Is it cheaper to purchase or build pc?

[johnjohnson]

I was thinking of building my own PC for the experience but a lot of the individual items had a shipping cost, I was wondering if its cheaper to purchase an already made PC from new egg rather than build one.

I was optimistic about building my own pc thinking it would be a challenging fun experience but don't know if its worth it price wise.

*thanks for the help*

 

[Outlander_04]

if you are wanting a pc for email , and playing dvd's then buy a dell because it will be cheaper .

If you want a gaming or special purpose pc then use the guidelines above on how to ask for advice and we will help you

 

[slcseas3]

I believe everybody should build their own machine even if it currently exceeds their needs. Once you've built the machine the cost of upgrades to keep your technology current is going to save you money long term. You can pay $500 for a Dell now, but you'll pay another $500 in 2.5 years for another machine that barely meets system requirements for popular software. Build an $800-$900 machine now and basically you're looking at a $200 in upgrades every couple years and your machine will perform much better than a bargain basement Dell.

 

[darkguset]

Basing your question on exactly the same components, brands, software etc, it is cheaper to build one yourself by doing proper research. In doing that you have to factor in the costs of delivery or pickup from several hardware stores around (since you will probably not be able to get ALL the components from one store). On the other hand by buying a prebuilt system you save a lot of time from research and have a system warranty, BUT in case something goes wrong, you are probably not allowed to peek inside your PC so you will have to wait until the builder fixes it. Hence you save time from research but lose time waiting until it gets fixed.

 

[Outlander_04]

I believe everybody should build their own machine even if it currently exceeds their needs. Once you've built the machine the cost of upgrades to keep your technology current is going to save you money long term. You can pay $500 for a Dell now, but you'll pay another $500 in 2.5 years for another machine that barely meets system requirements for popular software. Build an $800-$900 machine now and basically you're looking at a $200 in upgrades every couple years and your machine will perform much better than a bargain basement Dell.

Your math sucks . You have either bought two dells for $1000
or a custom , with upgrade for $1000 - $1100

And thats if you accept upgrading cpu/RAM/mb is going to ONLY cost $200 . Currently that cost is more like $300-$400 . Hard drives and power supplies also wear out too so replacement has to be factored in as well . Even the cost of a windows OS will need to be included

None of the tech you buy today with the possible exception of a case will be current in 4 years time . And none of it will be in good condition when its 4 years old

 

[Outlander_04]

Basing your question on exactly the same components, brands, software etc, it is cheaper to build one yourself by doing proper research. In doing that you have to factor in the costs of delivery or pickup from several hardware stores around (since you will probably not be able to get ALL the components from one store). On the other hand by buying a prebuilt system you save a lot of time from research and have a system warranty, BUT in case something goes wrong, you are probably not allowed to peek inside your PC so you will have to wait until the builder fixes it. Hence you save time from research but lose time waiting until it gets fixed.

Every time I have compared pre-built systems they were cheaper . The people that build them pay wholesale for parts and online retailers like newegg dont match those prices . The prebuilts also include warranties that a home made PC wont .

Where building yourself is useful is when you are building for a specific purpose like high end gaming , or a work station .

Its going to depend what the OP is using his/her computer for

 

[coldsleep]

Every time I have compared pre-built systems they were cheaper . The people that build them pay wholesale for parts and online retailers like newegg dont match those prices . The prebuilts also include warranties that a home made PC wont .

If you build your own computer, you have the manufacturer warranties, which are frequently good for as long as you can get a pre-built warranty for. Of course, you don't have support for your OS if you buy an OEM version, so that could be a problem for some.

You're right, if you just want to do email/surf the net, you're better off buying a pre-built. If you want to do anything else, the following ranges are generally a good rule of thumb.

less than $500 or $600 - buy pre-built, it's difficult to get OS, reasonable mobo, PSU, case in this range
$600-$1500 - good value from building it yourself, but some pre-builts can be competitive
$1500+ - you will get much better quality and value for your money building it yourself

 

[jsc]

Basically, it's a trade off. You are balancing a company's economy of scale (fancy phrase for the ability to get less expensive parts) against your "free" labor.

At the low end of the price spectrum, there no way that you can compete.

 

[darkguset]

Every time I have compared pre-built systems they were cheaper . The people that build them pay wholesale for parts and online retailers like newegg dont match those prices . The prebuilts also include warranties that a home made PC wont .

Where building yourself is useful is when you are building for a specific purpose like high end gaming , or a work station .

Its going to depend what the OP is using his/her computer for

Like i said, you have to compare exact specifications which means brands, models, etc and software settings. Sure they pay less money for wholesale parts but their margin is not that big, hence the price difference is not either (as long as you know where to look for those parts).

Also you have to compare the settings the system is running at, eg. a prebuilt system may include a E8400 CPU running at stock 3GHz for $800. If you ask them for the exact same system to operate at 4GHz they charge a $1,200. And that is where the big difference is. One can overclock the system himself and save $400. Sure you can overclock your pre-built (not always!! see Dell), but if it does not boot up due to incorrect settings you are screwed. You have to take the PC back and the builder will open it up and fix it for you, etc etc

Finally the only different warranty pre-built systems have is regarding the software. If Windows is not booting or anything you can take it back and they will fix it for you. The hardware always bares the manufacturer's warranty which is exactly the same whether you buy it separately or in a system. In the case of prebuilt, they do the RMAing for you, but you can do it yourself no problems at all.

One last point i remembered: Buying a prebuilt system, often they do not include the OS on a disk. That is not their fault, it is a kind of "cheating" because they do not explain to the customers that they need to buy Windows if they want to have the disk too. So the user ends up one day looking for the Windows disk because the PC is asking to copy a file or something and can't find it. You should see the frustration there...

 

[Guest]

My signature says it all

constructum is vestri !!

 

[dominnater]

its as simple as this, if i were to build my system it would be $2000 for everything to make it run and use it. if i were to buy a system with the same specs from digital storm online, it would be $2650. im saving over 600 bucks!

 

[darkguset]

its as simple as this, if i were to build my system it would be $2000 for everything to make it run and use it. if i were to buy a system with the same specs from digital storm online, it would be $2650. im saving over 600 bucks!

Exactly my point!

 

[johnjohnson]

Best answer selected by johnjohnson.

 

[johnjohnson]

if you are wanting a pc for email , and playing dvd's then buy a dell because it will be cheaper .

If you want a gaming or special purpose pc then use the guidelines above on how to ask for advice and we will help you

Thanks, I agree with your assessment I'll build because I am going to use it for gaming.