Building 5 office computers solo - competitive?

[Thelps]

Hi all,
I've been asked to build 5 budget office PCs for a friend. They need to be capable of running a suite of office programs, be reliable and especially cheap! I've decide to use the template of Gold Intel Office Rig (slightly modified to include more RAM, and a smaller, faster HD) from the thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/380352-13-bestconfigs-poll-intel-based-office .

What I'm asking is:

Would I be able to offer a competitive price compared to the large package PC corporations such as Dell, HP etc. by building the machines entirely myself? I seem to be able to order the entire rig's worth of parts for under £300 but that's before I factor Windows 8 and perhaps also a version of MS Office. That's before monitors, keyboards and mice are considered, too.

Is it possible to produce affordable office machines, self-built and at a competitive price? Are there any ways of getting parts/software cheaper, or second hand? Would I be able to get a discount on parts/software ordering them in groups of, say, 5 units each?

Any assistance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AMD Radeon]

if you build the PC, your office will blame you if in the near future it fails
save yourself and buy from Dell/HP

but if u are sure it wont happen, we can help you build the best within your budget

 

[popatim]

its hard to compare the presumed value of an hp or dell until you realize whats in it. typically an older motherbd, slower ram, lucky if you have a 7200rpm drive, a $10 power supply and the worst offense is the OEM windows which costs them like $20

Usually you can build it for the same price but not have an OS and then you're stuck with ten different warranties to deal with (motherbd, ram, drive...) and who has to troubleshoot it? You?

Seriously, have them get an Hp/Compaq or Lenovo if they want cheap. Tell them to see you when they want quality or performance.