Building your own PC: Why Cheaper?

[hans007]

its not really cheaper to build your own. For me i can get much cheaper deals on packaged systems, i've got some connections, and well then there is the hot deals forum, hell they have 20% off at dell right now. The reason most people here feel it is cheaper is that if you bought a PC from a trashhole like Alien ware or a mom and pop it would be more expensive. If you bought from dell or HP or compaq it always costs less. Also a lot of people like me pirate all their software if we actuall had to pay for it all it would cost waaaay more to build your own. Also we have no warranty package which isnt a huge concern but still

 

[Trippin]

DITTO to build your own, i have really enjoyed the process....but now i'm hooked and have that "need for speed." haha

built my first one in may 00' see below

just a suggestion but if you want some upgradibility and good parts but don't want hasle/tech knowhow that comes with building, check out a "barebones" model..there are many sites that will assemble the components you pick for small amt to assemble..the trick is finding one with the right parts at the right prices so i guess it still takes a little bit of time, but never again(first comp was Dell, actually it was a TI-99-4a but thats another history lesson) will i just buy one without knowing every detail of its makeup...just my .02


Tornado 1000 case
7 total fans
5 case, 2 on chips

P-3 FC-PGA @ 840 mhz
120 mhz FSB
Abit-SE6 815e
128mb crucial SDRAM
8ns ECC PC-100
2-2-2
Creative TNT2 Ultra 32mb 2x AGP
ATA-100 IBM DTLA 30gb 7200
ATA-66 Maxtor 13.6gb 7200
Soundblaster x-gamer
TDK-Velo 12x CDR-RW
Toshiba 52x CD-ROM
3 port firewire card PCI
Linksys 100TX NIC


Connected for audio


Creative 4pt souround digital
Mackie CR-1604 VLZ
DBX-15band 2 ch EQ w/ dbx III NR
Art 15band 2 ch EQ
BBE-362 sonic maximizer
2 lexicon MP-100 Rack Effects
2 Behringer 4 ch Gates
DBX-266 Compressor Gate
2 Mackie FR-1400i Amps
1 Mackie FR-1200i Amp
2 EV- 15'' monitors
2 EV 18'' Subs

 

[Viper GTS]

Building my own PC had nothing to do with cost. When I first built a PC ~4 years ago, there was a price advantage to building yourself. Now, however, if you're concerned primarily about cost there are lots of low-cost solutions. The PC market has gotten too competitive to expect to save anything by building your own.

The advantages I see, however, are:

- Complete control over your PC. You get to choose everything. Want a BX board instead of a VIA? No problem. How about a GF2 GTS, but you don't want to pay retail prices? No problem. Want IDE RAID? No problem. I know every single piece of hardware in my computer, & chose every single component myself.

- Easy availability of drivers. It's easy to find drivers for a SB Live! value, but it's a pain in the ass to go look up your PC on IBM's web page, & download their POS proprietary drivers. Everything in my system is standard, & I can download all the drivers I need to completely re-build my system in 1/2 hour, even on 56K dial up.

- No extraneous crap on your PC. Don't want the "1,001 titles" that come with a retail PC? No problem. You install Windows from scratch, & then install only what you want.

- Raw speed. I guarantee you my system will out-perform virtually any pre-built system. I've tweaked the hell out of it, & it shows.

- Best of all, experience. I don't need to call tech support to fix my computer, I can tear it apart & re-build it any time I need to. Power supply fails? It's a 20 minute drive to pick up a 400W ATX P/S, & maybe 20 minutes to install it.

I will NEVER buy a pre-built system.

Viper GTS

 

[Rigoletto]

Hey viper I swopped PSUs the other day. It doesn't take more than 5 minutes. 4 screws and about five plugs to reseat. Better than waiting two weeks for crap tech support cos they "got the flu"

 

[Viper GTS]

The 20 minutes was how long it took to replace the P/S in my SuperMicro SC750. That involved removing the motherboard to route cables, & hooking up 14 fans.



Viper GTS

 

[Lizard]

I agree with everyone replying, in that everyone builds for different reasons. I had no knowledge of computer building, spent a month in this forum, and just completed my first system last week. I HAD A BLAST! I loved doing the research, and being able (after time) to at least understand what people with much more experience were talking about. I do believe it is less expensive to build your own simply due to the fact that you get to choose the brands, sizes, etc. (therefore quality) of your components.

I am now preparing to build my second machine, with the "theme" of trying to get the best system for the least amount of money. I realize it is not a new thought, but when I built my first system I purchased what I believe to be the hightest quality parts. Now I am interested in what parts need to be the highest quality (usually most expensive) vs. what parts can be "run of the mill". I am now ready to overclock, but am a bit nervous about it. My biggest problem is I'm software illiterate!

Sorry this was so long, it's just something I have recently become very enthused about.

 

[chuckieland]

I say builting your own system is cheaper
first because OEM such as Dell want to make money, and they have to make alot of money so it look good for the people that purchase their stock
2) it may seem OEM system are cheaper because they give you parts that is garbage.
such as SB 16 sound card or compatible sound card...etc
you built your system with the best brand name such asus motherboard, infineon memory, IBM HD...etc
and only to be $100 more then OEM machine which contain unknow name motherboard, generic memory, unknow brand and speed HD.....etc
do the math