Log In or Create Account
Back to Blog
PERSONAL

24

3,341
New PC - Should I Get This One??
3 years ago883 words
Decisions DepressionHardwareHelp?MaybeMoneyPCPersonalQuestionsUncertainty
I've maybe decided on a new PC to buy... but I'm still quite clueless about this, so I'd like to hear your thoughts about whether I've made a good or terrible decision before confirming it!

I wrote recently about wanting to get a new PC, and a few of you gave some good, useful suggestions! ...Which I never replied to and still haven't acted on because uggghhh, depression. I'm using what energy I have on Atonal Dreams development, but I end up feeling completely exhausted for much of the rest of the day and... well, I've talked about that a bunch of times already. I've been largely shirking the "engage socially in some form" block I added to my timetable, too, despite really wanting to engage more than I actually am. Pfff!

I did manage to push through the brain fog enough the other day to do some shopping around, research, etc, at least, using suggestions from the previous post as a starting point. I wondered whether maybe I could and should build my own PC this time - I mean I learned how to make all this other stuff myself, and I used to pride myself on coding websites and things using Notepad! - and went as far as buying a game called PC Builder Simulator - which was on sale on the Epic Games store - after someone mentioned it in a thread in one of the PC-building Reddit communities I saw, hoping maybe I'd get some imperfect idea of how it all works and how it can be fun...

But my interest in the whole endeavour is so low that I haven't even bothered loading up the game.

I saw a whole bunch of people insisting that you build your own PC and you're an idiot if you don't, but also people saying they've tried in the past but faced a bunch of issues, like running into crashes eventually or things just not working as they should even though they thought they'd done a perfect job of the assembly. Some said that after years of building their own PCs, they'd rather just save themselves the hassle and the potential issues and buy one premade. I think I would too. I don't trust myself to do a perfect job of building one even if people who enjoy and have experience with that thing say it's 'easy'. I think drawing a face is 'easy'.

Seeing a community for PC-building beginners where those beginners' naive questions and attempts at choosing components were met with replies like "how could you be so stupid thinking those were good choices?" was off-putting too.

I looked at what PCs were available and what people in those communities were recommending, and one I ended up gravitating to was ∞ this "ALIENWARE AURORA RYZEN EDITION" thing ∞, with custom part choices that I, in my naivete, thought were wise.

Last time, I said my budget was around £2000, though this is £2,669.00. That's a lot of money for me on my meagre income; it's like three or four months of what I get from Patreon and Steam combined. I don't have to worry about paying bills while I'm still living with my parents, and I have enough saved up that this'll hardly bankrupt me or anything, but still. It's hardly a decision I can make casually.

I'd justify it as worthwhile because I spend all day every day at my computer, so it's hardly a luxury, and I want something relatively future-proof so I don't have to worry about this again for a long time. (I also wonder if I could consider it a work expense, hmm...)

Views about Alienware seemed mixed. Of course there were the elitist "I assemble all the transistors with my own hands and they're made from ore I spent a year mining in the mountains for!" types who seemed to see them as flashy, overpriced pieces of rubbish - the sort who my socially anxious mind is anticipating mocking me for even daring to entertain the idea of buying one - but there were also people who said they're one of your best bets if you're going for a premade computer and there's nothing really much better. Plus someone on my previous post included one among their suggestions. Personally, I just like how they look more than any other options I saw, though I'm the sort of person who'd choose a car based on the colour (if I actually knew how to drive).

There were several models of Alienware on the Dell site, but one big factor that influenced me to choose that particular one was that the others said they'd take like two months to ship, while this one would ship in a couple of days. I don't want to have to wait much longer!

I freely admit I'm not as informed about all this as some of you surely are, so I thought I'd ask again before making a final decision. (I'd reply to individual comments on the other post, but I'd only be repeating myself, plus I can include more in a post.)

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

24 COMMENTS

galantez111~3Y
I just built my own and Granted you’re budget I’ll say this. You’ll want as much RAM as you can afford. More ram=better speed. You’ll also want a good graphics card depending what you do/play. You’ll wanna look around at what’s good for you on that.

Processor wise I’d recommend a newer generation Intel core I7 or an AMD ryzen. They’re generally good processors. Personally I’d say purchasing a pre built might actually be cheaper than building depending on the parts. I spent over $1,000USD on mine

Good luck my friend!
0
astralwolf92~3Y
Alienware is extremely overpriced. You're paying a really hefty premium solely for the branding. Here's what you do;

1) Post on r/buildapc or its sister subs. Mention your (I) budget and (II) goals. People there derive joy from posting build lists for strangers. You can also take a look at pcpartpicker for part lists around your price range to get an idea of what kind of components are people using.

2) find a local 3rd party pc shop near you, shoot them the part list and ask them to build it + shipping for you. There might be a slight labour charge (the shops around me waive the fee if all parts come from their store).


Doing this will give you a much better and cheaper build than picking something from Alienware. I would give suggestions but I've been out of the PC game for a while.

Edit:
Some brief problems (inefficiencies?) With the Alienware build;
- for the amount of money you're dropping I would expect at least 128GB of ram. For someone like you I would recommend 64gb as a good amount. (Very futureproof)
- liquid cooling could lead to hassles and problems down the line. An aftermarket air cooler will get the job done just as good! You could get the "silent" types with huge fans to minimise noise.

Honestly, the easiest easiest route is to find a big 3rd party pc store near you, give them the budget, and request the best custom built pc for that price. you'll get much better value
0
Tobias 1115~3Y
I have crippling social anxiety, and would rather pay extra if it meant I didn't have to talk to anyone.
0
astralwolf92~3Y
You literally don't have to talk to anyone, all I did was converse with them through Facebook messenger, got my pc within 3 days. Just lookup big pc stores near your area on Google maps, and text them on their relevant social media. Give them your budget + what you plan on doing with the pc. They'll give you a part list which is most likely optimal. Share it online for confirmation if you want and just tell the store to build+ship to your residence
0
Tobias 1115~3Y
Do you not see texting as talking to people?

I'll keep it in mind, anyway...
0
PerfectVanity27~3Y
You seem to have no trouble 'talking' on this blog, though? Besides, you can do it with a fake name if you like, then it doesn't matter even if you say something embarrassing.
0
Tobias 1115~3Y
There's a significant difference between how our minds react when being approached vs when approaching others. I don't mind responding to people, especially in an environment where I have a kind of 'power', but approaching others is anxiety-inducing so I tend to avoid it where I can. I still haven't posted on Reddit for this reason despite wanting to and thinking it'd have benefits if I did.

I find the suggestion that using a fake name would remove negative consequences surprising! To use a silly example since I'm genuinely curious of your response, if you were to go out on Halloween, say, in costume, by yourself, such that nobody would recognise you, and for some reason you randomly crapped your pants in front of a group of teenagers, would you go home completely at ease knowing that none of those teens knew your identity?
0
2 replies...
MontyCallay101~3Y
Concerning "easy", realistically, of course you'll be able to build your own PC - I was advising a friend's younger sibling (18-ish) some time ago on what parts to order for his budget, and he built the PC by himself with one of his school friends without having to ask his parents for help. Of course mistakes can happen, but in my experience the risks are low and the more time you put in the better you'll be at troubleshooting in general if something does happen. The best way I have seen it described as is "Lego for adults" - the way most components are set up and the cases are structured you just have to screw most components in and attach the connectors. So I don't think that should be *the* prohibitive factor for you.

But I agree, the elitists are annoying, which is why I'm not harping on it. The question, as I understand it, is if you are prepared to spend the time to do that or would be willing to pay the premium for getting a prebuild instead, which is of course your own value judgment!

But that doesn't preclude trying to be cost-effective! You can very likely afford to save a little on the GPU. The one you picked out is for the high end of Next-Gen-Gaming with the most demanding Ray-tracing settings, at 4k resolution with high refresh rates (or, of course, mining crypto). I'm (perhaps naively) assuming that this is not what you are planning to do, or that your development/modelling work (which is intentionally low-poly) requires something like that. If you get a respectable GPU (a 3060-Ti or equivalent) that will likely cover all of your use cases for long enough that you won't have to worry about it for a while.

I also strongly doubt that whatever lag you currently have is due to your GPU (to check for yourself, use your task manager, which shows the usage of your components for a given program). My bet would be, as I said, that upgrading to SSD will help significantly with that, and getting a new processor and extra RAM won't hurt either. For a processor, the one in your Alienware configuration (a 12-core 5900X) is most likely also overkill, a current-gen 8-core AMD such as the 5800X is already a very respectable processor even for single-machine rendering, to say nothing of normal work or gaming.

32 GB of RAM is probably a good idea, though. RAM isn't too expensive - considering that you most likely have a lot of things running at the same time, those take up RAM, and when RAM is full, use hard drive space for short-term memory, which is incredibly slow, especially without an SSD, so that will possibly go towards alleviating any lag issues as well.

Of course, I may be misinterpreting what your needs are, so it's probably not a bad idea to try to stress your current PC and having a look at the task manager to see what your current bottleneck is. You should definitely do this, for one so you know what your needs are and for another so that you're not spending £2k for something a £100 SSD can easily fix (which, though I know you want a new computer, I doubt is in your interests).

To put it as a business expense to avoid VAT would probably require you to either register as self-employed or set up Alora Fane LLC or something, which I assume would have tax implications for you as well, and I don't know how you're handling that kind of thing. Might be something to ask your step-dad about, who you mentioned had some business experience?

TL:DR, if you're going to pick an Alienware, take this one: [LINK] , which knocks a good £800 off the price, and probably still exceeds your requirements by quite a bit. Estimated delivery shows for me as 29/11/21, which is "only" a month, which hopefully shouldn't be too long. If it is, you'd want to first assess your needs (which you probably should do in any case), then look elsewhere for something that fits.
2
Tobias 1115~3Y
I think "the more time you put into it" is the key thing; any kind of skill, even seemingly 'easy' ones, requires some amount of practice and trial and error to develop, and with this I just really can't be bothered since it's something I only deal with once every blue moon and it's not inherently enjoyable for me as I'm not tech-minded.

One thing I read about when looking into this was that there's a risk of damaging components through electric shocks if you're on carpet or something. It's errors like that, with expensive consequences, that I'd be concerned about making!

I was hoping for some suggestions about how I could refine the decision I've already come to, so thanks for doing that. I got the feeling I'd gone overboard by just choosing the biggest-numbered choices available there. I still want to maximise storage though, so I'd rather have two 2TB drives (currently I have a 1TB HDD which is almost full, and a secondary 2.somethingTB drive which is about half full, and I intend to copy most of my stuff over).

Wolf mentioned that Alienware are known to have heating issues, or something? Is that something you're aware of?

I've been meaning to register as self-employed for a while; I assumed you didn't have to unless you were earning enough to be taxed (£12k in a year), but apparently you should if you've earned even £1000. I have until the end of the year though to fill out the form, which of course leads to a lot of procrastinating even though it'd probably only take less than an hour once I actually got around to it. I already watched some videos about the process to make sure I'm not missing anything.
1
MontyCallay101~3Y
With air-cooling, it tends to be a tradeoff between the size of the case and the quality of the cooling, since larger cases mean more room for better airflow by default. This is actually one of the major problems gaming laptops have to deal with, which is why their performance (and lifetime) is generally sub-par to a desktop's. In my view, cooling is one of those things where if you want to optimise for it, you definitely can (some people even go as far as to build water-cooling systems into their PCs) because it can improve your maximum performance, but this really shouldn't be much of an issue if you're not planning to stress the machine to its absolute maximum 24/7, which you will in all likelihood not be doing with your normal editing/developing work.

Again, of course you can optimise for it, and technical folks who love to drive their system to its limit will want to, which is why someone might scoff at what they perceive to be only a standard cooling solution. Better temperatures, after all, represent more room for overclocking and driving the system further. I took a look at the video that was being referred to, and smiled slightly when the guy said "there's nothing extravagant about this case at all" and how the cooling solution was mostly "lazy choices". For his "combined torture workload", he concludes that customers "aren't getting the full value of the parts that they purchased". Which I guess technically isn't wrong! But it's not a realistic use case either. I don't think it'll be a major issue, even though you might of course expect better for £2k.

But if you want to keep looking for something that's better in this regard, of course you can! You'll want to look for reviews that show the temperatures under full load for a given configuration, where under 80°C is ideal and anything above ~90-95°C is critical. The maximum CPU temperature in the Alienware review was 92°C, which isn't great, but only represents what you'd get when stressing the entire system at full power for a while.

For explicit suggestions on my part, there's a ton of custom PC builders that may be able to fit more exact speficiations better than a prebuilt by Dell. Since these tend to use larger cases, cooling issues are even less likely. I don't have a lot of knowledge here, but a good place to start might be [LINK], where you can set up the components as you see fit. The Novatech one that Wolf mentioned looks good as well. The downside is that these might be more expensive than the Alienware for the same configuration.
1
Tobias 1115~3Y
I remember having frequent overheating issues with my laptop... back when I lived in Australia and the temperature was regularly around 40 degrees (C) outside. It's a lot cooler in the UK, obviously. I wonder if that's something that people who assess these things even take into account?

I've been concerned that my current PC might be overheating since it's been on the floor in a carpeted room for years... which is something I only learned was an issue relatively recently, such is my ignorance, but which I've still not actually done anything about, such is my depression (I know I could/should move it and blow away the accumulated dust and it's bad that I don't... but it's hardly the most serious thing I neglect due to poor mental health). It's why I'm hoping to get something that'll be low-maintenance, and why hearing these kinds of PCs have issues with overheating is concerning and making me doubtful about my ability to make a good decision.

I've just been playing around a bit with the site you linked to, but with that - and I suppose the Dell site too - sure I can choose between options, but it's not as if I understand fully what each one actually does, or the highest one I'd realistically need, so all I can really do is choose the ones with the highest numbers, and that feels like the wrong idea?
0
MontyCallay101~3Y
Honestly, you don't have to wonder whether your PC is overheating, you can just install a tool like [LINK] and check its temperatures. That'll also allow you to monitor the usage of your other components.

[LINK]

This one would be fine in terms of what I mentioned earlier in regard to specs, but adding the drives you want would put you over budget. Another alternative would be just ordering it with the included SSD to run your system on and installing the drives from your old PC, which you already have experience with and therefore know it can be done! It's really no big deal - if you're really all that worried about static electricity, you can even do it in another room without a carpet or get some plastic gloves or something.

Alternatively, this one [LINK] which has a slightly older (though still decent - slightly older is 2019, here) 8-core Ryzen processor in the 3700X (which I doubt will make all that much of a difference, you can look up its performance if you want) and would allow you to order the drives you want and stay within budget. The included GPU is a 3070, so even better than the previous ones I mentioned. Make sure you take the 32GB of RAM, though. In terms of specs and budget, this seems like a good solution. It ships in ten days, apparently, and you get a three year warranty! Probably one of your better choices if you just want to buy something and forget about this entire thing.

I can't guarantee that any of these have perfect cooling, but they have fairly standard cases and decent fans, so I think you'll be fine.
1
Tobias 1115~3Y
A program like that is how I monitored the heat of my overheating laptop back in Australia. I tried finding one recently while wondering if overheating was the cause of the lag issues with this one, but there was some barrier to installation or something and I gave up? I can't remember. I should probably install that one now, but... ehh...

The budget's just the vaguest of ideas that came to mind before I'd done any research, and I'm absolutely not bound to it! I don't mind going up to £3000 if I'll get something better and longer-lasting for it.

When installing the second drive a few years ago, I think I found that I could only install that additional one and there was no space for any more? But again I can't really remember. Are hard drive slots typically limited?

And how much should I be worried about static electricity? I was only basing that on several beginner's guides that I saw that all mentioned it as if it was a major concern, but obviously I don't have a clue.

I'm looking at the one you linked to, and at the memory options in particular, but there are several that say 32GB and I don't know how to distinguish between them. The same is true about all the part choices! It's hard to make a decision when I don't really understand what I'm actually choosing between.
1
2 replies...
Wolf21~3Y
I didn't catch you previous post, but I'm a big ol' tech nerd and also I've recently bought myself a new computer. In the past building your own computer was cheaper (and sometimes it still is), but with the silicon shortage there are some prebuilt computers that offer more value than their parts.

I have built a few computers in the past, and as long as you're careful (having someone with experience around is helpful) it's pretty easy to do. Getting a prebuilt computer does save you that hassle though.

I would highly recommend not getting a computer from an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) like Dell or HP as they tend to use bespoke or custom parts that make upgrading or finding compatible parts a real pain. I watch a few youtubers that do tech breakdowns and analysis and one in particular Gamers Nexus has done a breakdown on a similar Alienware prebuilt computer (you can just search "gamers nexus alienware" and it should be the top search option, and they go through some of the drawbacks and pain points with a computer like the one you've linked (though the benchmarks mean nothing when your computer has more powerful hardware - the issues with the case airflow and the custom parts are still there).

Looking at the UK market, I'm not overly familiar, but looking for a place that does custom computers parts and also prebuilds (like some companies I'm familiar with over here in Aus) - novatech looks like a decent company to use. System integrators, rather than OEMs, use generally widely available parts with standard formfactors, which are usually higher quality than custom hardware because of market driven improvements over the years.

Novatech look like they have fairly good reviews on trustpilot, and if you look at a comparable system in their prebuilt gaming PC line you can see their "Reign Vanguard Core MKII iCUE" offers similar value to the Alienware offering without as many of the drawbacks (though slightly less in some areas on paper, but also slightly more in others).

With the Alienware desktop, you're likely to have significant thermal issues. The holes are tiny, and are blocked in some areas, and there's just no airflow at all. The PSU is an unnecessary wattage, with 750 watts. Anyway, personally I would look for system integrators rather than OEMs. The deal on that alienware is good enough to make it comparable (or even a bit better) on paper to other computers around that price but I think it might have a few significant issues over time (and a 1 year warranty on a computer with a notoriously hot case is probably not ideal).
1
Tobias 1115~3Y
I really would rather avoid the hassle of figuring out how to build my own, since I don't have anyone around who could help and I'm concerned about doing something wrong and causing damage or something (I've read that static shocks from carpet or cloth are a concern?).

I don't have any intentions of upgrading either; that's the sort of thing someone who's already interested in PC building would do! I want something that'll basically be a static object, a magic box that'll just work for a few years until it starts dying and I replace it completely.

Though saying that, I suppose I technically upgraded my current one by installing an extra storage drive. That's where I read about the shocking dangers, I think. It wasn't difficult, but I wouldn't want to assemble the whole thing.

I know I should do more research, but the idea of watching a techy video going into detailed analysis of potential issues in a skill domain I have negative interest in just feels like a huge chore I can't muster up the energy to do, especially since I'd just end up wondering if there's anything that's free of issues and being paralysed by indecision. I suppose everything is going to have some imperfections or potential issues, but to what extent would that matter for the stuff I want to do with it? Is it only a concern if you're doing stuff like upgrading hardware or trying to push it to certain limits? Is it like audiophiles talking about bass issues with headphones that I literally would never notice as a non-connoisseur?

I feel like my current PC has heating issues, and that's one of the things I was hoping a replacement would have improvements with, so if Alienware has issues with that, then that's a concern...

If you were to find some prebuild on a website that'd meet my needs, what would it be? It'd be so much easier to start from explicit suggestions!
0
Wolf21~3Y
So I've had a bit of a think about this, and a bit of a look around. Matters get a bit more complicated when I'm not super familiar with the Uk market and the retailers over there, but I've seen a few sites that have good reviews selling prebuilt machines now. Unfortunately you're not the primary use case for most of the computers they're selling. Most prevalent are machines that are basically for exclusive use in gaming, which is why most machines available have 16gb of RAM, and lean towards being GPU heavy (because of the rise in 4k gaming / raytracing). Because of this, I found that it was difficult to find a computer I would pick as 'perfect' for you off the shelf.

One of the sites I saw was PC Specialist. Instead instead of directly selling prebuilt machines they allow you to configure your own machine, build it, and ship it to you all under warranty. Their prices are fairly comparable to the prebuilt market and I was able to specify parts for a computer that would (in my opinion) be equal to or better than the Alienware desktop for a lower cost.

I'll put a summary here for you. Feel free to contact me on your Discord (I'm in there as Srolae).

Case - FRACTAL MESHIFY 2 LIGHT TEMPERED GLASS

High airflow case, well reviewed.

Processor (CPU) - AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)

One of the best AMD CPUs available, better than the standard 5900 by 15-20% based on benchmarking.

Processor Cooling - PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler

Air cooler for peace of mind. Won't suffer from pump failure (though AIO watercooling is very safe and not an issue, it can be annoying to replace - but a good air cooler is just as good IMO - though it might be a bit louder)

Thermal Paste - ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

Motherboard - ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING WIFI (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!

Good motherboard with integrated wi-fi, and PCIe gen 4 (required for the most recent graphics cards, like the one below).

Memory (RAM) - 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)

Decent amount of relatively fast RAM (should be more than enough for 3d modelling and the dev work involved in making your games - though I'm making some assumptions)

Graphics Card - 8GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP

Comparable to the GPU included in the Alienware desktop, pretty similar in overall benchmark but both have different strengths.

1st Storage Drive - 4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE

1st M.2 SSD Drive - 1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)

Power Supply - CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

Total price: £2,548.00

It should last a good 5+ years. I'm making some assumptions about what work you're doing on your desktop, and I'm assuming you don't intend to game at 4k with a high refresh rate. The graphics card could be put up to a 3080 (or an AMD RX 6900 XT - without pushing past the cost of that Alienware) or down to a 3070 depending on your preferences as well, I just chose the one that is a known good brand - as they don't specify the brands they use otherwise.
1
Tobias 1115~3Y
Thanks for looking into it and giving very specific suggestions! I've been procrastinating on this for days because even though a couple of other people linked to sites which allow you to choose between parts, I don't know enough about what I'm choosing between and get paralysed by uncertainty.

Do you have a link to where I could actually buy what you're specifying here though?

Maybe my biggest concern and hope for improvement with a new computer is with the hard drives. I currently have two HDDs: the primary has a 1TB capacity and has 863GB of used space, so I'm often having to delete stuff or avoid installing things, and the secondary storage drive is 4TB, of which 1TB is full. I'm intending to do some rearranging with the new computer, but if the second drive is HDD rather than SDD, wouldn't I get none of the benefits that SDDs bring? Or would I see most of them if the OS was on the SDD?
0
Wolf21~3Y
Unfortunately the website caches the selection on the back end so I can't directly link you the page with that selection! It does allow you to 'save' a quote by emailing it, though. I can save it and email you, if you like (or alternatively I got a quote number "2223243") - incidentally it seems the price has gone down slightly since I did that quote - and I can upgrade the SSD to 2TB with a total of £2,587.00.

SSDs are a lot better than old hard disks, but most of that comes from read and write speed. In the 'old days' (ten years ago) you'd have your OS on a small SSD (and maybe a game you regularly play to reduce asset load times), anything else would go on a hard disk. This was due to the small capacity of SSDs, the high cost, and the fact SSDs have a limited number of reads and writes (but don't worry - it's not a small amount). I'd recommend to take the same approach these days, if you can. There's no point having high quality video, or photographs, on an SSD. SSDs are a lot better than regular hard disks but most reasons to have a high storage capacity aren't a reason to have SSDs.
1
phsc57~3Y
I understand your doubts about assembling your own computer, but here is the thing, if you buy the pieces from a decent premade computer and maybe look it up online how to assemble it (there are some really good Youtube channels on this, most notably, Linus Tech Tips talks about computer components and assembly sometimes as well), there are some really weird situations that may happen when it comes to compatibility and such, but that is actually quite rare, my first computer which I put together which I still use to this day (with very few changed components) had some really bizarre motherboard-CPU issues that well... just appeared 5 years after the computer was put together! and I solved it for a few more years until the CPU really did not feel like working anymore (probably because of the 5 years where things were not properly working), but the big thing about making your own computer out of nowhere is that, maintance is going to be much easier (cleaning is important! this is the sort of obvious thing some people actually don't know, but you probably do), but also the fact that, sometimes when a computer is bad or dying, maybe it is not everything on it that is bad, like my current computer still sort of works quite nice for what I do, the biggest part that gives me issues is my hard drive, I could just put a SSD on it and be happy, or a better hard-drive, and it makes your computer lifespam much longer, it is not only about the cost when getting the computer but all of that.

And I think the journey of learning how to do these things is really fun, it is oddly simple once you do it like once, getting to know how things work on a more physical leve when you understand how they work on a theoretical level is EXTREMELY interesting in my opinion at least.

I heard you talk about the shock thing and I've never heard of that but when dealing with anything electronics I try to wear as much rubber as I can if you know what I mean and yeah.

Also one really weird question but it increased my efficiency by a ridiculous amount, do you have a single monitor? or two? or three? like I have made games and I have done video editing and mostly programming in my life, and getting a second monitor was probably the best thing ever, I'd go as far as getting three if I had a better computer, so consider that out?

You also said that your computer could be overheating, this is an issue! another issue could be dust and such, maybe inside of components even, this is why I think knowing how to fix your car or how your car works is good if you have a car, right? same goes with a computer, overheating was an issue for me when I set my computer up because I live in Brazil and this country gets really, really hot at times! so what do I do, I literally open the side plate and use some weird bizarre external cooling methods, and this works! but a lot of dust gets in, so I have to constantly clean the components, I also have a really weird gabinet PC case with a ton of holes to make so air flows better, also I installed (actually my dad did this but ok) a few additional coolers and such, and this is why my computer has been going strong for like, 7 years and can last more.


ANYWAY, about components right? first, check out videos about the components and such if you have not, or even the model or whatever, I personally think modern prebuilt computers are way too much about how they look instead of efficiency and I mean I get that a lot of people who want to buy gaming computers are like 12 year olds and this is why I think workstations are much better, if you care abouts looks well, do you judge a book based on it's cover?

Anyway, if you want a car based on how it looks go for it, but the inside of the car is not where you look at right? so this is where things get more... objective? as someone who has formal education about this sort of thing, there are people saying that more RAM = more speed in the comments of this post and this really makes no sense if you know what RAM is (basically variable storage but you can like... free memory!), I don't think basically anything will get to using 32 GB of RAM unless it is like something absurd, above that is sort of a waste but if you get a computer that accepts more RAM slots, you can EXTREMELY EASILY put in more RAM, there are no issues with this it is literally putting the thing there, of course there is compatibility but that is easy to check online and in modern times basically nothing can go wrong.

The 2TB SSD and the 2TB HD is a really good choice, I think maybe a cheaper SSD could work, you just put stuff in like your operational system and the programs you use the most and let stuff you want stored or that you will not use much on the HD, and you can move things from one to the other, this is really efficient and good, in the past Radeons had a few issues with overheating, these days I still believe they do have that more than NVIDIA counterparts right? but that matters little, I actually think this could be like an evil capitalist business idea where they put really fancy cases with things that work well but natural conditions might make them work less well as time goes so you buy a new one? I mean companies do that so yeah, also they often buy out reviews and pay out people and such but you probably know that.

The graphics card is still good performance wise, it probably will not outlast a NVIDIA but since AMD has been putting out the superior CPUs in more modern years going for the combo is probably better. The Ryzen 9 5900 is a beast, I think for your line of work CPU is what matters the most, by far over RAM or anything, maybe consider getting a better one MAYBE??? but then it would get too expensive, I think the graphics card could be overkill since it matters much more for like extremely high polygon count 3D rendering and that sort of thing, also playing games on ULTRA SETTINGS and such.

DON'T OVERCLOCK ANYTHING DON'T OVERCLOCK ANYTHING DON'T OVERCLOCK ANYTHING DON'T OVERCLOCK ANYTHING

Ok, so here is where I think this is a terrible idea, LIQUID COOLING CAN GO REALLY WRONG, also another thing to consider when getting a PC is how much it iwll cost over time, power is money right? you pay for it, and 1000W is a lot if you use a computer all day all night, I say that from experience, this is a very technical video but if you feel like learning about why I think it is a bad idea (also it sort of kills changing components to an extent for yourself if you don't know what you are doing, which is not a bad idea), also do you have an issue with noise? like computers can make a lot of noise, this is why people don't like to open half of them up, because that boosts the noise as well, and you can build computers to be silent (Linus Torvalds, yeah the Linux dude, he uses an extremely silent computer! fun fact, that is literally basically all he cares about! and his specs are really simple as well! most money goes on making it silent).
The video: [LINK]
It is oddly technical and such you don't care but I just need to cite the... sources? anyway, the chances of water cooling going wrong is way more likely, depends on how the computer is built inside, which is not only like what the video sort of talks about, but there is also the pump which spends more power (I can't find specifications on that on alienwares page?) and a lot more.

Anyway, TLDR:

SSD + HD is really good! ignore the comment about RAM that person made! 32GB is fine but get the option to put more slots so you can get 64GB in the future if that is needed (that is SUPER simple it is probably the SIMPLEST THING when it comes to computer building), get a good CPU (that one is good!), the GPU is probably not that much of a thing you should care about since you don't want to play AAA titles at ULTRA and you don't want to develop AAA titles!

But the final thing I want to say, so you say you have monetary issues right? every sort of action is an investment and a way to spend money, instead of spending time developing a game that might pay your bills, maybe doing something you don't enjoy that much now might make your life better in the future money-wise and experience-wise, because if you get in technical troubles with your computer things will not be fun, as in it literally breaks or whatever, so, instead of opting for the easier way now, considering you don't make much money, isn't it good to take the uncomfortable route and learn something even if you don't like it? and the biggest question, did you ever actually try building a computer to know if you like it or not?

Also ignore like Reddit people they are EXTREMELY elitistic with computers, Alienware is sort of a meme because of their laptops and how they overheat and spend absurd amounts of power with really small batteries and Reddit people are often very pathetic when it comes to things they think they have figured out over others and often that is backed up by basically nothing anyway, most of the internet is like that, but Reddit is the most, pcmasterrace effect after all I guess???????
2
phsc57~3Y
I just realized I didn't explain well why water cooling is not good, it is hard to mantain, if anything goes wrong you are pretty much fucked, and it is more likely to go wrong than typical air cooling, but it is not only WATER cooling, it is an WATER cooling case, which is much worse, it also uses more power, so there is a pump that can go wrong, the entire cooling system as a whole, and the typical computer components, and fixing all of that is going to be a HUGE pain in the ass, and it is also less efficient, not a big fan unless you do a very good build and really understand what is going on, think of it like as a rotary engine on a car, or something like that, it can work extremely well, in specific cases people understand, you probably don't understand anything about cars, but yeah.

Also I am replying instead of editing because alorafane.com says "That didn't work for some reason!" so yeah I hope this works for some reason!

EDIR: WATER not AIR
2
Log in to comment!