Assembled or Branded PC's?

Question

I wanted to know which is better options in buying a PC, a branded or an assembled. I'm a graphic designer, I'll be using photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXpress, InDesign and Corel Draw for my work purpose. Can you give me any list that can be considered while buying.

Answer 1

The best option is to go for an assembled PC as you can pick and choose the brands of components you need. Please do remember to get an Original "INTEL" motherboard. an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor, 2GB of ram LG dvd drives, seagate HD (sata Type), and a viewsonic LCD monitor. Also go in for an N-Vidia Graphic card for high end gaming experience.

Answer 2

That question is asked often (on here and other places), but my answer changes over time. For a long time, I was quite the proponent of build-your-own. You got exactly what you want in a computer, and it was cheaper to boot. My belief is that anyone with reasonable intelligence and a bit of research can buy and build their own desktop computer.

Then the prices of pre-built machines from manufacturers went through the floor. I couldn't even buy the parts (and an OEM copy of the OS) for the price Dell and HP were selling them already assembled. On top of that, rather than using their own proprietary components, they started using components like motherboards and sound cards from the same sources I would have like Asus and Creative. They also made more options for "build-it-your-way" available. I may not be able to get exactly what I want, but it was close.

Now, that a couple years of that has passed, come to find out, the Dells and HPs aren't quite using stock parts from the manufacturers. Yes, that's an Asus motherboard, but it's not an A8V-LE, it's an A8A-LE .. with special parts swapped for others, parts added or left off .. as Dell or HP (or Compaq) paid Asus to do. However, since it's OEM board made by Asus exclusively for Dell, Asus won't support it. No manuals, no drivers -- nothing. So now, you'd like to put Vista on that machine you bought a with XP on it. Tough. Asus won't write the Vista drivers for those special versions of the motherboard. Dell/HP/Compaq won't develop and release the drivers you need, but they would be happy to sell you another machine.

So, now, I'm back to build-your-own. Yes, the big box guys may be cheaper, and as long as you're comfortable throwing it away in a couple years, they're fine. If you're not comfortable with that, and you're not sure you can build your own then buy a pre-built, but do it from someone smaller and that's not using special OEMed parts. I would recommend you look at:

Alienware http://www.alienware.com/

Falcon Northwest: http://www.falcon-nw.com/

CyberPower PC: http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

Velocity Micro: http://www.velocitymicro.com/

They make gaming PCs, but they also make machines for graphic artists/designers and video editing. (Although Alienware seems to have stopped offering those as such; probably because they are owned by Dell now and Dell didn't like the competition.) You need a lot of the same parts that a gaming PC needs for graphics design. The graphics processor requirements may be somewhat less less (unless you use a lot of 3D design tools), but you need a fast processsor, fast disk system and lots and lots of RAM.

Because of the RAM requirements for Photoshop and Illustrator, you will need a 64-bit operating system (since 32-bit operating systems top out at 4 GB of RAM and you won't see all of that for technical reasons). Choose either Windows XP 64 bit or Vista (premium or ultimate) 64 bit. Really 4GB should be your starting point with 8 or 16 GB not unreasonable.

You don't need the fastest graphics card out there (unless you are doing 3D rendering as part of your work), but you still may need more than one. Why? You need monitor real estate. I would expect you to use at least dual monitors if not three or more. Many of the newer large monitors require two video connections as they have so many pixels to draw, one connection just can't supply the video bandwidth. Two such monitors requires two cards. If that's beyond your budget, you could get a computer with an SLI capable motherboard and a single graphics card for now. Use a pair of smaller LCDs (e.g., 19" or 22") that only require a single video connection. Put all the tools and palettes and other ancillary stuff on one screen and the work at hand on the other.

As far as disk systems, make it large and fast. Use 7200 RPM disks for sure, but 10000 RPM as even better.  Photoshop files .. are outrageously large at times. You should also do a little research into RAID systems where multiple disks are used to appear as a single disk. RAID 0+1 is probably what I would use for a graphics design workstation. Researching that is left as an exercise for the reader.

The bottom line is that a standard business desktop will not be adequate for your work. The requirements for that are far above a standard desktop. You need something closer to a gaming PC or one assembled with graphic design in mind.

Answer 3

in my opinion you should go for an assembled PC. with the follwing requirements

RAM: 2GB

Processor : Core 2 Duo 3.2 GHZ

Graphic Card: Nvidia 8600 GT

Answer 4

Well, both the cases are good if you choose the best ones. For branded ones, compac would be the best featuring all your requirements. For assembled, the list goes as follows:

Monitor - LG

Hard disk - Seagate

Mother Board - Intel

Processor - Core 2Duo

The rest would be as per your wish.

Answer 5

If you know what to do, assemble a PC. It's more cost effective at the higher end of the PC spectrum.

In that kind of PC, you want:

-Intel Core2 Quad core (strong processor with multiple cores),

-lots of RAM (3GB, 4GB+ if you use XP/vista 64bit),

-possibly a graphics card for multiple monitors or something... I always run out of space when running photoshop and associated apps.

A branded PC should have the above parts too, but it will be quite expensive.

Answer 6

if you can afford it a good Mac is what you want, there the best platform to use for design... but Linux is breaking ground in the animation and graphic design scene as the platform of choice over MAC's

infact heres a list of studios that use linux:

    * Digital Domain

    * Disney

    * Double Negative

    * DreamWorks Animation

    * Flash Film Works

    * Hammerhead

    * Industrial Light & Magic

    * Moving Picture Company

    * Pixar

    * Rhythm & Hues

    * Sony Pictures

    * Tippett

    * Weta Digital

starting out with small funds i think a wavcom tablet and a windows pc will get you going, but as you learn more and progress you can move to Mac/Linux sink some big money into your rig and get going with your carrier

as for your question, building your own is fine, but its far easier to get a branded one that comes with a full warranty... if your computer is your tool for work you need to know it'll get fixed.. ive been using dell's for years now with only a few problems, and nothing with the cpu/motherboard/ram all my issues were with aftermarket options

Answer 7

you can chose anything ..

if you go with branded one then its better ..

you can get all your parts serviced at one place ..

but if you go with an assembled one then for all the assemblem parts there is different service center .. it'll be late for you ..

so branded is best ..

go with compaq .. its the best ..

Answer 8

for graphic designing u will need a PC which is towards high end range.

branded PCs are value-for-money untill they are in mid or low range..

if u still want to go for them then chk out PCs from HP or Dell, they have some gr8 configurations to offer...

for assembled PC u can have a good configuration at a relatively lower price..

go for a core2Duo 8XXX series processor

buy a motherboard based on intel P35 based chipset or nvidia 680i based one

for graphics card go for a nvidia 8800GT based card. it is a high end 8XXX series card available for around 10000 bucks but is cheaper and better performer than entry level 9 series cards like 9600GT

for hard drive get a 320 GB min..

get an optical drive from sony or lite-on they r the best

for monitor chk out Dell E228WFP 22" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

get at least 3 GB ddr2 ram of 800MHz frequrncy...

rest get whatever u like

all the best

happy shopping...  :)