I think Costco has a computer with the specs I want for cheaper than I could build...

[Lisa.Lisa]

So I was planning on building my own PC, but then I saw that Costco has a Dell XPS 8900 on sale for $1139 which I'm pretty sure is a lot cheaper than what I was going to pay to build it myself, and it basically has all the same specs or better than my build plan. 

 

 http://www.costco.ca/Dell%E2%84%A2-XPS-8900-English-Desktop%2c-i7-6700.product.100240521.html

 

Any advice? I'd been stoked about building myself but I'm also stoked on saving money...   Is there a way of finding out how upgradable one of these computers would be?

 

 

[79wjd]

A GT745 is pretty shitty, you could definitely build something better for a lot less. 

[awesomeness10120]

Don't get it. An $1100 PC with a GTX 745. BS.

[SPG]

it only has a gtx745, why would you pay over a grand for just the cpu

[Lisa.Lisa]

Sorry I should've clarified, I'm not planning on using it for gaming, more photoshop and small video editing/3D animation projects

 

This was the build I was planning on doing:

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($496.35 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($35.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($144.75 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($89.99 @ NCIX) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.87 @ BestDirect) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($66.75 @ shopRBC) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.98 @ NCIX) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($126.00 @ shopRBC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($43.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Total: $1208.99

[spartaman64]

you can build something much better

[Toxicknight79]

yeah thats pretty expensive for  that spec ,   and well its a dell pc meaning dell powersupply and dell motherboard with limited  options 

[Lisa.Lisa]

Are the quality of the Dell parts not as great as the parts I was planning on using? 

[TheRandomness]

4 minutes ago, Lisa.Lisa said:

Sorry I should've clarified, I'm not planning on using it for gaming, more photoshop and small video editing/3D animation projects

 

This was the build I was planning on doing:

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($496.35 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($35.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($144.75 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($89.99 @ NCIX) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.87 @ BestDirect) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($66.75 @ shopRBC) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.98 @ NCIX) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($126.00 @ shopRBC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($43.98 @ DirectCanada) 

Total: $1208.99

You're making some bad choices.

[connorpiper]

1 minute ago, Lisa.Lisa said:

Are the quality of the Dell parts not as great as the parts I was planning on using? 

The Dell PSU might actually be better than the Corsair CX600. Would change that out right now. 

Also, yours does have the possibility of an overclock. Though the CPU cooler won't handle that too well. If you want to save some, then don't get a Z170 motherboard. And use the stock cooler with the CPU. 

[KE2012]

Also remember the warranty on parts you buy yourself will often be much longer than the warranty of that PC Also often no, dell parts will be worse as Dell is an awful company. (I must confess however I am a die hard anti Dell guy) 

[Lisa.Lisa]

Just now, TheRandomness said:

You're making some bad choices.

haha okay. Some specifics would be helpful. How would you suggest I improve? 

[TheRandomness]

Just now, Lisa.Lisa said:

haha okay. Some specifics would be helpful. How would you suggest I improve? 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($88.00 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($29.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $990.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-19 19:23 EDT-0400

 

By doing that. The 1231v3 = a 4770, better PSU, much much more powerful GPU and faster SSD.

[handymanshandle]

I suspect that you're intending on gaming with this build right?

If so then I think that I've got a better build.

Just a minute.

 

[Lisa.Lisa]

2 minutes ago, connorpiper said:

The Dell PSU might actually be better than the Corsair CX600. Would change that out right now. 

Also, yours does have the possibility of an overclock. Though the CPU cooler won't handle that too well. If you want to save some, then don't get a Z170 motherboard. And use the stock cooler with the CPU. 

But the 6th generation intel CPU doesn't come with a stock CPU cooler. I wasn't planning on overclocking either, at least not for the first few years.

Do you have any suggestions for a different mobo? I've been having a hard time deciding on a good mobo. 

What PSU would you recommend? 

[Lisa.Lisa]

4 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($88.00 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($29.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $990.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-19 19:23 EDT-0400

 

By doing that. The 1231v3 = a 4770, better PSU, much much more powerful GPU and faster SSD.

Thanks, I'll look into this more. 

Is this USD? I forgot to mention I'm in Canada

[Starelementpoke]

1 minute ago, Lisa.Lisa said:

But the 6th generation intel CPU doesn't come with a stock CPU cooler. I wasn't planning on overclocking either, at least not for the first few years.

Do you have any suggestions for a different mobo? I've been having a hard time deciding on a good mobo. 

What PSU would you recommend? 

That´s only k ones.

[Lisa.Lisa]

4 minutes ago, wcreek said:

I suspect that you're intending on gaming with this build right?

If so then I think that I've got a better build.

Just a minute.

 

Actually no, mostly photoshop and smaller video editing/3D animation projects

[handymanshandle]

2 minutes ago, Lisa.Lisa said:

Actually no, mostly photoshop and smaller video editing/3D animation projects

Ah okay, still building your own PC will be a better deal, I wasn't sure if you needed like extreme graphical power.

Do your other programs leverage OpenCL/OpenGL or do they benefit from CUDA?

 

[Lisa.Lisa]

1 minute ago, wcreek said:

Ah okay, still building your own PC will be a better deal, I wasn't sure if you needed like extreme graphical power.

Do you programs leverage OpenCL/OpenGL or do they benefit from CUDA?

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. So even though my build would cost a bit more, I'd be getting better quality parts if I did it myself?

 

I'm not actually sure. Right now I've been doing my small video editing/3D animation projects in Photoshop and Pinnacle Studio

[Starelementpoke]

1 minute ago, Lisa.Lisa said:

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. So even though my build would cost a bit more, I'd be getting better quality parts if I did it myself?

 

I'm not actually sure. Right now I've been doing my small video editing/3D animation projects in Photoshop and Pinnacle Studio

TBH, it probably cost less and have good quality parts.

[Lisa.Lisa]

4 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

That´s only k ones.

I'd picked the k one because it's speed is 4.0 GHz compared to 3.4GHz for the i7 6700

[TheRandomness]

6 minutes ago, Lisa.Lisa said:

Thanks, I'll look into this more. 

Is this USD? I forgot to mention I'm in Canada

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($336.52 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($71.98 @ NCIX) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($79.99 @ DirectCanada) 
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($62.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card  ($259.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($98.05 @ Vuugo) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($44.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Total: $1124.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-19 19:36 EDT-0400

 

Adjusted for CAD. Also, better specs for slightly less.

[Starelementpoke]

Just now, Lisa.Lisa said:

I'd picked the k one because it's speed is 4.0 GHz compared to 3.4GHz for the i7 6700

I´m aware, I was just pointing out that it´s not true that all 6 gen. intel cpus don´t come with stock coolers.

[Lisa.Lisa]

1 minute ago, Starelementpoke said:

I´m aware, I was just pointing out that it´s not true that all 6 gen. intel cpus don´t come with stock coolers.

ah gotcha, thanks =)