Price? Dell vs. custom build

[SkullBash]

Originally Posted by Demasu

What are you talking about? It's easy to upgrade, you go to the store, buy the part, open your computer, put in new part after taking out old part if necessary, close computer.

Some dell lines use proprietary components that are difficult to impossible to find. Even on the open market they are dell manufacture. But nvidia could just as easily go under as Dell. OR Asus, AMD etc.


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You do get an advantage with say dell. They burn in the pc for you and it's been tested. I usually buy a Dell or HP for my work pcs and build my own for games. You generally do get more bang for buck, unless there is some super sale on old models. But you have an option. Most towns are filled with local pc stores that are pretty reasonable and they'll burn the pc in for you. A couple I like to go to are filled with game geeks and they might charge say 100 more than dell.

[KubeDawg]

Newegg ftw. If you are interested even remotely on how computers work, build a computer. If you just want something that works, buy a dell. But building a pc on your own has obvious benefits that buying a dell doesn't.

#1. Price. It's cheaper, hands down. I've probably saved over $1000 in parts by building and upgrading my PC over the past 4 or 5 years.

#2. It gives you a basic knowledge of how to troubleshoot your own hardware instead of having to send your PC back to dell for 2-4 weeks to get something that is probably relatively simple to fix, fixed.

#3. Reviews. Unlike buying a dell, you actually get really really good reviews when trying to pick the right hardware. Why? You've got fellow PC enthusiasts who actually take the time to benchmark their new equipment, and you can find reviews that can even tell you how flimsy the stock fan is that comes with your case or processor.

#4. Manufacturers. You don't usually get a wide spectrum of choices as far as what manufacturer you want for each of your parts. There are some brands out there I won't even touch, such as Foxconn. The latter part of their name fits nicely. When building online, you get a huge variety of manufacturers as well as being able to pick exactly what you want, down to how many PCI slots or how much memory it can support, etc.

#5. Operating System. You aren't forced to choose Windows Vista Home with your built computer, which also saves money. You can choose Windows 7 beta, which is free till August, or you can download Linux, which is getting better and better and easier to use, every day, or you can opt for an OEM version of XP which is generally still going to save you money.

I guess the most important benefit besides saving cash, is choice. Choice is something that is still very limited when customizing a dell you want.

Cons obviously include 30 day warranties on most parts, but if you choose, you can purchase extended warranties on the parts. Another thing is actually having to build it, as opposed to hooking it up and it working out of the box. I spent a good 3 hours installing my new motherboard recently.

[Skanky Butterpuss]

Originally Posted by illogicality-

Hey - If price is not an object (lol) go get a Mac Desktop Pro!!! Quad Xeon quad core, up to like 32gb of ram - 4tb of HDD - DO IT NOW! That is, of course, if you want to spend around 4k, haha.

That will be my next computer - a Mac Pro... but for now, I just have to settle with my custom built tower - AMD Phenom 9850, MSI K9N2 Diamond motherboard, 4gb DDR1066, 160gb 10,000rpm WD Raptor HDD, Nvidia 9800gx2 vid card... it screams - and my macbook pro.

fuck that. go with a psystar

the openpro will be my next computer purchase

[illogicality-]

Originally Posted by Skanky Butterpuss

fuck that. go with a psystar

the openpro will be my next computer purchase

Please... my dual quad xeon will destroy that.. 8 cores at 3.0ghz per core.. please...

You can't get much better than one of those Mac Pro desktops.. unless you go out and gut a server.. but then you still run into issues with ecc/non-ecc ram and such..

[KubeDawg]

I'll take 128 GB of ram pl0x.

[SkullBash]

Originally Posted by Skanky Butterpuss

fuck that. go with a psystar

the openpro will be my next computer purchase

Cool site, I never even heard of those dudes.

If you want to build a pc, extremetech does the research for you and it's almost guarenteed to work. They aren't cutting edge unless you just happen to hit the latest build but their value gaming rigs are decent, plus you can tweak a component here and there.

http://www.extremetech.com/category2...,644478,00.asp

[Skanky Butterpuss]

Originally Posted by illogicality-

Please... my dual quad xeon will destroy that.. 8 cores at 3.0ghz per core.. please...

You can't get much better than one of those Mac Pro desktops..

well, when you have the money for that shit (plus the mac tax, which is what i want to avoid), feel free to get one for me too

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by illogicality-

Yeah, newegg is pretty badass. Are you an asus guy? I've had so many problems with them that I won't use them any more. I've been with MSI since 2001 and coulnd't be happier.

Hey - If price is not an object (lol) go get a Mac Desktop Pro!!! Quad Xeon quad core, up to like 32gb of ram - 4tb of HDD - DO IT NOW! That is, of course, if you want to spend around 4k, haha.

That will be my next computer - a Mac Pro... but for now, I just have to settle with my custom built tower - AMD Phenom 9850, MSI K9N2 Diamond motherboard, 4gb DDR1066, 160gb 10,000rpm WD Raptor HDD, Nvidia 9800gx2 vid card... it screams - and my macbook pro.

ASUS is my go to most of the time. I've been building systems since the 286 days. Back in the glory days of COMDEX. I've been through a number of manufacturers in that time. No manufacturer is lily white and all stumble from time to time. ASUS, however, has always been very responsive to me. Based on my experience I comfortable recommend them. However I don't think the OP had asked for that. He simply wanted to know what people preferred....Branded vs built.

[KubeDawg]

Asus is a great brand I'll always enjoy, but I've recently turned to Gigabyte and it's worked great so far.

[EquilibriuM]

Originally Posted by KubeDawg

Asus is a great brand I'll always enjoy, but I've recently turned to Gigabyte and it's worked great so far.

I used to use MSI boards till a couple crapped out, and a third came brand new i received once was broke on arrival, or let's just say it didn't work after i put it into the pc i was building, so i went to Asus since good boards never had any go bad. But my new mobo, thats still on the ups truck is a gigabyte mobo, but im told they are very good.

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by EquilibriuM

I used to use MSI boards till a couple crapped out, and a third came brand new i received once was broke on arrival, or let's just say it didn't work after i put it into the pc i was building, so i went to Asus since good boards never had any go bad. But my new mobo, thats still on the ups truck is a gigabyte mobo, but im told they are very good.

I've worked long enough with most manufacturers that I've seen many of them have issues. Anyone remember the bad capacitor issue that hit systems a few years ago? We're still seeing boards affected by similar issues. However, ASUS has always responded quickly and has not been draconian in their adherence to troubleshooting scripts when determining whether an RMA is warranted. If their customer service on issues weren't good I'd be searching for someone else.