Arguing with my roommate.

Sterling

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This website allows you to build you a computer. I hadn't even looked at this site, and I was wondering could I build a better PC from scratch. I was arguing that I could in fact make a cheaper PC from scratch. Now, I'm not the biggest tech guy you've ever seen, but I know my way around a computer. I've seen some great rigs for cheaper than $1000, and my co worker just bought a great stock computer from a Pawn shop for $300. So, I'm just a bit confused at my roommate's stoic stance on suggesting this site. I'm sure he hasn't even the slightest idea on building a computer, and yet he keeps arguing about it.

I'm not expecting an immediate response, I'm just wondering if anyone here can make a better cheaper computer from scratch for cheaper than these.
 

Law

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He's probably one of those people who thinks you need to spend $1500+ to get a PC that can even play games, and probably loves the fuck out of Alienware.

Just ignore him. It'd probably still be cheaper to just get the parts from newegg.
 

Sterling

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Law said:
He's probably one of those people who thinks you need to spend $1500+ to get a PC that can even play games, and probably loves the fuck out of Alienware.

Just ignore him. It'd probably still be cheaper to just get the parts from newegg.
Eh, his friend just got a $1500 computer from there and he thinks its the shit. I'm told him whatever, I could build a computer from scratch and still come out to around $700 to have a great gaming rig. I would ignore him, but I live with the guy, so I'll have to prove I could get the computer better and cheaper.
 

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Wow, different people buy different shit from different places, why get into an argument about that...? Let people be happy with what they prefer, it's their money.
 

Sterling

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[M said:
artin]
Wow, different people buy different shit from different places, why get into an argument about that...? Let people be happy with what they prefer, it's their money.
Well, I just said I think she could have gotten the same cheaper from elsewhere. Blah, Blah, skip forward 45 seconds, and done. He left for work. Its just the fact that he thinks the site is the shit. If he's living with me, he's gonna learn how to build a damn computer, instead of getting someone else to do it.

Also: InB4UJELLY3: Mega Sequel's Gone Bannanas
 

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well you could , and it all depends on what was in that computer .
IMO , it'd be better to buy parts from places such as NewEgg or Frys since you have a wider selection of choices to choose from . not only that , you can build the computer yourself to see if there are any problems . however, the only thing that might be pricey is the actual OS itself ...
 

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iBuypower (and cyberpower) aren't like alienware, the markup is not nearly so high, and it's really customizable... but it doesn't really guide a newbie along.

It's made for people that know enough about a computer to know that a 4750 is more powerful than a 5450, but don't have the time (or energy) to build their own and don't mind paying a little extra for a company to build a machine of specs they picked out themselves.
 

Sterling

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Rydian said:
iBuypower (and cyberpower) aren't like alienware, the markup is not nearly so high, and it's really customizable... but it doesn't really guide a newbie along.

It's made for people that know enough about a computer to know that a 4750 is more powerful than a 5450, but don't have the time (or energy) to build their own and don't mind paying a little extra for a company to build a machine of specs they picked out themselves.
Aight I see.I really wouldn't have the time or energy to do it myself anyway. It seemed reasonable enough, but the whole thing was about whether or not I could do it cheaper. He blatantly said I could if I was making a sub par computer. Which pissed me off.
 

Rydian

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Here's my copy-paste on the whole "build or buy" scenario".



Building your own gaming computer actually does not save you money if you buy all the parts.

Most people that tell you you can save hundreds of dollars by building your own gaming computer by buying all the parts have never actually done it themselves. Let me break it down.

A prebuilt has parts (like the power supply) just good enough to run what's in there. No guessing needed, no buying a more powerful one than you need. The bloatware/crapware installed, they actualy get paid to include that and it lowers the overall price of the machine. You can just uninstall it when you get it. The company making it gets the parts in bulk, not individually packaged/wrapped/warranteed, so there's much less overhead (extra money cost) per part, the savings are passed onto you. You also get the Operating System included in the price. Remember that windows is not free! Furthermore, with a prebuilt, you tend to get a longer/better warranty than you do on individual parts, AND you can get all the needed drivers from one site.

It's not 1998 anymore! It's 100% possible to go buy a dell that can play Crysis! All you need to do is look. Look at more than the "family-friendly" models up front in Best Buy. Websites are a good thing to check.

When you make a custom computer one, price savings come from reusing parts from other computers or just buying less in general. When most people set up custom computer builds, they tend to forget things like speakers/keyboard/mouse, a card reader, and other things that are included with the prebuilt.
http://cashmoneylife.com/2008/04/25/save-m...g-new-computer/
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/11/05/...mputer-upgrade/
http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/chea...g-computer.html
All of those sites say the same thing. You save money with custom builds when you reuse parts.

Of course there are OEM parts, which people see to be cheaper, but they're not cheaper by magic. They're cheaper because you're getting less. OEM comes without any accessories, it's the single part you ordered. Normally this won't be a big deal, but you might be surprised what's counted as an "accessory". OEM laptops come without batteries! OEM processors tend to come without heatsinks+fans! So if you go to buy an OEM part, make sure it's not missing something that you'd have to buy separately in order to use it fully...

Of course, not all parts work in all machines, and not all are best for gaming. You don't see people with custom gaming machines re-using DDR-400 RAM from an old e-machines, they're either buying new ram, or re-using cheaper ram that is still acceptable for gaming, like DDR2-800. Parts that almost always can be reused are the drives (harddrive, DVD/CD drive) and monitor, and keyboard/mouse. Stuff like that adds up if you don't mind re-using your current ones.

Now, I'm not trying to discourage you from building your own, my point is that ordering every part online is NOT the way to save money.

If you have a recent computer at home you're willing to take parts out of, and want the pride and fun of building your own, go for it. If you don't have any machines you can take parts out of, however, then you might be better off with a prebuilt.

Minion4Hire said:
Here's the tl;dr version of Rydian's post

Do-it-yourself Pros:
Fun
Control hardware used
Can be focused towards performance/features needed

Cons:
Time consuming
No tech support to turn to
Separate warranties and RMAs for each individual part

- - - - - - - -

Prebuilt Pros:
Effortless
It "just works"
One phone call for all warranty/tech support

Cons:
Some odd/pointless hardware choices (ie. 8GBs of RAM paired with a mid-range dual core)
Harder to upgrade later
Actually USING tech support can be frustrating if you know what you're doing
 

Sterling

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Yea, that's about what I thought anyways. I have an slightly older Media Center I would be willing to recycle. Which is what I would be doing anyway because it would be free. That website I figured was reasonable. Thanks for clearing stuff up Rydian.
 

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