Home Built or Retail PC

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I had some fun with a similar question some time ago. You may be interested in seeing it.

http://tinyurl.com/2qcxc

I still build my own systems.

I still build my own PCs.
But, it is getting harder to justify doing it myself.

A friend of mine came across a web-tailer that sells custom configured systems with Windows loaded. The prices were less than he or I could find the same hardware for.
They use name brand hardware, most of it top grade equipment.

He refer's to them as Extreme PC. I cannot find their web site at the moment.

If for some reason I wanted to buy a built-up system, I would go to a local PC dealer and avoid the big-box stores and name brand PCs.

One BIG problem with most name brand PCs is that they are built as price point items. By the time you specify a system with decent graphics and sound, even Dell is at nearly the same price as you would have to pay for a custom PC at a local dealer.

Chas

Never, ever, ever buy a retail PC!!! For less money you can build a better one! Every time.

You are not paying for someone to assemble it, the store's overheads or their advertising campaign.

Look at any computer...what is the MOST critical component??

CPU....nope!
Memory....nope!
Power supply.....nope!

The motherboard, every time. Retail PC's always use the cheapest parts...that's how they make money. Why sell a $400 computer with a $100 mobo and make $20 profit when you can fit a cheaper $50 mobo and make $70 profit!!

Let's say a store sells a 3GHz machine...bet you it has a cheap and nasty motherboard. It's the only way they can compete on price...apart from build quality of the case or a cheaper power supply. Now build your own with a decent motherboard...fit a 2.6Ghz CPU, tune the board properly and I'll lay a month's salary that Sandra or other benchmarking programmes says your 'home built' has a better performance.

I have a retail PC that someone has just last week paid ?699 for in the UK (over $1000), with 3.02GHz CPU (and all the pre-loaded software) on the bench right now. It's in for a set of front panel USBs to be fitted, just in case you wondered!

Sat next to it is the one I just built for a colleague's son. It only has a 1.9Ghz AMD XP, but it has 512Mb of ram and a very good mobo running CAS 2.0 DDR400 ram at 400MHz. The chipset is tweakable in the extreme.

The 1.9 cost just ?250 ($420), but has a faster hard disk with double the capacity of the retail job.

The retail machine is using PC266DDR CAS 3.0 memory. The decent mobo in Baby Hector's Tower Of Fun has an 8x AGP slot with a cheap Leadtek WinFast A340T with 128Mb of 405MHz memory and RAMDACS running at 350MHz....the retail machine has on-board NVidia graphics running at the 166MHz RAM, 133 MHZ RAMDAC.

For 40% of the money, the 1.9 beats the 3.02 on EVERY benchmark that matters, except raw CPU speed...and runs every game we have tried a damn sight better!!!

Build your own. YOU know what goes into it and exactly how much it costs....and no fat cat retailer is taking their percentage for the priviledge of selling you a compromise from a nice shiny showroom!

I have a modest 2GHz AMD XP at home, with 4Gb of ram and an 80Gb ATA133 Seagate, DVD-RW/+RW, and Hauppaugue WinTV. Only the finest parts went in to it and it has been hand tweaked to perfection. I tried over 40 mobos before I found the one I liked best, and the mobo accounted for half the cost of the system. It's not a gaming machine, but is used as an analogue video editing system...where performance really counts. The day Dell, Packard Bell, IBM or HP can build a machine this good for the same money that does the same job as good as this one, I will gladly invite you round to my place and you can watch me eat it, monitor and all!!!

The question as we are all IT professionals and mostly "Geeks" in others eyes we all will insist quite rightly to build you're own.

The units that you build you're self are always better as you buy the parts to suit the job required and don't consider all in 1 M'Boards because they absorb too much of the CPU usage and system resources. But they are cheep and most people buy on price alone and don't consider what they are paying for or more correctly don't know the first thing about computers anyway.

I regularly see my clients eyes glaze over when I attempt to answer a question they have asked along technical lines and a common comment is "Please Speak English!"

As you specifically asked about "Home" computers I'll just relate one comment that I made to a store manager who was advertising PC's from $1,200.00 AU "My reply was I spent more on M"Boards than what they where asking for a complete computer with an OS."

Does that answer you're question?

Col

Then you're a person who might enjoy hands-on engineering. A "geek" as one of the above posts less charitably put it, but I suppose if you don't mind being called a geek or even consider it a compliment, then you've accurately identified yourself. It's a young person's thing. As you get older and develop a broader perspective on life, you'll probably find that you're more interested in what you can accomplish with your tools than how they work or whether in some abstract sense they're as "good" as your neighbor's. I used to enjoy tuning my own car for maximum performance. Now I just want it to get me to my office reliably and safely (and with a really good stereo ^_^) so I can fulfil my responsibility as an "elder" of this "tribe" and do my bit to make the world a better place for the next generation. I feel the same way about my computer. Even though I was a developer for many years and could troubleshoot mainframe operating systems, I now resent the many hours I'm forced to spend being a software "mechanic," poking into the frelling thing to make it do what it was supposed to be able to do in the first place. My next computer will be a Mac. The entire Mac and OS/X environment comes with a label,"Warning: no user serviceable parts inside." That's the way I like my infrastructure.

I went with a refurbished PC. Money is tight and I needed a newer PC to work with large .wav files. I wasn?t the latest and greatest as far as speed goes but it was a drastic improvement from what I had. I would have liked to have built my own but I got what I needed for a lot less money.

I actually did not build my own per se. I ordered it online from cyberpower. At the time I could get it even cheaper than buying the parts from pricewatch. I also got the 3 yr warranty.
I did use the custom config and chose all of the parts myself though.

There is another angle to building your own, especially when it comes to working on a tight budget.

Most retail stores will try to compete on price by cutting corners on quality, or competing with other retailers on features and extras.

Often it is very difficult to find an 'entry level' retail machine. The stores all want to sell you systems with all the 'bells and whistles'. Many of these are completely un-necessary so why pay for them if you aren't going to use them.

Do you really need a DVD drive and PowerDVD software if you have a DVD player at home already? Do you need a 3D accellerated graphics card with 128Mb of ram if you just want to surf the net or type a few letters?

Building your own allows you to specify exactly what you need at the time. If you want to upgrade later, you can, as needs and budget dictate. Some of the 'extras' don't seem like much, but when you take them all 'en masse' they can add a significant chunk to the overall cost.

For example, a local retailer has a range of machines. Their base level machine costs just ?249 ($400 or so) and has an XP1900 cpu, 256Mb of ram, 80Gb hard disk, 52x CD-ROM and on-board sound and graphics. It also has a 56k modem, so it's a basic internet-ready machine.

To add this as a workstation on a network requires adding a LAN card. Now, If I go to the same retailer, I can buy the parts and build the system for the same price. In essence, they are not charging me for assembly. But, if I don't include the modem or CD, I can save perhaps ?25. A LAN card will cost me ?7 so I still make a saving of ?18. Not much, granted, and the ?18 will be written off by my labour building it. However, this computer will only be used as a workstation in the office for email and word-processing so......

Lose the mobo with on-board sound and graphics. Buy a different mobo without these features (ASRock produce very good mobos at a very good price)and splash out on a cheap AGP card. I don't need sound so I can lose a set of speakers too. To be honest, the XP1900 is overkill, so use a Duron 1300 and a cheaper cooler fan...the user will NOT notice the difference running Word, I guarantee! Now, the user won't be using floppy for anything, so I can lose a floppy drive. Should a software install be required, this can be done from a CD rom on another network machine.

Going down this road brought the system price down to ?217, saving over 10% on the 'basic' machine. Not much, but roll that out over 10 workstations; with the costs saved on 9 machines, the tenth was free!!!

I see you have twigged me! Well dear, just to remind you...

Have a look at the pile of VCDs down by the DVD player. Are they not all the shows you asked me to record off Cartoon Network and burn to CD so that you and Cubster can sit and watch them while I am toiling away trying to earn my meagre crust?

That 'damn computer junk' as you so succinctly put it, is all the parts for upgrades and repairs to YOUR friends computers so that you can all while away the day nattering to each other on AOL. Parts, I might add, that I have shelled out for up front out of what little spare cash I have left at the end of the month. And when I do these jobs, do I get paid there and then? No! All I ever hear is "I'll sort it out with Theresa when I see her next.". Well hang one one minute!!! Are YOU fixing their computers? I thought not!

As for upgrading your computer,an AMD K6-350, Windows98SE, 64Mb of RAM and a 2.1Gb hard disk is MORE than adequate to run AOL. When you actually manage to max it out, I'll upgrade it!!!

See you tea-time dear!!

Sorry Guru, I just had to laugh....lol

but keep in mind I laugh at your woes, because I know what you mean!!!

Women!...they do all the shopping, we do all the paying? Someone else see anything wrong with this picture? ;)

This got me thinking...and I'll TRY to say what I want to say without causing offence - apologies up front if any offence IS taken:

I could be single. When the 'urge' took me, I could go through the 'little black book' and rustle up some female company for an evening. It may cost me a swanky dinner and a couple of bottles of wine, perhaps even a movie or a gig. Pehaps I could even find a young lady who would trade...a little 'loving' in return for a computer upgrade (it has been known!). This is a bit like 'leasing' a computer - get the job done, then terminate the lease.

The alternative method to 'getting a little action' is to go down to the seedier part of town, lay out some of the 'folding' and come to a mutually acceptable 'arrangement' with a lady of the night. A bit like buying a 'used' computer retail.

In both instances a financial 'outlay' in return for, in scenario 1, a possible return on investment or, in scenario 2, a guaranteed return on investment.

Now isn't marriage virtually the same deal?!! The only difference with marriage that I can see is that 'possible' and 'guaranteed' tend to be very unpredictable! The cost to the wallet is much the same!

Just a sideways thought, don't you know! I'm not knocking marriage, far from it! An excellent institution and one surely to be encouraged. I'm on my second time around and it's a far better scheme in my opinion than it ever was first time. Much like building a computer. The first time you try, it may work fine and be all well and good but dissatisfaction begins to creep in after time. A tweak here, an upgrade there, and all the while it's costing money.

Do you keep fine tuning and adding or does there come a point where 'enough is enough' and you decide to retire the whole thing and build a new one from scratch, learning from previous mistakes and getting it right the second (or third, or 'n'th time).

MrsGuru happens to be on her fourth computer. They have all been built out of reclaimed parts. I happen to be her fourth husband (long story - don't go there!). When AOL release version 10 and I HAVE to upgrade her machine...should I start to worry?!!!

My motto is upgrade first then when you can't upgrade anymore (thats for you to decide) build a new one. It would be nice to buy a brand name machine but the outlay is always too high. With a self build you can always make use of the parts you already have. The next pion is that the bigger companies always include printers and software that I don't want or need.