Buy or Build budget PC?

[apittman]

Please help me decide.

I can buy this HP for $320:
Vista Home Premium
Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300
3GB DDR2 memory
320GB hard drive
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100

I built a system a few years ago and enjoyed it. But looking at Newegg, I'm not sure I can now beat this price for performance (with Vista) by building a similar priced PC. Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[hunter315]

Including vista throws the potential for a home built at that price range out. What do you plan to do with that system because the GMA3100 is not very strong at all. It will be good for basic office work but watching movies may stress it a bit. If you had components you could scavenge from another build it might be possible, but without atleast some starting parts its not beatable.

 

[IH8U]

I might, but just without an OS so that would probably break the budget.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111
$25 Rosewill mATX case
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703018
$40 PC P&C 370W
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131324
$75 ASUS M3A78-EM 780G (BIOS flash for the AM3 proc I listed below)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688
$63 AM3 X2 240
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231207
$48 G.Skill DDR2 800 2x2GB
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148469
$50 Seagate 320GB
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106291
$28 LiteOn 24X DVDR/RW

Total no OS: $329 + S&H
The Proc is slightly weaker, but the rest is decent quality.

 

[huron]

I've built a few computers very comparable to that build, but as hunter pointed out, the price of the OS throws you off.

I think you get better parts with a home-built, but it's up to you.

 

[Prescott_666]

When I built my first computer, it was no contest. You could always build it cheaper, and get better components. That hasn't been true for a long time. At that time MS-DOS cost $60.00 and you had to pay for it separately whether you bought pre-built or built it yourself. Buying Vista/Windows 7 OEM will cost you more than whatever the factory adds to the price for it.

When I check out a factory computer, there are always things I don't like in the build. So even though it costs more, I still build it myself, because I get what I want that way. For instance if you want a floppy drive, you pretty much have to build it yourself.

 

[techgeek]

Budget OEM systems are hard to beat pricewise when trying to build a system yourself (assuming same specs). That said, you'll usually end up with better quality parts overall when building it yourself (especially motherboard and PSU). OEM are notorious for using cheap PSU's. The motherboards are often built by the likes of ASUS or Intel, but since the BIOS is specific to that motherboard (which isn't sold in retail), the BIOS must come from the OEM. OEM's have very limited settings in the BIOS, so if the time comes when you want to squeeze a bit more performance out of it to stave off upgrading, you'll be out of luck, no overclocking.

Things are much different on the high end. Most boutique systems builders (Falcon Northwest, Alienware, Voodoo) charge a premium on their systems. Most enthusiasts scoff at the amount they cost, knowing that they could build nearly the same system for in some cases less than half the cost of the boutique system.

There is another reason OEM's often are able to sell their budget systems for so little. They are given so many dollars per system sold for all the trialware installed on them. Meaning the first thing you have to do is clean all that garbage off of your shiny new computer. Thus the utility ( http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/ ). These subsidies are paid for by the likes of MicroSoft (Office trial), Norton/MacAffee (anti-virus trial), and (add your most hated craplet). Doesn't it seem funny that you should have to pay more by building your own computer to keep this junk off of it.

 

[huron]

You hit it on the head there techgeek. Large system builders get all kinds of discounts as well as incentives for the trialware.

For low end computers (less than $400-500) it's hard to compete, especially if an OS costs at least $100. For mid to high end there is no contest in my mind - building is significantly better and more fun, plus you ensure quality components.