Performance diff between Dell and custom built

[RodeoClown]

I have not seen this done recently, and was just wondering if anyone here has a link comparing, say a Dell 4600 Pentium 4, with a simiarly configured custom built pc with brand name parts (asus mobo, brand memory, etc).

These things are SOOOOO cheap right now, I am for the first time considering buying one for my home computer (have one at work).
Even better, they are SILENT. It would probably cost me about $100 (1/3 cost of the Dell computer) to get my current pc that quiet.

Specific specs of Dell I am looking at:

P4 2.66 gig
512 meg ram
80 gig 7200 HDD
Win XP
integrated graphics (to be upgraded of course)
built in sound card

$399 shipped

If anyone has info on this I would appreciate...

 

[MDE]

Try the General Hardware forum, but I'll answer as best I can. I think AT did a review of a Dell XPS system and it was slightly slower than a custom-built system, which could be attributed to higher latency RAM and all of the installed fluff software that most PC makers put on systems.

 

[dexvx]

Actually, the reason why its slightly slower is because the motherboard is more conservative in almost every regard. They are built for stability, not to get every last bit of performance out of the system.

 

[RonS]

For the first time in my life, I bought a pre-built computer. I picked up a Dell PowerEdge 400sc server, 2.4GHz, 256MB, 40GB for $254 after rebate, with free shipping. The case is really nice. It came with no operating system, which I prefer. It also came with a free Palm Zire, keyboard, mouse, CD-ROM, floppy. There's no way I could have built this machine for that price.

It originally spec'd with a Celeron, but I added some extra money ($50, I think) on top fo the $254 to get the 2.4GHz P4.

I don't know how Dell makes money selling systems so cheap.

 

[RodeoClown]

Thanks for the responses....I did not pull the trigger on that Dell system, but I agree that it would be difficult if not impossible to match their price/performance ratio if you were building on your own.

And to answer your question, how do they make money? Think about how much they (or one of their suppliers) pay that SE Asian factory worker a day - I am sure a lot of profit comes from keeping overhead costs (like production worker salaries) down...also they get volume discounts of course. Same concept as Wal-Mart.

It probably cost them $150 to make that computer you bought for $254.

 

[UltraWide]

Dell has a lot of purchasing power, but also the average non-bargain hunting joe pays a lot more than us for a Dell so that's essentially how they can make money on the retail consumer side. Corporate accounts are a different story...

 

[LouPoir]

That $399 computer from Dell is a good deal. Dell computer are super quiet. The only problem with this one is that it has Intel Extreme Graphics 2 video. And lets just say that the only thing extreme is how bad the performace is. If your just surfing and doing downlaods, excel, no problem. Any kind of graphic intensive application, games and you will be very dissapointed.

IMHO.

Lou