Advantages of building over buying PreBuilt

[Dirk33]

Just looking for your opinions on this matter. I'm throwing around the idea of building a computer and just curious if its even worth it. This is the build i outlined in another post.

MOBO: Gigabyte EP35-DS3L Motherboard - Intel P35, Socket 775, ATX
Or
Asus P5K-V

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Processor - 2.53GHz, 3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Wolfdale-3M, Dual-Core, Socket 775, Processor with Fan

Memory: Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 2048MB)

Video Card: KFA2 GeForce 7300 LE Video Card (since i don't plan on using this as a serious game machine i honestly picked the cheapest one, i just need to be able to connect to a monitor)

HDD: Western Digital Cavair GreenPower 500GB Hard Drive -

Drive: Lite-On Internal Super AllWrite SATA DVD Writer - \

Case: Centurion 5 ATX Mid-Tower Case - Silver, Front USB, FireWire, Audio, 430-Watt Power Supply

PSU: Supplied with case.

I want to run Vista 64 bit.

If I took the money i would spend on these components and just bought a computer would i get something i would be as satisfied with.

Any opinions would be great, you all know much more than I

Thank You

[Force Flow]

1) What do you plan on using it for?
2) What is your budget?

[shadowpr]

The advantages of building are that you know what you have. You can make sure it's quality parts.

The better the system, the more you can usually save by building yourself.

The advantages to buying is that you don't have to worry about picking pout parts, or taking time to put it together.

You also usually get a warrenty with prebuilts, but most of the parts you would buy when building it yourself come with a warrenty of their own.

Building it yourself will help you learn about how a computer works, and should make things easier to troubleshoot.

If you build your own, you can leave room to upgrade, and will know what you can and can't upgrade.

[rwest]

Hp's and Compaq are fairly easy to work with when wanting to upgrade. Dependiing on what's installed originally though, if it's close to maxed out there's little you can do. Usually though the ram, processor, sound and video cards are standard ports. Watch onboard graphics, sometimes the propietary machines won't have an upgrade slot for video. The limits to upgrading these machines mostly comes from the case. You probaly can't use one of the standard form factors.(ie atx, micro atx...). Space for power maybe limited also.

The prices of a lot of propietary machines today makes it really hard to want to build. But these machines really become throw-aways once they've outlived thier upgrade path. But still they make excellent backup machines. I know some well tuned p2's, p3's and an athlon that can acesss the net and run word programs all day long with no hiccups- and these are propietary machines. it really depends on thier intended use. If you really want an upgrade path....build. If you want to save a little money now and have a fairly decent machine....buy. If you want to play most games and don't need all the heavy graphics...buy. If you want great graghics and want to always play the latest games...build.

[Force Flow]

HP/Compaq isn't very good quality (note: they're the same company)

If you go with a prebuild, the general consensus around here is to go with dell.

[tyrael]

I just finished building a computer 2 days ago, with a Core 2 8400 and a Radeon 4850 graphics card. I tried to configure the setup exactly to the parts list on Alienware, Dell, and HP, and found that I saved over $500 by building it myself.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by Force Flow HP/Compaq isn't very good quality (note: they're the same company) If you go with a prebuild, the general consensus around here is to go with dell.

That realy depends on the unit. I also have heard that most Dell's offer a higher quality unit when housing comparable parts. I've never owned a Dell but I have also heard that they are the hardest to upgrade.

Currently my Compaq is apx 3-4 yrs old, all it really needs is a processor upgrade, maybe another gig of ram. It holds an asus mobo, as did my HP. The biggest drawback is that HP has crippled the bios.

I personaly would rather build than buy a premade, but I have yet to convince the wfe. So I tinker around with the old stuff. Maybe someday she'll trust me to build one.

[Patch]

Here are 2 cents coming from a guy who recently did his first build (for fun as the only real reason):

#1: Saving money by building your own PC is like supplementing your income by collecting aluminum cans to recycle. You can do it, but the time+effort/$ ratio often won't be worth it. Sure, if it's your 10th build and you already have a garage full of spare cables, thumbscrews, old power supplies, heatsinks, thermal compounds and the like just sitting around - you can probably save a bundle for the amount of effort spent. Just like it might be a good idea to check the trash next door for beer cans if you live next to a frat house.

#2: (This qualifies #1 above). If you have specific wants or needs out of your computer you may want to build - and might save a lot of money by NOT paying for stuff you don't need or want as part of the package. Prebuilts often have lopsided hardware offerings - charging you a premium for the latest in something, while only offering last years part in something else (to move inventory, of course).

#3: Building your own is FUN. You did it. You get a learn a lot and figure out how to troubleshoot.

#4: Don't forget the software. Particularly with your first build, and depending on what you use, this cost can potentially be immense with "build your own". Prebuilts will often save you a lot of money bundling stuff you use (and sometimes increasing your costs a lot because of something you don't use being bundled in).

[Moose on the Loose]

Building your own used to be a money issue as well, but not so much these days.

I think for many people it's just a primal desire to want to build things yourself as the main reason, at least for low and mid-end computers. High-end gaming machines are usually a different story.

Other reasons are: you know exactly what's in the computer, how to replace and/or fix it, and you get to choose how much you spend on which component. It's perfectly possible to make a powerful number crunching machine without investing anything in the graphics department if gaming isn't your thing. This is also possible if you buy pre-built, but there will probably be some "over-investment" in a certain aspect you don't particularly need.

The fact that it doesn't come bundled with tons of software is another plus for some people (I know it is to me). First thing I do when I unwrap an HP/Dell/X computer is remove all the programs that load on startup and stay active in the background.

If you're not interested in how computers "tick" and if you're very afraid of doing something wrong, then just get a pre-build computer from a reputable brand. The upgrade possibilities won't be the same, but you'll (hopefully) have a decent guarantee, and you won't have to worry about RMA-ing things yourself, should anything break.

My 2 cents.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by rwest That realy depends on the unit. I also have heard that most Dell's offer a higher quality unit when housing comparable parts. I've never owned a Dell but I have also heard that they are the hardest to upgrade.

They're only hard to upgrade when you go for the cheapest of the cheap no frills models. If you go for a more expensive model, you have a few more options open to you.