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DELL vs Building your own.

A

Arsenik13

Member
Background:
I just graduated college in May and for the last 5 years I haven't had the time or the money to really keep up with technology. Now that I have my first job and quite a bit of money, I'd like to get a new computer.

In the past I've always built my own computer because I was a geek like that.. and loved knowing how to build/fix/repair computers.

What I need a new computer for:
I currently use my computer that I built about a year ago to play WoW and to burn DVD's. I sit in front of a computer all day at work, so my computer time at home is minimal.

Here's what I WANT to do:
* I just bought a TiVo, so I want to burn TiVo Recordings to DVD
* Back up my DVD collection
* Play WoW & Any other new computer games that come out that I may like
* Bluetooth connection for my cell phone pictures
* Other normal computer stuff
* Watch DVD's on my computer

Dilemma:
I browse the HOT DEALS forum here quite a bit, and noticed a deal last week for a Dimension 9100 WITH a 24 INCH WIDESCREEN LCD!! I know 100% there is no way I could buy parts and build a computer with that type of monitor for less than the $1,200 that it was priced at.

When I built computers, I built them for less than what I could buy one from DELL for.. now it appears that is the other way around?

So I guess my question is.. should I wait for the next DELL deal w/ a monster LCD screen or go ahead and build my own?? and what is the benefits of building my own computer over just buying the DELL deal and upgrading the RAM & drives to DVD?
 
Hey there,

Congratulations on graduating!:thumbsup:

I've had good experiences with Dell computers in the past, and like yourself usually prefer to build my own systems. I've been eyeing some of those deals as well, and they look pretty tempting. In fact, I even called Dell to discuss purchasing a 5100c for my family, but the sales guy was pretty pushy and rude, so I went ahead and built an Asus Pundit-R for much, much less that is a much better machine IMHO.

My only reservation about buying a Dell right now would be their insistence on sticking with Intel CPU's and their proprietary motherboards, which makes it very difficult to nigh impossible to upgrade certain components down the road. For everything that you want to do at the moment however, the Dell would perform admirably and you'd score a great monitor too. Best of luck with your decision.
 
My only reservation about buying a Dell right now
Click to expand...

I would also add that the majority of their technical support is now outsourced to India, which means that if you call them you will get someone with an incomprehensible accent and to whom your accent will be incomprehensible. Not that they aren't technically competent, but the language barrier is significant. If you ever need support, better to deal with a country where English is a first language.

As to your original question I would build your own. You can't really save any money (unless you get it from fs/t forums), but you can make sure that the highest quality parts go into your rig, and you have the pride of creation. It's not hard to do.

Welcome to the forums, and congrats on your first job. Just don't get carried away and build up credit card debt like I did - took me ages to dig myself out of that hole.
 
I say there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of a job well done....build your own!! Feel the power when it roars to life for the first time...or not!!
 
Originally posted by: deathwalker
I say there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of a job well done....build your own!! Feel the power when it roars to life for the first time...or not!!
Click to expand...



SO true!! It's been so long since I've built my own I don't even know who is the best brands to go with anymore...
 
If the dell vs build your own comes out to be about the same price i would still build your own b/c you have more room for upgrades its expensive to get started at first but down the line it gets cheaper. as far as dell they don't seem to play nice. You can build a AMD duel core X2 3800+ 7800GT with 2GB's and thats with OEM Windows for about $1270 with shiping add $700 for monitor and your get close Dell with P4 D,6800GT, monitor, 2GB ram is about $2170 without a deal i gers. Then again Dell does make some well built computers. If dell played nice with over the counter hardware i would say GO AHEAD saves you the time. plug and play but they don't so thats a big turn off.
 
Building your own gives you a lot more options, with a Dell you might find it hard to add lots of HDDs (for TiVO/DVD backups) if the case only has limited HDD slots.
Graphics and CPU wise you may be limited in upgrades (or find it harder to do).
Building your own also means you can overclock/know exactly what you have, and make sure the PC will be able to do everything you want it to NOW and still have room for future improvements (more RAM/better gfx/better CPU).
 
I haven't seen a proprietary motherboard from dell in many years, basically since back in the p3 days.

When I call their tech support for warranty replacements I've generally had a 25% chance of getting someone I couldn't quite understand, but this is generally someone with bad phone etiquette such as breathing heavily into the phone or mumbling etc.
 
dell are great

but upgrading is a bit of a chew, and they dont provide everything id want in a computer....mainly AMD chips.theres also a little issue i noticed where dell (in the UK at least) are cramming loads of rubbish like yahoo messanger, AOL and 90day trials of rubbish programs like that. but thats not so bad 10mins just deleting them and your sorted

and when it goes wrong dell are usually pretty good with fixing it for you

oh and they are pretty damn quiet!

id prefere to build my own....then i get what i want, and know where i can go from there. and if a part breaks like the Video Card, then i can simply take that part out, and use a spare while it gets repaired, that way i stilll have my computer if i need it, i just wont be able to play games
 
I've owned several Dell's, they all worked good. They are moving to all BTX design for the most part so the motherboards must be unique to Dell, can't say how upgrading them would or wouldn't be an issue. The new designs are nice.

They are noted for bloating the HD with tons of useless crap, some people reformat upon set-up.

The biggest issue for me was I wanted an AMD system, Dell refuses to offer it eventhough they know their sales would skyrocket with the option.

So this time around I assembled my own and had more fun in the end.

I even read now that they will offer hi-end designer PC's, I'm thinking Apple here.
 
I've built my own, friends, familys, and workplace's computers for years. And some of these dell deals are extremely tempting. You can't build what they have for the price they offer. I'd say if you're not a hard-core overclocking hardware junkie, dell is the way to go.

The only reasons I haven't bought a dell system yet are:
1. They don't have AMD (last I checked)
2. I overclock a lot so need good overclocking components (not saying that you can't overclock a dell)
3. I haven't needed a whole new system for a while and have just been upgrading my current system

If you want a good deal on a PC, especially with a big LCD, get yourself a dell 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Kogan

The only reasons I haven't bought a dell system yet are:
1. They don't have AMD (last I checked)
Click to expand...

Whats the big deal with AMD?? Are they really that better than Intel... and if so, why?
 
:thumbsdown: DELL :thumbsdown:

I owned a 4700 and I liked it until I tried to put on a new CPU Heatsink/Fan and found out that the motherboard was totally custom and cannot take any cooler but one by DELL.

There is really no satisfaction like building your own computer.

I've owned a DELL and an HP and will never buy another prebuilt computer again.
 
Originally posted by: solofly
Ok, maybe a printer too but that's it.
Click to expand...


Dell's printer line uses proprietary consumables, only thing that turns me away. I guess if you stock up on them you'll be okay, in a bind OfficeMax won't be able to help you out.
 
I wouldn't buy a Dell if I was into gaming. Most of their cheap systems only have integrated graphics, and do not have either an AGP or PCI Express slot.

For the price of a decent Dell gaming computer, you could easily build one of your own with cash to spare.
 
Reading through all of the contributions to the thread, I see one sizable omission: White Box Assembly shops. My first couple of IBM PC's were actual IBM pieces. After that, I bought a couple of "White Box" systems of that era, was well pleased, and graduated to building my own for several years. At that time, I could save money as a home PC builder.

White Box PC's can be whatever level of system you want, from Budget to awesome, and a good shop can assemble it faster, with fewer false starts, and for a good while there, cheaper than I could do it (so I let them do so). You get the advantages of a home built in regard to upgrades and suitability for OC, without the many compromises of a name brand system (any name brand). Dell has been pricing their cheap systems lower than a White Box "budget" range, but I don't think most AT Readers would be at all satisfied with their cheapest stuff.

You do need to scout out the local situation, of course. There are bad operators mucking things up for the good ones, but their reputations catch up with them fairly quickly. Ask around some before choosing a White Box shop. Buy a few upgrade parts through them and see what kind of service you get.


😎
 
Originally posted by: Kiwi
Reading through all of the contributions to the thread, I see one sizable omission: White Box Assembly shops. My first couple of IBM PC's were actual IBM pieces. After that, I bought a couple of "White Box" systems of that era, was well pleased, and graduated to building my own for several years. At that time, I could save money as a home PC builder.

White Box PC's can be whatever level of system you want, from Budget to awesome, and a good shop can assemble it faster, with fewer false starts, and for a good while there, cheaper than I could do it (so I let them do so). You get the advantages of a home built in regard to upgrades and suitability for OC, without the many compromises of a name brand system (any name brand). Dell has been pricing their cheap systems lower than a White Box "budget" range, but I don't think most AT Readers would be at all satisfied with their cheapest stuff.

You do need to scout out the local situation, of course. There are bad operators mucking things up for the good ones, but their reputations catch up with them fairly quickly. Ask around some before choosing a White Box shop. Buy a few upgrade parts through them and see what kind of service you get.


😎
Click to expand...


Being a computer engineer and everything.. if I didn't go with DELL I would have to build myself over letting someone else put the pieces I choose together for me.
 
You can't beat Dell's prices, period. If Dell charges you $1000 for a new system, there is usually no way for you to build a system with the exact same specs for $1000, especially when displays are involved. What is possible is to build a system better suited to your needs for the same price. All of the tasks you mentioned except gaming are not going to vary much between a dell and a homebuilt, the DVD stuff is largely dependent on software and will run fine on any modern CPU. If you do intend to play games though, build one yourself, hands down, if not you may find the dell completely adequate and hassle free. OEMs like Dell simply do not put much into their graphics systems because most people simply don't care because it's not an issue for anything except games, if you plan to be playing games, the video card should be the most expensive component you buy.

Good luck even getting a game to start up, much less run on the x300 graphics card they put in the 9100's with a 24" LCD. 1920x1200 is that screen's native resolution, and you need at a minimum 6800GT+ to use resolutions like that in 3D games. If you don't intend to make any compromises on detail settings I wouldn't consider much less than a single 7800GTX. If the game doesn't support widescreen you can run it in 1600x1200 with black bars on the side, which is just slightly less demanding, or you could choose a lower resolution and have ugly scaling and blurring on your very nice display. LCDs that big are a double edged sword if you play games - they look incredible and also require a huge investment in video card(s) to run at their gigantic resolutions.
 
Originally posted by: obeseotron
You can't beat Dell's prices, period. If Dell charges you $1000 for a new system, there is usually no way for you to build a system with the exact same specs for $1000, especially when displays are involved. What is possible is to build a system better suited to your needs for the same price. All of the tasks you mentioned except gaming are not going to vary much between a dell and a homebuilt, the DVD stuff is largely dependent on software and will run fine on any modern CPU. If you do intend to play games though, build one yourself, hands down, if not you may find the dell completely adequate and hassle free. OEMs like Dell simply do not put much into their graphics systems because most people simply don't care because it's not an issue for anything except games, if you plan to be playing games, the video card should be the most expensive component you buy.

Good luck even getting a game to start up, much less run on the x300 graphics card they put in the 9100's with a 24" LCD. 1920x1200 is that screen's native resolution, and you need at a minimum 6800GT+ to use resolutions like that in 3D games. If you don't intend to make any compromises on detail settings I wouldn't consider much less than a single 7800GTX. If the game doesn't support widescreen you can run it in 1600x1200 with black bars on the side, which is just slightly less demanding, or you could choose a lower resolution and have ugly scaling and blurring on your very nice display. LCDs that big are a double edged sword if you play games - they look incredible and also require a huge investment in video card(s) to run at their gigantic resolutions.
Click to expand...

Couldn't I simply upgrade the video card that comes in the DELL?
 
Originally posted by: Arsenik13
Couldn't I simply upgrade the video card that comes in the DELL?
Click to expand...

Yes, but if you try that, I would make damn sure that when you pick the low end video card option, like the X300SE, you still get the stock PSU from Dell (most likely one of Fortron's 350W or 450W OEM ones), and that they don't put in a cheaper, lower rated one especially chosen to be only usable with the X300 or other low end cards. The stock one should support a 7800GTX (as in a single one...not that you could do SLi with a Dell anyway).
 
Okay, I've been pushed over the edge. I've decided to build my own computer. First step now will be finding a motherboard.. the SLi sounds nice for gaming.. I guess I better start researching mobo brands to find the best one huh?
 
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