I am reusing the old GPU as it is pretty recent and doing well but I will probably purchase a second in a few months and throw them in an SLI config since the price has been coming done recently. Heck I may have pick up 2 so I can run SLI on one monitor and still have my second monitor up and running.

But dang, that is a great price on the OS, it was the only thing that stood out to me lol.

[jadeddjay]

yeah lucky about the OS prices. i tend to get everything from newegg. they have a good selection and really good service. in general, with the time i woudl have to spend to hunt around, its just much easier and cheaper, usually, to just get it from one place at newegg. their stuff ships out same day from memphis usually, and i get them next day and tax free even though i only pay for ups ground.

parts i picked out arent the cheapest avail but they seem to be of good quality and well reviewed and proven through experience to work really well and to be free of problems. i dont mind paying a premium for that

[wrestleSBA]

Originally Posted by jadeddjay

yeah lucky about the OS prices. i tend to get everything from newegg. they have a good selection and really good service. in general, with the time i woudl have to spend to hunt around, its just much easier and cheaper, usually, to just get it from one place at newegg. their stuff ships out same day from memphis usually, and i get them next day and tax free even though i only pay for ups ground.

parts i picked out arent the cheapest avail but they seem to be of good quality and well reviewed and proven through experience to work really well and to be free of problems. i dont mind paying a premium for that

Yeah I either go NewEgg or TigerDirect typically. I am lucky on the MS Software as the fiancee works for the government and gets crazy deals like MS Office Enterprise for 19.99 and Visio Pro for 19.99. She just can't get the OS at that price.

I don't know why but I never noticed NewEgg shipping out of here (Memphis) but they are usually quick. Heck even TigerDirect usually gets me in 2-3 days on regular shipping so no complaints.

I need to find someone with the hookup there and I am good!

[jadeddjay]

sometimes zipzoomfly and mwave are nice. i hardly ever order anything from tiger. it seems like their products are a slight step down or something... but that may just be my prejudice

gotapex.com and techbargains.com and slickdeals.net are also good resources for ongoing deals

i also ordered a couple things from directron.com and they have treated me well, briefly

[imaznumkay]

get some highend memory...got myself a OCZ reaper OC'ed right now with the same motherboard you got.
and RAID FTW!!

[wrestleSBA]

Originally Posted by imaznumkay

get some highend memory...got myself a OCZ reaper OC'ed right now with the same motherboard you got.
and RAID FTW!!

The memory is taken care of. What raid set-up are you running.

[Neema]

I listed a few items earlier in regards to what would be in the desired computer that I would build. I did not mention a few things just because people may have their own opinion on things such as a case or brands... so let me recap what I truly had in mind and some specifics which would cost just about $2,000. Most of the components are referred to me by two of my friends who do more than just editing photo's, video's, and browsing the web...

$ 379 + tax - Motherboard - XFX 790 SLI Ultra

$ 259 - Tower - Thermaltake VG4000BNS

$ 359 + tax - CPU - Intel Q9450 Quad Core 2.66 GHz

$ 500 - GPU - XFX 9800 GX2 ( uses a minimum of 500W of power)

$ 299 - Power Supply - Thermaltake 1000W (SLI Ready)

$ 170 + tax - Memory - 4GB Patriot

$ 60 - Drives - Lite-On DVD/CD Writer (with lite-scribe)
Lite-On DVD ROM

$ 80 - HDD - 320 GB Western Digital Caviar

$ 18 - Media Reader - 75 in 1 Media Reader

$ 119 + tax - OS - Windows Vistas 64 Bit

I was planning on purchasing something very similar to this with maybe a less powerful power supply and GPU. Also, most of the products besides the core components will be purchased through tigerdirect.com due to the fact that their is no tax when purchasing from Florida. I figured that components such as the Motherboard, Memory, and CPU are better off bought from a place like FRY'S which offers a 15 day return policy in case something actually does go wrong with these core items during an install.

If anyone can configure something such as this computer for cheaper, without using shoty brands, feel free to let me know how I can accomplish this.

[jadeddjay]

look on newegg, prices are better

and why do you need 2 drives?

and why do you need an sli board? and why such a ridiculous gpu??

[jadeddjay]

this is what i woudl do: and its probably still more than you need

[AJerman]

Dude, 250GB is all you need? You said this is for 1080p video editing. Perhaps you're not aware how much space uncompressed 1080p video will take. Get 2x500 GB in RAID 1 at least.

It looks like you got a lot of info in this thread, so I'm not going to spec out anything specific, but if you want you can PM me with exactly what you plan to use it for and what kind of price you're looking for, and I can put something together that should suit your needs. I do that kind of stuff for a living.

Hell, if you aren't comfortable building something, I could even build it up for you, get the OS installed and updated with drivers and all that. Let me know if you need any help.