Does Building Your Own Computer Still Save Money?

[goddamnit]

I have the same desktop computer I had long ago. I heard that it does not save money anymore. I am skeptical but I really don't know. It is still fun and seems worth it to evade proprietary confinement (many brand restrictions when replacing or adding parts), but does it still usually save money?

[Angrboda]

I have the same desktop computer I had long ago. I heard that it does not save money anymore. I am skeptical but I really don't know. It is still fun and seems worth it to evade proprietary confinement (many brand restrictions when replacing or adding parts), but does it still usually save money?

Indeed, it does not save you money. It may even cost you in terms of both time and money. Money from mistakes, poor choices, lack of the ability to access economies of scale, and uncovered equipment failures. It can cost even more in terms of time. Prebuilts have their combination of parts tested and verified. Your parts are not, and you will encounter issues you wouldn't have, diagnostic time you wouldn't have, and not have access to a stable set of answers. All that costs in terms of time, and the cost is far more significant than you can appreciate. (There was a time when, due to the inexpensiveness of an AMD CPU line, a particular chipset, the KT133 chipset was very common. Despite shared design features, after a while I stopped buying KT133 boards as I realized the money saved from not buying a better chipset was easily swamped by the cost of almost constant debugging during the break-in period.)

In sum, while getting an OEM machine is no guarantee of a trouble free machine, if you choose wisely, the end result will be endless hours of worry free reliability and dependability. That point is only reached with a homebrew after a period of shake down, given that you had enough sense to buy a combination of parts that will end at that goal. (I've been building my own machines for 15 years and if I were to build my own today, it would require an intensive research project lasting several weeks. Granted, my chance of a good result is likely tenfold that of you, but it's still an enormous project.)

If you're just interested in building a machine for the pleasure, fun and learning experience, sure, why not. Just be aware that you will be paying for the ride all the way. And I would recommend getting a prebuilt first, and then think about playing; if money is an issue, get a netbook. Then you'll have reliable computing power, and when done, both desktop and mobile solutions.

I don't intend to monitor this thread, so, if you feel you'd like more input from me, feel free to message me. (A friend on another forum asked for some general advice in part selection for his DIY project. I rattled off about 20 or so items. I'll copy it here if you like.)

[Autumnlicious]

TL;DR - Provided you're careful, don't shock your electronics and have bought the best deal you can find, yes.

For all else, butterfingers can go to OEM configs.

Offhand:
I remember my AMD K6-II fondly.

[Jaysyn]

I have the same desktop computer I had long ago. I heard that it does not save money anymore. I am skeptical but I really don't know. It is still fun and seems worth it to evade proprietary confinement (many brand restrictions when replacing or adding parts), but does it still usually save money?

When I built my last PC (two years ago now I think) I saved about $400 over a comparable OEM-type workstation. Granted, I didn't need to buy a PC case, monitors or peripherals.

However, I've been building them since I was 16, YMMV.

[Colanth]

If it's something fairly simple and low end, probably not. They're almost giving low end computers away these days.

If you're looking for performance, or some special configuration, probably.

As with all things of this nature, see what's out there, compare the price with building what you want and see which is cheaper. As both apophenia and Moros said, though, if you aren't sure of what you're doing, buy.

[Annik]

It'll only be cheaper if you know what you're doing (as far as computer-building goes).

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Fascinating thread, thanks guys. i


I've always felt a bit guilty as I have bought new PC every 3 or 4 years. I usually do a clean install and give them away. Partly it's because I can, but mainly because I like new Gizmos. PLUS computers have been getting steadily cheaper. EG my first PC was a Pentium 2,cost me $2000: 64 meg of RAM, 7GB hard drive. I hate to think about the processor. 15 inch crt monitor .No CD burner.


THIS machine cost me $1400; Intel core i7 processor ,8GB RAM, 2TB hard drive, NVidia GEforce GT 502 graphics, touch screen, built in TV receiver,blu ray burner, 23 inch full HD LCD monitor. I love it to bits; I even liked Windows 7 straight out of the box.

I feel a lot less guilty. Right now I'm trying to justify buying a new 50 inch plasma smart TV for about $1600. The picture is getting a bit odd,with a light green tinge at times. Still have the other one in the lounge,so can't really justify a new one. So of course I'll probably buy one anyway.

[Ryantology]

I hadn't had a desktop PC in ages until my father gave me his old one last summer (read: old is 2009, it was a very respectable machine with a failed hard drive). Bought a new HD, installed Ubuntu and used it for about nine months. Ubuntu is a great free OS but I'm what you might call knowledgeable enough about computers to really fuck one up, and I finally got fed up with Ubuntu because you are very limited in terms of hardware; there simply aren't drivers for a lot of devices.

So, not having actually bought a desktop since 2003, I had little idea what they were going for these days. I was amazed to spend $400 and bring home an AMD quad-core (A6-3620) with 4 GB RAM (upgraded to 8 for $30, holy shit did RAM ever get cheap since I last bought any) and W7 Home Premium 64. It was a huge upgrade over my last Windows machine and after four months I've been completely satisfied with it, even though it was a mid-grade Wal-Mart offering. It came with a 500 GB HD which I do want to supplement with something bigger, because I've already filled up three quarters of it. I later purchased a 27" LED monitor for about $300.

I'm not really into intensive things such as modern gaming or A/V editing, mostly just basic stuff really, and for relative chump change I have a machine which is still far more capable than I need it to be.

[Angrboda]

If it's something fairly simple and low end, probably not. They're almost giving low end computers away these days.

If you're looking for performance, or some special configuration, probably.

This is what originally got me into building my own. I had purchased an OEM pentium box, which was quite stable and functional (an intel design VX board), but after owning it for a year, i realized that the component choices weren't exactly what I'd have picked, given my druthers. So I started buying junk components and putting them together to teach myself how to do it, before I spent real money. Now, it's more a fact of it being all that I know. It would feel weird and unfamiliar to put those decisions in the hands of a stranger. That, and I just love this shit. I have chronic depression, and building and unbuilding computers is what I used to do to pass the time during depressions, as I didn't have to think. (This is before the amputation of my fingers. I still lean that way, but anymore I don't, as it's considerably more difficult now, physically.)

I disagree with Moros Synack, but who knows where the truth lies. I don't want to get into sabre rattling, but I've been a moderator on one of the most popular technical channels on EFNet, and after 10+ years of watching how average people can go horribly wrong, in addition to my own build experience, and experience arguing and dispensing advice on technical matters on IRC, I'm a bit more cynical.

(p.s. My fastest box is a c2d e7400. Need fast hardware. Message me for my paypal account. )

Speaking of obsolescence, my first box was an IBM-PC clone with 128 KB of memory and cost $4,000 in 1984. Oh man does that bring back memories. I remember upgrading to DOS 2.1 and thinking that was the cat's meow.

[Napoléon]

My friend is currently in the process of building his own pc, turns out he's spent more than his mac costs, but he has gone all out on it, so I don't know.

As for ideas on building your own, look at this:

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/