Have to get a new computer for school, is this good?

[Trumandrummer]

Well, basically I have to get a new computer for school.
Mine is old, I am pretty sure the hard-drive is failing. It also doesn't get hardly any support from Linux at all. Linux will install, but I get no internet, no sound, and a poorly recognized video card. The thing is like over four years old, and I hate it.

Anyways. I want to get a pc. I want to be able to come home and practice and do work on good computer. I don't need a laptop, I wont use it. I have a laptop and I have not moved it in over a year.

I have been looking around and I found this Asus from best buy. I do not know much about asus. I have heard of them, but never tried them. I know they make a lot gaming computers though. Is it a good brand?

Here is a link to the PC:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366642&type=product&id=1218092150864

It has some really good stuff in it. It seemed kind of cheap for having all that stuff. Can anyone tell me if there is like a catch here that I am not seeing or if this is a good deal?

Thanks a lot,

[ardichoke]

I know Asus makes high quality computer parts from my experience. Their laptops are generally solid as well from what I've read and heard (never personally owned one of their laptops though). I have no idea what their desktops are like... but if it's anything like the rest of their hardware offerings it should be solid. It doesn't come with a monitor but I doubt that matters much to you. It looks to be a pretty good buy to me as far as off the shelf desktops go.

[Annes]

Just pray that you never need to get any warranty work done on it. Asus has absolutely terrible customer service.

[Trumandrummer]

Ok thanks a lot ardichoke, I am assuming that if they make nice laptops their desktops are probably pretty good too.

Just pray that you never need to get any warranty work done on it. Asus has absolutely terrible customer service.

Well hopefully I won't have any problems with it. But that is kind of another reason that I want a desktop and not a laptop, I want to be able to repair it and upgrade it fairly easily.

[MAGIC]

I just priced out an essentially identical system in terms of specs at newegg and it came comparable in price and leaves you enough to get a copy of Win 7 when it releases. The main reason i would go with this system is, if anything goes wrong, you can return parts individually without having to send the entire system in for repair. Many of the parts i selected have lifetime warranties. I dont like asus for their quality or their customer service, so i would much rather deal with newegg for any kind of customer support.

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146043)
Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187)
HDD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102)
GFX Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434)
PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019)
RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227388)
Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136066)
CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202)
CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029)
About $1150 shipped with 60 bucks in MIRs. It's a micro ATX system so, i dont know how much space you have at school, it will have a smaller footprint. Finally it has, more than likely, higher quality components that will have some OCing headroom.

I can't do it, but this should be moved to General Hardware.

[Trumandrummer]

I just priced out an essentially identical system in terms of specs at newegg and it came comparable in price and leaves you enough to get a copy of Win 7 when it releases. The main reason i would go with this system is, if anything goes wrong, you can return parts individually without having to send the entire system in for repair. Many of the parts i selected have lifetime warranties. I dont like asus for their quality or their customer service, so i would much rather deal with newegg for any kind of customer support.

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146043)
Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187)
HDD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102)
GFX Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434)
PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019)
RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227388)
Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136066)
CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202)
CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029)
About $1150 shipped with 60 bucks in MIRs. It's a micro ATX system so, i dont know how much space you have at school, it will have a smaller footprint. Finally it has, more than likely, higher quality components that will have some OCing headroom.

I can't do it, but this should be moved to General Hardware.

This looks like a really nice list! Thanks a lot. I have never built a computer before. I have wanted to, and almost did a few times though. I am sure its not too difficult, but I kind of need this computer soon. I could see myself taking a lot longer to build one than just buying one. I have always told myself that if I was gonna get a better pc, that I was gonna build it. I am not sure if I can build it in time though. I could see it taking like a month for me to get it built, otherwise I would do it.
Thanks a lot though :D

[TiberiusLazarus]

Once you have all of the parts, the entire build process takes maybe 3 hours for a first timer (assuming you go very slowly and read the manuals and mess up a couple times). It really comes down to asking yourself whether the possible extra cost of getting a pre-built is worth saving that couple hours (which decreases with each new build).

[MAGIC]

This looks like a really nice list! Thanks a lot. I have never built a computer before. I have wanted to, and almost did a few times though. I am sure its not too difficult, but I kind of need this computer soon. I could see myself taking a lot longer to build one than just buying one. I have always told myself that if I was gonna get a better pc, that I was gonna build it. I am not sure if I can build it in time though. I could see it taking like a month for me to get it built, otherwise I would do it.
Thanks a lot though :D

Order the stuff, make the 40 minute drive from Taylor to ICHQ and get it done!:crazy:

[Trumandrummer]

Well guys,
I ended up getting the Asus.
After a talk with the parents..... they didn't want me to build one (since they were helping me buy it)

Either way, I have a new computer for school and I am already dual booting fedora and vista without any hardware problems like my laptop had.

Thanks a lot eveyone :rockon: