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General discussion

Where to buy???!!!?!?!?!?!

Jul 11, 2006 10:53PM PDT

Hey all,

Ok I've been looking around for a while at Dell, Alienware and you know all those major brands for a Gaming desktop. Well it was no surprise but trying to configure a high end system at those sites was very exspensive, so I started looking for alternatives. I stumbled upon a site called iBuypower and now im wondering about the reliability of these sites? I was amazed how I could get SO MUCH MORE for the same amount of money. For me right now its a question of reliabilty, can these computers contend with alienware or dell? Do they have the same things such as software and cooling systems. Like alienware has liquid cooling but iBuypower does to, is it the same?

Please help I'm really not sure where to buy. If anyone has a site they can recommend and have bought from and can confirm that they sell top notch systems please do post the site.

Thanks for the help!

P.S. What I'm really looking for is people who have bought from iBuypower and is willing to share their experience. =)

Discussion is locked

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People do buy such.
Jul 11, 2006 11:20PM PDT

Alienware however is known for lacking support, no spare parts and more. I take this as what happens when you grow too fast. No sale here.

Look to epinions.com and cnet.com for reviews and owner ratings for your supplier of choice.

Bob

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Hmmm
Jul 11, 2006 11:44PM PDT

Ok well I think I've settled with iBuypower because they are very cheap and they look very good lol. Their credibality seems pretty good to. I did hoever find one disgruntled post from someone who got screwed by them but that doesnt really bother me =/ it doesnt seem like they do it to everyone. Right now for me Im having a fight on whether to go SLI or to stay with a single card. If I go single Im probably going for the Nvidia GX2 one. Its basically SLI in one PCI slot so I donno does anyone have an opinion on whether to go SLI or not?

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O ya
Jul 11, 2006 11:48PM PDT

And another thing. Which to choose Intel or AMD? Ive always been a intel fanboy myself but I think AMD is better now? Can anyone confirm the superiority of AMD? =D

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Well, depending on a few things...
Jul 12, 2006 5:15AM PDT

There will be those that love Intel and those that love AMD as well as in which configuration do you want to test things. I think at the moment AMD's stuff is a little better in some areas. However, Intel has their Core 2 Duos coming out soon that may change things around given the touted benchmarks but they are potentially suspect since there were so many things restricted in the tests done on the Core 2 Duos I think.

IIRC, there was an article that said if you needed a PC now to get an AMD AM2 socket one but if you could wait there may be better stuff available soon.

Regards,
JB

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Intel vs. AMD
Jul 12, 2006 6:27AM PDT

AMD CPUs are faster than Intel CPUs, and they use less power and produce less heat.

However, Intel is about to release their new CPU, the Core 2 Duo, which performs better, and uses less power than AMD CPUs. From what I know, it will be released on July 14 (two days!), so I'd wait for that.

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Alternatives
Jul 12, 2006 11:09PM PDT

There are many other companys like Ibuypower that serve up custom desktops for great money here are a few of them.

ABS
Velocity Micro
Monarch
puget

ABS and velocity micro will give u a decent selection and are more about the high end gaming croud. I havn't heard much about ABS but Velocity has gotten some rave reviews from such magazines as maximum pc and others. Of coarse both companys offer watter cooling set ups. Monarch and Puget are the companys for ULTIMATE custimization. they have for example like 20 graphics cards to chose from in tons of configs. 30 PSU's and so on. The only way u can buy from monarch or puget is if u know EXACLY wat parts u want. Out of the four the best 2 would be Velocity and Monarch. Ibuypower isn't really know for dishing out gaming rigs but they sure look like they trying to

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Awesome
Jul 13, 2006 11:27AM PDT

Thanks for the help, ive taken a look at your ecommendations and the choices look awesome but now comes up another problem. Im trying to get a high end system with a budget of $3000. I was looking at ibuypower because it was allowing me to do just that. However when I try to configure the same thing on iBuypower to say monarch i break the limit before I even get to finish half the list of choices =/. Im also looking into building my own rig but I'm afraid I might screw up with the components and run into compatibility issues. But mainly right now Im just trying to get a top of the line system with 3k. Thanks.