This is really cool -- now when people ask me how hard it is to build their own PC I can show them this site... Usually my answer is "it's just as easy as picking the right things, and putting round pegs into round holes"
This doesn't seem very different from PcPartPicker.com or the LogicalIncrements.com guide. Nearly every hardware review site will also have a running list of recommended builds.[0]
Of course, you mentioned similar websites but I think they have different purposes compared to Pangoly. PCPartPicker offers a huge set of components with different stores so you can find the best price available for almost anything, but it struggle with users having little building experience that are trying to find what's the current best build options for their budget. On the other hand logicalincrements offers a nice viewing experience of components tiers but it lacks building customizations.
I think having another option and point of view is not harmful at all :)
Thanks!
I'm the owner, so here's a brief overview of the available features:
- Build configuration starting from user's preferred budget. The suggested components are always safe to be used in the same build and it's also possible to add optional parts like peripherals.
- Automatic build creation starting from user's preferred component.
- Sharing: once the build is completed it's possible to share it on the most popular social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit), on forums (BBCode) o by Email.
- Build guidelines: for every component type we provide general guidelines and best practices for the picking, also suggesting the highest rated products currently available on the market.
- Product reviews: our rating, pros and cons, q&a, price history, suggested PC builds for the selected component and compatibility.
- Price analysis and trends.
- Multilanguage and multicurrency.
- Responsive design: the website provides an optimal viewing experience on all devices (desktops, tablets and smartphones).
One thing that I noticed was the lack of Xeon processors for Intel. When I built my current rig, I could get an i7 level chip for an i5 price, but without integrated video. This is totally fine for gaming rigs and something that isn't uncommon. Was that a specific decision?
So... Nice site so far but it would be nice if you offer some additional features over your competitors.
I personally do not need the latest and greatest, however it would be nice to help me optimize on a different set of factors.
For example, I have a lot of interest in building power efficient machines. Rather than having to look up power consumption for individual parts, it would be great if you had the ability to generate optimal configurations given power and noise considerations.
Similarly, if you could have a generator for minimally different Hackintoshes (eg OS X running with minimum hacks), I think you would find a lot of interest from that particular user base.
PS. Playing around with the various configurators for different parts, it seems that there are options missing. For example:
1) Can't find 16GB Ballastix Sport Low Profile memory
2) Can't find Intel low power processors; T-series
3) Can't filter on 80 Plus level for power supplies
4) For a low(er) power build, I do not want the largest power supply. Conversely, I want the lowest capable of powering my setup.
5) Ability to easily find a video card meeting my needs: single slot GPU Nvidia Maxwell suitable for HTPC.
Serious question: why? I would think that for servers, the lower cost and easier replaceability of buying standardized machines from an OEM would outweigh any benefits you could get from hand-selecting components.
How does this compare to pcpartpicker? I don't see any option to use euros as the currency without getting an italian user interface. Are the prices at all localized, if so, do you have plans to support any other countries?
Great. Looking forward for Dutch prices, that would be great. FYI an entire translation seems unnecessary, and in my experience (at least with dutch peole) most will prefer an english interface though that is usually because translations are so bad.
Although i'm unsure of the legality, you might want to add hackintosh/OSX86 setups in there as well, matching the right hardware combos is a big part of getting it all setup and the latest configs change often
I haven't built my own PC for a number of years and probably wouldn't consider it any more to be honest (MacBook FTW). I will however recommend this to anyone who does ask me about self-builds :)
Modern laptops have been adequate for most tasks for quite some time (T61 ftw, personally). On the other hand, if you are CPU/GPU/RAM limited (eg rendering..), then you will still greatly benefit from the additional power a desktop build will bring. And it's refreshing to see the continuing progress of stats, while laptops have seemingly stagnated (6 cores and 64GiB RAM? Nifty!).
OP, I think you have a ways to go to match the utility of pcpartpicker. But if you want a possible leg-up on them, then look into supporting workstation builds with Xeon/Cxxx/ECC (they don't really cost more than comparable "consumer" builds, and if you value stability more than overclocking, they make a lot of sense). Niches can be powerful.
So the business model is based on piping customers to amazon ? thats neat, however i found that amazon germany lacks the diversity that many of the big online hardware retailers have around here.
Is it only stuff that amazon sells or also marketplace ?
How can you suggest builds for the budget if you don't have a real store providing updated components prices? Amazon is by far the most popular online store so I think it's a safe bet using it as a de facto standard.
I have a PC that was pretty powerful when I built it, but has aged (5-6 years old now).
I'd love to find a way to easily compare my current system to these ones. For instance, the 'AMDicted' sounds good, but I can't easily tell if it's an upgrade from my current rig or not.
Wow, it's been so long since I've built a desktop I had to look up APU. (a CPU that does more than just central processing, possible a GPU on the same chip)
One thing that bugs me at first glance is that after I pick a preset denoted with a "starting price", when it gets to the next page with the component breakdown the starting price is $100-300 higher.
Seems like there's a good mid-ground between pre-configured systems and expert mode. A mode which offers some alerts for silly mistakes (or prevents them from being made in the first place) would be nice. i.e. an Intel chip paired with an AMD socketed motherboard.
Indeed. But alerts would be a nice addition to expert mode anyway. You can't build a PC with a processor that does not fit in the socket, expert or not. Pre filtered list of motherboards or cpu based on selected cpu or motherboards would be nice.
Anyway, great website.
This is awesome. I remember building my first computer at 12 years old. :) A nice fat gaming rig with dual boot to Linux. My parents bought it for me after I got all "E's for effort!"
At the time all I had to go by was a "how to build your own computer" book. I would have loved something like this.
Why can't you perform compatibility checks on hardware in free build mode? That would take so much headache out of the composing, and be an awesome middle ground between the prebuilt ones and the completely free builder.
I find it unfortunate that I can't completely remove the graphics card from the mid-range system, and I'm not allowed to select a SSD for it either. If I could do those things I would be able to compare this site directly to the PC I built yesterday.
Also I notice that you're missing estimated tax, shipping, and a Windows license from the price.
Accessories should be part of the options. You need cables for example to connect the HDs to the MB, DVI adapters for older monitors, etc. Some people may have a spare one, while others will have to make an additional trip to the store.
SATA cables are included with the motherboard, and DVI adapters are included with the video card. Neither of those should be an expected purchase when building a new machine.
When I build a PC, the number one feature I want is ECC memory. It can be tricky to find a non-server configuration that supports it (you historically need a "good" bios that is smart enough to enable it for AMD, and you typically need a Xeon flavor CPU + workstation level board for Intel; caveat, it has been 2.5 years since my last build).
I was hoping that this tool might make finding non-server parts that support ECC easier, but alas, that does not seem to be the case.
I'm genuinely curious, why is it your number one feature? I know that ECC provides error correction, but aside from server use, is it really that critical?
Memory errors are a significant cause [citation needed!] of system instability. If you want a reliable machine, even a desktop, that is going to keep working, then ECC is very useful.
If you've decided upon ECC as a must, then it would be great for a system builder tool to then show you options based upon that choice.
And for some high end use case you might want to be looking at xenon's or even dual xenon's.
I could see a big data or HPC developer wanting to have a desktop that used the same processor as the cluster they are writing for - mainly in the case where your tuning for max performance and want to able to develop using the same complier flags.
I really like it but I think it can be simplified. At least the original presentation of options. e.g.
* The names Advanced and Pro are too similar.
* "For AMD lovers, a cheaper alternative of the Gamer configuration" OK, but then this could be folded into the Gamer configuration as an alternate flavour.
Can you get this down to three or four options and move the rest to the expert users section?
215 comments
[ 6.9 ms ] story [ 175 ms ] thread[0]http://www.pcper.com/hwlb
For example, about some Hackintosh friendly builds?
I personally do not need the latest and greatest, however it would be nice to help me optimize on a different set of factors.
For example, I have a lot of interest in building power efficient machines. Rather than having to look up power consumption for individual parts, it would be great if you had the ability to generate optimal configurations given power and noise considerations.
Similarly, if you could have a generator for minimally different Hackintoshes (eg OS X running with minimum hacks), I think you would find a lot of interest from that particular user base.
PS. Playing around with the various configurators for different parts, it seems that there are options missing. For example:
1) Can't find 16GB Ballastix Sport Low Profile memory
2) Can't find Intel low power processors; T-series
3) Can't filter on 80 Plus level for power supplies
4) For a low(er) power build, I do not want the largest power supply. Conversely, I want the lowest capable of powering my setup.
5) Ability to easily find a video card meeting my needs: single slot GPU Nvidia Maxwell suitable for HTPC.
I haven't built my own PC for a number of years and probably wouldn't consider it any more to be honest (MacBook FTW). I will however recommend this to anyone who does ask me about self-builds :)
OP, I think you have a ways to go to match the utility of pcpartpicker. But if you want a possible leg-up on them, then look into supporting workstation builds with Xeon/Cxxx/ECC (they don't really cost more than comparable "consumer" builds, and if you value stability more than overclocking, they make a lot of sense). Niches can be powerful.
Any thoughts into a comparison tool?
I have a PC that was pretty powerful when I built it, but has aged (5-6 years old now).
I'd love to find a way to easily compare my current system to these ones. For instance, the 'AMDicted' sounds good, but I can't easily tell if it's an upgrade from my current rig or not.
Have you used BuiltWith? Looks like asp.net, jquery, bootstrap, and what not.
There's a chrome extension too.
At the time all I had to go by was a "how to build your own computer" book. I would have loved something like this.
Also I notice that you're missing estimated tax, shipping, and a Windows license from the price.
I was hoping that this tool might make finding non-server parts that support ECC easier, but alas, that does not seem to be the case.
If you've decided upon ECC as a must, then it would be great for a system builder tool to then show you options based upon that choice.
I could see a big data or HPC developer wanting to have a desktop that used the same processor as the cluster they are writing for - mainly in the case where your tuning for max performance and want to able to develop using the same complier flags.
http://cr.yp.to/hardware/ecc.html
He hasn't updated is build in a while, though. http://cr.yp.to/hardware/build-20090123.html
* The names Advanced and Pro are too similar.
* "For AMD lovers, a cheaper alternative of the Gamer configuration" OK, but then this could be folded into the Gamer configuration as an alternate flavour.
Can you get this down to three or four options and move the rest to the expert users section?
It would be nice if for each tier there were an Intel option and an AMD option ... and an ATi and nVidia option.