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repetitive question over the years...

most/all of us started out building our own rigs...then many gave up on that and went with Dell or similar. i remember when you could build a far more powerful system for 50% or less of buying a store pc. that changed with the sweet Dell deals that came around a few years ago.

i've been thinking about this for weeks now and still can't decide. there are so many Dell deals with Q6600/3-4GB RAM/20-22" monitors, it's tough to ignore them. just add in a video card and you're all set. not to mention the warranty.

of course there is the enjoyment of building one from scratch...but i've been over that "fun" for years. so, back to the question:

is it worth it for performance or savings to build?

let's assume a $750 budget (monitor not included).

IMHO, unless you're a hard core gamer , buy a Dell, HP whatever. No hassles, just open the box and go(after decrapifying). Lots of good deals too. They also have better resale value in a couple of yoears when you get ready for a new one. Everybody knows the "big" name brands. But try to sell a custom built to a non-techie. They just don't get it.

I can see where hardcore gamers might want specific motherboards, ram, etc.

Don't think that DIY has much going for it anymore unless you're a modder or insane overclocker.

You can get a quad core Core2 Dell box for ~ $500
Unless you're really prissy add a ~ 8800GT $100

not like the days when a highly overclockable P3 sold for $300.

Open box, toss in vid card and mebbe some ram.

Enjoy. If it breaks, little dorf from Dell comes to your house and fixes.

*sigh* I guess I'm one of a dying breed... I would still build my PC rather than buy one from Dell or any other brand for that matter. Sure, they come to your house and fix your stuff.. But honestly, I don't want them to come fix my crap. I know how to do that. I'd rather just fix it myself. I guess I'm proud of what I do and what I build. When I build a new computer for somebody, or myself, I can say that "I" built it. I just build my own Quad Core rig and while it may have cost me a little more than buying one of those Dell "Deals", I know what's inside it and I trust the components that I put in it. My last computer lasted me 6 years and was running just fine when I upgraded. I trust this one will do the same. If we're not careful, IT Guys, then we'll be replaced by Dell and whomever else we decide to yield to. Sure, it's "easier" to buy a cheap ass Dell PC and hook it up and go. But is it better? That's a matter of personal opinion I guess. But I'm proud of the computers I build and I won't stop building them just because it's "easier" to buy one already assembled.

I'll shut up now..

eGo

Ah, eGo, you do it for a completely different reason than the question asked.

The question asked

is it worth it for performance or savings to build?

Like you said, it might cost you a little more, but for you it's the enjoyment and satisfaction of building your own, not performance or savings.

And I have to admit, if a Dell and an eGo machine cost the same, I would much rather have the eGo mile

all valid points. completely understand your point of view as well, eGo. there is definitely the pride of ownership and knowing you built it. regarding us IT guys, the coming years are going to see a LOT of changes, IMO. it may not be as much hardware, but software...software as a service (SaS), to be exact. more and more companies will co-locate their datacenters and/or enterprise systems like email, rather than do it all in-house. just cheaper and how i feel it will end up.

but, that's off topic...i'm jacking my own thread.

Lets see.. Ok, I just priced this..


Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail Item #: N82E16811129024

ASUS P5KPL-CM LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131288

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail Item #: N82E16819115017

pqi TURBO 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Model PQI26400-4GDB - Retail Item #: N82E16820141366

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822148288

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-04 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827106263

XFX PVT88PYHF4 GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card Item #: N82E16814150272

ASUS VW223B Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with EzLink Technology - Retail Item #: N82E16824236038

Comes out to $788 - $35 MIR.. So that's close to what you were wanting to spend. Take off $150 for the monitor and you're sitting at $603.. So if the Dell Box didn't include the monitor.. I WIN! If it did, I lose.. lol

So no, not as cheap as Dell.. So to answer your question, you won't save any money in most cases, and you probably won't see any performance differences. So I guess to answer your question, you're better off buying it from one of the OEM places. But dangit, I'm not that far off on the price! lol

eGo

If everything I now had was tired old junk, then maybe Dell but the PC I now have got a new mobo, ram, cpu not all that long ago and is still good enough.
I don't need a new video card, burner or monitor if I was to upgrade again, all I'd need is a new mobo, cpu and ram to be updated and I'm sure that's less than any new PC system.
To me, having been in a repair business for over 30 yrs, I no longer care if I built something vs buying it made elsewhere (use to, getting old I guess) but there's still the hassle of getting all the new hardware set up properly, swapping in your old HDD loaded with XP (hoping not to see a BSOD) and many times I've felt that that wasn't worth the headaches.
No doubt, it'd be easier to just buy a new Dell and be done with it IF it worked as well as the one you could build.

I would always build. Just feels better.

nexus_7 wrote:I would always build. Just feels better.

Same here. I've thought about buying but I always end up building. I like to build because you know there's no crap on it when you get your OS installed. As far as resale, if you e-bay the parts, you'll get a decent price most of the time. Building yourself also allows to recycle parts for future builds. I've had the same case for 6 years and it's held 4 motherboards. My Plextor CDR-RW 40/12/40A has been in 5 computers. My current power supply has powered my last three boards.

After years of my own buildsmy last PC was a Dell Quad Core 6600. When it went on sale for $600 last year it was a deal I couldn't refuse. I couldn't build one much cheaper, and I don't miss the weeks of grief trying to get all the components working with each other.

BTW: Sweet gaming rig (just add your own vid card) for $700 shipped: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/ ... _offers_dt
Offer ends 12/3 I think. This is practically the same PC I game on except mine was the somewhat more rugged Dimension 9200. Same specs though and since I've had both on my bench, same benchmarks as well according to my tests. I have an NVidia 8800GT in mine and it plays everything just fine.

Well, performance is a factor since any of the OEMs have a far less configurable bios, you also tend to have less information about the overall system before you examine it.

I found my sweet spot for non-issues: Intel CPU, Giga-byte motherboard, BFG video card and PSU, Seagate for hard drives, Lite-on, Samsung, and/or Lite-on for optical drives. Never an issue except a DOA hard drive damaged in shipping.

Zyf is right about the configuration issues, but with the speed of modern stuff, even at the the conservative/limited settings imposed by a Dell bios, it's still more than fast enough for me. My days looking for the cmos reset jumper are done! There were some "trial" versions of vi$sta floating around a while back that used software bios for dell boxes that let you overclock. Never fooled with it becuz 1) Vista 2) saw a post somewhere that stated they also included a Storm Net rootkit.

I used to love to squeeze the cpu, just found an old hand-modded athlon in a box of junk...remember going to the auto arts store for the rear window defroster repair stuff and using a one or two hair brush under a magnifying glass to make the connections on the external jumpers..hehe...

Funny thing for me is that building my own PC allows me to pick my own case. Truely, that's a big factor for me. Also, I can carry that case over if I like. So, since I've already got an overkill power supply, nice case, all the cables, very flexible heatsink, DVD recorders, & hard drives. It makes sense to build a new one, because it's really just a MOBO & processor right now (may be ram if they ever go mainstream with the DDR3). I upgrade my video card about 3 times during the life of a MOBO, so that's a different story.

That said, if you are starting from scratch with old stuff, might as well get a Dell or whatnot though I hate to say it.

well...i got bored today and started pricing things out...then decided what the #$#$...build something.


GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128358

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814102770

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817153052

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115036

OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2F10664GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227364

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148288

the above was $640 w/ $110 in rebates...so (eventually) $530. i'm reusing a few things i have laying around and add in the case i got for $20 from radio shack (the thermaltake m9) and i think it's a decent system for $550. i know the PSU is weak, but it should be fine until i upgrade to a crossfire setup (if i ever do). couldn't resist a solid PSU like that for $14!