To build or have built for me, that is the question...

[Orafus]

Hi all

The last PC I built was in 2008 (I'm using it right now).
In those days I had lots of time and not much money.
Now (2 kids and a progressed career later) I have relatively more money and exponentially less time (you may recognise this in your own life (and if you don't yet, make the most of it whilst you can !!)).

So....

I'm in the market for a new PC and, in truth, I'm now somewhat behind the curve in terms of where the tech has gone which would require me to do a fair bit of research to get up to speed.

Would anyone (including those who work for OCUK if they read these) be willing to give a ballpark figure for the difference in cost for building a top-end system myself as opposed to having exactly the same system built for me?

This will then give me info on whether getting it built for me (which is my preferred option) is prohibitive in terms of overheads as I want to get the best system I can afford so that it lasts a fair while again (i.e. probably another 10 years or so).
I'm a gamer (have been since the 80s), and will definitely be looking to get into VR (but wont be buying a rig 'till 2020).

Any advice or info would be gratefully appreciated.

thanks

 

[Sparx]

I believe OcUK charge approx £100 to build PCs atm, but it depends how complicated the spec is. But I'd expect around 100 sheets, someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

You can have a custom PC spec'd up on OcUK, copy/paste the basket into the Pre-Sale board - they'll give you a quote to put it together.

The fundamentals of building a PC haven't changed in the last 11 years, it's still like putting lego together It's fun... But if you want pre-built, just custom design one with a budget in mind (or ask on the forum for ideas) and then chuck it in the Pre-Sales for a quote to build.

 

[Orafus]

Thanks for the info Sparx - £100 is well worth it for me at the mo'. It would take at least 10 hours of research just to get up to speed with the tech and then at least that again to build it (which works out at about £5 an hour which aint much). And I'm sure you're right about things not having changed much in the intervening years but I'm old and crusty and have less time to do this anyway.

And what's with all this RGB? Seriously? (I know I'm old 'cos it'll be a cold day in hell before that becomes part of any system I build )

 

[Sparx]

Haha, if you let us know a rough budget and what you need (case/components only, no peripherals? etc)... Others including myself would be happy to help spec you something suitable. Then just copy/paste it to pre-sales and ask OcUK how much to build it.

Any other requirements help too e.g. quiet case, no window, no rgb, micro or mid case etc Lol

Alternatively nothing wrong with buying one of OcUK's pre-builts, you just tend to get bit more for your money when you spec separately yourself.

 

[Orafus]

Will do. Wont actually be purchasing 'till October and given the speed that things change these days (god, even that sounds old) I reckon I'll hang off until then before making a choice. But I appreciate the offer of help and will almost certainly be accessing the forums to get me up to speed.
In the mean-time if you want to throw something at me in terms of a generic build I'd be looking for:

- Nice and quiet build with no bells or whistles (as unobtrusive and stealthy as possible actually)
- No watercooling 'cos I don't want the hassle if things go wrong.
- Future-proofed mobo (everything else changes around the mobo so I'll need one that's bang up to date with potential for future upgrades - I have absolutely no preference for Intel or AMD)
- I'll be partnering with all wireless peripherals (keyboard and mouse) - speakers will be Audiologic A2+ (unless you know of a better alternative) which I believe use a high-fidelity version of bluetooth - that'll need supporting)
- High speed Wireless capability (don't care if it's built in to the mobo or on a card)
- Fully specced for VR (apparently some mobos have a specific facility to handle VR kits these days? - As I mentioned above the VR kit wont be bought 'till 2020 - I use a lot of racing sims (Dirt Rally etc)
- It'll be partnered by an ultrawide monitor (is it right to say these are card specific these days?). Again, I'd like this to be futureproofed as far as possible in terms of HD 4K 8K or whatever else they're going to come up with next. Again, have no preference for manufacturer but would prefer not to go down the flashy RGB route.

I know this is going to cost a bundle but it's a once in a decade investment - budget is not really an issue but I don't want to be silly - bang for buck is still relevant (some of the graphic card prices are ludicrous!)

Thanks and have fun speccing!

Chris.