Custom Gaming/ whatever PC building service

[Brotasmo]

Is there any one interested in a custom built computer for gaming/whatever for a lower price than a standard computer? I'm a well versed builder and can buy, assemble and ship a desktop PC loaded with windows 7 for a price. Anyone to lazy or inexperienced want to try me out?

 

[mfenn]

Don't do it, you'll lose your shirt.

 

[jchu14]

Yea, it's a tough business to get into. You're not only competing with Dell and HP, you're also competing with established custom builders like http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/. I played around their website and I was thoroughly surprised by the lack of ridiculous markups. On a $1000 computer, I estimate they only charge a $100 premium versus Newegg prices (though that can be a more if the parts are bought over time while on sale).

 

[Davidh373]

Custom built computers are more about spending the money you would on a Dell (or something) to get better performance, not to pay the money for a regular office desktop (around $500) and get $1000 gaming performance. Unless you work for Microsoft or some other big time manufacturer and get major discounts and freebies, I don't see how it can be done. I don't know if that's what you are getting at but that's what it seems like. You are better of giving free advice, or actually starting a LAN Center/ Custom PC workshop, no in between.

 

[Brotasmo]

I see what you are saying @jchu14, but I'm just talking a few people here and there not a full on business. And you don't need to spend a whole bunch of money building a gaming PC either I've built a decent rig that can run Crysis at 80-90% settings @davidh373. I also know a guy

 

[Brotasmo]

my spec
ASUS P5QL-Pro
Intel Core 2 duo 2.80 Ghz clocked to 3.0
GeForce 9800 GT 512M 256 bit
4 gb ddr2 G skill
500GB samsung HDD
Radimax Smilodon gaming case
Radimax RX700 700w
Samsung DVD reader/burner

Cost? roughly 600-650!
boom!!!

 

[llee]

You need to specialize. For example, I only build SFF gaming PCs for customers. Going for towers aren't going to be that profitable in this market.

 

[jchu14]

Yikes. Unless that comes with a Win7 key, the price is not too competitive.

Cyberpowerpc:
Core i3-530 2.93GHz
500gb 7200rpm hdd
4gb ddr3 1600MHz
Gigabyte Crossfire capable H55 mb
Geforce GTS250
DVD burner
Case+600watt psu
3 year warranty
$621 shipped

Newegg parts (no combo deals factored in)
Phenom X2 3.1GHz
Asus M4a77TD mobo
4GB GSkill DDR3
MSI Geforce 9800gt
Corsair 400w psu
Samsung F3 500gb
Samsung Burner
Rosewill Challenger Case
$502-$65MIR

You need to specialize. For example, I only build SFF gaming PCs for customers. Going for towers aren't going to be that profitable in this market.

Neat! A SFF gaming PC will be my goal in a few years when i revamp my system. There's something intriguing about so much computing power in a small system.

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ yeah, I'm tempted to build a 5770-based gaming system in a Silverstone mini-ITX "just because" even though it would only be slightly faster than my current system.

OP: you can't really compete unless you're happy making $50 after spending an hour or two to build, then several hours to support the PC.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Don't do it, you'll lose your shirt.

Trust me, I would know.

 

[CurseTheSky]

As others have said, building PCs for a living only works if you specialize in something (SFF is a good one), or only cater to the extreme high end market ($2000+, where HP and Dell charge ridiculous mark-ups for graphics cards and the like).

The other problem is the fact that the market is shifting to laptops. Most consumers don't care about being able to play Crysis with all the eye candy on. Most want to play Bejeweled, Farmville, Plants vs. Zombies, or perhaps Starcraft II, which can be accomplished with your average $500-600 laptop with an entry-level discrete graphics card.

This is something I've wanted to do for a long time as well, but I've held off simply because there isn't enough demand. I would LOVE to build $2000 solid gaming rigs for a living, but unless you're well established, no one has heard of you and won't trust two grand on some company that could disappear tomorrow.

 

[s1175290]

my spec
ASUS P5QL-Pro
Intel Core 2 duo 2.80 Ghz clocked to 3.0
GeForce 9800 GT 512M 256 bit
4 gb ddr2 G skill
500GB samsung HDD
Radimax Smilodon gaming case
Radimax RX700 700w
Samsung DVD reader/burner

Cost? roughly 600-650!
boom!!!

Doesn't seem all that competitive. I built this about 10 months ago:

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P
AMD Phenom II 965BE (3.4 Quad)
XFX GTS 250
8GB DDR2
2 X 640 WD Caviar Black in Raid 0
700w OCZ ModXtreme
Generic DVD burner
Antec 900

Total (including shipping & tax) came to about $640.

Granted, I shopped pretty carefully for the parts, but everything was purchased in about a 3 week span.

Also, for a lot of people, have the fun in building their own PC is the fun/enjoyment factor. Personally, I not paying someone else to do something that I enjoy. I'm not sure how big the market is for those that would pay.

Good luck.

 

[Brotasmo]

cool guys, thanks for the feedback this is all good advice, ill look into ssf building, it sounds pretty cool