Price

Living-Dead-Child

With my computer dieing and reading ShawnC building his first computer I was wondering, is it still cheaper to build your own when you consider the price of the Operating System? Windows is expensive.

I built my own about six years ago and this fourm was so helpful. I can not build another now becuase of funding, but was wondering.

Thanks all

Snarkasm

If you own a license for the OS, you don't need to buy it again (unless you still have it installed elsewhere). OEM/system builder versions are usually fairly cheap, and upgrades from previous versions are also reasonable.

In all, for a given price, I can build a better computer than I could buy from a major manufacturer. That's why I do it.

RichD

My view is that it is cheaper to buy a pre built system but they are build with budget components. I think you get a much better quality system if you build it yourself. You can use branded components that will be more stable and more reliable and actually fits your needs. This generally works out better value for money. Plus its great fun!

Obsidian

Pre-built systems love to skimp on the motherboards (see G31 chipset) and budget RAM. They also love to put in crappy power supplies which can result in major problems. The fun of picking out all your parts, and putting them all together is the best part. It also helps with troubleshooting when you know how everything works when you have a problem.

With low-end systems I'd say that pre-built is probably the way to go. If you're actually looking at getting a decent system ($6-700+) and you have time to spare: build your own, you'll be glad you did.