Are more gamers buying rather than building now??

[Xerin7]

I was just reading this thread, and it made me wonder. Given, the guy in that thread wasn't a gamer...I'm just curious if a serious gamer would go with a Dell now? Can you now get better price/performance with a Dell than if you build your own rig?

I built my last pc 4 years ago, so am badly needing an upgrade and need to decide which route to go. I don't plan to OC, and I don't need bleeding edge, but I do want a PC that can handle the games coming out in the next year or two without choking.

Any thoughts?

 

[Roguestar]

All we have to go on is anecdotal evidence, really. You can assume from the popularity of forums like these that a lot are building, but there are again more on games forums (or none at all) who'll just get the best value Dell or HP gaming system they can. To be honest I would lean towards the building side because I think that those who are really into their games tend to know more about the hardware involved (graphics cards etc) and are more likely to be interested in cherry-picking their components.

Personally I've built all of my own PCs and haven't regretted it once. Never had a catastrophic failure so I've never needed a three-year warranty. I tend to go for two-year system refreshes anyway so I can keep gaming at decent quality . Building your own PC from components cuts out a lot of middle-man costs at the expense of the blame solely lying on you if you cock up. I think it's better to build your own because then not only do you learn something while doing it but you get to pick exactly what you want to go in it. Don't forget you can get a cheap copy of XP OEM if you buy a hard drive too, so no more crying about "pre-built systems come with an OS" .


Edit: Hurf Durf how do i spel anecdotal >_>

 

[Boyo]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
All we have to go on is anedotal evidence, really. You can assume from the popularity of forums like these that a lot are building, but there are again more on games forums (or none at all) who'll just get the best value Dell or HP gaming system they can. To be honest I would lean towards the building side because I think that those who are really into their games tend to know more about the hardware involved (graphics cards etc) and are more likely to be interested in cherry-picking their components.

Personally I've built all of my own PCs and haven't regretted it once. Never had a catastrophic failure so I've never needed a three-year warranty. I tend to go for two-year system refreshes anyway so I can keep gaming at decent quality . Building your own PC from components cuts out a lot of middle-man costs at the expense of the blame solely lying on you if you cock up. I think it's better to build your own because then not only do you learn something while doing it but you get to pick exactly what you want to go in it. Don't forget you can get a cheap copy of XP OEM if you buy a hard drive too, so no more crying about "pre-built systems come with an OS" .

:thumbsup: Exactly. You get to choose your own parts and put it together yourself which is very satisfying in and of itself.

 

[Lonyo]

Dell aren't cheaper, even (from my calculations last summer based on UK prices) for the very low end. They are never going to be a better deal for the high end.
Most PC components also come with 1 to 5 year warranties, add in a 2 or 3 year warranty for a Dell, and the price increases a even more.

 

[trOver]

i still will never buy a prebuilt computer. Even if the price is right, the parts they use on some things are just not as good as quality as if you have built yourself. I'm mostly talking about the motherboard and powersupply here, but other parts can be crappy too and end up for a fast-dying computer that is not upgradable.

 

[StopSign]

If you by an OEM system, you don't really know what's inside until you boot it up and run some diagnostics. I sleep better at night knowing exactly what I have inside mt PC.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: trOver
i still will never buy a prebuilt computer. Even if the price is right, the parts they use on some things are just not as good as quality as if you have built yourself. I'm mostly talking about the motherboard and powersupply here, but other parts can be crappy too and end up for a fast-dying computer that is not upgradable.

You always see stunning prices on Dells with great-looking specs (320Gb hard drive, E6300 etc etc) until you look deeper and realise they're using onboard graphics .

 

[BurnItDwn]

OEM offers a very close price/performance ratio as home brew, however, pretty much all OEM systems use OEM motherboards with little to no options as far as tweaking or over clocking. They often use boards with limited PCI slots.

OEMs cut costs wherever they can. To cut costs they are cutting corners.
You can't do as much with an OEM as you can do with an enthusiast system.

 

[Aikouka]

Companies like Dell and HP use Foxconn motherboards.

Building a PC can almost be a status symbol as well. You almost aren't a real PC user until you've actually built one.

When it comes to builders like Dell or HP, I've always found their gaming machines to either be underpowered ( HP ) or overpriced ( Dell ).

 

[zodder]

I agree with what everyone says about building vs. buying, but the vast majority of folks have no clue, or have no desire to build their own. You also become your own customer service if you build it yourself, so you do need some technical expertise to build and support your own rig. I've built every comp I've owned (except my Tandy 1000XT) and I prefer it that way. But I can certainly see where people would pay a premium for a pre-fab OEM to be able to pick up the phone and have someone fix it for them. Some just want to game without the hassle of taking care of their machines. To each their own, I guess.

Also, the higher end Dell gaming machines benchmark pretty well against boutique comps that use parts enthusiasts would use in building their own machines. So performance is comparable, and you get customer support. For some it make sense.

 

[Bill Kunert]

Have you checked the Price of a fast Dell XPS? Toget a 8800 series card, 2gig of memory and a high end C2D processor you're looking at over $4100. That's a big chunk of change.

 

[StopSign]

And you still can't overclock.

 

[The Green Bean]

Originally posted by: Boyo

Originally posted by: Roguestar
All we have to go on is anedotal evidence, really. You can assume from the popularity of forums like these that a lot are building, but there are again more on games forums (or none at all) who'll just get the best value Dell or HP gaming system they can. To be honest I would lean towards the building side because I think that those who are really into their games tend to know more about the hardware involved (graphics cards etc) and are more likely to be interested in cherry-picking their components.

Personally I've built all of my own PCs and haven't regretted it once. Never had a catastrophic failure so I've never needed a three-year warranty. I tend to go for two-year system refreshes anyway so I can keep gaming at decent quality . Building your own PC from components cuts out a lot of middle-man costs at the expense of the blame solely lying on you if you cock up. I think it's better to build your own because then not only do you learn something while doing it but you get to pick exactly what you want to go in it. Don't forget you can get a cheap copy of XP OEM if you buy a hard drive too, so no more crying about "pre-built systems come with an OS" .

:thumbsup: Exactly. You get to choose your own parts and put it together yourself which is very satisfying in and of itself.

And when it all goes wrong you start losing hair. I havent had a working PC for 2 years. Ive lost 3 CPUs, 2 Mobos, a CPU RAM, my casing has rusted and I've given up. Sometimes my 2.6 Northwood (down from a 3200+ and 3.06) will boot, but thats once in a hundred tries. So now I gave up and bought an xbox 360, and tried making use of my 200gigger as an external hard disk and now even that wont work. :|

 

[StopSign]

Try using less Arctic Silver next time.

 

[mcurphy]

Originally posted by: Bill Kunert
Have you checked the Price of a fast Dell XPS? Toget a 8800 series card, 2gig of memory and a high end C2D processor you're looking at over $4100. That's a big chunk of change.

After I saw your post I did a quick config at dell.com and I see you are right. I couldn't believe it, lol. It amazes me that they charge an additional $250 to go from an E6300 to E6600! Also, additional $30 for a floppy drive! And $30 for 56k modem, LOL. Just insane, and they market about 100 other products at you in their config pages that you don't need.

 

[zodder]

Also, additional $30 for a floppy drive! And $30 for 56k modem, LOL.

As most other manufacturers are doing, they are trying to eliminate these parts from ANY system build

 

[mcurphy]

Originally posted by: zodder

Also, additional $30 for a floppy drive! And $30 for 56k modem, LOL.

As most other manufacturers are doing, they are trying to eliminate these parts from ANY system build

I understand they are outdated tech, but why charge 3X the price? Some people still want a floppy drive for whatever reason, and many people do not have broadband options so they are forced to go with dial-up for internet. It's just ridiculous to charge $30 for a <$10 piece of hardware. The labor and overhead can't justify that much.

 

[StopSign]

The point is most people don't need those parts.

 

[w00t]

I build and will continue to

 

[agathodaimon]

I have so much fun building my own PC's.
I'm not biased against pre-builts, but I will never buy one as long as I'm able to build my own.
Nothing like finding that big brown (or white) box on your porch when you get home loaded with goodies that you get to put together that evening... ahh

 

[vijaypatel]

I was a former off the shelve system buyer. In recent days I've seen the quality of manufacturers like Dell go down Hill including the customer support. I can truly say that I've actually enjoyed building my first computer, because I KNOW whats in it.


---------------------
Intel X6800 - Coolit System Eliminator
EVGA GTS 8800
Intel BadAxe2 MB
2x 150GB WD Raptors
Thermaltake 850 PSU
Zalman - Fatal1ty Case

 

[ibex333]

I bought my 1st two computers when I was a kid, and didnt know how to build PC's. First was a 486/DX 100MHz built by my local comp store, and 2nd was a Compaq Pentium 300. (They both were terrible computers for games) All I got was grief and envy for all those who had Riva TNTs and Voodos.

Since then, I never buy.. I always build. It's my way of STICKING IT TO THE MAN.... Every time I dont buy a Dell, Gateway, Mac, HP or wahtever, I feel good, because that's one less computer they will sell and that's about $1000+ less they'll get in profits. Mabe I'm an angry, bitter person? Mabe, but I feel proud that I can build my own PCs and I dont have to deal with people that make profit off of me. (well at least in the computer field)

 

[wanderer27]

Yeah, the only time I would ever buy a prebuilt system is if I had to get a Laptop, and face it, Laptops aren't exactly something you could easily build

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: trOver
i still will never buy a prebuilt computer. Even if the price is right, the parts they use on some things are just not as good as quality as if you have built yourself. I'm mostly talking about the motherboard and powersupply here, but other parts can be crappy too and end up for a fast-dying computer that is not upgradable.

You always see stunning prices on Dells with great-looking specs (320Gb hard drive, E6300 etc etc) until you look deeper and realise they're using onboard graphics .

:laugh:

The E520 and xps 410 both have PCIe x16 slots. The xps 410 doesn't even have integrated video (965P chipset).

Hell the ONLY dell desktops that don't have PCIe slots are the low end systems.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Bill Kunert
Have you checked the Price of a fast Dell XPS? Toget a 8800 series card, 2gig of memory and a high end C2D processor you're looking at over $4100. That's a big chunk of change.

LOL!

Or is that the xps 710? Yeah those systems are overpriced.

The xps 410 can run an 8800 GTS just fine.