is building a desktop by myself cheaper than buying one at DELL or other local shop?

Question

I want to buy a new Vista desktop.

Answer 1

No. I can tell you from first hand experience that it is more expensive to build your own computer than it is to buy one.

I built the one I'm using right now and I put all the best parts in it. It cost me about $4000. The reason is that the big computer companies buy their parts in bulk instead of just one at a time, like I did. When they buy in bulk, they get better prices.

Answer 2

The major factor to your question is the processor chip. If you want to go with the newest dual core intel chip or 64-bit AMD chip, then it's going to be cheaper to buy a system.

On the other hand, I can build you a computer for under $200, and you can't buy one new for that!

Before I answered, I did read your answers, and some, although well meaning, were a little misguided.

The major factor, which everyone failed to mention is how comuputer savvy you are. Obviously, if you build your own, you aren't going to have the luxury of an 800 number to call at 4:00am on a sunday when you blow up your system and have to format it, and you have absolutely no idea how to do it.

If you are at the point where you can fix your own glitches, it is better to build your own.

I've gotten to a point now where I don't need to call a tech, and I know specifically what I want my computer to do. And most of the time, when you do build your own computer, it will be less expensive than if you buy a system. But once again, that will come down to the processor you want.

I spent almost 6 months reading articles, going to computer stores, and researching processors. I finally decided on the Athlon 2.0 Ghz chip for my system, and at the time I purchased it on eBay, I think it cost me $160.00.

But this was before the "Xpress" cards and everything was PCI. I wanted the basic AGP slot and 5 PCI slots on my motherboard. And at the time, there weren't that many on the market in ready-built systems available. But Asus and a couple other board manufacturers were making them.

As I recall, the board, chip, and heat sink cost me under $300.00 and I had what I wanted, and I was not dependent on what dell, gateway, or the other sellers out there, thought I wanted.

In order for you to build your own system, you are going to have to figure out exactly what you want, then do a ton of research on the net.

But it's also rewarding building your own system, and ultimately once you know how to do it, you will never buy another system. From here you can do whatever upgrading you want. You will already know how to change a motherboard, or whatever, and from that point on, it will definitely be cheaper for you.

Answer 3

Well it use to be but the price of a new dell computer has dropped a lot over the years.

To the lady that spent $4,000 building a new computer...
WoW! lol With $4,000 I could build like 5 machines that could handle vista. That's crazy.

I guess Dell dropped their prices to become more competive with the guys like me that do build machines... It's worked.

But even if it cost a little more money, I'd still rather build my own machine because then I'd be able to upgrade the heck out of it in the future without any problems.

I'm poor... lol... so I just build computers using older parts and gradually upgrade. The computer I'm using now has been upgraded so often, it looks nothing like when I originally built it... OH!

There's the catch!
Suppose you do want to upgrade your dell say like... a year from now but you can only buy the upgrade from Dell at an outrageous price. The machine may have a cheap price tag on it but be sure to check the capability of all the parts and the motherboard.

I remember back in the old days you could not upgrade a dell motherboard because it was designed for a specific dell case. The only way to upgrade was to salvage a few parts, chunk the machine and buy a new dell. (Unless you felt like tweaking the heck out of the case+motherboard... details... details... still a hassle.)

I guess you could use your warranty for an upgrade but I know that's a pain in the bum. On some machines, if you pop open the case, it kills the warranty. So whenever you want to upgrade anything, like just install more ram into your computer... You gotta go to Dell or you kill your warranty by breaking the seal on the back of the case. (I'm an old timer, not sure if it's still like this.)

Or what you could do is just go to the local shops and check out the systems they built for sale. 100% PC-Compatible and a better investment in the long run.

Answer 4

The build itself would be more beneficial since each component comes with it's own warranty. However, once you factor in the flat panel monitor that usually comes as a free upgrade and the Operating System that usually costs around $200 for a full install, no - it's not really any cheaper.

A lot of people always say it is - but, it's not. I got my computer for $1200, and there's no way I could have built it for much less, if any.

Answer 5

Buy one that comes with Vista.
It will be cheaper.

Most people do not include the cost of (legal) software with the cost of the hardware & time to shop for & build their own PC.

Most new PC's (especially the Vista capable units) will include all the software you need for a complete multimedia solution.

The manufacturer warranty & phone support are also vital to individuals with little PC experience.

All the wanna be home PC techies say that building your own is better ( & I expect lots of negative votes from them for saying this), yet the true IT professionals who earn a living supporting & maintaining PCs will always say you are better off with a mid to high end brand name PC.


regards,
Philip T

Answer 6

It may or may not be cheaper, but you have complete control over the hardware you purchase and can build exactly what you want. Also, chances are it will be much more upgradeable than a generic tower you get from a mass producer. Shop around online to get the best prices.

Answer 7

It's lots cheaper if you're willing to put in the time to browse around for the best prices, and you know exactly what components you can skimp on, and what components you can splurge on.

Don't make the common mistake of going out and buying up everything that's bleeding edge, when you can get last year's model for half the cost, and sacrifice a measly 5-10% performance.

Answer 8

If you know where to buy it can be cheaper, I recently built one with $600 and its X 10 better than any Dell in its class. (with a 19'" LCD, and Win XP MCE 2005)

Dell's are not so upgradable as someone said above.

$4,000 on a custom built? That's a price of a Alienware, not a custom built.

Answer 9

it is far more low-cost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I outfitted a quadcore rig with a 750gbchronic, 4gb of RAM, 8600gts overclocked video card and remarkable stuff for only a one thousand dolllars practically very last 3 hundred and sixty 5 days even as commercially obtainable stuff is round 2000 funds. What I propose is buyin a barebone device quite of shopping for a seperate case and motherboard. Then all you go with is a video card, proccesor, ram, and a hardchronic, besides as a CDchronic and your waiting.

Answer 10

The only thing you achieve by building it yourself if that you build it the way you want it and you put in it what you want/need. So, this way you don't get the crap that the PC manufacturers load their PCs with. As for price, I don't think you will save much if any. You will learn a lot though!

Good luck