Reasons to build own computer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gus Mahler
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Gus Mahler

I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself?

I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience
with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend
so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the
market again, I wonder if I should build my own.

The reasons to build my own:

* Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the
prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading
only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain
peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards
that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them.

* Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.

Reasons not to build.

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
 
On 14 Nov 2003 13:13:07 -0800, Gus Mahler pondered exceedingly, then took quill
in hand and carefully composed...

| I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
| future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself?
|
| I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience
| with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend
| so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the
| market again, I wonder if I should build my own.
|
| The reasons to build my own:
|
| * Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
| get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the
| prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading
| only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain
| peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards
| that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them.
|
| * Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
| computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
| to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
| was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
| so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
| configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.
|
| Reasons not to build.
|
| * Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
| already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
| hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
| will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
| things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
| opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
| the free time to spend tweaking a system.

I've found that a lot of need for tweaking comes from trying to use older
components with new motherboards, CPUs and OSs. You said "it is pointless to
keep" some of the things you have now due to age.

Replace all those things that are too old and build your own. You'll find that
there's far less work to do once your system is up to date.

Plus it will keep somebody else's clumsy hands out of your computer! ;-)

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§
 
Gus Mahler said:
* Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
get things at a discount.
Click to expand...

That's true in a sense, but in fact you're comparing apples to oranges. You
can't buy the exact computer you're going to build, anywhere at any price.
If you could, there would be even less reason to build your own. See below.
* Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.
Click to expand...

Not really. We're just talking about degrees. Do you get to pick the power
supply model? Do you get to pick the case? Sure, they might offer one
computer with a 250w PSU and another with a 400w PSU, but that is not
picking your exact power supply. Sure, you get to pick among the cases they
offer, but not among *any* case.
Reasons not to build.

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
Click to expand...

No doubt about that. Building is for enthusiasts, not those who merely want
to use computers. Having said that, the last computer I bought wouldn't
boot up. We opened it up and I realized the power supply connector was not
attached to the motherboard! Considering all the extra dangling power
supply connectors in the case, I would not have known that unless I had put
together my own computer.
 
Gus said:
I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself?

I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience
with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend
so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the
market again, I wonder if I should build my own.

The reasons to build my own:

* Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the
prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading
only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain
peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards
that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them.

* Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.

Reasons not to build.

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
Click to expand...

My sister has always counted on me to help her when she shops for an
updated computer. Since she doesn't do any exotic things, and you
cannot buy all the parts for the cost of a ready-made computer, she
purchased a HP computer the last three times. No more!

I discovered that first you no longer receive a CD with the software
that has been installed (they use a partition on the HD), and they even
make it difficult (not impossible) to clone the drive so that you have a
backup. Their HELP service in this regard is useless, in that they
don't want to discuss the topic. Now I realize that much of this is due
to paying MS a lesser fee for the operating system, but you are really
at the mercy of the manufacturer when you buy a ready made computer.

Put that together with the non-standard hardware they often use, and
you might as well throw it out when you have a failure if it is no
longer under warrantee. It will cost you so much to repair, you are
better off buying a new one. From now on I am going to recommend she
have one custom made, even if it costs more.
 
Gus said:
Reasons not to build.

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
Click to expand...

::BOGGLE::

Even if you don't build it yourself, you still have to tweak it! Don't
you?
 
Gus Mahler said:
I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself?

I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience
with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend
so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the
market again, I wonder if I should build my own.

The reasons to build my own:

* Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the
prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading
only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain
peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards
that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them.

* Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.
Click to expand...

considering that you've built a few before i can't imagine why you'd
buy one pre-built
there is hardly any assurance it would be configured correctly

a while back i was in a new computer store and wanted to see what a hi-end
machine was like...
my old one at home worked much better...
when i hit control-alt-delete they had a few dozen apps all loading at
start-up...
....not that you could not sort that out...but if you build it yourself
you'd get *exactly* what you want!
 
I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself?

I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience
with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend
so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the
market again, I wonder if I should build my own.

The reasons to build my own:

* Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the
prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading
only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain
peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards
that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them.

* Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.

Reasons not to build.

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
Click to expand...


Sounds like you're better off just ordering a Dell, with everything
loaded, checked out, and guaranteed to work. Get one you can easily
upgrade components if needed.
 
Put that together with the non-standard hardware they often use, and
you might as well throw it out when you have a failure if it is no
longer under warrantee. It will cost you so much to repair, you are
better off buying a new one. From now on I am going to recommend she
have one custom made, even if it costs more.
Click to expand...

I know about the non-standard hardware used by some of the big
manufacturers (like Dell and HP). But don't the more boutiquish brands
(Falcon, Alienware, etc.) use standard components?
 
Gus Mahler wrote:

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
Click to expand...


Well now that you are "in the real world" I would hope you'd realize your
idea that -everying will work right- is a joke! How many hours are you
willing to spend on hold waiting for tech support you paid for to then be
asked questions like "Is it plugged into the wall?", talking to a person on
the other end who has no idea what a bios setting is or what ram does.
 
Put that together with the non-standard hardware they often use, and
you might as well throw it out when you have a failure if it is no
longer under warrantee. It will cost you so much to repair, you are
better off buying a new one.
Click to expand...

What I love is the mobo's they use that have everything on board and like 1
or 2 slots for extras or replacements?

I feel your pain being the computer expert in the family and figure if I'm
going to be "tech support" I want it to be on something I know!
 
(e-mail address removed) (Gus Mahler) astounded us with:
I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself?

I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience
with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend
so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the
market again, I wonder if I should build my own.

The reasons to build my own:

* Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the
prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading
only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain
peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards
that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them.

* Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.

Reasons not to build.

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
Click to expand...

At work, my PC is a Dell, with a hideous plastic case, 8 meg Intel I840 (I
think) onboard graphics, no AGP slot, Soundmax sound chip, basic BIOS with
no tweakability. It's a piece of crap for anything but MS Office and
Outlook, which is about all that is on it.
If you want a non-upgradeable P.O.S, buy a name brand.
I know MY next PC at home will have been assembled by me, with components
chosen by me.
And all the assembling, installing and tweaking stuff? That's the bit I
love doing.

And just to close, the worst grief I had with components was a Gigabyte
I740 graphics card with lousy drivers. I eventually got it working under
98, but Linux never DID come to terms with it, but that's ancient history.
 
I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself?

I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience
with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend
so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the
market again, I wonder if I should build my own.

The reasons to build my own:

* Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can
get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the
prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading
only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain
peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards
that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them.
Click to expand...

It can be cheaper in the short run, as oyu can buy parts as you need
them, and borrow parts from older machines until you can afford to buy
new parts.
Purely on cost, it is usually more expensive to buiy parts for a
complete PC at once.

* Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a
computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have
to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I
was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have
so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain
configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers.
Click to expand...

Go with a complete or barebones white box system (as I may do next
time), then customise it.
Reasons not to build.

* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows
already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting
hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything
will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get
things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as
opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have
the free time to spend tweaking a system.
Click to expand...

And a system Warantee.

FWIW, it takes me about an hour to install XP, less for 95.
 
I've built my last few pc's meself, and a few for relatives and friends.

Its true that building your own pc can give you many problems including,
incompatibility of parts, installing software, setting the pc up
initially, etc, etc.

Its also true that generally nowadays most manufacturers/suppliers are
very cheap due to buying in bulk, mass production, new technology, etc,
etc.

However, there is no guarantee that you will not encounter very similar
problems with a brand new, ready made and tested pc from any of the
major manufacturers or suppliers.

The advantages of building your own pc vastly outweigh the problems imho,
for example:

You can purchase the exact individual parts that you require.

You can purchase the parts from any supplier.

You can purchase the parts at different times.

You can choose the exact software and os that you require.

You can set-up the pc and software exactly as you require.

While you are doing all the above, you will (usually) have learned a great
deal about the pc and its software, which will also help you to be better
placed to solve any problems as and when they might occur.

You will be less reliant on manufacturers/suppliers and their helplines
and support staff in the event of a problem.

You will have the satisfaction of knowing that you built something
worthwhile, with a real world, practical use.

8-)

*Peter* - http://www.cix.co.uk/~pjgtech/home.html
 
I've built my last few pc's meself, and a few for relatives and friends.
Click to expand...

So have I, and they are always less expensive and better quality than
the off-the-rack ones. The big reason I got into this is to save
money. I can built an excellent internet PC based on a NFORCE2
all-in-one mobo and an Athlon XP CPU with 512 MB 2700 DDR, suitable for
general usage, for under 500 bucks, and there's not a single chincy
no-name part in it. Plus I can upgrade it at will anytime I want to.

Let's say you want to stay under $1000.00. Take a $500.00 computer, add
a 200.00 19" Envision CRT, a twenty-dollar KB, a 10.00 optical mouse, a
100.00 inkjet printer, a 80.00 cable modem, and a 100.00 windows XP home
edition, and you have a perfectly respectable family/home office
computer system, and are still not paying a $1000.00 bucks yet. Shoot,
throw in a web cam and you still haven't passed $1000.00 yet.

The sweet part is, the system above is very upgradable. The Chaintech
NFORCE2 all-in-one that I've been favoring lately has an AGP slot, so
you are not stuck with the excellent onboard video. There are expansion
slots and open bays if you want to add things in. I put in a cheap
Athlon 2000+, but the mobo can support a faster CPU, and that can be
upgraded at will when desired and needed.

See, the thing is, most people don't actually NEED anything more
powerful or faster than that. People who need more know who they are,
and they don't mind spending more for what they need.

IMHO, people who need more than a basic system NEED to build their own.
And IMHO people who don't need more than a basic system shouldn't be
paying extra for stuff they don't need.
 
ToolPackinMama wrote:

The sweet part is, the system above is very upgradable.
Click to expand...

Yep. I built my sister an 845G based system and so far (about a year) they
have been happy. They finally have bought some games that are more than the
onboard video can deal with so sold them my Ti4200 and got a 9800 pro for
me! :-) With most store bought systems you couldn't do that.
 
Strontium said:
For Xmas (actually, two weeks from now), I'm going to slap a P4 3.0C and
an ASUS 9800XT in my box :D
Click to expand...

I really lucked out, I bought an "oem" 9800 128m from a local shop that
looked more like "a pull" than a new board but if it worked I wasn't going
to bitch as they sold it to me for $185. Took it home and it was DOA, just
a bunch of colored dots before it even got to the bios info! They RMA'd it
for me and ATI sent back a 9800 pro 128M as a replacement! Very cool card,
been playing Max Payne 2 at 1600 X 1200 ;-)
 
I am beginning to agree. My kids needed a new 'puter. Priced out a Dell -
I would have spent hours and hours researching, gathering, and putting
together the parts. And, the OS (XP) available via retail just blows the
cost out of the water.

I'll probably still build my next one myself just to get everything exacatly
as I want it. But, gotta say that my kid's Dell works great. And, for like
$60 I got a 3-year on site warranty. After 3 years we'll probably just toss
it anyway.
 
Put that together with the non-standard hardware they often use...........
Click to expand...

That is the worst. My last store bought was HP and I got a nice
VooDoo5 card. It would not fit!.3dfx claimed it was made to fit all
compliant PC's. I believe them and see that HP is crap. Dell's no
better. Emachines are a great value if you don't want to do anything
with your PC.
 
My sister has always counted on me to help her when she shops for an
updated computer. Since she doesn't do any exotic things, and you
cannot buy all the parts for the cost of a ready-made computer, she
purchased a HP computer the last three times. No more!

I discovered that first you no longer receive a CD with the software
that has been installed (they use a partition on the HD), and they even
make it difficult (not impossible) to clone the drive so that you have a
backup. Their HELP service in this regard is useless, in that they
don't want to discuss the topic. Now I realize that much of this is due
to paying MS a lesser fee for the operating system, but you are really
at the mercy of the manufacturer when you buy a ready made computer.

Put that together with the non-standard hardware they often use, and
you might as well throw it out when you have a failure if it is no
longer under warrantee. It will cost you so much to repair, you are
better off buying a new one. From now on I am going to recommend she
have one custom made, even if it costs more.
Click to expand...

It's been my standing recommendation for a decade. Never buy big
brandname (unless it says Apple or Toshiba). It's part in self
interest, of course, since I may have to get under the bonnet.
But the specs are usually crap anyway. Too much processor, and too
little video and ram.

As for customer support, that's an argument I think may speak strongly
for a homebuilt or custombuilt system of standard components.
Some brandname support may be ok, but it often seem to be some
sadistic practical joke, inspired by Kafka readings.

As for HP, I used to consider it a great company. It sure has
declined. In every way. Both myself and a number of friends have had
frustrating experiences, trying to deal with them lately. Their
intellectual quality today is well reflected by their disinterest in
RPN calculators...


ancra
 
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