Build your own pc or buy it?

In the past I've always built my own pcs. Cheaper and I guess that self satisfaction of getting exactly what you wanted. In relationship with my other thread about the OS, I'm going to acquire a new system either quite soon or a little later. I will probably base it on an Intel Dual Core E6600 as that seems to be a pretty good price vs. performance CPU and also a mid-range $200ish video card. Then the usual supporting fan fare, hard drive, DVD Drive (no blue-ray yet for me), etc. But I'm wondering if it's really worth building anymore, even from a monetary value. I'm considering just getting a Dell or another online company where you can configure your system somewhat.

Anybody price shop recently on the cost of building a system from scratch vs. buying a completed system? Which way have you gone and why? If bought online, have you consider other places then Dell or Gateway?

I'm all for building my own PC's but one of my sysadmin friends had an experience with Dell that was positive. A client of his bought a Dell and the power supply went out. He called Dell, explained the problem, and they sent a new power supply the next day. Weeks later the motherboard went wonky and with just a phone call, Dell sent a new one over. He didn't even have to send the old parts back. You can opt to ship it to them to repair or have them send you the part to fix it yourself. It's nice having that kind of support and it can be a headache doing the same at a local computer parts store.

It was a positive experience because Dell was easy to work with and they quickly sent replacement parts to him. However, it was a negative because the parts broke in the first place. I just don't like how a prebuilt system comes with a bunch of trash already installed on the system. I usually just wipe the drive and install a clean OS when we get those in.

I am pricing out a new build now. If you want a decent gaming rig I think you can still save some money over buying pre-built. You also get control over the individual parts that are used.

If you don't need a rig for any particular purpose it would be hard to beat the prices you can find for a plain jane box nowadays.

The current issue of Maximum PC has a $1500 build speced out that will be Direct X 10 compliant. I might base some of my build off of their list.

I don't know how much processing power you need for your PC--but if this machine will mostly be for simple browsing and typing--you might check into going green somehow on this system.

More efficient processors, variable clock speeds, sleep modes, energy star power supply, etc. (my brother-in-law designs the power supply chips for PC processors and he said the next generation desktop PC's are going to look a whole lot more like portable/laptop PC--lots of tricks and tools to save power).

A PC running flat-out in an expensive electrical power market can easily burn $10-$40 per month... If you have AC during the summer, you also have to pay more money to move that $10-$40 of electric heat out of your home.

By spending/designing a green system up front, you might easily save the entire price in just a couple of years of power usage.

Just a humble suggestion.

-Bill

Build it, it's more fun.

I really favor building my own for several reasons:

• I won't have to come up with all of the money at once. I can build my new machine using some parts from my old one, get it up and running for a few hundred dollars and then flesh it out with all of the planned doodahs in the folowing months.
• I hate it when a machine comes with a third of it's max memory but all of the slots are filled with small modules and I have to throw them out to make room for a memory upgrade.
• Since I run *NIX I'll have hardware issues with off the shelf Win boxes and have to throw away and replace components anyway. That would include the Operating System which would be part of the cost.
• The competition among PC builders is so stiff and the profit margins are so low that they will DO ANYTHING to shave a few cents off the price of any part. I just don't want a box with the cheapest possible PSU or system memory...
• While Dell does produce a very "highly integrated" machine, bear in mind that it has often been documented that they make special bulk deals with component manufacturers (video cards are a good example) where the parts are a special run with exactly the same model number as the companies high end line, and yet when the owner starts putting the machine through it's paces they often find that the name brand vid card made exclusively for Dell may be a dumbed down version without the same feature set as the same model card purchased from a vendor. This has been documented over and over. I feel it is very disingenuious to advertize a specific high end model component that they know from the get-go will not perform the same tasks as it's famous counterpart with the same manufacturer and model number. This also say nothing about the time the user spends frustrated, banging his head against the wall before he figures out that he can't make the card perform as expected because it isn't the same card that Dell led him to believe he was paying for.

IMO people make a mistake in thinking that they may save a bundle by building their own PC -- but I'm convinced that many of us may design a better box than we find on the shelves if we think about it.

YMMV

With the past year fighting with M*soft over their broken OS not running my software the same way on two systems with the same hardware specs and a tech service nitwit telling me I can't upgrade from XP home to XP Pro and proving it by sending me a link to a webpage telling me I can (?). That plus the resource demands of Vista with the problems that it will have I see no alternative but to build a computer system free of the taint of MS. No OS integrated hardware, No bloatware.

I built my first system last year. It cost about the same as an off the shelf unit but it did not cost me for any of the software running on it. That alone paid for the hardware cost.

When We upgrade at work, I have already told our vendors and MS that it will not have their product on it. If we have to build them, then that will be what we do.

Currently running Ubuntu, Fedora Core 5 and Suse 10 on three systems.

I seem to build-up a new system every 3-4 years. This last time, I bought the parts from one shop, in so doing, they waive the build fees. The cost was reasonable and the system excluding parts outside the box, was $1000. Built in August shortly after MS axed 98 support. (I'm a laggard)

AMD Athlon 64 1.8 GHz
MSI K8N SLI-F mobo (939)
570 GB SATA drives - 320 and 250 GB WD
3 GB memory Corsair Value
MSI Nvidia 7300 GS
Sony DVD drive
Mitsumi floppy/flash card multi-drive
Cooler Master WaveMaster case
Just PC 500W PS.

Other:
Samsung 215 TW monitor
Sandisk 12:1 flash card reader
MS 6000 and Logitech VX mice (one at a time of course)
Kensington keyboard

The bottom line is I get it the way I want things and economize on parts of my choice. I haven't owned a major brand PC, all local small shop builds.

As Ras_Thavas posted, MAX PC has some nice builds to follow.

Build. The only thing I can think of you might think it's cheaper, since they are offering some dirt cheap stuff, but you will get what you pay for. Like you wont get a vid card, much ram, or fast ram, limited system bus, weak powersupply that can't take any more drives, limited something.

To me it's not worth it, I can build a system that will perform waaaay better for just 100-200 more than those $300 systems, and still have options for upgrades. I built this PC back in 2004 for 800, and compared its stuff to one custom done at dell. It was close to 2000 IIRC.

Also dont forget the sometimes proprietary hardware. My friend's Dell had a DVD burner, and we couldn't get firmware updates for it even though it was NEC, because it was a dell specific NEC, so he had to chuck it to get a new burner that could handle 8-16x discs, even though he burns very rarely. He didn't really want faster burns, just to be able to burn!! It really burned his butt!! hehe

I've built 5 or 6 systems and I have enjoyed every one... I can't really say it's cheaper, but it's definitely better since you get exactly what you want (or thought you wanted).

Too bad it's not practical to build your own laptops.

The computer I'm using at home is one I built.
No preloaded adware, or unecessary trialwares slowing down the works.

The computer I use at work was low end and a cheap name brand to start with, just like my Packard Bell Legend 406CD was in 8-1995.
The pc at work I use before I start my morning runs, has 256 megs of ram and winxp home, and a bunch of preloaded software junk on it.
It very frequently has all of it's ram committed to something, plus 50-100 more megs of virtual memory.
It's a drag to use.

Mine at home has a gig of ram and rarely goes above 256 megs of ram committed to something.
Just checked, and it's at 224 megs in use as of this posting.

One has to wonder if any name brand unit's preloaded software is what can allow a "special deal" on it.
Just like some of the free, or low priced "adware based" internet providers have done over the years.

Buy it?
Check to see what all really comes as part of the deal 1st. oo:

Build it?
If you know what you are doing, and can easily return any of the new parts that won't or can't work, give it a whirl.

It depends on what "you" need. I used to build every PC, but I realized that my wife could not care less, so I bought her a Compaq that is was really cheap after rebates and it does everything she needs

For me, I had specific multi-processing needs, so I just finished building this system about a month ago:

K8WE (non-SCSI)
2x 852 (2.6GZ)
2x Zalman 9700
3x Swiftech MCX159-CU Heatsinks (fans on North & South bridge chips)
2Gig Rec/ECC PC2700
MSI GeForce 7600GS 256MB PCI-E Video Card
PC Power& Cooling Silencer EPS12V 750W
Lian Li PC-V2000B Plus II
150GB SATA 10K Raptor Drive for OS/Programs
LSI 21320-IS with 4 Seagate 15k.4 37GB SCSI RAID-0 for work area, and one 500GG Sata for data/storage

I tried looking for something "similar", but it was always significantly more expensive "and" using different parts than what I wanted/needed. I ended up building my own - so far 100% reliable. Later this year when the Opteron's 285 become much cheaper, I will have a 4 core system :naughty:

Will

i always build my own pcs im always way behind the curve cause i wait to i can sell old rig.for enough money for upgrade.this is a amd x2 3800 at 250X10.1 gig a cosair ddr2 and a 7600 gt video card and a ati 650 hdtv card.its never ever crashes .im dubb as a box a rocks but im lucky with pcs.my dad used to always buy new pcs from all brands he had nothing but probs. then i build him one and he loved it.sadly it is cheaper to buy one then build one

Sub_Umbra said:

I just don't want a box with the cheapest possible PSU or system memory...

Click to expand...

That in and of itself is a good enough reason to build your own.

A few others:

1) Many prebuilt machines come with cases and/or motherboards that are basically unupgradeable. No more slots for another drive, only one or two RAM slots, often a non-standard form factor power supply. Often if a component goes bad you have to buy a proprietary one from them at 3 times the price.

2) You don't know the conditions it was assembled under. I often have visions of a PC assembly technician in a filthy shop earning $3 an hour who hears the bell for lunch and drops the hard drive he was in the process of installing on the table. Or perhaps combs his hair with a stick of RAM. The machine may work when you get it, but I have major problems trusting a machine with components which may not have been handled properly.

3) Prebuilt machines always come with a bloated OS installation and "extra bonus" software. All the extra software always seems to have crap enabled which is running in the background all the time. End result is your new machine often feels no faster than your old one. Again, the problem is incompetent technicians. Most software can be installed without enabling the useless background crap that almost all software seems to have nowadays. For example, MS Office has junk like "findfast" running in the background which causes the hard drive to constantly search. One of the first things I do upon installing MS Office is to remove all the start up crap. It runs just fine without having any of that bloat enabled. Ditto for most other software.

There are two major drawbacks to building yourself. Many PC vendors offer deals where you don't pay anything for a year. This could be attractive if you're short on cash now but expecting a windfall later. Second, if any part goes bad under warranty on a home-made PC you have to deal with the manufacturer directly instead of letting Dell or whoever made your PC take care of it for you.

Despite a few drawbacks, I recommend that everyone either build your machine, or let someone who knows how build it for you. I wouldn't touch a premade system with a ten-foot pole.

It is cheaper to build your own PC for several reasons.
first, you get to choose high quality motherboard and video cards which brand name dealers don't offer.

Second, the parts of your pc is interchangeable if one of them dies.

Third, you are assure of getting warranty from each parts. you are proud to build your own machine. Its like your own baby; it lasts longer than brand name.

I also prefer to build my own. I've built a dozen or so boxes so far including several flavors of WinDohs and a few Red Hat boxes. I always use Linux for servers; they're just rock solid and very efficient.

I prefer to be able to choose exactly what goes into each machine. It's a good learning experience - every mobo and hardware combo is different - and when it needs service or upgrading, it's easier to make a quick mental list of what I need to buy for it next. It's sort of like having a child and knowing what his or her specific needs are in clothes, food, education, toys, etc. Buying a PC off the shelf is like having someone else's child over for the weekend!

What is a good piece part system for LINUX (or equivalent)--I really don't want anything to do with Vista--Windows XP seems to be about the limit of what I would want/need (stable, interface is nice--but so was Win95, lots of drivers and software/device support). I probably would like to start with a low power system (laptop with or without batteries).

I have worked in s Linux shop before (I am a HW/Systems Engineer) and it seemed that they were spending quite a bit of time to just get enough drivers to get the note book systems to work (IBM at this place). Won't go into the issue of one of the top SW guys going home and using his kid's computer to use the hated Windows only software (project planner, etc.).

I understand that there are many flavors of Linux out there--and that much of that is around easy of installation/configuration and User Interface (seems the GUI/Shell wars for xNxX were just a bloody as the PC/Mac wars). Any suggestions for getting started, what flavor of Linux, what hardware vendor(s) have reasonable device support?

-Bill

PS: I realize that this might not be the right thread--Mod's may want to split into its own thread.

I used to build my own but now prefer to just select the pieces and have it assembled. The last one I bought gave me a lifetime warranty of no labor costs on any repairs or upgrades if I spent the $30 or $40 or whatever it cost to have them assemble it and install the OS. It has paid off for me.

Looks like I'm the lone "buy it" type of person here. I used to build my PC's but I have less time than I do money these days. Now, I prefer to pull something out of the box, plug it in, and be up in running in less time than I would have spent agonizing over minutiae like trying to eke out the last few MHz of CPU clock speed or MB of RAM or hard drive out of my $$. If I was a gamer I would probably not accept any shrink-wrap solution. However, my PC is a tool to help me deal with mundane tasks or to get more productive use of my time. My preference for laptops also preclude building my own. Mobility is more important to me than raw processing power.

Good point CM. For me, as for most of the rest of the posters here I'll bet, buying a new computer is as much an emotional experience as a rational one; like buying a car, or a $200+ flashlight for that matter. That's why we agonize over every decision of every component. I actually like spending the time to go through what's on the market and what would be the perfect combination. Then after I buy it I try to *not* follow the market because I will only see how quickly my perfect choice is left in the dust.