^ ... and much less reliability, more noise, more heat, generally a tad slower with the same parts, and no warranty where a tech comes to your place and swaps the part for you if they break. Also, you can get a Dell with a monitor for $299. How can you possibly build the same machine for less? They can do it because they'll sell 10,000,000 of them.

For a home computer to play games on that's fine, but the cost (and speed) advantages simply aren't there anymore for custom PCs. I used to build every computer I touched but now wouldn't even consider it. Especially when you need reliability and assurance that the parts really work together 100% of the time (not 99.999% -- that'll screw you over 3 years) I always look to Dell for desktops and and servers and Dell, IBM, Toshiba for laptops.

 

I was shopping for a computer about a year ago and created a thread here for advice.

A couple of people responded back recommending this place

http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/Default.asp

so I took a look at their website and constructed an AMD 64 computer with the works and it came out to be far cheaper than going through alienware, dell, etc. I even saved more money by buying the RAM, DVD-R drive, sound card, and video card from newegg.com and installing them myself once the shell showed up. If you're not too computer savvy I wouldn't suggest this route as I had to use another computer entirely to get on to the web to find the initial boot drivers for the two Seagate SATA hard drives they had installed. It wasn't too much of a pain in the ass but it definitely wasn't plug and play like it would have been had they installed everything.

The build quality of their computer was excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to give them more business in the future.

 

alienware is hella expensive......why not just build your own?


-SaL

 

I would build a machine first. If you must make the choice between the Alienware or Dell go with the Alienware. Most of Alienware machines come with some powerful setups and are built very well. I have worked with Dells and am not a big fan of there build quality (seemed to get crappy as the company expanded).

 

Parts have warranties, and if you look into it, certain parts work better with others... Just because *your* personal experience was bad, or the computers *you* built didn't work well, than thats that, but if you look and research enough before building or know what you're doing, you shouldn't have a prob at all.

How can you say less reliability? noise? heat? I've built several machines that last longer than most of the pre-builts, are quieter and are much cooler. Come on man.. seriously.

 

I've built about 100 PCs, both desktops and servers. Just becuase you never experienced reliable equipment doesn't make you more right. The problem with warranties on parts is that if your hard drive dies you have to back up your data (hopefully you can access it), send a hard drive across the country, and wait 6-8 weeks for a new one. That may be your idea of a great computer, but it's not mine. Even for my home machines if they're down I'm screwed. With Dell, you're back online in 48 hours.

Because I have enough experience to know that these generalisms are true. You may get lucky, and I honestly hope you do, but peice-built computers have these characteristics whether you want to believe it or not. I didn't say they are always unreliable, I said they are less reliable. Show me any respectable data that says otherwise. It doesn't exist. It's one of the reasons that Apple is attractive to people -- one company making all the hardware makes reliability and compatibility shoot up.

 

Well.. to each his own. But theres hundreds of IT related boards who would love to argue with you

 

normally items in prebuilt computers die for a reason -- they are worthless parts. They are quiet becuase the manufactors like dell, gateway, sony don't care about having the processor run at 70C where as if you build your own it is a sin to have it over 50C and obviously with lower temps means more circulation which means more fans which means more sound, but who cares if you are doing your computer good. I don't know where you got heat from? All parts give off heat regardless who makes it, if anything prebuilt computers don't make the rooms hot because they don't have any circulation going through them.

I too have built many computers and sold them to many friends of mine -- no problems sofar with ANY of my equipment. why? because I use name brand parts. I use Asus / Abit / MSI motherboards -- I use western digital hard drives -- I use crucial RAM. All are name brand parts...I don't use intel motherboards or FIC motherboards, I don't use the dreaded IBM hard drives that die in under a month -- I don't use some nameless RAM -- those are all the reasons why you have to use the warranty for pre-built computers.

Reliability? I built a dual athlon MP server 2 years ago -- I have NEVER had 1 lockup sofar that wasn't caused by me (and if you want me to clarify what I mean by that, I overclocked it and to find a stable speed you have to first know where it is unstable at). Aside from that, I had to return ONE part and it was DOA -- RMA'd it got it back in a week, never had problems since. The computers that you build are only as reliable as the person who makes them and installs the software. I'd say 99% of the computer problems today are caused by people who know nothing about computers and just install and download stuff without knowing that it even does.

If you want a good place to buy parts --- www.newegg.com --- execelent service and a great RMA department.

 

http://www.ocforums.com/

Go there and see how many people laugh at even half the topics that were just mentioned on how pre-built are superior

 

I disagree. Granted, building your own PC is for people that know what they're doing and can take care of any problems that may arise after building it, but to say that a computer from Dell is going to be more reliable, more quiet and create less heat is not accurate. I don't know how you could say a mass produced PC using generic bulk parts is going to be more reliable than a custom built PC using the best parts money can buy, hand built by someone with the time to be meticulous with it. Not only that, if something does go wrong with a piece of hardware, you built it, so why would you need someone to come to the house?

The problem with Dell is that they advertise a system for what looks to be a good price, but when you look at the specs, it's bare bones. After upgrading the system with the "industry standards", the price goes up dramatically. They overcharge for everything extra. Now, with Dell's marketing schemes, it is possible to land good deals every now and again. I wound up getting a fully loaded Inspiron 8600 notebook (2.0Ghz P Mobile, 512megs Ram, 60gig 7200RPM harddrive, etc...)computer last fall with "25% off" for $1600 shipped and a week later it went back up to about $1900 and never came down there after. The only reason I bought a notebook is that you can't build them yourself.

I just built a custom ABIT AN8/AMD 64 system online with top of the line components from www.newegg.com with a 19" LG LCD monitor and compared it to a Dell XPS system with similar features. It came out just under $1700 vs. $2750 for Dell's system. Over $1000 difference and guess what. Dell's system only comes with a 1 yr warranty standard, unless you fork out more to extend it. So what's the difference? You get warranties with every part you buy. Whether it be a processor, motherboard, memory, a harddrive, etc... They all come with their own warranty.

I'm using a computer I built over over 3 years ago and I haven't had one problem with it since I built it. Luck? I'm not sure. This is the 3rd PC I've built since I was 18 years old (10 years ago) and I never had hardware problems with any of them.

If you want to buy something cheap, take if out of the box, plug it in and go, then get a Dell for $299, but I would definitely do some research. Buy some computer magazine that review PC's and see which ones rate the best. http://www.cnet.com also has some good reviews. Frag boxes from Falcon are great PC's, but they are insanely overpriced. I mean $6,000 for a laptop? They're on crack.