Limit: $600
Just need a tower, no keyboard, speaker, monitor, ect.

Also, how much do you really save when you build your own system as compared with a pre-built tower from a company like HP? I know Dell is overpriced bullshit with fancy colors, but HP looks relatively solid.
I know overclocking saves you $$, but what else do you get? Are home-built systems any more or less reliable? How much do you really need to know to build a system, common sense and follow the instructions, or do you need like, soddering irons and stuff?

You need a screwdriver. And plugs, for your power supply. Thats all you need if you got all the PC parts.

I think this really depends on the PC parts, but specification to price wise, you save some. I believe.

The only con about building your own system would be MOBO and PSUs because you have to worry about them turning out bad. They're the two parts that malfunction the most.
Heres a few common sense to take note.
When you finish your computer properly and run, if you do not hear the sound of fans running, turn it off immediately.
The heat will get to your CPU and you don't want that one to burn out.
When you finish your computer properly and not hear a beep and the screen is blank, there is a problem with your MOBO or PSU. You need to replace it.
Oh and to check which is wrong, remove everything from your computer except the mobo, CPU, and use a spare PSU from your other computer that you know it works. If that PC boots up, then theres a problem with your PSU. If it doesn't, theres a problem with your MOBO.
The beep is important.

And I think thats all you need to worry about. I've only built 3 systems for myself but the only problems I had were faulty MOBOs.

About saving money, it does depend on your location, which store you go to, and the actual cost of the PC. However, I would have saved about 400-500$, and my parents could have saved about the same amount. That is based off of where I live and what local stores we have, though.

Ah man, dude, you missed out:
http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=9684

Gateway PCs for 290$, sold just a couple hours ago.


Usually they detect overheating and shut off before they would burn out, as long as you're not OCing them.


You only hear a beep if there is a problem with POST, such as missing RAM, you're computer could be functioning perfectly and the screen doesn't come on because of a bad VGA cable, and it wouldn't beep, to be certain, remove the RAM and if it beeps without RAM, but doesn't with RAM, your motherboard is usually fine.

Honestly, people rant and rave about how much you can save on custom built computers, however, I've found perfectly functional computers that are much cheaper than what you could get by building them. However, I wouldn't be buying it directly from the manufacturer's site, if you really want a cheap computer, you need to find a prebuilt one that is being sold elsewhere, such as the one I posted that link to.

Of course, this all depends on what you want, if you're gaming, it's usually a better choice to build your own, since getting a gaming computer pre-built is horribly expensive compared to getting the parts and making it, but if you want a computer that can just do work and web browsing and such, I'd go with a prebuilt one from some third party seller.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Oct 28 2009, 4:22 am by Falkoner.

Building a computer is like building legos. It's ridiculously easy. Just don't do it while intoxicated. Touch the case frequently, especially when handling the CPU and motherboard. Try not to touch the cpu much (handle it by the corners). All you might need is a phillips head screwdriver, if it isn't included with your stuff.

Overclocking doesn't really save money, it increases performance. At least, I wouldn't consider overclocking as an option to save money. You save money on the middle man, and the assembly. What you DON'T save money on is the OS, which is typically where the OEMs make their money. That's why smart people get it for free in some way, shape, or form.

Reliability has little to do with the hardware, but the software, and how well you keep it up. Obviously cheap hardware will be less reliable, but even the cheap stuff has to work for them to make money. A lot of the time, OEMs put in random crap, which makes them cheap. Apple and Alienware are two companies which make sure good hardware goes into your system, but they charge you an arm and a leg for it.

As for the build, what are we looking at?
Case, mobo, PSU, CPU, GFX, RAM, HDD, Optical drive? If you can reuse an old Optical drive and HDD, you can save quite a bit, or get that much better a computer. $100 goes a long way, but it's important to set limits when buying, or else you'll just keep tacking on more money. If you need an OS, you'll have to either buy one ($30 for OSX or win 7's student discout) or use some form of linux/freebsd.

If you're not going to home build it, I'm not going to waste my time designing a system for you. There is absolutely zero downside to building your own, and it teaches you a marketable skill.

Let me know and I'll get on it.

The idea was to see if it would be worth it to home build a system, but if you don't want to recommend, you can just go ahead and close the topic.

Blanket statement, you can find cheaper computers that function the same by buying refurbished or getting it from a third party seller, however, building your computer is good if you have a certain unusual function in mind, usually gaming, but if it's just your run-of-the-mill computer for basic work, you can most likely find a cheaper one than you can build.

I'm not so sure about that. Sometimes you can find steals, but for the most part pre-built computers charge you for parts and labor, whereas that labor could be free if you do it.

The only downside I can think of when building your own is that if the computer gets messed up, its on you. With a pre-built you have warranties and service to take care of it. Obviously, however, if you plan on building it yourself, you tend to learn what makes things go wrong and gradually figure out how to fix it anyway.

Also, as for the cost thing, I usually feel like HP is the Apple of the PC world (but cheaper and less ruthless with possible upgrade prices). They make great looking sleek computers, but they also price them that way.

Nah, Dell is. They put crap in a box and make you pay for the brand name. HP might just feel more expensive because they don't put crap in a box.

HP is awesome with printers. I dont like brand desktops. HP keyboards suck.

That 280$ computer? I'd love to see someone try to beat that, even with building it themselves. I see deals like that quite frequently, especially on that website, but on a few others too, you just have to know where to get the computer.

I have an HP desktop, it is terrible. I have emulated graphics, no graphics slot in my motherboard whatsoever, it came with 256 mb of ram, and I have a Celeron 2.83 ghz, and 32 gigs of HD. This junk cost 550$ (with the screen, speakers, keyboard, and mouse). Not worth it, the screen alone would cost 100$, speakers about 15, keyboard and mouse about 10-20. I'm sure there are better HPs, but this one is terrible.. I'm just glad I upgraded to two gigs of RAM, even though I don't think I use over 500mb of RAM ever

Sounds like you got this in 2002 though. Go on the HP website, what you get nowadays for 550 bucks is much more than that... MUCH more...

It's not like it's hard. Free after rebate helps a lot too. My old case and psu cost me $10 (this was when ultra was good).

My refurb computer from '03 cost $400. 2.6 GHz northwood celeron, 512 MB RAM (ddr-133), 80 GB HDD, dual optical drives, 300 W PSU, Onboard "Intel Xtreme Graphics", XP Home. Not a bad deal for the time.

I think it was in 2002. Still not worth it IMO, but I dunno how much the tech has gotten cheaper in performance:price since then.

DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119152
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161297
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211281
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131347
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116091
$620.70 after tax and shipping based on my zip. A little over, but its a very solid build. I'm really pissed at how far up in price RAM is going. This build would've been like 570$ a few months ago. If its too high, let me know, I'll cut it down a bit, but right now its very nice and very solid. Even on stock cooling that E6300 should reach 3.2-3.6Ghz.

Comes with 2 free gifts from Newegg, game called Stormrise and a laptop wireless card. Feel free to sell/destroy/whatever them.

Well, thanks Ex for going and designing this even without me specifically saying I was going to home build it. It's definitely an option still, just I hadn't expected you to post without it being a 100% chance of not-waste-of-time. The system would really be for my parents, but if we bought it through newegg I'd be the one to assemble it probably. Last time we got a computer it was a piece of junk, so this time my parents are waiting for me to come home before they pick anything... lol

If its for them and not for gaming I can design them a competent PC for far less. What is the intended use?