Assume you build your own computer using high quality parts. Let's say comparable to a high end Dell computer that might run $3,500. Can you save much money by building it yourself? What is the liklihood that you might experience some off the wall and perplexing hardware or software problems with the computer?
My brother believes it is possible to save a great deal of money by building your own system but I have a great fear of building one and then having technical problems that are difficult to solve. I've always bought Dell systems and had little trouble with them.
Any informed commentary would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Building Your Own Computer
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WPD
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I'd guess you could save a whole lot.
You'd need:
CPU $300
Motherboard $250
RAM $200
Vid Card $400
Sound Card $150
DVD-RW $200
CD-RW(maybe you like 2 drives) $75
Case $100
Monitor $600
Keyboard $50
Mouse $50(cause you got latest Logitech wireless kickass mouse)
Speakers $250
Software $250
Misc. $100
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TOTAL: $2975
That was a quick, really dirty, probably completely wrong estimate on parts costs. So that would save you $525.
If you do a fair amount of research on the parts you are buying to make sure they typically play nice together then you should ave a minimal amount of problems. And if you do, just post here, there are plenty of people who have had done the same!
You'd need:
CPU $300
Motherboard $250
RAM $200
Vid Card $400
Sound Card $150
DVD-RW $200
CD-RW(maybe you like 2 drives) $75
Case $100
Monitor $600
Keyboard $50
Mouse $50(cause you got latest Logitech wireless kickass mouse)
Speakers $250
Software $250
Misc. $100
-------------------------
TOTAL: $2975
That was a quick, really dirty, probably completely wrong estimate on parts costs. So that would save you $525.
If you do a fair amount of research on the parts you are buying to make sure they typically play nice together then you should ave a minimal amount of problems. And if you do, just post here, there are plenty of people who have had done the same!
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Rip
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Re: Building Your Own Computer
You are very unlikely to build anything cheaper than Dell with the same level of components. I'm an MS OEM system builder and I can barely build a system for what they sell it for. Building a system can be a real headache if you are not used to doing it as well.AlleyCat wrote:Assume you build your own computer using high quality parts. Let's say comparable to a high end Dell computer that might run $3,500. Can you save much money by building it yourself? What is the liklihood that you might experience some off the wall and perplexing hardware or software problems with the computer?
My brother believes it is possible to save a great deal of money by building your own system but I have a great fear of building one and then having technical problems that are difficult to solve. I've always bought Dell systems and had little trouble with them.
Any informed commentary would be appreciated.
Thanks.
“A simple democracy is the devil’s own government.”
— Benjamin Rush
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— Benjamin Rush
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Quaro
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me3000
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Run some numbers yourself. The value of building your system is that you choose what you want. For example - You may have a monitor already - why buy a new one. Why use a $50 keyboard, I use free after rebate ones. Buy your hard drive on sale rather than spend $150. On the other hand you may want a better video card. That freedom allows you to build cheaper systems, particularly at the high end.
Check newegg.com for reasonable deals. Plus popluar items will have alot of comments listed explaining any problems others have had with that component.
Check newegg.com for reasonable deals. Plus popluar items will have alot of comments listed explaining any problems others have had with that component.
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Giles Habibula
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Aside from the pride and learning experience from building it myself, Dell could never have supplied me with the super-cool case I got and very upgrade-friendly motherboard.
"I've been fighting with reality for over thirty-five years, and I'm happy to say that I finally won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd
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Carpet_pissr
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I think it used to be true that you could build your own computer cheaper than buying a prebuilt, but those days in my opinion are long gone.
Disclaimer: I have only bought one prebuilt machine, and that was a 486 from a Sam's Club back in...1991 maybe? Every other machine, including present home rig, has been built/modified by me.
Anyway, these days, I challenge anyone to build something from ground up cheaper than Dell can, using similar parts. Not only can they (Dell) do it cheaper, but they can do it more quietly, if that is impt to you.
My Dell Dimension 4600 at work is barely audible (literally, you only hear the low hum of electricity), with my ear next to it. I paid about $100 on mods at home to get my custom built computer not even half as quiet...
More to the point, I just specced out a computer for a colleague - for about $1000 shipped, he gets: P4 3.2ghz cpu (800 FSB), 160 gig SATA drive (COMMAND QUEING), 1 gig ram @ 400 mhz (dual channel), and a 256 meg PCI Express Nvidia 6800 vid card (other stuff too, CD/DVD drives, free printer, blah blah blah). That includes Win XP, the warranty and all that jazz. This does not include a monitor.
I tried to spec out a similar computer by building on newegg and went WAY beyond this cost, but if you can do it, more power to you.
Having said that, I will continue to build/mod my personal computer at home - why? I like to do it!
Disclaimer: I have only bought one prebuilt machine, and that was a 486 from a Sam's Club back in...1991 maybe? Every other machine, including present home rig, has been built/modified by me.
Anyway, these days, I challenge anyone to build something from ground up cheaper than Dell can, using similar parts. Not only can they (Dell) do it cheaper, but they can do it more quietly, if that is impt to you.
My Dell Dimension 4600 at work is barely audible (literally, you only hear the low hum of electricity), with my ear next to it. I paid about $100 on mods at home to get my custom built computer not even half as quiet...
More to the point, I just specced out a computer for a colleague - for about $1000 shipped, he gets: P4 3.2ghz cpu (800 FSB), 160 gig SATA drive (COMMAND QUEING), 1 gig ram @ 400 mhz (dual channel), and a 256 meg PCI Express Nvidia 6800 vid card (other stuff too, CD/DVD drives, free printer, blah blah blah). That includes Win XP, the warranty and all that jazz. This does not include a monitor.
I tried to spec out a similar computer by building on newegg and went WAY beyond this cost, but if you can do it, more power to you.
Having said that, I will continue to build/mod my personal computer at home - why? I like to do it!
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RunningMn9
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My recent experience has been that you can't beat companies like Dell on price. I put my last rig together (a little SFF number), and it cost about the same (about $3K). Especially if you use retail components instead of OEM components.
You have a little more freedom if you do it yourself, if you have brand loyalty or something.
You have a little more freedom if you do it yourself, if you have brand loyalty or something.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
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Kraken
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Re: Building Your Own Computer
If you're me, the likelihood is pretty near 100% that you will never quite get your collection of expensive parts to work together in blissful harmony. But you are probably assuming some modicum of electronics skill.AlleyCat wrote:What is the liklihood that you might experience some off the wall and perplexing hardware or software problems with the computer?
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RunningMn9
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I built a system on Dell's website, which came to $3258 for the case and everything inside (no monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.).
Building that myself, using the same parts (not same brand), came to $3340.
I could get it down by choosing brands that I don't find to be as reliable. But that just compounds the problem. You could argue that Dell is doing exactly that, and they might be - but they offer tech support and an easier warranty situation (one main warranty or at least tech support point of contact instead of points of contact for each component).
I built my own because I wanted to build a small form factor PC. Under any other scenario, I'd go with Dell.
Building that myself, using the same parts (not same brand), came to $3340.
I could get it down by choosing brands that I don't find to be as reliable. But that just compounds the problem. You could argue that Dell is doing exactly that, and they might be - but they offer tech support and an easier warranty situation (one main warranty or at least tech support point of contact instead of points of contact for each component).
I built my own because I wanted to build a small form factor PC. Under any other scenario, I'd go with Dell.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
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LordMortis
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It seems to me that in today's envoirnment you can't build a PC for what you can buy it for. However, when you build a PC you know exactly what you have and get exactly what you want.
Edit:
Edit:
The stats used to be that 5% of all computer parts that ship with a flaw that will cause some sort of hardware failure/malfunction with in the warranty period. That was almost 7 years ago though. If you figure 8 major components in your PC the chance that you are going to have a "perplexing" hardware malfunction in the first 90 days to 2 years would have approached almost 50% at the end. My experience validates this, but I may just have bad luck.What is the liklihood that you might experience some off the wall and perplexing hardware or software problems with the computer?
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Rich in KCK
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As much as I hate to say this I don't think you can beat a high end Dell but the real question is do you really need the high end Dell?
I still build my own and don't see myself buying pre-built anytime soon. I save a lot of money because I don't buy the high end stuff. I tend to stay about a year to a year and half behind in technology and do just fine with anything I throw at my PC.
I disagree with Meal about the quality of the components being better. He will be able to prove that they most likely do get better hard drives but honestly that is the only component I can think of that could possibly be of higher quality than that which I can pick up online or in any store. They probably can get components at a lower price but the difference between their price and what you can get it for won't always be passed on to you.
You will get customer support with a Dell though but really in the 6 years I've been building my own PC's I have never needed customer support and I have no training in electronics or computers at all. Any problems I've run into I've been able to figure out myself through trial and error or searching and reading online. But I'm just as likely to go attack my furnace as well with no training so take that into consideration.
The high end stuff is nice and fast but buying it is like buying a new car, the value drops considerably in the first year. If you spent 1/3 to 1/2 of your budget on a slightly slower pc now and the rest over the next two years on upgrades I guarantee your system three years from now would beat a system that cost the full budget now.
With the exception of this past spring the price for the newest greatest video card has never been worth the performance boost it gives since the original Geforce card.
Why spend a ton of money on a CPU when a $100 one that is a little older will do just fine. Why spend $400 - $500 on the latest GPU when a $200 one will work just as well, wait 18 months and spend $200 again and have a card that beats the one that cost $500 now.
In the end were all a little nuts for spending what we do on this hobby but just consider my approach as well as the high end PC.
I still build my own and don't see myself buying pre-built anytime soon. I save a lot of money because I don't buy the high end stuff. I tend to stay about a year to a year and half behind in technology and do just fine with anything I throw at my PC.
I disagree with Meal about the quality of the components being better. He will be able to prove that they most likely do get better hard drives but honestly that is the only component I can think of that could possibly be of higher quality than that which I can pick up online or in any store. They probably can get components at a lower price but the difference between their price and what you can get it for won't always be passed on to you.
You will get customer support with a Dell though but really in the 6 years I've been building my own PC's I have never needed customer support and I have no training in electronics or computers at all. Any problems I've run into I've been able to figure out myself through trial and error or searching and reading online. But I'm just as likely to go attack my furnace as well with no training so take that into consideration.
The high end stuff is nice and fast but buying it is like buying a new car, the value drops considerably in the first year. If you spent 1/3 to 1/2 of your budget on a slightly slower pc now and the rest over the next two years on upgrades I guarantee your system three years from now would beat a system that cost the full budget now.
With the exception of this past spring the price for the newest greatest video card has never been worth the performance boost it gives since the original Geforce card.
Why spend a ton of money on a CPU when a $100 one that is a little older will do just fine. Why spend $400 - $500 on the latest GPU when a $200 one will work just as well, wait 18 months and spend $200 again and have a card that beats the one that cost $500 now.
In the end were all a little nuts for spending what we do on this hobby but just consider my approach as well as the high end PC.
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Rich in KCK
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- Location: 30 Miles South of KC
$90 - Albatron "KX18D PROII" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU – Retail
$100 – 160g SATA Hard Drive
$150 - $220 – Video card 9800pro to XT
$120 – Athlon XP 3200 400fsb
$20 – CPU cooler
$140 – 1 gig of pc3200 ram
$65 – NEC 3500a DVDRW
$70 – Keyboard & Mouse
$30 – Cables & Misc. fans
$80 – good power supply
That's less than $900 shipped and all you need is a case and monitor
If you look hard enough you can find a flat screen 19" CRT for $100 and wait for the LCD's to fall a little more or spend the money on one now.
$100 – 160g SATA Hard Drive
$150 - $220 – Video card 9800pro to XT
$120 – Athlon XP 3200 400fsb
$20 – CPU cooler
$140 – 1 gig of pc3200 ram
$65 – NEC 3500a DVDRW
$70 – Keyboard & Mouse
$30 – Cables & Misc. fans
$80 – good power supply
That's less than $900 shipped and all you need is a case and monitor
If you look hard enough you can find a flat screen 19" CRT for $100 and wait for the LCD's to fall a little more or spend the money on one now.
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me3000
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System I built myself about a month ago:
Antec case - $50 (on sale)
Mother board - $125
AMD 64 2800 processor - $175
1 gig of Ram - $200
160 gig hard drive - $20 (on sale, with rebates & extra coupon)
9800 video card - $125 (on sale)
Audigy 2 ZS - $50 (on sale, rebates)
DVD drive - $free (on sale, rebates, coupons)
16 X DVD R/W - $20 (see above)
Software - already owned
19" CRT $60 (on sale, rebates)
Yes, I buy stuff on sale & use rebates but its a good system. Plus I can sell that 2800 processor in a year on EBay and upgrade to around a 64 bit 3800 one. I'm out around $830.
Antec case - $50 (on sale)
Mother board - $125
AMD 64 2800 processor - $175
1 gig of Ram - $200
160 gig hard drive - $20 (on sale, with rebates & extra coupon)
9800 video card - $125 (on sale)
Audigy 2 ZS - $50 (on sale, rebates)
DVD drive - $free (on sale, rebates, coupons)
16 X DVD R/W - $20 (see above)
Software - already owned
19" CRT $60 (on sale, rebates)
Yes, I buy stuff on sale & use rebates but its a good system. Plus I can sell that 2800 processor in a year on EBay and upgrade to around a 64 bit 3800 one. I'm out around $830.
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Coskesh
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Holy crap man! Teach me your saving ways, oh master of the rebates!me3000 wrote:System I built myself about a month ago:
Antec case - $50 (on sale)
Mother board - $125
AMD 64 2800 processor - $175
1 gig of Ram - $200
160 gig hard drive - $20 (on sale, with rebates & extra coupon)
9800 video card - $125 (on sale)
Audigy 2 ZS - $50 (on sale, rebates)
DVD drive - $free (on sale, rebates, coupons)
16 X DVD R/W - $20 (see above)
Software - already owned
19" CRT $60 (on sale, rebates)
Yes, I buy stuff on sale & use rebates but its a good system. Plus I can sell that 2800 processor in a year on EBay and upgrade to around a 64 bit 3800 one. I'm out around $830.
Seriously man! Only thing I really need is an Audigy 2 ZS. I just recently upgraded to a AMD 64 3500, 2 80 gig SATA drives in RAID 0 configuration, and an MSI K8N Neo2 Plat MBoard. Cost me about $500 - $250 of which I'm getting by selling my old AMD XP 2100, 80 gig HDrive, SBLive, 512MB of ram, and GForce TI4200 to a friend. Can't' really sell your old Dell parts, can u?
As for the original question, I'd build it myself. I've encountered too many Dell lemons to be comfortable buying from them. At the very least, you can upgrade everything completely if you build your own, whereas I don't think u can re-use Dell's case, sound card, and anything else that is proprietary/built onto the MBoard. Find out what you have right now that you can still use, and work around that. Maybe start with a Mboard, processor and memory (512 MB now, 512MB later), then upgrade the HDrive etc later.
EDIT: forgot to add, most MBoards come with integrated LAN and Sound. My current board provides excellent 8.1 sound, though I'm only using it in 5.1 configuration.