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- gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13No, you can't build a PC for less than you can buy a mass produced one. You can generally build a higher quality PC or a PC that best suits your needs, but if you're going for cheap you're much better off with a prebuilt system.
- JeffH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8This has always been know.
You CANNOT beat the lower end systems. Building your own with the same specs as a $400 Dell is impossible (same specs). But once you go higher, it starts showing. Buying an $1000 XPS compared to building a $1000 computer makes a huge difference in favor of the built one. - wolrah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This article has a major flaw. By starting from a Shuttle chassis, they automatically jacked the price a lot. Rather than comparing to a prebuilt Shuttle, they should have compared against a regular OEM desktop.
- imp22b, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I agree you'll find mostly low end components in most production PCs. I would much rather spend a hundred or so extra to get a computer that I know has quality parts and will last a long time. An additional plus to building your own is that it is much easier to upgrade parts at a later date.
- drag0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It really boils down to technology literacy and support. If you don't know much about computers, then dell, apple, hp, and other pre-built solutions are for you. You don't need to know about what you need to put it all together. If you do know how to make your own PC. Then a home built PC might be for you. It can be fun to setup and you will be able to make it suit your needs better than a pre built.
This article is good bar the fact he didn't actually build it himself. He also fails to mention that when building your own PC, the parts you order are going to be the full product. They won't be custom made parts that are normally found in pre-built systems. Anyway, I dugg this article because shuttles look cool. - naich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Dell sell cheap low-spec equipment, but once you've upgraded to a reasonable amount of memory/hard drive etc., they aren't cheap any more.
- dirtyfratboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Just don't buy Alienware....please don't flaunt your rich ass off....
- fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3building your own is nice because you can save up for parts, you dont need to drop a load of cash at one time. For example, you can buy a motherboard and cpu one paycheck, next paycheck you can buy a case and memory. Then a harddrive. then put it together, and buy the dvd burner in two months, and save to buy that 20" studio display..
- gstuartj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Building a PC is all about the fun you have doing it in my opinion. I don't really care about the price difference as long as I get to have full customization of my new PC. ;-)
- crazypip666, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Something that the article doesn't take into account is the money you save over time. My computer cost about $1400 to build but other than beating the pants off a comparably priced pre-built system I built it with future upgrades in mind. So when my computer is starting to show its age I can just upgrade specific parts as opposed to buying a whole new system because in pre-built systems they don't give you space to do much in the way of upgrades.
- Abyss_908, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I really don't care if it's cheaper. You can't really upgrade a mobo on a dell because of the ***** PSU. Dell's cases also suck and are hard to upgrade in. I don't have an LCD moniter yet or anything highend or big but I got 3 generic biege moniters for my system out of a nieghbors trash who just doesn't want them anymore. You can easily get some cheap mid-level parts refurbished or off ebay and build a decent system. Building is better but not easier or cheaper.
- emag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Trouble I have with all of these "buy a whole PC" places is, instead of getting name-brand parts and ending up with a generic computer, you get a bunch of generic parts for a "name brand" computer. Not to mention that none of the sites I checked let me actually customize a box to the specs of the system I just recently built. HP came closest by having an AMD64 X2 3800+ processor option, but I couldn't select a 4x160G SATA RAID-5 array, nor specify ECC memory, nor up the cooling at all to the levels I'd want (CPU is currently running 7C *below* human body temperature, with just fan cooling), nor a 600W PS... And that's just the beginning.
The system before this was built seven years ago, and was replaced due to thermal issues more than anything else. Ok, maybe the dual 400 MHz P II's were getting a little dated, too... - OregonTrail, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2One more way to prove this wrong..
The dell "ultimate" midrange system these days is the XPS 400. Thier lowest, and therfore "budget", price for this system is $969.
(All screenshots are cropped to only show information needed)
Dell specs: http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=1/121323554.png&s=x11
After finding this out I proceeded to newegg.com and added to my cart all of the above components or thier [higher quality] equivilents. I was afraid that Media Center Edition 2005 would put it over the limit, but as you will see...
newegg specs:
(1) http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=1/121330449.png&s=x11
(2) http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=1/121332849.png&s=x11
(3) http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=1/121351781.png&s=x11
Now if you didn't already notice from the last screenshot here are the two prices with shipping added:
Dell: http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=1/121355925.png&s=x11
newegg: http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=1/121372662.png&s=x11
We can see that the newegg system beats the dell in both before and after shipping prices, and with a 350w Antec power supply I would be inclined to say that the built system would last longer. - StephnDolenc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2thepirates bay for the software...
- drummerman109, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2frankenstein pc ftw! from friends, family, old computers, i managed to salvage some ram, video card, hard drives, dvd drive, and a cd burner. all for free!!! the rest was from a used pc i bought from a family friend for $140. had a decent computer that could play modern games at 75% of the maxed settings for $140. build your own whenever you can, and mooch, mooch, MOOCH :P
- Kissitfatty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2im bulding a pc right now and there is no better feeling of someone saying nice pc and you say hell yeah built it myself
- Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Of course mass produced machines are going to be cheaper. And they're cheaper not only because they're mass produced but also becuase they use cheaper lower quality parts.
- SniperX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Summary of Article:
Can you really build a PC for less still? Yes, you still can. - oldcyborg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It is ALL relative, my friends. Much of that has been covered here. I feel that if you are in the business, then you NEED to build your own systems!!! You can't read about how all that works, unless you have lived thru it yourself. Everything is relative and can and will change. Right Now, as a couple people have said. Base cheap from the big boys is hard to beat, but How many of US want the base units??? Been a long time since I was satisfied with a lower end unit. I built one for my wife. Cost maybe 350. from Egg, but I hate it. It's slower than Moses, compared to mine, and most P-3's with decent RAM!!!!
So, build your own machines. Take pride in what you make. It is a picture of who you are, and "bragging Rights" Are still important to most people. hehehe
I have a 4200 X2 AMD Athlon with Nvidia North and South, and Asus Moboard with latest bios. 2 Gigs RAM and more hard drives than I care to admit to. I already had a 19" LCD, which is awesome. I have xp 32, and xp 64, and I still most time on the 32, since drivers are still an issue on 64, as is IE 6, working at 64bits and NOT interacting well with its peers. I love this machine, and its little blue leds, Golden Orb II CPU fan that turns over at about 1700 RPM. THe whole thing is quieter than my battery operated ash tray........
SO, It is all in what you do, and what you want. IF cheap is your name, don't try to beat Dell at THEIR game. IF class and speed are what you desire, then you can beat almost anyones price. My labor, FOR ME, is free. My time is worth squat, if I get to do something I like to do. Maybe not a good analogy, but if I'm happy, I don't give a rats ass about anyone else. hehehehe
Make your machine, Make your mistakes, Pay for your mistakes, eventually you won't make any mistakes, and then you can really beat them at their game, and attach a lot of pride and ego to that. Personally, I need to think that I'm above average, otherwise there would no point in going on.......
Cyborg (I hate Dell, and have for several years. They are the new Packard Bell of cheap computers). Nothing but grief for people who have to work on them)
YES - FuManchu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I hate to swim upstream, but I must report that out of the 1 desktop that my wife bought herself in 2000 and the Dell laptop she bought our daughter the same year [for college] both are doing fine. I have upgraded the memory on the desktop and added a HDD. But they both got dependable machines.
Myself, the last desktop I bought was in 1995 or 96. Since then I've built 2 for myself, and repaired/upgraded a bunch for others. And I agree: I build 'em so I can get what I want, not to spend the least amount of $ possible. But with an eye out for deals, barebones kits, bundles &c, you can do it pretty cheaply if you're not in a hurry.
Laptops? I don't believe you CAN "build" a laptop. They're all pretty much designed to be what they are sold as. Except for a few variables such as memory and HDD & CD/DVD, they're really not even all that upgradable. Very few shops even like to work on the as repair jobs --they'll tell you to send it back to the factory. I'm forced to admit that the only one I've ever tried to repair, I winded up ruining.
But I do like my Fu Manchu desktops! - chicken101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I usually buy all-new parts from newegg, then go to a computer expo to get my monitor. So much cheaper and better then getting a Dell.
- sk545, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1well, you could go the middle road...select the parts you want in it, and let them build it for you, say, for example, monarchcomputer.com. Ofcourse, you do have to still know a bit about computers to do this.
- Jetfire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You can’t beat a Dell Packaged system for Price. But how often does the packaged system meet your needs. I Windows minimum machine should have 512MB Ram. Almost all cheap systems come with 256. But as soon as I upgrade to 512MB it cost more than I can buy the Ram myself. I build all our systems he where I work. The used to buy their machines from a Ohio chain store called Micro Center. The Power Spec PCs where nicer than Dells since they used of the Shelve components unlike Dell. I could buy all the Parts for the same Price or damn near close. But since I always upgraded them with more Ram and some time better video I saved the money on the parts I would discard.
When I’m asked by friends on what PC to buy I will point them to a Dell that usually has the 512MB upgrade for 50 Bucks. You just can’t bet the Price with the 15” Monitor Flat Panel. Plus they can call Dell when their computer gets infected with spyware because they turned off all the Security stuff I put on. Or click yes on a damn pop-up I told them no to do. I do hate Idiots.
A word of warning on Dell Machines, if you don’t get the Floppy drive from them, they don’t include the cage to mount your own. $35 for a $7 Floppy Drive come on. Also why is it A almost $100 upgrade on Laptops to get a CD-R when it’s standard everywhere Else. Stop Bending us over Dell.
Right now I’m building some AMD Dual core systems. I like to see you get that from Dell. I’d also like to see you get a almost 2TB Raid system dual Xeon from Dell for under $5,000. - tharealmegaman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cheaper and far better performancewise. Assuming you know which parts to use to suit your needs. ..and you know wtf you're doing.
- DesertNerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What about companies where you get the best of both worlds? I just read a digg about barnyardcomputers.com and they sell computers online like Dell, Gateway, Alienware but tell you what they are using to build the machine. They aren't the cheapest, but they also sell laptops, and according to their website they will use any components you want.
As for Gateway, I've never had anything positive to say. Dell has done well by me, but considering the number of them I've dealt with (5000+), I probably have all of you out experienced in their department. Yes, I'm a Dell certified laptop field technician. - dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2 Even if you built a system the same and paid the same for parts there's still one thing that you will probably forget. Know what it is? ...your time building it. Add the hours and figure in only minimum wage and then add that to the price.
I build my own systems for fun more than cost reasons, and I prefer to select my own parts. I think it can be hard to build a system and not spend a lot on parts, a giant corporation can buy thousands of processors at once getting a discount. They have to make a profit.
I agree with the sentence in the article "I recently stumbled upon the satisfying realization that when it comes to high-end systems, there's still some wiggle room."
It's best to build your own high-end system, or a specialized system such as a mini-itx. Building an average middle of the road PC doesn't make sense. But who wants one of them anyway? ;) - 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@NidStyles
$600 is not a bad price for a reasonably good box. I'd just as soon pay this and build my own, than have to worry about a bunch of OEM issues on a cheaper, pre-built box. - rewritable, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here is the difference in custom built and mass produced...............about 10,000 less bullshi* programs that you'll never use. Oh an lets not forget the pre-installed ad ware and spyware.
I enjoy building my own pc. And if you do go with a $400 computer make sure it is AMD based since all of them have AGP slots. I thought that only dells lacked agp slots but I just fixed a $900 compaq that was intel based and had no agp slot but and empty space where one should be.
If you want the el cheapo go ahead buy pre-built and spyware infected pc's from dell, etc
but if you want a monster then it is MUCH cheaper and you get better parts by DIY. My garage coulda cost me $12,000 but I DIY and it only cost me $8000. YOU ALWAYS save if you have the brains to DIY. - Darth_tater, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Piece of crap journalism.
Takes a particular instance of a high end machine and draws general conclusions: "For my money, I'd build everytime". Yes, fool, and pay $800 for Dell's $400 system!
Also, I don't like *****. 2 hours? What, including ordering all the components from one or more websites, unwrapping all the parcels that arrived, putting everything together properly, getting it all to work, configuring the BIOS, formatting the hard disks, installing Windows, installing all the drivers, patches and security updates and running a burn-in test?
Idiot!"
dude, it takes me 4-5hr
this guy just needed a story rel quick so he BS'ed one - 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1FTA: Okay, maybe I am here to give Shuttle some grief. I mean, just how big a profit margin do you need?
As long as corporate America insists on employing unhappy, self-important, and often, miserably-performing people as company CEOs (and rewarding them for their miserable performance, no less), this question will remain irrelevant. Whatever the profit margin, I'm sure the top guy can manage to squeeze just enough "perk" out of it to make it necessary. - DeadlyCouncil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1the moment you learn basic A+ stuff like oh say PUTTING TOGETHER A SYSTEM (simple stuff, seriously) you should never be allowed to buy a prebuilt computer again. Anything computer that's worth using is worth building.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Linux is free, that takes care of the Operating System and the programs like Open Office which are also free.
- NidStyles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I built a nice little Athlon 64 for less than 600. It has a X800 ATi card, because it was cheaper, a Turtle Beach soundcard, a 80 gig SATA harddrive. 1 Gig of ram, and a Foxxconn Motherboard and case combo. Like I said, I didn't even break 600, and it plays every game that I throw at it with full features.
It wasn't 400, but it's true that it can be done for cheaper with homebuilt. Mind you everything was bought directly off of Newegg. - StammesOpfer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Tyan (Barebone) VX50 B4881V50U8H-8P 5U 8-Way Opteron 1 $6,195.77 $6,195.77
W/Hotswap SCSI & 1350W (3+1) Redundant PS
AMD Opteron 880 Dual-Core 2.4GHz 1MB (per core) 64 8 $2,570.00 $20,560.00
4 GB DDR (333) PC-2700 REG ECC Corsair Low Profile 32 $2,700.00 $86,400.00
Seagate Cheetah 300 GB 10K-RPM Ultra-320 80 Pin SCSI 8 $962.36 $7,698.88
BFG Geforce 7800 GTX OC 512MB GDDR3/PCI-E/VIVO/Dua 2 $800.60 $1,601.20
PNY Quadro NVS 400 64MB DDR/PCI/Quad-DVI (OEM) 1 $378.69 $378.69
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 1 SVR 1 $2,745.00 $2,745.00
Plextor PX-716AL 6x-DVD+R DL 16x8x16x-DVD±RW 3 $159.00 $477.00
Ahead Nero 6.3 Suite DVD+-RW S $23.97
Zalman Real Surround Sound Headphones (ZM-RS6F) 1 $59.00 $59.00
Mitsumi 1.44MB 3.5" (Black) Floppy Drive 1 $20.00 $20.00
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (931376-0403) 1 $59.00 $59.00
Logitech Office Pro Keyboard PS/2 (967453-0403) 1 $15.00 $15.00
Peerless PLSST630-S SmartMount Universal Tilt Moun 1 $29.00 $29.00
ViewSonic 23" VP231WB LCD Wide Screen (Black) 4 $1,360.00 $5,440.00
Total: $131,838.43
How much did DELL want for this oh wait Dell doesn't sell an AMD dual-core 8-way system with dual OC'ed 7800 GTX's hum but if they did how much would it cost??? - emag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Decent advice on building a "standard workstation", that I based my own $1600 new AMD64 X2 system off of: http://cr.yp.to/hardware/advice.html Pay attention to the whole warranty thing, and with sites like pricegrabber and the like, you could probably build one for even less than the prices listed there.
I'm too lazy to attempt to "build" one of these on a name-brand site, to see what their prices are. Who besides HP/Compaq even offers AMD as a choice? - peterthegreat4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1those of us who need laptops are still screwed though lol
- kzinti, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've been building PCs for about ten years, and I don't think it's ever been cheaper to build my own machine. In recent years, it certainly isn't cheaper to build my own. For the family PC, I buy Dell. When I build a computer for my linux file server or my high-end video system, I build my own - not because it's cheaper, but because I know EXACTLY what goes into it. And besides, building your own computer is HUGE fun.
- emag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, Gateway wins the prize for costing MORE for a system that ends up being LESS than what I have, too... That's just...impressive.
- SteveCUBE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My parents have a dell and the cooling system is just atrocious.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I built a couple PCs, and my problem was choosing the motherboard. It really bummed me out to see an extra usb slot or whatever filled in, unable to use, and have to get a higher model to get that extra feature. They are basically trying to upsell you as soon as you see the mobo in the install manual has features yours doesn't. I don't like the way they purposly charge more for a feature that they could have already had. The reviews don't tell you stuff like that either. What is THE best intel mobo, THE best amd, THE best amd64, etc. Why don't they just make one with all the best features? You get an extra slot with this one, but no SLI. You get SLI, but only 2 usb slots. I think they purposely do stuff like this.
- slackerhobo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Personally I find the cheaper you go the less difference in price between bought and built
But as you move up the scale the difference becomes significant - intelmustdie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For all the people saying you can't build a PC for less than Dell: if you can't manage to build a system with on-board video, 256 MB RAM, a CD-RW, Celeron D, and 80 GB HDD for around or below $300...shoot yourself.
- Vryz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You can't come close to the prices of the large scale computers. The 'good' prices anyway, what you'd get if you spent 20 minutes on price comparisons and did a search for relevant coupons and whatnot. Dual core P4, 1 gig, 160 HD, etc. etc. with a Dell 2405FPW for 1200 shipped. Companies like Dell get chips for insanely low prices with their scale. You can get 2.8 ghz systems with 512 ram for 300 shipped from the refurbed section, and that's with 17 inch displays.
You should build because it's fun to have a completely hand picked system, but you just can't win on the price. - sergio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1milkcow: "[T]he prebuilt is usually covered by an inclusive warranty for 4 years (give or take x years for how much you want to spend)."
They actually charge for the warranties. You only get 1 year, anything extra costs you. They might try to get away with saying that more than 1 year is "included in the price", and you can drop down to 1 year and subtract like $100 or so from your final price.
I build my own PC and have better warranty coverage (and cheaper) than a prebuilt system. And all for the parts' manufacturers.
Motherboard: 3 years.
CPU: 3years.
Hard drives: 3 years each.
Video card: 3 years.
Memory: Lifetime. - wardrive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1First off, i work at microcenter.
Okay i can build a badass gaming PC for about 500 bucks. They're called RTV's. Return To Vendors. Rich retards buy expensive items, return them saying they're broken but they're retarded and can't get them to work. When we test and they work we have to send then to another place for testing again, we get them back 5 days later and we put them back on the shelf for 50% off. Here's what i've got
A8N Premium nForce4 SLI Socket 939 for 75.96
AMD X2 3800 for 155.96
2 GB dual channel Kingstong DDR 3200 for 42.96
GeForce 6800 for 182.96
Samsung 250 GB SATA for 45.96
You can still beat dells for 1/4 the price. - wardrive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh, any one want to build anything micro center has a 20% off sale this month on all hardware. In store only, i've had to cancel like 30 online orders today.
- SteveCUBE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"But, its not for everyone, and Open Office is pretty crappy, so posts like yours make you look like a retarded donkey."
dude, how is Open Office crappy? It's free and I get all the functionality and more than Microsoft's. (And I have both) - michaelbuddy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1YOu can build a better PC for less than the "better" ones that are offered through retail. If you look at the cheap dells or hp comptuers. They are cheaper than you could build them, but once you customize them to make them pretty fast, they over price quick.
you can still go cheaper with a custom PC with the best parts you want to afford. - salmonmoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"dude, how is Open Office crappy? It's free and I get all the functionality and more than Microsoft's. (And I have both)"
For joe average it's great, I have had troubles using it for very large spreadsheets (~80megs) that just don't happen with MSoffice, i've been told i can adjust settings, but, i shouldn't need to. - SteveCUBE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes you can. BUilding a PC yourself will be WAYYYY cheaper than buying a Dell XPS for example. In fact you could save a few hundred to a thousand dollars.
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