Buy this pre-made or build for double the $$$?

[dud]

I am beguiled.

I haven't built a system since 2002 but have gotten the urge to build a new i5 Haswell-based system from scratch. I was going to purchase a nice Fractal case, Asrock MB, i5-467oK processor ... well, you get the picture. The price including OS but no vid card is in the low $700s.

Just today I see this crappy Dell i5-4460 system come up for sale for $300 plus some tax:

http://www.staples.com/Dell-3000-Desktop-i3847-10000BK/product_1738540?cmArea=home_box1

The system comes with:

- 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-4460 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
- 8GB dual channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GBx2)
- 1TB 7200 rpm SATA 6Gb/s
- Windows 10 Home 64-bit
- Intel® HD integrated graphics
- 8-in-1 media card reader and USB 3.0
- Dell wireless-N 1705 and Bluetooth 4.0
- Integrated 5.1 audio


I would have scoffed at buying this system but recent bad experiences with Newegg have turned me off to buying from them. The combination of wild price changes and items going OOS and then coming back in-stock unexpectedly has damped my enthusiasm. I will be using whatever I buy for general home/office use and some simple-to-moderate gaming. I figured if I bought the Dell I would drop in a cheap 500W PS and an older vid card (perhaps used). The total price of the Dell under these circumstances would be $500 or less.

I haven't even mentioned the price of Windows 10 in all of this. With the build I have to purchase while I get it with the cheapass Dell.

Well, what do you think?

Thank you for letting me rant ...

 

[Ken g6]

dp

 

[Ken g6]

It's cheap. It also lacks an SSD along with the video card and PSU.

What do you want to use it for?

 

[fourdegrees11]

Yeah that Dell system could be upgraded pretty easily

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GdczJx

 

[dud]

Yeah that Dell system could be upgraded pretty easily

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GdczJx

Thank you for pointing this out. That R9 vid card is waay too much for what I like to play. Most games that I play are 5+ years old and right now I am pretty much playing Wo Warships which is not too intensive.

If I could find out how many and what types of slots the MB has it would make things easier.

Thanks again ...

 

[lakedude]

I did exactly this with my C2D system. Bought a Dell and dropped in a PSU and video card. Worked great for years. It has been one of my most reliable systems.

I tried to do it again for a friend and that turned out to be nothing but trouble. The friend's system was built in a mirror image / backward to a normal setup and it would not take a double slot video card without modification. Also his system has been un-reliable, not sure exactly why.

 

[Burpo]

Add SSD & GTX-750. The Dell 300 watt supply should be good.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Price shows as $399 for me. Am I missing some discount code?

 

[bbhaag]

I say go for the Dell. It's obvious that you're an OEM guy now since the last system you built was 13 years ago. Just stick to what you know.

 

[dud]

Price shows as $399 for me. Am I missing some discount code?

Yes, there is/was a $100 discount code bringing the price down to $299 plus tax.

 

[Charlie98]

I tried to do it again for a friend and that turned out to be nothing but trouble. The friend's system was built in a mirror image / backward to a normal setup and it would not take a double slot video card without modification. Also his system has been un-reliable, not sure exactly why.

I was going to upgrade my older Dell Dimension, too, until I found out it had an 'upsidedown' board (I forget the mobo designation for that.) So I built my own.

OP, as long as you are going to stay with older games, the prebuilt would probably be fine, with the upgrades others have mentioned. The downside to that is you would be putting money into, if not necessarily an obsolete, certainly an aging socket/CPU combo and you may wind up at the end of the day spending as much money as if you would have built it yourself with modern components. The good news is if the Dell winds up failing in some manner, the components you added could be moved to a new build.

Chances are, with a little judicious parts shopping, you could come up with a decent system for not much more than the Dell + parts total. Newegg is a little wishy-washy lately, but they are still a decent source for parts, just be prepared to switch to a Plan-B if a part or two goes OOS.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Check the FW threads. Apparently some of those cheap Dell pre-builts, now use a proprietary 14-pin PSU connector, and thus, cannot be replaced with an upgraded standard ATX PSU.
(Edit: My bad, I guess that was a different desktop deal people were talking about that.)
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1469882/

Basically, an upgrader's dead end.

OP is better off building, long-term.

 

[kitatech]

Odd but the MB spec's at 8gb RAM capacity....8gb max????

 

[dud]

IThe downside to that is you would be putting money into, if not necessarily an obsolete, certainly an aging socket/CPU combo and you may wind up at the end of the day spending as much money as if you would have built it yourself with modern components. The good news is if the Dell winds up failing in some manner, the components you added could be moved to a new build.

Question, were you referring to the fact it was a Dell pre-built or that the system is Haswell-based? I asked because the $700+ dollar custom build that I am considering is also Waswell. I have not even considered Skylake at this time ...

Thank you ...

 

[Blain]

Swap out the HD for a $75-$100 SSD and call it a day...
The Dell wins!

 

[Charlie98]

Question, were you referring to the fact it was a Dell pre-built or that the system is Haswell-based? I asked because the $700+ dollar custom build that I am considering is also Waswell. I have not even considered Skylake at this time ...



Thank you ...

Brane cramp... I had it in my mind that the 44xx chip was Ivy, not Haswell.