Building A Computer Vs Buying One

[E-Day]

So I have started looking into a new computer in anticipation of dealing with HD video in the near future. I always dick around and see what building one would cost me, even when I am not looking for a new one.

The other week, I did so, picking OEM parts from a local computer shop and tossing them into my virtual shopping cart to see what the damage would be. Needless to say, it was around $2000 with no monitor and no OS. 6GB or Ram, a Core i7 940 or 950, a couple of 1 terabyte hard drive, unfancy motherboard, unfancy video card, run of the mill case. Maybe I picked a Blu-ray burner ($200) along with a DVD burner. I can't remember.

Meanwhile, at Futureshop (think of it as Canada's Best Buy, although they are now owned by Best Buy), for $1700 I can get an HP computer, with 9 gigs of ram, a Core i7 920, 23" monitor, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 card, Vista 64-bit, etc.

So, apart from total customization, and the fact that the built computer won't be filled with HP bloatware, what is the advantage of building a computer myself for more money than buying one from a store already ready to go? Likewise, what is the disadvantage of buying a prebuilt machine from a store compared to building it myself, apart from the two items I mentioned?

[Phillyman]

Personally, I always build for myself. One reason is satisfaction, the other is less bloat.....but the main reason is because I know 3 years from now....I can just go buy a new mobo, processor and memory and reuse all the other parts. I just rebuilt my old Pentium D 2.2 with 2GB of memory into a Pentium Core 2 Quad with 8GB of memory for less than $300 (after selling the old parts on ebay)

[E-Day]

I could do the same with a pre-built as well. While it would definitely be satisfying to build one myself, there is also a chance that I might break something in the process.

I also have to keep in mind that even if I bought pre-built, I would still get a full version of Windows 7, because those pre-builts only ever come with a recovery disc, and it would allow me to wipe all the crapware what comes with the system.

I was fiddling again with picking parts, and for $4o more, I could build a machine with the same CPU and video card, an extra 500 gig drive, Vista 64-bit OEM, DVD burner and blu-ray burner, but with less RAM, no monitor, no mouse/keyboard, no warranty, and a chance that I will do something wrong and break something .

Of course, if I stick to my desire to get a very small computer case instead of a mid tower, that limits my options a lot more

[triverse]

Quality of parts mainly for me. Dell may sell something similar to what you could build but for less because they use cheaper parts. You may have a nice heatsink on your build costing you close to $50, it will work great, can't say the same for the Dell, same thing with power supplies. Those are the two places a lot of money is cut from (well, they are the #1 reason for computers getting thrown out where I live). A local shop just threw out 50 2.2 gig P4's because the power supplies were bad-those bad boys are sitting in my shed now. Total cost? About $13 in gas to goto town round trip, then the cost of the replacement parts and I am in business.

Edit: E-Day posted while I wrote that up there:

Keep in mind, some pre-builds like HP and some others block you from using certain parts that aren't from them officially. I ran into this problem with a power supply for a Compaq, if I could have used a normal power supply it was going to be $45 for one that would fit it. Since they used proprietary power supplies that no one is exactly sure on what is different, I had to spend $225 for one from Compaq themselves.

Also, I have run into Dells that won't let you use Nvidia video cards at all, but an Ati boots up just fine. Weird.

About the case, just get one of the "Wii" PC cases

[kbf_private_joker]

So I have started looking into a new computer in anticipation of dealing with HD video in the near future. I always dick around and see what building one would cost me, even when I am not looking for a new one.

The other week, I did so, picking OEM parts from a local computer shop and tossing them into my virtual shopping cart to see what the damage would be. Needless to say, it was around $2000 with no monitor and no OS. 6GB or Ram, a Core i7 940 or 950, a couple of 1 terabyte hard drive, unfancy motherboard, unfancy video card, run of the mill case. Maybe I picked a Blu-ray burner ($200) along with a DVD burner. I can't remember.

Meanwhile, at Futureshop (think of it as Canada's Best Buy, although they are now owned by Best Buy), for $1700 I can get an HP computer, with 9 gigs of ram, a Core i7 920, 23" monitor, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 card, Vista 64-bit, etc.

So, apart from total customization, and the fact that the built computer won't be filled with HP bloatware, what is the advantage of building a computer myself for more money than buying one from a store already ready to go? Likewise, what is the disadvantage of buying a prebuilt machine from a store compared to building it myself, apart from the two items I mentioned?

Is this media center box or will you be using it for anything else? The reason I ask is that most machines nowadays can play 1080p video with no problem. My 2 year old machine, built by myself with C2D E6400 (i think), plays 1080p video without a hitch. It can't play all the latest and greatest video games, but I don't have much time for video games nowadays. However, I do play a lot of game that came out 3-5 years ago, which look fantastic.

I guess if you are going to be editing tons of home video footage in 1080i, then maybe getting the latest and greatest makes sense. If you just need a reasonably fast machine, you can get one for under $1000.

I also might wait until you can get Windows 7 64bit. I hear it kicks Vista's butt.

[kbf_private_joker]

For me, these were the advantages, but they may have changed nowadays:

1. Customize everything, including case

2. Usually cheaper (my old build was $200-300 less, but that may have changed nowadays)

3. If you don't want an OS, you don't pay for one (I already had a copy of XP, so I didn't have to pay $100 more)

I think the higher price the model, the less it makes sense to customize. If your budget is around $500-1000, customization is the way to go.

[E-Day]

Quality of parts mainly for me.  Dell may sell something similar to what you could build but for less because they use cheaper parts.  You may have a nice heatsink on your build costing you close to $50, it will work great, can't say the same for  the Dell, same thing with power supplies.  Those are the two places a lot of money is cut from (well, they are the #1 reason for computers getting thrown out where I live).  A local shop just threw out 50 2.2 gig P4's because the power supplies were bad-those bad boys are sitting in my shed now.  Total cost?  About $13 in gas to goto town round trip, then the cost of the replacement parts and I am in business.

Edit: E-Day posted while I wrote that up there:

Keep in mind, some pre-builds like HP and some others block you from using certain parts that aren't from them officially.  I ran into this problem with a power supply for a Compaq, if I could have used a normal power supply it was going to be $45 for one that would fit it.  Since they used proprietary power supplies that no one is exactly sure on what is different, I had to spend $225 for one from Compaq themselves.

Also, I have run into Dells that won't let you use Nvidia video cards at all, but an Ati boots up just fine.  Weird.

About the case, just get one of the "Wii" PC cases

I knew it wouldn't be long until you replied, considering you work with building computers

It is an interesting point you brought up about blocking the use of certain parts, which I had not considered. As well, I figured the Power Supply wouldn't be as good as one I would buy from ThermalTake or Cool Master, and I assumed the heatsinks would be the stock ones that come with the CPU. Those have pretty much always worked well enough for me (except in the summer when it got really hot). The other parts (CPU, motherboard, video card), are the same quality parts I could buy myself, which to me are the most important pieces since you buy a new computer for more power. Replacing the PSU and heatsink would not be a big deal unless, as you mentioned, those parts are blocked. More to consider, I guess

As far as the tiny PC cases, they may be a bit too small to house what I want on the inside, and would surely make the build a bit more pricey since smaller parts usually mean higher price.

[triverse]

http://www.tomshardware.com

Check around their forums and ask about a pre-built you are interested in, they are great people over there and a few members have become close friends of mine that I pester for advice when I need help in a pinch.  They can give you info on any problems they may have had (as many of the users there own more than one computer from various manufacturer's and put them through their paces).

[E-Day]

I shall do that, thanks.

I remember first coming across that site in college in 1998 when our instructor talked about it.

[triverse]

I shall do that, thanks.

I remember first coming across that site in college in 1998 when our instructor talked about it.

Your welcome.  I found it in 1999 from a college professor I had.  They have some great articles up about building an awesome media center machine for under $500 (they update the parts as they come down in price, while not a powerhouse at editing, it blows away most people's "dream" machine in many respects at a third the price).

[tinman]

In this months Maximum PC they build three different machines from mild to wild...you might check that out and see if you can garner any insight from that.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/dream_machine

tin

[Data]

I don't have much to add to this but I want to be heard. When I have a question about a particular part for sale on ebay I google it and most times there's a tomshardware on the 1st page of results. If not I'll add tomshardware to the search bar because I know Tom's hardware has reviewed everything available to a North American.

A computer case costs around the same price as the motherboard it houses. If you buy a cheap case (and their are alot of those) you run into different problems. Only 1 USB port at the front. (and you can't just buy 1 port either) The header wires are too short to run where they won't be seen. No fans come with the case and no place to mount fans in the case. Cheap construction and it could vibrate when on a hard surface.

Small form factor is essentially a micro computer. They look nice and they cost more to manufacture. They are very limited in how much you can upgrade them too. Nobody sells cpu fans with exact dimensions in millimeters and if you don't know this information, your going to find parts that don't fit together anymore. Even if your fan keeps your cpu cool and your graphics card keeps it's gpu cool, the heat doesn't disipate properly and your left with a lifespan of 2 to four years. Feel the hard drive. Is it normal to be able to fry an egg on top of it? Most often they exclude PCI ports and leave you with a PCI express 1 & 16 times speed port. I hate it. Everything is so cramped that air does not circulate. My data is worth too much to be stored in these conditions.

A white box computer is what they used between 1996 and 2003. They all have that plain white look with no USB 2 ports in the front and most of them, if they have not been upgraded by previous owners have power units rated at 250 watts. But this is the route to go if you want to get your parts up & running. These cases can be found at a depot for free and sometimes you have to ask.

In the future you can buy a usb 2 card that has 4 ports on the back and 1 inside the box. Use the one inside the box to plug in the usb/card reader you will also buy. This card reader is easy to install. Just fit it in either a spare floppy disk or dvd drive bay.

I wouldn't be opposed to buying an older line of a Hewlet Pacard from off the shelf if the price was good. For one it has a nice box you can gut and put muscle parts in and two the old hewlet parts can be reused or sold off easily.