Tech - Intel or AMD? Pre-Built VS Custom? (1 Viewer)

[Rusang]

I'm looking to build/buy a new gaming PC.


My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to remember many moons ago EverQuest had an issue with AMD Processors so I always stuck with Intel when buying. Of course by now, it has been fixed I'm sure.

I have CompTIA A+, Net+, Sec+, and Cloud+, so please don't mistake me for a noob when it comes to technology. However, my question revolves around prices and time expenditures.

What is your opinion on Pre-Built VS custom? I have not built anything in years; how's the Pre-Built VS custom prices? Is it still within $200 difference as it was years ago, or are the markets making it more costly to Pre-Built? What's your Pre-Built manufacturer recommendation?

I'm not looking for technical (buy this Video Card) more so what's the market like these days?

I have mostly Razer accessories so I'd probably get a case I can connect with their software to keep the lights in sync. Beyond that I'm whatever... I'm too old to keep up

 

[ImGreg]

I prefer AMD and over the years have had zero issues with them in EQ. I also prefer custom build over a prebuilt.
Right now i'm sadly running a pre-built Intel box. I bought it in shitty covid times and paid WAY more than its worth but I needed an updated video card at the time and the cards were almost as much as a prebuilt and impossible to get. I'm going to be building a new box in roughly feb and i'll be going AMD I just haven't stared designing yet but will this month or early next month. Good luck!

 

[Rusang]

I figured they solved those issues. I know of the recent Intel issues briefly, and how AMD is getting better but never learned their naming scheme.

I don't work in IT but along side them. I talk mostly about server infrastructure to them, rather than Gaming PC setups. I want a new desktop PC, just torn which way to go.

 

[ImGreg]

What are your goals? Are you boxing raids or what?

 

[Rusang]

What are your goals? Are you boxing raids or what?

Always someone smarter than me! I should have explained!

Mid to high (not ultra) graphics on most games. Is crysis still the benchmark?

EQ box 6 live, preferably 12-24 on emu.

 

[dewey2461]

I prefer custom.

I have a guild member who 6x boxes on a form factor "mini PC' and can 6x on it for ~ $300-400.

If you plan to do 24 I'd get something beefy.

I have an intel i7-6700k w/ nvidia 1070 and it can box ~12-15 depending on what I'm doing.

I have an AMD 3950x with nvidia 2070 and it an box 30+ with no issues.

It all depends on what level of performance you want and how much $$$ you are wanting to drop on the machine.

You really can't beat the low end pre-packaged deals. Anything under $600-800 is really thin margin. Once you hit $1000+ you can start to save a cash but ....

Don't undervalue your time. It takes me ~3-4hr+ to assemble and test a new computer from scratch. There is value for just getting the machine and turning it on.

 

[Algar]

Ultimately not something someone else can answer but I'll try to throw in.
Not much has changed. Mostly just time vs money.

Do you pay the premium or have to take the time to shop around for individual parts?
Do you click a drop-down to give yourself however much RAM or larger SSD you wanted and see nonsensical price increases?
Could you absolutely not care less about PCs with glass cases that shoot laser beams while everyone seems to be trying to shove one down your throat?

I am not a fan of buying, I want a little more control and enjoy the homework to figure it out. I also don't buy top-of-the-line machines, and enjoy shopping for sales and deals, so that may be part of it.

If I absolutely had to buy something pre-built today it would likely be from Lenovo, as I am a fan of their laptops, and I frequently see their PCs on places like slickdeals where (when on sale) the prebuilt premiums seem to be somewhat under control (and even a decent value in some cases).

However, it is so dang easy to spec out a computer (using online articles/databases/etc), order near everything from amazon, etc, it is mainly just a matter of whether you CBA to spend 2 hours to build it and an extra 30 minutes to install an OS (remember hours of installs and floppies for drivers? lol). The time you spend shopping around and configuring prebuilt vs custom is likely to be commensurate.

 

[Silverback]

I prefer AMD these days, and after many custom builds over the years I now buy pre-built. I just don’t have the patience for component builds anymore, especially the cable management. Maybe it’s old age setting in but I’d rather pay someone else to do it.

 

[Doc James]

AMD is my preferred processor. Never had an issue.

Custom all the way. Don't be a weenie.

 

[Diamondmine]

Build a computer. Go to Microcenter and find one of the super nerds and they can build you a computer with better parts for the same price as a prebuilt.

They built a 4080 i9 14k with 128 gigs of ram for 2900.

 

[juice999]

PC Part Picker has been an absolute asset to me when building PCs. As you go through each piece of hardware it will filter them to only show compatible parts. And it shops for the best prices for each part as well.

It's pretty sick.

 

[Redfrog]

Build a computer. Go to Microcenter and find one of the super nerds and they can build you a computer with better parts for the same price as a prebuilt.

They built a 4080 i9 14k with 128 gigs of ram for 2900.

Youre killing me Smalls...I had to actually type in MANUALLY the whole entire freaking word microcenter.com myself as I have never heard of them, just to go see some amazing thing because you did not link it for my lazy butt dragging neanderthal bonehead-ed-ness. Just to type all this nonsense I made 10 spelling errors along the way and now about to have a heart attack from so much backspacin.......................

 

[dewey2461]

Prebuilt from microcenter:

PowerSpec G717 Gaming PC Platinum Collection; AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12GB - Micro Center

Get it now! The PowerSpec G717 delivers the performance of a top-tier gaming PC in an astonishingly compact package. This monster prebuilt gaming PC brings you big-league components like an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, all in a space-saving ATX case...

www.microcenter.com

$1800 for a AMD 7800X3D ( 8x core - 16 threads - large cache ) with Nvidia 4070 super + 32 GB of ram

To me that is kind of the upper end "sweet spot" for components right now. If I were building it myself I'd bump the ram from 32 GB to 64 GB but other than that ... very solid.

Its complete overkill for just 6x boxing on live. Should run 24x no problem. If you want to expand past 30x you may run into memory issues unless you go 64 GB.

FYI - "Powerspec" is microcenters in house brand. I've recommended them to others who wanted to a solid machine with no hassle or bloatware.

( Anyone else love window shopping PC's ? )

 

[L8erGator]

The pre-built space these days has gotten so competitive that the margin of difference for a pre versus custom build is fairly small. If you can nab a pre-built on a deal (Black Friday coming up), you may end up saving overall, not even including the time to build it if you go the custom route. One headache it also avoids is getting DOA parts or finicky problems. I had a 13900k I ordered from Amazon as an example, in the box when I received it was some random 50$ Celeron processor. I imagine this was a scam return, luckily they believed me on it and sent me a replacement.

I still think custom is better because I enjoy building them. But I've built a few in the past two years and seen almost identical pre-builts and said "man I would've only had to spend 50$ extra" or "that is cheaper than what I paid."

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

So many good responses in this thread! I like to build my own on paper. This gives me the current value proposition on all the individual components. Then you can use that knowledge to pick out the better pre-built deals from places like Microcenter, Costco, and Slickdeals. Then I usually just add some RAM and maybe a better NVMe drive to juice it up. (Only change one component at a time so you don't trigger Microsoft Windows re-activation!)

 

[dewey2461]

Just for grins I went to the "build your own" and came up with this as a base line for the machine I put together in 2020 for $2400

Take this with a grain of salt because I didn't do any real research. Just picked items/brands I've used in the past with out doing the normal research.


Configure Your PC: https://www.microcenter.com/site/co...spx?load=6b38ff1f-0c82-4d23-8769-8c10f7affe44

CPU: (1) AMD Ryzen 9 7950X Raphael AM5 4.5GHz 16-Core Boxed Processor - Heatsink Not Included ($499.99 EACH)
Motherboard: (1) MSI B650 MAG Tomahawk WiFi AMD AM5 ATX Motherboard ($199.99 EACH)
RAM: (1) G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL30 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit F5-6000J3040G32GX2-TZ5NR - Black ($209.99 EACH)
Video Card: (1) ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super Dual EVO Overclocked Dual Fan 12GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card ($609.99 EACH)
M.2 / NVMe SSD: (1) Samsung 990 PRO 1TB Samsung V NAND 3-bit MLC PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe M.2 Internal SSD ($109.99 EACH)
Case: (1) Fractal Design Pop XL Air RGB Tempered Glass ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case - Black ($114.99 EACH)
Power Supply: (1) MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 Watt 80 Plus Gold ATX Fully Modular Power Supply - ATX 3.0 Compatible ($89.99 EACH)
Heatsink: (1) Noctua NH-D15S Chromax Black CPU Cooler ($119.99 EACH)
Thermal Compound: (1) Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Thermal Grease ($11.99 EACH)
Operating System: (1) Microsoft Windows 11 Home 64-Bit FPP USB - English ($139.99 EACH)
Total: $2,106.90
Generated by Micro Center https://www.microcenter.com (10/18/2024 9:47:40 AM)


ps. I hate water cooling. I find they are louder and more annoying that a good high quality fan. There are some better air coolers from a price / performance ratio than the D-15 but I don't remember what they were so added that. Same with the SSD.

 

[Peppe]

I prefer custom.

I have a guild member who 6x boxes on a form factor "mini PC' and can 6x on it for ~ $300-400.

If you plan to do 24 I'd get something beefy.

I have an intel i7-6700k w/ nvidia 1070 and it can box ~12-15 depending on what I'm doing.

I have an AMD 3950x with nvidia 2070 and it an box 30+ with no issues.

It all depends on what level of performance you want and how much $$$ you are wanting to drop on the machine.

You really can't beat the low end pre-packaged deals. Anything under $600-800 is really thin margin. Once you hit $1000+ you can start to save a cash but ....

Don't undervalue your time. It takes me ~3-4hr+ to assemble and test a new computer from scratch. There is value for just getting the machine and turning it on.

Are you using ''1999'' style or ''modern'' style in EQ?

Build a computer. Go to Microcenter and find one of the super nerds and they can build you a computer with better parts for the same price as a prebuilt.

They built a 4080 i9 14k with 128 gigs of ram for 2900.

I would Avoid Intel atm, they got problems with the 13th and 14th gen cpu's. EQ is Cpu demanding game.

 

[dewey2461]

Are you using ''1999'' style or ''modern'' style in EQ?

No clue. He's not very computer savvy so I suspect is mostly 'out of the box' with only minor tweaks like making sure MQ frame limiter is setup correctly ( I helped him with that )

 

[Rusang]

The pre-built space these days has gotten so competitive that the margin of difference for a pre versus custom build is fairly small. If you can nab a pre-built on a deal (Black Friday coming up), you may end up saving overall, not even including the time to build it if you go the custom route. One headache it also avoids is getting DOA parts or finicky problems. I had a 13900k I ordered from Amazon as an example, in the box when I received it was some random 50$ Celeron processor. I imagine this was a scam return, luckily they believed me on it and sent me a replacement.

I still think custom is better because I enjoy building them. But I've built a few in the past two years and seen almost identical pre-builts and said "man I would've only had to spend 50$ extra" or "that is cheaper than what I paid."

Very good feedback in this thread.

I am playing around on PC Part Picker now. I did not think of Black Friday coming up.

On one hand, I just wanna buy-and-play. on the other, the tech part of me wants to build it.

 

[shiftup]

These days prebuilt comps are roughly in the same price range as DIY. The benefits of DIY are:

A)finding deals and B) choosing your parts.

5 or 10 years ago prebuilt PCs were generally more expensive as basically a tax on people not able/willing to DIY. These days the market is a lot more competitive. Times change.

As far as EQ needing resources, these days most smart fridges have enough processing power to run EQ. The game was made to run on computers almost 30 years old.

You can’t go wrong with intel vs amd. Intel had some issues lately but as long as you don’t buy it somewhere shady the issues have all been fixed and it’s not something to concern yourself with. AMD is the stronger company atm but you’re buying a CPU not stock.

 

[Rusang]

So, let me introduce an alternate question... If you decided, "F it, let's just go Pre-Built..."

Who is the company to go with nowadays?

 

[Thalann]

So, let me introduce an alternate question... If you decided, "F it, let's just go Pre-Built..."

Who is the company to go with nowadays?

Thats always gonna be a whats your budget situation. You can get 90% of the same computer but that 10% difference can mean a $200 to $300 price swing. I just saw a Cyberpower PC at walmart yesterday with a Ryzen 5 7600 and a amd 7600 with 16GB of memory and 1 TB HD for $799. That is getting pretty close to the sum of the parts and none of it is proprietary like a Dell.

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

So, let me introduce an alternate question... If you decided, "F it, let's just go Pre-Built..."

Who is the company to go with nowadays?

My first stop would be Costco and look for a close out deal on an IbuyPower rig. I've also had good luck with simple Acer productivity (non-gaming) mini towers. I avoid HP and Dell desktops but their laptops are fine. I've also had good luck with Beelink super small form factor devices that mount on the back of your monitor.

For example today you can buy this for $999 https://www.bee-link.com/collections/mini-pc/products/beelink-ser9-ai-9-hx-370

 

[durango773]

Black-friday, Cyber-monday, for parts or pre-build gor about a month to plan~ I like AMD, but built 2 Intel systems for my friend and his wife 2 years ago, theyve been great for eq, so not a huge issue imo.