Buy vs Build

[ProfJohn]

I have an electronics degree so the actual building of a machine would not be a problem. That said though, I have never built a PC and am a little concerned about things like BIOS, installing drivers, OS etc etc.

Based a budget of $600-800 for just the PC (no monitor, speakers, keyboard etc)
Would I be better off just buying a retail system, after the CPU price drops reach them, or putting together the parts and building one.

How much better is the system I can build at that price really going to be?

How about going with someone like cyberpower.com or monarch or one of the other "custom" builders, where I can pick out the parts I want and get the system I really want, but without having to do all the work, plus it would have a warranty covering everything.

Mid-level Gaming and low level photo work is the biggest strain I would put on it.

 

[phistyle]

well in my opinion...building a computer these days are pretty easy...its pretty much childproof...its basically plug and play...if it fits then it goes there...lol...its not really hard to build your own pc...and for drivers and such shouldnt be a problem...installing an os is very simple...go to your bios and set it up to run your cd-rom first then just pop in your windows cd and you're good to go....

 

[dexvx]

Its more choosing the right parts than actual building. A lot of crap out there.

 

[flatblastard]

Since you already have a monitor, keyboard, etc, then go ahead and build one yourself. A "retail" computer system usually includes those items at the same price as it would cost for you to build just the computer. You can get a lot more power out of an $600-800 PC that you built, versus a retail machine of the same price.

 

[jackschmittusa]

At the $600 level, you might be better off buying a pre-built because system builders get Windows for a lot less than you can buy it for. The cheaper the rig you try to build, the greater the percentage of the final cost is the os.

Monarch is good, but can be slow at times.

Cyberpower got lousy reviews lately on customer service and tech support.

 

[w00t]

even at the $600 level i think building your own is better but rember if you want it to compete with there's and money you can't get the best things also you can't generally overclock retail computers unless i guess a bios fix or jumper setting.

 

[Zepper]

Pre-packaged systems from the big names almost always limit your options significantly. You decide what limitations you are willing to accept when you DIY.

You need to learn how to do all the things you mentioned anyway - regardless of the system you buy. Prepacks seldom come with the latest versions of all drivers and/or firmware for mobo/drives/etc. installed.

And most prepacks come larded down with a bunch of useless software that you'll have to waste time uninstalling in order to get a responsive system.

.bh.

 

[jbubrisk]

Check out my thread in the General forum called "Gonna buy my new budget (sorta) build" http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1901131&enterthread=y