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    The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.

    UK System Builders

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    Duncs

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    #1  Edited By Duncs

    So I've been having a quick look at the stickied PC building guide, which is awesome, but unfortunately seems to be mostly US-focused. I have a couple of questions about the UK side of things, specifically:
     
    1) What are the best system builders in the UK, and why?
    2) What kind of price premium should be expected from a dedicated system builder site? 
     
    I know everyone will recommend building a system yourself, but when I have done that in the past I am pretty sure I haven't done it perfectly. Also, it ends up being messy internally and it's a bit of a faff. So if there are some good places to look and the premium isn't too bad, then I would probably be tempted to get one built for me by pros.
     
    Thanks in advance for any advice!

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    SpaceKangaroo

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    #2  Edited By SpaceKangaroo

    If you've built one yourself before, why not again? :p

    edit: what I mean is I'm guessing the mess comes from wire management, once you get over the fear of playing about with expensive components it's an easy task.

    Otherwise checkout www.overclockers.co.uk prebuilt systems.

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    AlexW00d

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    #3  Edited By AlexW00d

    Do it yourself using Overclockers.co.uk as linked above. Surely you value £200 or so over a tidy case?

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    Duncs

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    #4  Edited By Duncs
    @Fagballs: A few reasons - firstly, I have less free time these days, so it will be a little harder to dedicate the requisite time researching components, making sure I get the best value for money while still having components work well together. Also, I am given to understand that pre-built systems are often overclocked safely (and there is no way I am going to get into overclocking myself) so I may be able to get a bit more performance out of a component (which may close the price difference). 
     
    Also, there's just the general peace of mind that it's been done by someone who knows what they're doing with computers. 
     
    Thanks for the recommendation of Overclockers, that's where I've been getting components from up to now, so that's nice. Any other good sites out there? And any idea what kind of premium they charge over buying the components oneself?
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    Spooks

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    #5  Edited By Spooks

    I usually go to Scan.co.uk to get my computer parts as I find they are slightly cheaper than Overclockers. I've not picked up a pre-built system from there but my friend has and he's had no problems with it.

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    emergency

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    #6  Edited By emergency

    Theres a tonne of places that will happily take your money for this sort of thing:

    http://dinopc.com/shop/pc/pcs-gaming.asp?idcategory=94

    http://www.glhf.co.uk/home

    http://www.aria.co.uk/

    http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

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    Duncs

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    #7  Edited By Duncs

    Great, thanks for all the suggestions guys. Still undecided on whether I will bother making it myself or not - does anyone have opinions on the suggested sites re: quality, price, etc? Any recommendations amongst the bunch?

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    matt

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    #8  Edited By matt

    I find overlockers.co.uk overpriced. I use scan.co.uk

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    dave34

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    #9  Edited By dave34
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    Duncs

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    #10  Edited By Duncs

    Thanks for the recommendations guys. I'll check Scan out. 
     
    @dave34, thanks for making an account just to weigh in on this!

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    Contro

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    #11  Edited By Contro
    @Duncs
     
     
    Check out YoYo Tech,  just off London's Tottenham Court Rd on Windmill Street. Or online.
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    TheKeyboardDemon

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    #12  Edited By TheKeyboardDemon

    Often poor cable management is a direct result of selecting the wrong case, cheaper cases often have fewer cable management features than better cases. A good case for cable management at a relatively affordable price is the Fractal R3. The case I use, the Silverstone Raven RV03 is also pretty good as there is heaps of space behind the mobo tray where cables can be hidden, though I could have done more to tidy that, because they are out of sight and out of the way of the airflow they do not impact heavily on the cooling.
     
    @Contro: I find that YoYo Tech staff are not very friendly, it often seems like they would rather not talk to people going into the store, last time I went in I had 100 nuggets that I was itching to part with in return for some fresh ram, and was so unimpressed by their lack of interest in me that I left with my money. I have seen them go through a system configuration with a customer that wanted a high end gaming system with multiple monitors and when I left they were close to £3,000 on the rig and had yet to start picking screens, keyboards or a mouse. 
     
    If you looking at spending serious money then go in and talk to them the shop looks good with loads of cases and rigs that you can eyeball, otherwise order from their website or look for cheaper website like Scan, Dabs and Overclockers.

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    Bollard

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    #13  Edited By Bollard
    @Fagballs said:

    If you've built one yourself before, why not again? :p

    edit: what I mean is I'm guessing the mess comes from wire management, once you get over the fear of playing about with expensive components it's an easy task.

    Otherwise checkout www.overclockers.co.uk prebuilt systems.

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONONONONONON DO NOT USE OVERCOCKUPS 
     
    Worst company I have ever met in my entire life, the systems they build don't work, and their customer support is non-existant. I bought a rig with them, and it had faulty RAM. That was all. They have a premium rate line for repairs which they leave you on hold on for over half an hour. Furthermore, they sent back my system more broken than the first time. And again. And again. I sent it back to them 3 times, and the fourth time I finally said fuck it, I want a refund, and was told that "You can't have a full refund because it's more than 30 days since purchase." I hadn't even had the computer for more than a week combined, because it was away for repairs for so long!
     
    As you can imagine I was PISSED. So I rang them up and started quoting purchasing right acts at them, and they finally gave me my money back. 
     
    Worst company ever, and apparently they use RMA'd parts in their builds and hope noone notices. 
     
    @OP: as someone else said, build it yourself. I went with Novatech as they have a local store to me in Reading, so I could get in their face if anything went wrong, and they told me to build. Not only was it cheaper, it was way more fun and hassle free. I'll never buy again. 
     
    I've heard decentt thigns about Scan too. 
     
    @TheKeyboardDemon said:
    Often poor cable management is a direct result of selecting the wrong case, cheaper cases often have fewer cable management features than better cases. A good case for cable management at a relatively affordable price is the Fractal R3. The case I use, the Silverstone Raven RV03 is also pretty good as there is heaps of space behind the mobo tray where cables can be hidden, though I could have done more to tidy that, because they are out of sight and out of the way of the airflow they do not impact heavily on the cooling.  
    I use a midtower Coolermaster HAF 912+, which has the cable space behind the mobo you were mentioning. Plus, as it's only a midtower it was £60. Good deal IMO, comes with a 200mm fan in frontand 120mm at the back, so good airflow too. Not that expensive, and all my cables are hidden behind.
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    TheKeyboardDemon

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    #14  Edited By TheKeyboardDemon
    @Chavtheworld: Sounds like a good choice. When I build, I more or less throw everything in and get it connected in the first stage, that tends to be really messy, then once everything is tested and I know it all works, I remove all cables from the power supply end and then one by one I look at routing the cables start with the biggest/thickest cables. It is not always the best approach and I'm sure that if I built with cable management in mind from the start the builds would look a lot better, but when new kit arrives all I want to do is getting it working.
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    Bollard

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    #15  Edited By Bollard
    @TheKeyboardDemon: Yeah, my build was the first time I had tried any cable management, so its far from perfect, but I'm happy with having all the slack pinned up behind the mobo - out of sight. Next time I might get some cable clips and stuff and try to do it properly. 
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    krazy_kyle

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    #16  Edited By krazy_kyle

    Overclockers provide some decently priced pre-built systems while allowing you to customise your own. Beware that customising your own machine costs more money. Just stick with a pre built system and don't make your own, unless you are loaded. So visit, Overclockers.co.uk, cyberpowersystem.co.uk and pcspecialist.co.uk. Just a word of warning. STAY AWAY FROM ALIENWARE!!! I REPEAT, STAY AWAY FROM ALIENWARE!!!. Check out Dell's XPS machines though, they are reasonably priced too and occasionally have a good offer on sale. I bought my laptop from Dell, Plays anything and everything :D
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    swamplord666

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    #17  Edited By swamplord666

    @cookiesforbreakfast said:

    I built my first PC a month or two ago using a combination of these two sites...

    www.scan.co.uk

    www.novatech.co.uk

    and Tested's awesome 'How To Build a Future-Proof $1500 Gaming PC' video.

    I'm far from an expert but I really didn't run into any huge problems. The hardest part is definitely choosing the parts.

    Good luck if you decide to build your own!

    pretty much this. Also if you're buying individual parts, make sure you be EXTREMELY careful about reading the specs for each one. I passed my build on to a PC shop friend who immediately found some glaring problems that would have made for a malfunctioning PC.

    I highly recommend scan as well. great selection of parts, fast shipping. daily deals on parts... made my building a lot easier!

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    DelroyLindo

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    #18  Edited By DelroyLindo

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