LED for 4x4 - buy or build?

Ive done some research and have been given a few recs, but figured i'd post here to get a few more options. Currently looking to upgrade lighting for my 4x4. I have been looking at the Iluminar iL8x (https://www.iluminarlighting.com/il8x-led-fixture), but there seems to be limited experience with this light on the forum. Budget wise - I am a buy once cry once type guy, but i would hate to spend $1200ish if there are other reputable lights available with similar specs. Any other light recommendations? Also, I am not against building my own, so if you have a build guide feel free to drop it below.

Thanks!

Some build info.

TintEastwood said:

Some build info.

DIY LED Strip Build Designs for Samsung H-Series, F-Series, Q-Series, and Bridgelux EB Gen.2 - LED Gardener

DIY LED strip builds have become very popular recently. The mid-power section of our forum is full of threads created by DIYers looking to build their own custom lights, and new builds and ideas are surfacing every day. If you don’t live somewhere where you have easy access to premade lights...

ledgardener.com

Click to expand...

Awesome thanks!

TintEastwood said:

Some build info.

DIY LED Strip Build Designs for Samsung H-Series, F-Series, Q-Series, and Bridgelux EB Gen.2 - LED Gardener

DIY LED strip builds have become very popular recently. The mid-power section of our forum is full of threads created by DIYers looking to build their own custom lights, and new builds and ideas are surfacing every day. If you don’t live somewhere where you have easy access to premade lights...

ledgardener.com

Click to expand...

Heh...this guy looks like a bit of a noob. Someone should tell him the board designers put two connectors on the on the power plane and ground plane for a reason.

.....or maybe he has some kind of push connector wire fetish thingy.

TendingFlunky said:

Ive done some research and have been given a few recs, but figured i'd post here to get a few more options. Currently looking to upgrade lighting for my 4x4. I have been looking at the Iluminar iL8x (https://www.iluminarlighting.com/il8x-led-fixture), but there seems to be limited experience with this light on the forum. Budget wise - I am a buy once cry once type guy, but i would hate to spend $1200ish if there are other reputable lights available with similar specs. Any other light recommendations? Also, I am not against building my own, so if you have a build guide feel free to drop it below.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Id say buy these days if you have it in your budget. Warranty is a big deal. Professionally done is also a big deal. The Iluminar is another Gavita spectrum bar light. Hard to pick one these days when 100 companies pop up in one yr all copying Fluence or Gavita spectrum or design. Some have superceded them in bars & efficiencies too.
So there are several quality products out there. Some are newer then others. Sure, one could bang out strips & build a white light for cheep enough. Then add a few 660's n have the same spectrum. One could also risk they cash off to Alibaba for a custom spectrum too. And they will false promise the shit outta you. I hear.
If it were me, id be looking into something a lil different. With more versatility, spectrum enhancements that fill gaps in reg wh/ leds & reduce green output some. Basically id be looking at a 2.4+ umol/j fixture that has a broader spectrum. Or what some may call a Horticultural spectrum. 390-740nm instead if 440-680nm (white + 660, basic HE SPEC).
I feel many make the mistake of purchasing decisions solely off said efficiencies.
Example: SE-HPS=1.6-7 umol/j
CMH=1.9-2.0 umol/j
Only a small efficiency difference yet a 315 cmh has been known to accomplish that of a 600w hps. Why? Spectrum.
Id be looking at something a lil different. Some that come to mind are:
-The Green Sunshine led
-GrowLightsAustrallia
-Amare Tech.
-Hortrilux led
-Many upcoming focusing more on spectrum too.
Although you will not go wrong using the famous HE spectrum either. The extra photons can even out the difference in yeilds just not quality.

Im gonna go with build. Its just so easy, and the amount of satisfaction when your build does 2g per watt or when you turn it on the first time is great. Its a tent, right?
Personally id stay away from strips if this is a first time thing, cause theres a lot of wor and hanging is not as easy if you dont have access from several side.. If you want an easy build with straight for ward concepts:
Have a look at @bigmikey86 build: straight forward, six qb boards with added red, a fairly full on flower spectrum. Add some blue and or UV on a separate channel and your pretty much done. flower spectrum and some extra blue, wider if possible, and your finished. you can go the alibaba way with meijiu or kingbrite or go for HLG. China boards, with 1.5-2 times many boards as you would use with HLG is a good deal if youre still spending less than HLG boards. When you run you boards softer they last longer and gain whatever small loss in efficiency you may see with a china board. Especially KB is a good vendor, you could get strips with special colors, blues, uv from them aswell. For far red my recommendation is @Grow Lights Australia with the buddy system. They also have exceptionally nice boards with tweaked spectrum, it could be another way to go. two cents

If you consider Spider Farmer led, you can check our SF 4000, suit for 4x4. Plug and play. Samsung Lm301B diodes and Meanwell driver

Thanks to everyone that replied and sent me messages. I decided to buy instead of build due to warranty. After weeding through many different companies I went with the Optic LED slim 600H.

Thanks for the mention @Rocket Soul ! I haven’t been in here much but I added in the UV T5 and so far it’s been great. Buds are very frosty. This run has been sensitive to feed, anything over 500ppm on my meter and they all get angry.