Tech Tip of the Week: Buying an Enthusiast PC - DIY vs. OEM

Sorry, i'm too thrifty...and newegg service is so much better. Definitely building mine, fun too and give you the most control.

Been building my own PC's for over 15 years and worked out I can build the same system for up to 4 or 5 hundred dollars than most of the big name companies charge

Hm..

i7 930 @ 4,2 GHz
3x2GB CSX 1600 CL9 (or 8 or 7, whatever I choose)
HD 5770 HAWK MSI - 950 to 1050 MHz on GPU
Foxconn BloodRage X58
40GB SSD from Intel (fast one) + 1TB SeaGate
Auzentech Bravura 7.1 (best soundcard for headphones and music and gaming in one package)
850W Corsair HX

I dont think you cant even buy this completed. Thats exactly why I build my own PCs, and friends.. and other ppl ones.

It work flawless, its really fast.. well, except graphic card, its perfect. But Im more PhotoShop user, than gamer.. so its ok.

Buying OEM, is ok if you dont understand PCs, but if you do and you have some time.. its better to do it yourself.

DIY is what I prefer, for all the above mentioned reasons. And in MY location DIY is the best option almost in all areas of life.

Buying a pre-built system is, in my opinion, only preferable if you're buying a Mac, and that's what I recommend to the people torturing me with questions about the best pre-built desktop.

HP, unfortunately, hasn't impressed me as one delivering that surpisingly good quality. On one occasion the CD-Drive of a HP branded desktop couldn't read a genuine MS Win2000 installation media... even though it was a Japanese version of Windows, I see no difference.

Hey!

I do agree that you ARE able to save some money building your own rig, but let me tell you that OEMs can compete with custom built ones. Why? Let's see.

Example:
Look at an Alienware Aurora.
Yes, I know it costs 300$ more than custom built rigs but you have to take this into consideration too. Aurora's come with High Quality water cooling, neat design features on cases that a cutom builder can never replicate ie.custom lights - not the cheap looking ones, high quality cases, good looking inside and out, WAY better cable managment, easy upgrades, great design, and you save a way lot of time, as you know, not everyone has the leisure to build one.

Also, don't forget that they also include the OS which is a 64-bit W7, mouse, pad, keyboard, and a one year warranty. Let me put it to you this way. If you build a pc and something goes wrong, you'll have to call up different companies for different parts, while if you buy from an OEM, you just tell them what's wrong to your computer and let them figure it out themselves, saves you a whole lot of time and they might even replace a part or even the entire rig. I have built custom rigs and I think OEMs are better with pre-built because of the bundles they have with it. I think the misconception is when you guys search for PCs from OEMs that aren't meant for true gaming.

I mean c'mon. I think if you guys do more research on OEM products and their benefits it's definitely something to think about. Honestly, you don't want to find gaming pcs on HP, DELL, or GATEWAY. It's more like ALIENWARE, IBUYPOWER, CYBERPOWERPC, MAINGEAR, all which are meant for gaming. Basically. it's like Lexus from Toyota, Acura from Honda and the likes. I basically am the type of person who would spend their time on much more productive stuff than build a pc. Just play the game when I want to, and not worry about anything with it.

Built my box almost 2.5 years ago now and dropped $1.2k on it - it was a Barebone kit, which I had to supply my own OS, cooler and optical drive. frankly, all but three of the components tanked within a year - not all at once though.
First the Mobo, then the Hard drive, followed by PSU and finally the RAM went. The mobo was XFX (780i), Hard drive was some random company that you don't think of when it comes to Hard drives, the PSU was a 600w Ultra components and the RAM was 2gb DDR2 XFX.

The only parts that survived were the 8600GTS Over clocked by EVGA (and even though it's been replaced, it still works beautifully - I was getting 60FPS in COD:WaW settings high), the Q6600; which I'm still using - not OCed, and the Case; Aluminus by Ultra Products - but it's a case, not much to break, though the HDD racks leave many things to be desired. Like not falling out randomly.

right now my machine looks like:
Q6600
EVGA 790i ULTRA
4Gb Corsair DDR3
EVGA GTX 260
750Watt XIGMATEK PSU
320Gb Hitachi
750Gb WD Caviar Black

All said and done - the machine probably would have cost me $1.5k-ish had I just bough all the parts right away. But because I messed around with the Barebone first (1.2k, when only about $500 of it kept working) I ended up having to spend an additional 1.5k to replace the mobo, PSU, RAM, and the HDD (with the Caviar Black) - the GTX and the additional hard drive were recent additions - bringing the total I spent on this rig close to 3k when the parts only worth 1.6kish.

Moral of the story - avoid barebones like the plague. Just because the parts have been picked out by someone who works in the industry doesn't mean they are good or will work well together.
I'm not the only one that I've talked to that's been burned by a Barebone kit purchase.
It'll cost around the same all said and done as buying the parts separately, but when you buy the parts individually, you get exactly what you want and, provided you've done your research, everything will work together.

You realize that just like how Toyota now own Lexus, Dell now owns Alienware?

they used to be good - and not they are starting to sub out high-qual parts for cheaper ones - to increase their profit margins.

Well said nazartp.

LMAO.....Burty you awesome dude. Again, I 100% agree with you on this. I couldn't say it better than you...lol

Yesterday I Couldn't Even Spell "System Integrator", Now I Are One...!

All of you are aware that all the computer manufacturers' "system integrators" are doing, is shopping for the same parts we do, then putting them into cases that are too small and poorly ventilated to boot.

Well, except for Bestec PSUs and Tri-Gem motherboards. Nobody in their right mind would buy them and put them in any case whatsoever, whether well ventilated or not. Yet verily, "system integrators" do exactly that.

The first DIY project I ever tried involved putting a brand-new, $250 Seagate 25MB HDD into my Xerox-brand 8086-based XT. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I'm old.) My wife and I did it together and felt so much satisfaction that, when 286's came out, we bought a big roomy case and built our own from scratch. We learned some things - like, I was better researching the components and finding parts in the bins at the San Jose Fry's store, but she had a better instinct for fitting it all together - where to run the wires, how the clip works on that memory stick, whether to apply some force or stop and take a closer look.

I don't think we've ever not had a system build in progress since then. I suppose we're just natural-born geeks or something. A long time ago, I stopped comparing the costs with what a prebuilt machine would cost. Somewhere along the way, that kinda stopped being the point.

One of those builds in particular still stands out in memory. It was in the late 1990s, putting together a machine for middle-of-the-road use with business apps. After I checked outputs on the used PSU I forgot to unplug it and when my wife hooked up the mobo all the magic smoke came out. The office stank of burning epoxy for weeks, but at the moment when the smoke started to rise my wife and I looked at each other, and started to laugh. I don't think we stopped laughing for at least ten minutes. I mean- we'd been waiting to see the magic smoke for more than 10 years, and when we finally did, the main thing we noticed was how awful the magic smelled.

Hey, bang for the buck, or making the box your own motorcycle-style, or winning your geek credentials, or whatever - that's all fine. We build our own because it's fun.

Ok, I've been building computers going on 15yrs now and have seen quite alot of changes along the way....I like to refer to it as your classic car vs. the newer cars scenario, back in the day manufactures all over the world took pride in there work and made sure they were putting out a product that would last. Well in today's world you get what you pay for period, If you go to Walmart or any of those other big box stores and buy a computer for 300-700 and think your getting a good deal well I'm sorry to tell you but your grossly mistaken...A 300-700 dollar computer equals a 1yr warranty with crap components that will more than likely not last the warranty period. I personally enjoy building PC's for myself as well as for my customers. No matter what type of machine I'm assembling from your run of the mill PC to your Enthusiast level gaming rig it's the pure satisfaction of taking pride in my work and building something that's gonna last that makes me love what I do. Now I'm not saying you can't get a quality built box but be prepared to pay twice what you would to build a comparable PC yourself. In this article even though there built PC was more expensive take note that the parts they used were high-end, name brand components, the majority of components in the other PC's i.e. "Motherboard, PSU, case, Fans, ram ect... are off-brand and more than likely built to the same quality standards as they're 300 dollar machine.