How many people here actually build their computers?

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Let me guess. You pay a few hundred more for a CPU, than we pay for an entire very decently functioning system, including OS, LCD, and everything in between? Hey, I'm impressed...

I think I paid $146 for my newer A64. It equates to roughly a $1000 Intel 840EE in gaming performance*, which is what I bought it to do. You can have your back now

edit: and that's before any overclocking, which it has plenty of headroom for if I so desire. And unlike a Dell, yes, I can OC it too.

BTW, find me a hot deal on a HP Pavilion 4000e and then we might be talkin' 400W PSU, full ATX form factor, A64's up to a 4000+.

 

[frankierx]

i do; i've built at least 5 pc's

 

[Brutuskend]

The only store bought computer I ever had was a Emachine that I took home, opened up to check for expandability, and then took right back to where I bought it.

 

[Bryophyte]

I won't build computers for anyone anymore. Since I sold my business in 2000, I just don't have the enthusiasm anymore. I will help my relatives go through the process of buying one from Dell, but I just don't have the interest in building them anymore, and can't really beat Dell's prices. I make my in-laws get Dell warranties so I don't have to deal with the neverending tech support nagging. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law still call for help, but not as often. We shuffle parts around in our own machines, and use the free unlocked test CPUs we get from my spouse's employer, but I'm to the point where I just want to get rid of the desktop machines and get a decent laptop. Tired of all the space they're taking up. Guess I'll have to hold on to one for the kids to use, but we have enough parts to keep that going for years.

 

[Chunkee]

i have built about 80 in the last year. Only one i have not built was my laptop. Oh, I bought the church an sc400 when they were 129 bux. Thats it. More choices, AMD rulez and my support is much better than Dells.

JC

 

[LongAce]

use to but not anymore... Waste of my time and I don't enjoy it no more. It's cheaper buying a name brand computer if you know where to find it.

 

[TGS]

Originally posted by: BigJ
The deal was actually $348 + tax.

Let's see what you forgot (prices include shipping cost):
-Case & Power Supply $40-$50
-Video Card $25-$30
-Keyboard $8
-Mouse $5
-CD-ROM $10

So that totals an additional $88-$103. So now you're at $500-$520 as opposed to the $360-$370 Dell deal. About $140 to $150 difference., which is almost 40% of the cost of the original system.

stolen from Zebo

CD/DVD ROM Drives
Samsung Beige 52X CD-ROM, Model SH-152AEBUW, OEM
Item# N82E16827151045
$15.00

Hard Drives
SAMSUNG 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model SP0802N, OEM Drive only
Item# N82E16822152010
$54.49

Keyboards and Mouse
ROSEWILL RKM800BLK Black Desktop Wireless Keyboard and Mouse -RETAIL
Item# N82E16823201002
$22.99

Memory (System Memory)
pqi POWER Series 184-Pin 256MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
Item# N82E16820141165
$29.99

Motherboards - AMD
BIOSTAR "K8VGAM" VIA K8M800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813138242
$69.00

Processors
AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail
Item# N82E16819103452
$120.00

POWMAX 2-Tone Mid Tower ATX Case with 400W Power Supply, Model "769-5" - RETAIL
Item# N82E16811145034
$32.49


Product total: $343.96
Shipping & Handling: $ 18.82
Total (Before tax): $362.78

 

[Special K]

Here I'll just throw this out here because I'm bored:

Earlier I posted that I bought a Dell because I found a good deal that I couldn't beat by buying comparable parts individually and building. Well here is what I got for $1200 on the Dell Outlet site:

P3 3.0 GHz 630 model
1 GB DDR2
GF 6800 GTO
Samsung DVD
NEC 3520A DVD+-RW
Maxtor 250 GB
SB Audigy 2 ZS
Winxp home
3 year warranty

If anyone else out there is bored and wants to configure a custom rig that will equal or beat mine for significantly less $, please do, I'm just curious to see how far off my calculations were. Don't forget to add a legit copy of windows.

Honestly after owning my first rig for nearly 4 years and only upgrading the RAM in it, I felt I would be better off just getting a Dell anyway. I couldn't care less about upgrading the mobo or cpu, and by going with Dell I wouldn't have to mess with compatibility issues and could have quick turnaround times if a part happened to die. With my old rig the RAM died one time and it took nearly 3 weeks to get my replacement.

 

[CraigRT]

been building for some years now
have done probably 150 in my lifetime

 

[KokomoGSTmp]

Built my own for quite a while as well... since the mid90s.

Well, other than the rare "ground-up" build where I completely replace everything, it's definitely more of a consistent incremental upgrade... pieces get swapped in every so often as I deem neccessary.

I'm still running an OC'ed Barton with an ATI 9600 for that reason. I haven't been gaming much since my car has become the money pit.

 

[SagaLore]

I build my own computer at home.

We buy Dell for work.

 

[mchammer187]

i have built several in the past

but use a dell currently

my next computer will more than likely be a dell

unbelievable what you can get for the dollar

and I can add whatever I want to it and use my own copy of XP

 

[TGS]

Originally posted by: Special K
Here I'll just throw this out here because I'm bored:

Earlier I posted that I bought a Dell because I found a good deal that I couldn't beat by buying comparable parts individually and building. Well here is what I got for $1200 on the Dell Outlet site:

P3 3.0 GHz 630 model
1 GB DDR2
GF 6800 GTO
Samsung DVD
NEC 3520A DVD+-RW
Maxtor 250 GB
SB Audigy 2 ZS
Winxp home
3 year warranty

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K 90nm Rev. E Venice (939) ( Box-w-Fan) $209
Corsair 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM Memory(2x512) $82.90
Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $325
AOpen Black IDE DVD Burner Model 91.4ID37.004 - OEM $39.99
AOpen Black IDE DVD Burner Model 91.4ID37.004 - OEM $39.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 300GB Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - Retail $200
CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 Sound - OEM $71
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM $91.95
Raidmax Samurai 908 Mid Tower Gaming Case (black w/ 420 PSU) $119.99
___________________________________________________________________
Total before taxes $1179.82

Retail warranty, or specific warranty through manufacturer. Though you may be able to find better, I stuck with Zipzoom, Monarch, and the Egg.

 

[LongAce]

Originally posted by: TGS

Originally posted by: Special K
Here I'll just throw this out here because I'm bored:

Earlier I posted that I bought a Dell because I found a good deal that I couldn't beat by buying comparable parts individually and building. Well here is what I got for $1200 on the Dell Outlet site:

P3 3.0 GHz 630 model
1 GB DDR2
GF 6800 GTO
Samsung DVD
NEC 3520A DVD+-RW
Maxtor 250 GB
SB Audigy 2 ZS
Winxp home
3 year warranty

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K 90nm Rev. E Venice (939) ( Box-w-Fan) $209
Corsair 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM Memory(2x512) $82.90
Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $325
AOpen Black IDE DVD Burner Model 91.4ID37.004 - OEM $39.99
AOpen Black IDE DVD Burner Model 91.4ID37.004 - OEM $39.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 300GB Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - Retail $200
CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 Sound - OEM $71
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM $91.95
Raidmax Samurai 908 Mid Tower Gaming Case (black w/ 420 PSU) $119.99
___________________________________________________________________
Total before taxes $1179.82

Retail warranty, or specific warranty through manufacturer. Though you may be able to find better, I stuck with Zipzoom, Monarch, and the Egg.

It's an AMD... You should hope it cost less.

I got teh dimension 8400 with upgraded Video card and sound card for $480. I went ahead and upgrade it with 1.5 DDR2 ram and my existing hardwares. So total to be 680 or so but not more.

 

[Toasthead]

Originally posted by: gistech1978
you betcha

 

[jds2006]

I bought my computer from the store. Why would I want to build my own computer? I don't know anything about them, what if I misplace a part and screw the computer up or something.

 

[Mr N8]

I build my own, but if a family member asks for a computer, I send them to Dell. I got tired of being family tech support.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: TGS

Originally posted by: Special K
Here I'll just throw this out here because I'm bored:

Earlier I posted that I bought a Dell because I found a good deal that I couldn't beat by buying comparable parts individually and building. Well here is what I got for $1200 on the Dell Outlet site:

P3 3.0 GHz 630 model
1 GB DDR2
GF 6800 GTO
Samsung DVD
NEC 3520A DVD+-RW
Maxtor 250 GB
SB Audigy 2 ZS
Winxp home
3 year warranty

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K 90nm Rev. E Venice (939) ( Box-w-Fan) $209
Corsair 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM Memory(2x512) $82.90
Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $325
AOpen Black IDE DVD Burner Model 91.4ID37.004 - OEM $39.99
AOpen Black IDE DVD Burner Model 91.4ID37.004 - OEM $39.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 300GB Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - Retail $200
CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 Sound - OEM $71
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM $91.95
Raidmax Samurai 908 Mid Tower Gaming Case (black w/ 420 PSU) $119.99
___________________________________________________________________
Total before taxes $1179.82

Retail warranty, or specific warranty through manufacturer. Though you may be able to find better, I stuck with Zipzoom, Monarch, and the Egg.

You missed the mobo. Dump the stupid Audigy2 (whatever's on the board will be better) and get a motherboard.

 

[dornick]

As someone said before "there are plenty of reasons to build your PC, price just isn't one of them".

Everybody who posted pro-Dell in here is right: considering money alone, nothing can beat a Dell desktop because they can throw in all sorts of free or discounted stuff. Right now however, my biggest concern is performance and that's why I'm custom building my next rig. If all I wanted to do was browse the internet and post on AT, I'd be insane not to get a $300 Dell. And I'm sure I will in 10 years when I don't play games anymore

What's really hilarious here is the pro/anti Dell crowd raging against each other. For crying out loud, who cares if the other person buys a Dell or prefers to build their own PC. Different people require different needs and neither of the options will satisfy everyone fully.

 

[dman]

Build.

I can and do refer other people to Dell though on price/value. If you need something more custom than they can provide you wouldn't be asking me for advice you'd be building it yourself anyway, imo.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

You missed the mobo. Dump the stupid Audigy2 (whatever's on the board will be better) and get a motherboard.

He also missed the OS in Zebo's stolen list before.

I've yet to HEAR a system as quiet as as Dell and HP slap together for whatever reason. I'm in the market for a new QUIET CPU fan for the overpriced box I got talked into building. How much is that going to set me back on top of the money I already wasted?

 

[Kenazo]

The only computer I have that I didn't build is my laptop.

 

[konakona]

didnt bother to read the whole thread...

i have built many for others in the past, but with each undertaking came a painful realization that most computer illiterates are far better served with dells. its amazing how much trouble and headaches your sincere concern for their wellfare can cause...

if i had to build my own machine tho, i would definitely build my own. i am yet to see a vendor computer fitted with a cheap sempron, grlorious 2d of p650, musical bliss of emu-1212M and eye candy of 22'' diamondtron.

 

[LongAce]

Originally posted by: Mr N8
I build my own, but if a family member asks for a computer, I send them to Dell. I got tired of being family tech support.

ditto

 

[Aries64]

Over the past 11 years I've built 9 for myself and three for friends/family. However, due to the fact that I don't really have time to provide tech support (and never really did to begin with) every time someone's PC get a virus I will never build another PC for anyone who doesn't live in my house.