WTF?! If you were going to pay someone to build a PC, how would you expect the labor costs to be? One Redditor was quoted the comically high price of over $11,000 for a build that was allegedly going to take seven weeks, pushing the total price of the RTX 4080 Super/Ryzen 7 7900X build to just shy of $15,000.
For many people, building a PC is one of the most satisfying and, usually, enjoyable parts of our expensive hobby. But not everyone feels the same way. Some prefer the prebuilt route, while others might opt for boutique builders.
Redditor New_Midnight2686 decided to go for a custom build and asked for opinions on a quote given by an unnamed UK company. It was posted on the r/PCBuild subreddit, but the post has now been removed by a moderator as the situation tuned into a "witch hunt."
The first red flag is the itemized parts list. The cost for components alone comes to $3,849, though for some reason it doesn't include any storage. Those prices are definitely on the high side: a Ryzen 9 7900X priced at $404 by the firm is $323 on Newegg. The builder also claimed the excellent Hyte Y70 Touch case is $859, though it can be found for $400 at retailers. This is a UK-based company, but even the prices given in pounds for most of the parts are way above what you'd pay in the country.
The big point of contention, though, is the labor costs. The builder's quote claims creating this PC will take four weeks, working 40 hours per week, or 160 hours in total. At a rate of $32 per hour, it comes to £5,120, or $6,351. But that's not all.
The quote also states that there are 3 weeks – at 40 hours per week – of "pre-project" labor, adding another $4,763 to the cost of the build and pushing the total for labor alone to over $11,000 for 280 hours work. This brings the total cost of the build to $14,964. But that's still not all: the Redditor claims that if you decline the given quote, there's a $4,000 cancellation fee.
There are plenty of custom PC builders that can add a variety of exotic materials and designs to a PC. These push the prices much higher than normal and extend build times. However, with a total of seven weeks of labor and a cost of $15,000, one would expect this PC to be encased in solid gold and adorned with diamonds.