Opinions on whether I should buy a pre-built desktop or build one myself?

**1clue** · February 23rd, 2014

Originally Posted by mips

For storage purposes the WD Red drives are good but they are not ideal as system drives.

Really, figure out what you're going to do with the machine and buy a drive for that. Except if it looks like a WD green is best, then go pick whatever's second.

FWIW if you go to Walmart and buy an external drive for backups, it's almost certainly a WD green under the covers.

I think I might just give WD a rest for a few years, I've thrown enough of my money at them for awhile.

Consider a SSD to boot from, and an HDD for swap and files that get overwritten a lot.

**d-cosner** · February 23rd, 2014

I have two Western Digital Green drives and have never had any problems with them. One drive is 500 GB and the other is 2 TB, they run nice and cool and they are quiet.

**Bucky Ball** · February 24th, 2014

Originally Posted by d-cosner

I have two Western Digital Green drives and have never had any problems with them. One drive is 500 GB and the other is 2 TB, they run nice and cool and they are quiet.

The Green is all I've used for years for desktop and external drives and never had an issue either.

**coldraven** · February 24th, 2014

I have not built a machine for many years but I'm thinking to do so soon. One aspect of branded PCs is that they always make them so that you can only fit proprietary spares. Like for example the power supply is L shaped for no good reason and will cost three times the price of a generic one.
I fancy a liquid cooled tower, I want a silent PC.

**Bucky Ball** · February 24th, 2014

Originally Posted by coldraven

One aspect of branded PCs is that they always make them so that you can only fit proprietary spares. Like for example the power supply is L shaped for no good reason and will cost three times the price of a generic one.
I fancy a liquid cooled tower, I want a silent PC.

Mention PSUs and I hear a bell ring! You can get just the chassis with a quality PSU preinstalled and do the rest yourself. Try THIS or the one I used a few years ago for my mother-in-law's build HERE, among others ...

**CharlesA** · February 24th, 2014

Even if you don't get a case with the power supply preinstalled, it is dead simple to install one (just make sure the cables are long enough, if you have a large case).

**J_Me** · February 24th, 2014

I fancy a liquid cooled tower, I want a silent PC.

Those things still have fans but on the outside of the tower. If you really want zero noise I've heard of people submerging their boards in mineral oil

**1clue** · February 24th, 2014

The problem with towers is they vent them the wrong way. Air should come in on the bottom and go out the top. I'd love to see a vertically oriented case with good air flow going vertical.

**mips** · February 25th, 2014

Originally Posted by 1clue

The problem with towers is they vent them the wrong way. Air should come in on the bottom and go out the top. I'd love to see a vertically oriented case with good air flow going vertical.

I saw one some time back but can't remember who makes it.

EDIT: Silverstone Fortress FT02 & FT03 http://www.silverstonetek.com/produc...?tno=7&area=en

The MB is rotated 90 degrees so all the slots and ports are at the top.

**mattlach** · February 27th, 2014

I for one encourage people to build their own, but it can be a little daunting at first before you have done it a few times, and realise how simple it really is.

As far as if it makes financial sense, that depends.

If you want to have a low end machine that does Web/Email/Videos etc. well, it's probably going to wind up being cheaper to buy a ready built machine from one of the major manufacturers. They have huge volumes and thus great discounts on all the parts, and it can be tough to beat.

If you want something that plays games, or a higher end machine it starts becoming a lot cheaper to build your own, and in many cases you can build your own machine that will outperform pretty much any pre-assembled PC for less money.