Building a Desktop Computer or Buying a Desktop Computer (What will be the Cheapest and Best way to go?)?

Question

Building a Desktop Computer or Buying a Desktop Computer (What will be the Cheapest and Best way to go?)?

Answer 1

If you want a computer that runs any game at max, then you're going to need a damn good computer with "ridiculously overpowered components". And if this is the road you're going to take, custom made is the way to go and will definitely make your wallet cry. Processors are the most expensive. For anything gaming, you'll need an i7 (or AMD equivallent). Graphics cards are also pretty expensive, but the more money you put into it, the better the results. Hard drives and RAM are dirt cheap so don't worry about these. As for power supply, motherboard, etc, that all depends on which processor you get. To sum up, you need to do your homework. If you don't understand the major components, go to someone that does and ask them to do it for you. And, to answer your question, custom made is generally cheaper since you're not paying for all of the other crap that the pre-built manufacturers decide to throw in.

Answer 2

I built my current computer i'm answering this on for about £500 (3.33GHz Intel Celeron D + 1GB of RAM)... carrying over the keyboard & mouse from my previous PC, and the monitor from the PC before that. (brought to life in December 2006)



The one I had before that (September 2002 - December 2006) was a part built "base unit" cost me about £220 (1.1GHz AMD Duron processor, 128MB of RAM, extra 256MB or RAM added later) - hook it up to an existing monitor & install an operating system of your choice.

This is the guy I bought it from: http://www.ginger6.com (UK company).



Last time I bothered to look, buying one ready to run can cost anything from £399 - £5000.

Answer 3

1. Experience. Reviews. Warranty. When building your own system you want to get brand name parts for key components. For example, Motherboard and a CHIPSET Brand Name for the graphics card. I would suggest either SuperMicro, Asus, Gigabyte brand boards. I DO NOT recommend Biostar or any brand motherboard where the manual for the board states "The manufacturer..." and does NOT name the manufacturer. As a good rule of thumb for motherboards, check the manufacturers web site and see that they are well organized for drivers and bios updates you may need.



2. Not likely, it would still be cheaper to build in almost all cases.



3. www.newegg.com is my favorite.



4. A screwdriver and knowledge.



5. None that I know of, but I'm fairly certain plenty exist.



My recommendation, start playing with old parts and stuff... don't build your own system. Why? When you have problems, who are you going to call? The motherboard maker? The video card maker? they'll blame the motherboard maker... now you're stuck. When you buy from a major vendor, you buy a certain amount of piece of mind as well.

Answer 4

The majority of the cost will be the software licensing costs. If you plan to pirate the software, then building it yourself will be cheaper.



However, if you are not stealing the software then you get better deals by getting a pre-built system with OEM software bundles.



Brand names depend on the use of the desktop. For gaming, Alienware is really good. For a engineering machine, the brand doesn't really matter; the specs do. Get a lot of memory.

Answer 5

i think building one will be the cheaper

Answer 6

It is better to biuld a desktop. This is cheaper because are saving assemblng costs and saome tax. Its not illegal.



You should be thankful that I read your Q fully

Answer 7

Build your own would be the best "cheapest" option... go to tigerdirect.com..... read up on the products and they're "q&a" section..... should help tons



If buying a name brand PC I think ALIENWARE is the best, pricey.... but mine is 3 yrs old and still out performing most peoples PC's

Answer 8

I've answered this pretty well here in the link. I recommend building: its cheaper.



https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20070811215706AAHNu05&show=7#profile-info-lMNppKUvaa



That should be alllll the information you need.



As for software: consider the free alternatives - theres no need anymore to spend $300 getting Office 2007 when theres different Office Suites out there that are totally free:



http://www.openoffice.org



And thats also quite legitimate and legal btw. For more free software, this is a user-generated list of a great many suppliers of free or open source software:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=231147

Answer 9

wow I can't answer all these Questions at one time you know what go to www.pcworld.com and build your pc

Answer 10

Hello; Building a PC is fun and exciting, and a great way to learn more about the machine too! You can research what motherboards work best with what components, or you can just slap anything together.... the difference will be a machine that works with synergy; (the sum of the parts, working efficiently together, to make a whole). It can be simple, or as complicated as you want it to be!



It's true that building a PC is cheaper than buying one, but it's time consuming, and if you're willing to take the time and read, and learn, then I believe you can build a $2600 system for about $1200... and today, the monitors are cheaper than they were in the past, and that was our biggest expense! Here's some websites to check out; www.tomshardware.com

(for technical issues). For lowest prices, go to www.pricewatch.com; they list items you're looking for, in lowest price first order (including shipping), and they're generally rated, so you know if you'd feel better paying say, one dollar more, for a store that's got a better reputation, or rating... In using pricewatch, there was one store that consistantly came out, in almost all my searches; www.newegg.com, with www.directron.com & www.digi4me.com two close seconds. I think you'll enjoy yourself here! To start, you might want to get a bare bones system, and add to it, as you can afford... stay away from integrated video, (onboard), and "shared ram" systems! I'll also leave you with this piece of advice: a kick *** video card, and ample ram; is far better than spending top dollar on the fastest CPU! Get yourself a reasonably priced motherboard, with plenty of PCI slots, and can handle a good amount of ram for future use... a good video card, with it's own VRAM, and maybe the second, or third fastest cpu... if the motherboard can handle the top of the line cpu, there's room for upgrade, when the top cpu is no longer top!



I have a friend who's got way more time than me, but he builds a system about once every six months, sells his old one (old is six months old, for him!), and he stays current, and the cost is cheap, because he's building a nice system that still brings good money, six monthsdown the road! If you've got the time, it's a great way to keep your pc almost the newest & best there is, without spending a lot! Of course, it takes some kicking around money, because there's some time between your building the new one, to selling the older one.



Best of luck, and Enjoy!;

Marcos