Hi, I'm planning to buy a new custum PC to replace my ancient rig. After much researching, I've selected 2 stores - Monarchcomputers and Mwave.com. From the reviews I've seen, it seems like a lot of customers are having problems with Monarchcomputers, some to the point of extreme. However, there're also those who've had positive experience, so I'm in need of your help to choose which store I should choose.
The reason why I'm opting for a custum built PC, is because though I've had my fair share of experience installing most of the hardware (the graphics/sound cards, HDDs, CD/DVD drives etc), embarrassingly enough, I have yet to assemble a CPU/cooling fan to the mobo and attaching the mobo to the case (then connecting the PS etc), as I'm told to be very careful while doing that (making me nervous) and I don't want to risk some bent pins or getting stuck somewhere. Since these 2 stores build the PC I was thinking about going that route.
One thing that I need to know, is whether these 2 stores are trustworthy when it comes to custum built PC? Do they swap parts with defective/refurbished parts to dupe the customer? Can they be trusted or do I have to disassemble everything and look to see if everything's the same (which negates the point of letting them build in the first place)?
The PC is going to be used for extensive gaming and 3d modeling/animation (Lightwave), image editing, and some video editing, all in addition to the typical net/office/school use. Since I'm a little tight, I'm looking for an ideal system with a fixed budget of $1300. I do not plan any overclocking right now, but I'll do it after about an year.
Here's the configuration that I've in mind -
- From Monarchcomputer.com
Build fee = $59. Shipping - $45.50.
There's also the AMD Combo gift of free HL2 coupon.
1. Processor - Atholon 64 3800+ Retail w/fan - $323.0
It seems to be ideal sweet spot regarding price/perfomance. One thing that I'm unsure of is, for an additional $27, I could choose an Athlon X2 3800+ dual core. I understand that dual cores perform greatly when multitasking, but I'm not a heavy multitasker (just the usual stuff, and except when I'm using Lightwave where I have to use Photoshop, the net and a media player all at once occasionally). I'm not sure if dual core is actually useful for me, or if choosing a dual core processor is necessary and if there's any perfomance issues.
I opted not to choose the thermal grease, since a search on the forum showed that it's only a one-time application, for which paying $14 is simply ridiculous.
2. Motherboard - MSI K8N Neo4 SLI - $126.
The reason why I chose this MOBO, is that the plantinum version has some features I won't be needing, like the nvidia hw firewall, SATA2 etc. This one is kinda future-proof with SLI, so that by the time it's necessary I could add another card (for a cheaper price by then hopefully). Also, a main reason is that it comes with soundblaster live! 24bit soundcard, to take some load off the processor compared to the other normal on board audio. It also has nvidia gigabit Lan, and though I'm not sure, I think it has another gigabit Lan built in as well. It also has some nifty utilities, including easy to use (so I heard) overclocking software.
3. Memory - 1GB OCZ DDR400 - $94.
I was looking for Crucial for their lifetime warrantly, but since there was no option, I chose the cheapest OCZ version, since I've heard a lot of good reviews about them and found out that they too have lifetime warrantly. Though I'm looking for great perfomance, I'm not a benchmark freak so I think the cheapest one will be fine.
4. HDD - Seagate SATA Caviar SE 160GB - $87.
This is the cheapest 160 GB SATA drive I could find, and I've been using seagate drives since my very first PC 9 years ago without any issues. Though I'm not entirely sure, I think the perfomance is the same for all companies for the same setup. I will not be using RAID, as I'll be adding my current 2 HDDs (IDE, 80 GB and 40 GB) to the system.
Also, would there be a problem adding 2 IDE HDDs to the system? Is there any conflict with the SATA HDD? I've heard that they should work just fine, and I could set my IDE HDDs to primary master and slave, with the DVD-RW and CD-RW as Secondary master and slave.
5. CD-RW - Liteon (Black) - $29.
Cheap and great perfomance from what I've read. I already have a Lite-on DVD-RW on my current system so I'll be adding it to this one.
6. Floppy Drive - Sony (Black) - $19.
Though kinda obsolete by now, it has its uses when it comes to boot disks and bios flashing.
7. Graphics card - EVGA Geforce 7800GT with Battlefield 2 - $395
I've done an extensive research in this area, before settling with nVidia and EVGA. The ATI equivilant for the same price-range doesn't come anywhere near the perfomance, and I'm not going for the GTX since I'm not in need of just a few more fps for a hundred bucks more. This card should help me play the latest games and the ones that'll come out in the near future with the settings maxed at 1600*1200 on my 19" Viewsonic monitor. Also, I'm going for the 7800 GT to future-proof myself, instead of going with a mid-card now, and upgrade to another midcard later idea. Since the MOBO has SLI, I'm hoping to add another card to it when the need arises, like hopefully after an year or two.
The reason why I selected EVGA - here I'm making no change at all.
1. Lifetime warranty. Even overclocking the card is covered under their lifetime warranty! I don't think it gets better than this anywhere.
2. From the day I register the card at their site, within 90 days I could choose to send them the card for a GTX card, where all I have to pay is the difference between the original price of the 2 cards.
3. Excellent customer support. Just take a look at their forums
And I've yet to see a dissatisfied customer, seems like even if you have problems they help you resolve it quickly.
4. With BF2, its' far cheaper than buying the game seperately, and this is the best price I've seen.
5. It also comes with DVI-VGA adapter for my monitor, has VIVO for my video capture needs, comes with HDTV adapter and the necessary cables to connect it to my TV when needed.
8. Case and Power supply - Antec Sonata II with 450W PS - $99
I was looking for a XION II XON-102 Case, which has a nice look, comes with a 450W PS, two 120mm fans and one 80mm LED fan built in. It seems to have nice reviews, and I don't think you can beat it for the price. It costs $70 at Mwave. Unfortunately, it's not available at Monarch, so I have to choose another here. I'm looking for a case that comes with a 450W PS built in, to avoid spending more $$ on that. I'm assuming that a 450W PS would be plenty for me as long as I don't add another card for SLI. The best I could find without going over $100, is Antec Sonata II (black), and it also seems to have nice reviews. I'd miss the XION fans though.
9. 18" Round IDE cable (2-device) - $5.90
Since my current DVD-RW would take the IDE cable included with the MOBO, this should cover the 2 HDDs I'd add to it.
I'm not choosing an OS since I'll install XP home on it, unless it comes with it pre-installed. I'll also be buying a black/siler USB keyboard from Newegg for a cheap price.
Total = $1255.40 (including shipping and building fee). It comes with a 6 month parts and labour warranty.
None of the components are OEM so I expect to see the bundled software/cables/manuals etc.
Should I buy it from them? All these items are shown as in-stock, so I don't want to be waiting forever only to be notified that they're out of stock or still being processed. Since it's FEDEX ground shipping and I have a backup PC for the basic needs until it arrives, I could wait upto 2 weeks, give or take a couple of days. I'm hoping to get the new PC before September, when I'll have to start doing a lot of work.
Do they dupe the customers? Do they go after the dirty "make the customer wait forever to avoid RMA" route in case of faulty products? Although this shouldn't happen, since I'm paying them for building and testing the system. Iif they really try to dupe, I'll not think twice about going to BBB and taking legal action unless it's resolved. I don't want any of this or to negative rep them, so I'm hoping they won't do such things.
Now this is my configuration from Mwave.com
Build fee = $79.99, shipping fee (ground) = 34.22
AMD bundle (Motherboard, CPU, RAM) with free HL2 promotion.
1. Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (retail) = $317.5
2. Motherboard - MSI K8N Neo4 SLI = $115.50
3. Memory - Crucial 1 GB (512MB*2) DDR400 = $93
All 3 = $316
4. HDD - Western Digital 160GB JS (bare) - $79.90
(since SATA cable comes with MOBO I don't need to buy an extra cable).
5. CD-RW - ASUS black CD-RW (Retail) - $29
(Retail for the included Nero).
6. Floppy Drive - Mitsumy black (bare) - $7.90
7. Graphics card - EVGA Geforce 7800GT with Battlefield 2 - $409
8. Case and Power supply - XION II XON-101 (BLACK) midtower (with the 3 fans) with 450W PS - $69.99
9. 18" Round IDE cable (2-device) - $4
Total = $1240.0
Except for the HDD and Floppy, the parts are not OEM so should come with the budled software/cables/manuals etc.
How about Mwave? Do they try to dupe us? Is RMA handled efficiently or do they drag it on? Since I'm paying them for build and testing (extensive testing as they say), the product should arrive without any problems.
The price is pretty much the same for both stores (the main difference being the case), so it comes down to which store I pick. Which store is more reliable? I've heard a few horror stories about Monarch, but a few bad reviews about Mwave as well. There're also many positive reviews for both. Which one is more reliable?
Thanks
The reason why I'm opting for a custum built PC, is because though I've had my fair share of experience installing most of the hardware (the graphics/sound cards, HDDs, CD/DVD drives etc), embarrassingly enough, I have yet to assemble a CPU/cooling fan to the mobo and attaching the mobo to the case (then connecting the PS etc), as I'm told to be very careful while doing that (making me nervous) and I don't want to risk some bent pins or getting stuck somewhere. Since these 2 stores build the PC I was thinking about going that route.
One thing that I need to know, is whether these 2 stores are trustworthy when it comes to custum built PC? Do they swap parts with defective/refurbished parts to dupe the customer? Can they be trusted or do I have to disassemble everything and look to see if everything's the same (which negates the point of letting them build in the first place)?
The PC is going to be used for extensive gaming and 3d modeling/animation (Lightwave), image editing, and some video editing, all in addition to the typical net/office/school use. Since I'm a little tight, I'm looking for an ideal system with a fixed budget of $1300. I do not plan any overclocking right now, but I'll do it after about an year.
Here's the configuration that I've in mind -
- From Monarchcomputer.com
Build fee = $59. Shipping - $45.50.
There's also the AMD Combo gift of free HL2 coupon.
1. Processor - Atholon 64 3800+ Retail w/fan - $323.0
It seems to be ideal sweet spot regarding price/perfomance. One thing that I'm unsure of is, for an additional $27, I could choose an Athlon X2 3800+ dual core. I understand that dual cores perform greatly when multitasking, but I'm not a heavy multitasker (just the usual stuff, and except when I'm using Lightwave where I have to use Photoshop, the net and a media player all at once occasionally). I'm not sure if dual core is actually useful for me, or if choosing a dual core processor is necessary and if there's any perfomance issues.
I opted not to choose the thermal grease, since a search on the forum showed that it's only a one-time application, for which paying $14 is simply ridiculous.
2. Motherboard - MSI K8N Neo4 SLI - $126.
The reason why I chose this MOBO, is that the plantinum version has some features I won't be needing, like the nvidia hw firewall, SATA2 etc. This one is kinda future-proof with SLI, so that by the time it's necessary I could add another card (for a cheaper price by then hopefully). Also, a main reason is that it comes with soundblaster live! 24bit soundcard, to take some load off the processor compared to the other normal on board audio. It also has nvidia gigabit Lan, and though I'm not sure, I think it has another gigabit Lan built in as well. It also has some nifty utilities, including easy to use (so I heard) overclocking software.
3. Memory - 1GB OCZ DDR400 - $94.
I was looking for Crucial for their lifetime warrantly, but since there was no option, I chose the cheapest OCZ version, since I've heard a lot of good reviews about them and found out that they too have lifetime warrantly. Though I'm looking for great perfomance, I'm not a benchmark freak so I think the cheapest one will be fine.
4. HDD - Seagate SATA Caviar SE 160GB - $87.
This is the cheapest 160 GB SATA drive I could find, and I've been using seagate drives since my very first PC 9 years ago without any issues. Though I'm not entirely sure, I think the perfomance is the same for all companies for the same setup. I will not be using RAID, as I'll be adding my current 2 HDDs (IDE, 80 GB and 40 GB) to the system.
Also, would there be a problem adding 2 IDE HDDs to the system? Is there any conflict with the SATA HDD? I've heard that they should work just fine, and I could set my IDE HDDs to primary master and slave, with the DVD-RW and CD-RW as Secondary master and slave.
5. CD-RW - Liteon (Black) - $29.
Cheap and great perfomance from what I've read. I already have a Lite-on DVD-RW on my current system so I'll be adding it to this one.
6. Floppy Drive - Sony (Black) - $19.
Though kinda obsolete by now, it has its uses when it comes to boot disks and bios flashing.
7. Graphics card - EVGA Geforce 7800GT with Battlefield 2 - $395
I've done an extensive research in this area, before settling with nVidia and EVGA. The ATI equivilant for the same price-range doesn't come anywhere near the perfomance, and I'm not going for the GTX since I'm not in need of just a few more fps for a hundred bucks more. This card should help me play the latest games and the ones that'll come out in the near future with the settings maxed at 1600*1200 on my 19" Viewsonic monitor. Also, I'm going for the 7800 GT to future-proof myself, instead of going with a mid-card now, and upgrade to another midcard later idea. Since the MOBO has SLI, I'm hoping to add another card to it when the need arises, like hopefully after an year or two.
The reason why I selected EVGA - here I'm making no change at all.
1. Lifetime warranty. Even overclocking the card is covered under their lifetime warranty! I don't think it gets better than this anywhere.
2. From the day I register the card at their site, within 90 days I could choose to send them the card for a GTX card, where all I have to pay is the difference between the original price of the 2 cards.
3. Excellent customer support. Just take a look at their forums
And I've yet to see a dissatisfied customer, seems like even if you have problems they help you resolve it quickly.4. With BF2, its' far cheaper than buying the game seperately, and this is the best price I've seen.
5. It also comes with DVI-VGA adapter for my monitor, has VIVO for my video capture needs, comes with HDTV adapter and the necessary cables to connect it to my TV when needed.
8. Case and Power supply - Antec Sonata II with 450W PS - $99
I was looking for a XION II XON-102 Case, which has a nice look, comes with a 450W PS, two 120mm fans and one 80mm LED fan built in. It seems to have nice reviews, and I don't think you can beat it for the price. It costs $70 at Mwave. Unfortunately, it's not available at Monarch, so I have to choose another here. I'm looking for a case that comes with a 450W PS built in, to avoid spending more $$ on that. I'm assuming that a 450W PS would be plenty for me as long as I don't add another card for SLI. The best I could find without going over $100, is Antec Sonata II (black), and it also seems to have nice reviews. I'd miss the XION fans though.
9. 18" Round IDE cable (2-device) - $5.90
Since my current DVD-RW would take the IDE cable included with the MOBO, this should cover the 2 HDDs I'd add to it.
I'm not choosing an OS since I'll install XP home on it, unless it comes with it pre-installed. I'll also be buying a black/siler USB keyboard from Newegg for a cheap price.
Total = $1255.40 (including shipping and building fee). It comes with a 6 month parts and labour warranty.
None of the components are OEM so I expect to see the bundled software/cables/manuals etc.
Should I buy it from them? All these items are shown as in-stock, so I don't want to be waiting forever only to be notified that they're out of stock or still being processed. Since it's FEDEX ground shipping and I have a backup PC for the basic needs until it arrives, I could wait upto 2 weeks, give or take a couple of days. I'm hoping to get the new PC before September, when I'll have to start doing a lot of work.
Do they dupe the customers? Do they go after the dirty "make the customer wait forever to avoid RMA" route in case of faulty products? Although this shouldn't happen, since I'm paying them for building and testing the system. Iif they really try to dupe, I'll not think twice about going to BBB and taking legal action unless it's resolved. I don't want any of this or to negative rep them, so I'm hoping they won't do such things.
Now this is my configuration from Mwave.com
Build fee = $79.99, shipping fee (ground) = 34.22
AMD bundle (Motherboard, CPU, RAM) with free HL2 promotion.
1. Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (retail) = $317.5
2. Motherboard - MSI K8N Neo4 SLI = $115.50
3. Memory - Crucial 1 GB (512MB*2) DDR400 = $93
All 3 = $316
4. HDD - Western Digital 160GB JS (bare) - $79.90
(since SATA cable comes with MOBO I don't need to buy an extra cable).
5. CD-RW - ASUS black CD-RW (Retail) - $29
(Retail for the included Nero).
6. Floppy Drive - Mitsumy black (bare) - $7.90
7. Graphics card - EVGA Geforce 7800GT with Battlefield 2 - $409
8. Case and Power supply - XION II XON-101 (BLACK) midtower (with the 3 fans) with 450W PS - $69.99
9. 18" Round IDE cable (2-device) - $4
Total = $1240.0
Except for the HDD and Floppy, the parts are not OEM so should come with the budled software/cables/manuals etc.
How about Mwave? Do they try to dupe us? Is RMA handled efficiently or do they drag it on? Since I'm paying them for build and testing (extensive testing as they say), the product should arrive without any problems.
The price is pretty much the same for both stores (the main difference being the case), so it comes down to which store I pick. Which store is more reliable? I've heard a few horror stories about Monarch, but a few bad reviews about Mwave as well. There're also many positive reviews for both. Which one is more reliable?
Thanks
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