First time PC buyer/builder

[Supercarlos]

Hello,

 

I would love to get suggestions for components or pre-builds from the community.

 

I am currently studying to become a front-end web developer. Currently I use a late 2015 IMac i've attached a screenshot that shows the rest of the specs for my computer. I am looking to switch over to a Desktop PC however I have no idea what components or specs would work best for my scenario. I at the moment have a budget of $900 in mine for this purchase ( i am currently at $369 so getting there) however I have also spoken to my parents and we've discussed them going half and half with me if need be

 

So in conclusion

 

I am studying to become a front end with developer.

 

The current budget I have in mind for my purchase is $900

 

Lastly I would greatly appreciate if whatever suggestions are posted also keep in mind that I will also be doing some light gaming on this system as well

 

Thank you to anyone who posts suggestions/feedback and I hope everyone has an amazing day

 

[Radium_Angel]

Anything current will be a HUGE upgrade to what your iMac is running currently.

If you go pre-build (and a lot of people here will look down on you for that, but it's a perfectly viable option) go with the workstation-class stuff like a solid Dell Precision. Upgrading is a tad harder, but the quality is quite solid (Dell Precision owner here, 10 years on the same system without a single issue)

[PcBeExpensive]

12 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Anything current will be a HUGE upgrade to what your iMac is running currently.

If you go pre-build (and a lot of people here will look down on you for that, but it's a perfectly viable option) go with the workstation-class stuff like a solid Dell Precision. Upgrading is a tad harder, but the quality is quite solid (Dell Precision owner here, 10 years on the same system without a single issue)

wdym a lot of people will look you down? Nobody would look you down and if people do look people down for prebuilts those people are disgusting.

[Radium_Angel]

3 hours ago, PcBeExpensive said:

wdym a lot of people will look you down? Nobody would look you down and if people do look people down for prebuilts those people are disgusting.

This is a enthusiast site, people here poo-poo pre-builts and tell you to build your own. I disagree, if you buy the right pre-built there's nothing wrong with them

[PcBeExpensive]

55 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

This is a enthusiast site, people here poo-poo pre-builts and tell you to build your own. I disagree, if you buy the right pre-built there's nothing wrong with them

exactly, what im saying is those people who make fun of people with prebuilts are no life shitters who should not be anywhere social.

[trufret]

Pre-builts themselves aren't really a bad thing. Some people don't want to build their own PC just like some people don't want to work on their own car.

The big problem with buying pre-builts when you haven't built your own PC before is you don't always know what to look for when the company screws you over either by using proprietary parts like Dell likes to do with Motherboards, PSUs, and cases for their tower machines making them almost impossible to upgrade later without replacing the whole unit.

or only giving you 1 stick of ram so you can't run dual channel or don't enable XMP in the BIOS

or they give you the cheapest motherboard and PSUs possible so you're missing features or have limited upgrade paths without spending hundreds extra to replace the cheap parts.

 

There are plenty of good system builders out there but they tend to charge a bit more and people go with the lowest original price thinking they are getting a deal not realizing it's going to cost them more down the line.

[NekoBubbles]

On 2/15/2023 at 9:31 PM, Radium_Angel said:

This is a enthusiast site, people here poo-poo pre-builts and tell you to build your own. I disagree, if you buy the right pre-built there's nothing wrong with them

The only issue many here have with prebuilts is they cheap out on like 2/3's of the parts just to make a profit. People here don't like prebuilts simply cause they're not ethical when it comes down to it. And its even worse for those who don't know how to build a PC. As most prebuilts are cheaping out on essentials like GPU and Mobo which also ironically are mandatory parts. If a user is chasing high quality gaming. 

[NekoBubbles]

The largest though reason most here say avoid the prebuilts is they ultimately have a "Massive" depreciation rate. Its probably  the most ethical reason why so many would say its better to invest in a PC you just build yourself is the fact you will know what the parts you put in it are gonna be probably hold their value longer than a prebuilt that is intended to last half the time. 

The main reason I say in general avoid a prebuilds are they tend to use in house proprietary gear. The largest reason Apple, Alien, Dell and most leading gaming prebuild sellers at like best buy and other main stream stores make a massive profit is the parts they  cheap out on in their prebuilt parts. I get genuinely depressed when people say to take a peek at their prebuilds simply cause I automatically can guess what was put in there to make said PC so cheap. More often than not it scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality  

Some of the big points as to why prebuilds get frowned upon are: 
GPU with generic small heat sink and budget fans to cut the production cost by  60%, Whats the issue with this is well smaller heat sink means your GPU is probably gonna be running hotter.

PSU that is nameless doesn't have a rating of even bronze or silver. 80% cost reduction generally you want this to be more effcient so you don't  waste energy and or risk cheap caps in the PSU that could result in faulty power.

A single stick of RAM so already set to be operating at a slower speeds.

Mobo that lacks any kind of heat sinks and capacitors to make for a enjoyable experience. 

And often Not fully plugged in cables are just a few of the major reasons I tell  people to SKIP the prebuilts. And if anything buy used from reputable sellers locally. 

As if thats not all bad enough a lot of prebuilt PC also are in custom cases for those parts is what most of the value is pour'ed into(Yes thats right the value isn't the parts its the cases ) 

In short one can assume most prebuilds may sell for 500 to 1000 most often than not but the actual value of the parts might be 40% of what they are being sold for. So buying a prebuilt for 900 will have a 350 used sell value.  I personally would rather have a person have a cheap phone or laptop with a cheap cam on it and walk a person on building a PC with used parts over like discord and walk them through building their own PC than have a person essentially burn their hard worked budget. 

[QuantumSingularity]

There are prebuilds and prebuilds. While i was working at a local hardware store i was in charge of building different price tier PC rigs that we would sell as prebuilds, but we would put them together ourselves when people purchased them. This is the best kind of prebuild. You get normal hardware, selected by someone who doesn't only look at margin. 

In most cases if it's from a major brand like Dell, Lenovo, HP, Apple, it most likely will be the bad kind - with custom hardware, cheapest possible parts for higher margin and a ton of nonsense. 

[rikitikitavi]

On 2/15/2023 at 3:05 PM, Supercarlos said:

I am currently studying to become a front-end web developer. Currently I use a late 2015 IMac

So what exactly do you need?

 

Your current system is sufficient for your studies and web development. If you know you need more performance - get the latest M2 Mac Mini, or save your money and get an M1 model which is still a great performer, if you can find it at a significantly low price of course. You should aim for 16GB, however even 8GB should be enough for your school years and more (given you are using Apple Silicon).

 

Apple has discounts for students. So an M2 Mini starts at USD 500 (vs 600 regular), and with a 16GB is USD 680 (vs 800).

 

If you travel to campus, I would highly suggest going with a MacBook Air instead of a desktop.