Tiger Direct's "Barebones" Machines

[CmdrSlack]

So the wife and I have finally accepted that our current PC (not-even-state-of-the-art-when-new-circa-SWG-launch) has given up the ghost. Last time it was on, we got a bad ozone smell. I may need to clean out the guts, but odds are that it has decided to just snuff it.

This puts me in a good position because I have wanted a new gaming rig for a while.

While I can most likely assemble my own PC, Tiger Direct has these barebones kits, and they seem pretty cheap-yet-decent.

I don't need bleeding edge, I just need reasonable for most PC gaming and with the ability to upgrade for several years. The PC before the current PC was purchased in 1998, if that's any indication for my tolerance of old tech.

So, has anyone had any experience with these barebones kits? They seem like an inexpensive way to upgrade from my currently ancient rig. I could build a PC, but I am wicked lazy and would rather they pick the parts, even if I have to put them together.

So yeah, anyone?

[taolurker]

If you're going cheap, just shop according to price on Pricewatch... I'd say any or all the sellers there are just as good and can possibly save you some $$ or get more bang for the buck.

http://www.pricewatch.com/barebones_computers/

Tigerdirect is no better or worse than any cheap computer parts seller on the internet IMO.

Can't say about their bare-bones from personal experience, and only ever ordered RAM from them one time when a cheap price surfaced there.

BTW welcome to the age of dual processors... 

[rattran]

Tiger Direct was always the king of bad rebates and Bait&Switch. And astroturfing Reseller Ratings. I'm not willing to order from them when there are places that haven't been shady fucks in the past.
Maybe they've cleaned up their act, I mean they bought the CompUSA website  <edit> even better, circuitcity.com too!
 
And rather than using pricewatch, ask people about their personal experiences with places. Newegg has always worked well for me, the few times I had an issue with a part they got me a new one fast. If you're not going to build your own, consider a Dell.

[Cadaverine]

I'm gonna put my vote in for newegg, personally.  I've never had any issues with them, or with things I've bought from them.  Haven't bothered to try anyone else, to be honest.  They may, or may not, have the best prices around, but I'll take reliability over $tenbux off any day.

[Trippy]

For parts, Newegg.com is definitely the place to buy. For prebuilts, Mwave.com used to be decent but it doesn't look like they are as good as they once were.

[Cadaverine]

If you know what you're doing, just grabbing some new parts might even be cheaper than a prebuilt, as you can recycle the case, power supply, dvd, or cdrom, and maybe even the hdd, depending on how full the current one is.

[Strazos]

I tried using a barebones for a buddy's cheap rig once....the case was shit, and the mobo was DOA.

Just build from scratch, or Dell.

[taolurker]

If you know what you're doing, just grabbing some new parts might even be cheaper than a prebuilt, as you can recycle the case, power supply, dvd, or cdrom, and maybe even the hdd, depending on how full the current one is.

THIS

I actually have done this successfully with every machine of mine, and in nearly every situation the upgraded part was one purchased through random_cheap_retailer01 from Pricewatch.

I can actually say that I have bought parts from NewEgg, but in each case it was for a special price they advertised, and truthfully I saw no difference from the generic companies on Pricewatch (and in one case I saved almost $40 on the same mobo).

I've never had a single bad part, horrible experience, or delay receiving parts from any internet retailer.

[CmdrSlack]

Wow, ok.

I was only even thinking about Tiger Direct because they have a store up the road from my house. I figured I'd just go get the shit in person and be able to return parts (it's like a 10 min drive from home) if needed.

Perhaps I should check out Dell too. I was hoping to have a "do it all in an afternoon" machine as opposed to a "wait for it to arrive" machine.

Damn old computer should still work, IMO. I paid some good dough for it in 2003...

[HaemishM]

The biggest problem with Pricewatch dealers is the one I ran into. You get a decent machine for a good price... unless something goes wrong. Even if it's within warranty, the shitbag dealer I bought one from wouldn't honor the goddamn warranty. It was less expensive in time and money to just eat the shitty broke ass computer than try to go through the state's attorney general to get this cockstick to honor the warranty. But if you have a store down the street, you don't have to worry about that. Dickheads are much less happy to dick over customers who can reach across the counter to throttle them.

[CmdrSlack]

I guess my reality is that Tiger's outlet store is my best bet.

Time to go pre-shop and price out some crap. Then, we begin the saving. Given that she just got a ginormous raise, this should be fast. (Given the website prices, we could walk out with all the parts and a new monitor ((we've had ours for eleven years!)) for about 400 bucks.)

For most gaming purposes, can I coast on a 256 meg vid card or should I just go 512?

The last time I built a machine was 1999. It's still basically, "Plug the parts into their slots, don't be static-man, boot that sucker, install OS, etc.," right?

We need to upgrade, it's about damn time, and I'm trying to deal wth the fact that my game time is limited to where MMOs aren't cost effective for me, and the games that may interest myself or my wife don't need teh shiny to make them go.

[schild]

I don't understand the point of getting an OK computer for $400-$600 versus getting a fantastic computer for $800-$1,000. Stuff is pretty cheap these days.

[CmdrSlack]

Honestly man, it's literally based on a very realistic picture of what I intend to do with the machine. I'm more likely to go back to CoX or LoTRO than to try WoW or one of the other current MMOs. The time investment is just too much for me at this point in time.

Sure, I could *get* an amazing machine if we saved for a couple of months. We simply don't need an amazing machine. If I wanted some totally killer machine that did all of the shiny, creative things that I'd love to do with a computer, I'd get a Mac. If I wanted retardedly bleeding edge PC stuff, I'd likely get an Alienware. That's an expense that I'd never incur even if money was no option.

Quite honestly, my biggest thrill will be upgrading from a 15" CRT monitor purchased in 1998 to any other flat screen monitor in the world.

[squirrel]

Honestly man, it's literally based on a very realistic picture of what I intend to do with the machine. I'm more likely to go back to CoX or LoTRO than to try WoW or one of the other current MMOs.

I understand your reasoning, but not your examples. WoW runs on my toaster. LoTRO requires a decent machine, or at least greatly benefits from one. If you're really going to play a lot of LoTRO and its ilk the extra money is worth it.

[Engels]

Slack, I think what Schild is saying is that you don't need to get an Alienware to get a killer machine. Prices are so competitive these days that for 800 bucks, you can get an Alienware level machine without the Alienware pricing.

That said, if you have a Tiger direct outlet, where you can actually -see- the barebones they'll give you before buying it, go out, write down what it has, come back, post on the boards with the specs.

[schild]

Look, I'm broke, and if I had to save a couple of months to upgrade from a mediocre machine @ $600 to an awesome machine @ $800, I can't really say I'd be able to budget a computer. That's when I start thinking about using the public library. Thankfully, I don't need a computer right now. But if you're looking to get one, which you are, spend the extra couple hundred if you're the type of person that keeps a computer for a long time.

Also, what barebone kit are you looking at, the ones at Tiger Direct range from Crap to Decent but they're in the exactly same price range I'm mentioning.

Also, I'd never say get an alienware. And I always build computers on a budget. When I got my Q9450, it wasn't because I could afford bleeding edge, it was because my E6600 died on me and the warranty got it replaced at the dollar value. This is the most up to date computer I've owned my entire life. Remember, my last computer was quite literally held together by duct tape and cardboard.



That's a power supply sitting on cardboard behind a 1st gen Shuttle box with no case on it with the wires taped through the back of the frame because I couldn't afford a new Shuttle Power Supply. Trust me, I understand building a computer on a budget but I also understand that shit is shit, it's not worth the headache to hit the low end of the spectrum and most of all - you get what you pay for.

[gryeyes]

This puts me in a good position because I have wanted a new gaming rig for a while.

While I can most likely assemble my own PC, Tiger Direct has these barebones kits, and they seem pretty cheap-yet-decent.

If you have the inclination and ability just buy the parts individually you will get a way better deal. And if you do not check out a local PC repair shops and ask how much they will charge for assembly, tell them your budget and ask for help creating a list of hardware.You can usually get their advice for free and assistance in building it for pretty damn cheap. I have no personal experience with building kits so i cant really comment on them.

[Sheepherder]

If you buy a prebuilt chances are you are getting totally reamed out on the power supply.  Corsair is a reliable name that puts out extremely good 450 and 550 watt units, these units put out an extremely good 450 or 550 watts, as opposed to coming under load and surging until shit crashes and/or burns.  The 450 unit can realistically handle pretty much any single-GPU setup.  Seasonic is the OEM, naturally they also make nice things.

[apocrypha]

I'd definitely vote for getting the bits and building your own at the moment. I'd not built one for about 5 years when I built this one a couple of months ago so I was concerned about building it right, but it was a piece of piss.

A good case and good components means you get a great machine, well built, for the price of a really mediocre prebuilt and will last a lot longer.

[Krakrok]

Dell:

Dell Core 2 Quad Q8200/4GB/500GB Desktop $449 - Can add a video card later. Have to pay shipping and tax.

NewEgg:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz/GeForce 9500 GT 1GB/4GB/1TB $321.94 - Probably no shipping or tax.


Costco:

Sceptre 20" LCD $119.99

Acer X223WBD 22" LCD $149.99

[Merusk]

I may be misremembering but I thought the Tiger Direct stuff all used a lot of proprietary hardware.  As such, if anything went bad you were stuck buying only from them to replace it.  The Dells only use prop. Power Systems, IIRC, and therefore may be your best bet.

[Sheepherder]

I may be misremembering but I thought the Tiger Direct stuff all used a lot of proprietary hardware.  As such, if anything went bad you were stuck buying only from them to replace it.  The Dells only use prop. Power Systems, IIRC, and therefore may be your best bet.

My old Dell had a motherboard on the wrong side of the case, the case definitely didn't conform to ATX, and upgrading the power source to an Antec ATX standard fried the mobo (it apparently uses a 24-pin ATX wire harness with all the pins swapped around and some at different voltages).  It's  shame, because I liked the case.

Tiger Direct appears to use mostly off the shelf aftermarket shit, however the vast majority is pretty dodgy.

[CmdrSlack]

Look, I'm broke, and if I had to save a couple of months to upgrade from a mediocre machine @ $600 to an awesome machine @ $800, I can't really say I'd be able to budget a computer. That's when I start thinking about using the public library. Thankfully, I don't need a computer right now. But if you're looking to get one, which you are, spend the extra couple hundred if you're the type of person that keeps a computer for a long time.

Good point. Odds are that I'll go hit up Tiger Direct on Monday when I'm off and figure things out. What's going to suck is doing the research to get current on video cards, etc. I think the last machine I built was back when the Voodoo3 was hot shit.

It seems like I want a mobo that supports PCI-e. Since I've used Asus boards in teh past, I will likely just get one of those. I figure 2 or 3 gig of RAM should be enough, and a dual core processor that has about 2.8 ghz per core is solid enough. I'll llikely go AMD to save some bucks (assuming AMD is still beating Intel on prices).

I may get a 1TB drive just to have a fucking TERRABYTE!zomgonezors!!!

This is going to be interesting. Let's hope it's also fun and not a massive pain in the ass.

[schild]

You want PCI-E.

There's no reason to not get 4GB of RAM and just get a 64-bit OS.

Honestly, I think my computer (not counting the uhhh 16 hard drives) is probably about $800 right now and it will run Fucking Everything. And then some.

Q9450
Seasonic Something Something Power Supply (Modular) I think it's a Corsair Branded Seasonic.
8800GT
Razer sound card
Generic DVD ROM
4GB DDR2
Asus Mobo

Probably more like $600 now actually without the case.

[Montague]

I may be misremembering but I thought the Tiger Direct stuff all used a lot of proprietary hardware.  As such, if anything went bad you were stuck buying only from them to replace it.  The Dells only use prop. Power Systems, IIRC, and therefore may be your best bet.

Yeah but they skimp on the PS. I know the rated wattage is different than most other PS'es but I have an 8800 GTS 640 MB that is just barely able to run on the stock PSU, to the point that I have to put up with the occasional black screen once a night.

[Sheepherder]

Yeah but they skimp on the PS. I know the rated wattage is different than most other PS'es but I have an 8800 GTS 640 MB that is just barely able to run on the stock PSU, to the point that I have to put up with the occasional black screen once a night.

Dell actually rates their PSU's according roughly to the maximum tolerances when the unit is new-ish, which is why most of their low to midrange systems used to run 300 watt units.  They're above par, stability and conforming to spec being considered, whereas the shit you get in a barebones you might be lucky to get 100 watts out of before it starts putting out surges large enough to cause damage.  Unless it's an aftermarket PSU with the barebones, in which case it is likely from a manufacturer like Ultra, which can be anything from decent to PURGE IT WITH FIRE.

[CmdrSlack]

Problem solved. Our IT guy at work is a friend of mine. We're building the damn thing together. We're looking at a pretty cheap budget because he has parts to give me. Free parts = good when coming from this guy. He made himself a kickass Brotherhood of Steel betlbuckle with some metal saws and solder. Therefore, no shit parts.

[Strazos]

Pictures of this buckle?

Also, I thought you worked for a liquor store?

[Viin]

He made himself a kickass Brotherhood of Steel betlbuckle with some metal saws and solder.

I don't know what this means, but somehow I don't think it means he doesn't have crappy parts to give away.

Learning to do it with someone is a good way to go - I like helping folks put together a PC, but I make them do it with me so maybe next time they feel OK tackling it without me holding their hand the whole time.

Just got a Dell for my mother in law and it's pretty decent, plus they have some good ass widescreen monitors for decent prices.

[CmdrSlack]

Pictures of this buckle?

Also, I thought you worked for a liquor store?

I work for *major organic foods retailer*. I run the wine and beer department. It's basically like I run my own beer and wine specialty shop in the middle of another store.

As far as BoS belt buckle = good parts goes, I saw the machine he just rebuilt. I'm getting his old video card, which looked perfectly shiny when I saw some of the games he runs.

I'll attempt to get a pic, it's pretty kickass.