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Well, Jason ...
... for twenty-five years I have toyed with the idea of building my own system and every time I came close, I always ended up concluding that I could get more bang-for-the-buck by purchasing a pre-built system. I am now on my seventh computer. The first was purchased in 1983, the latest in 2008.

A few weeks back, a colleague at ZDnet wrote a blog about this very topic. (I wish I could recall who - Maybe Adrian or Ed.) He put together a very nice Intel Core i7 system from parts and spent about $2500 doing so. (You have done something very similar here and spent $3000.)

Well, after reading that very article, I went to the Dell site and put together a nearly identical system for about $1200. I then found third-party RAM and a second HDD to bring it up to (or over) the blogger's specifications and still came out under $1500.

In the end, there is very little reason for anyone to go DIY just to get a high-end desktop system.

For fun? Maybe.

To address very specific needs? Maybe.

To save money? HELL NO!

It's been a very long time since it has been cost-effective to build your own desktop computer in order to save a few bucks.

So I have to agree with your conclusion that DIY is dying a slow death and doing it yourself is just not worth it for any but the most strudent "hobbyist". I don't even know any gamers who build their own systems these days.
Posted by: mwagner@...   Posted on: 08/12/09 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Well, Jason ...  mwagner@... | 08/12/09
Not to dispute what you say  chrome_slinky@... | 08/12/09
For the same quality components...  bjbrock | 08/12/09
And dont forget  rparker009 | 08/14/09
and...  cnjwebtvnet@... | 08/19/09
I'm just gonna come out and say it ...  Adrian Kingsley-Hughes ZDNet Moderator | 08/13/09
Re: I'm just gonna come out and say it ...  wolflight | 08/13/09
Not only for the reasons you state  LiquidLearner | 08/13/09
Incremental upgrade happy  chezbal | 08/14/09
ditto for DIY  rcasey101 | 08/18/09
Thanks for jumping in, Adiran!  mwagner@... | 08/14/09
Point well taken, but--  mjolnar@... | 08/14/09
knowledge gained for free  User 13 | 08/14/09
Building computers and rebuilding Chevy's  burtoni | 08/18/09
Us? who the hell is us?  User 13 | 08/14/09
And where are all the dead computers going?  teriruss@... | 08/14/09
Where are you looking at parts?  Cayble | 08/18/09
actually...  crabbypup | 08/14/09
Well stated and ditto! (nt)  djchandler | 08/14/09
come out & say it . . .  drcrow | 08/16/09
I dont know who you buy your individual parts from  jdbukis@... | 08/13/09
RE: I don't know who you buy your individual parts from....  wolflight | 08/13/09
RE: I don't know who you buy your individual parts from  andyb12345 | 08/13/09
Well, only half right.  osreinstall | 08/13/09
I am not talking about off-the-shelf. I am ...  mwagner@... | 08/14/09
I disagree..  Modred189 | 08/14/09
Now why would you do that?  osreinstall | 08/14/09
Re: Well, Jason...  spleendamage | 08/13/09
Re: Well, Jason...  andyb12345 | 08/13/09
CRAPWARE is a real problem ...  mwagner@... | 08/14/09
RE: Crapware Solution  ahampson | 08/14/09
NOPE. Not for the home user (nt)  mwagner@... | 08/14/09
How Hard Is That? n/t  mjolnar@... | 08/14/09
For some people...  bjbrock | 08/14/09
About Saving $$$.....  nbahn | 08/13/09
That's a GOOD question!  mwagner@... | 08/14/09
Linux/MS Dual Boot Since 1992  usr001 | 08/14/09
You can still save money... If you do it right.  Wolfie2K3 | 08/13/09
Lower cost of Dell  codehopper | 08/14/09
Dell does sell systems on-line with no OS  mwagner@... | 08/14/09
A couple things to add  20kwfence | 08/14/09
I just built a dragon.  mjolnar@... | 08/14/09
You do it for fun  Randalllind | 08/14/09
Ah but for the fun of it.  jortony@... | 08/16/09
I couldn't even build a PC for what I wanted...  JCitizen | 10/08/09
I do it all the time  chrome_slinky@... | 08/12/09
Last hurrah?  bjbrock | 08/12/09
No more questions your honor ...  Adrian Kingsley-Hughes ZDNet Moderator | 08/13/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  jwspicer | 08/13/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  perversion2003@... | 08/13/09
Yes  mark-at-pirate-hill@... | 08/13/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  mark-at-pirate-hill@... | 08/13/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  algisk@... | 08/13/09
The source of Mac superiority claims  LiquidLearner | 08/13/09
Ditto!  eMJayy | 08/14/09
Personally  NStalnecker | 08/13/09
Waiting is for the OEMs  pbilling@... | 08/14/09
Homebrew will be alive for as long as I can build one  Michael L Hereid Sr | 08/13/09
Waiting for parts isn't necessarily a 'bad' thing  Lerianis10 | 08/14/09
Micro-Center  WindowWasher | 08/14/09
Nope.  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 08/14/09
Well...  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 08/16/09
Try NewEgg.com  jhimes | 08/18/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  jjbeard926@... | 08/14/09
You didn't mention the OS costs  utoddl | 08/14/09
I haven't put anything on it yet  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 08/14/09
win7  MrSinatra | 08/14/09
Probably Server 2008 R2 first  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 08/14/09
WEI  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 08/16/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  pwn0tr0n | 08/14/09
HOMEBREW WILL ALWAYS LIVE!  bionicbub | 08/14/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  Hemlock Stones | 08/14/09
Does anyone agree this is techie talking?  ARyKaXaN | 08/14/09
YEP.  mwagner@... | 08/14/09
yup  ARyKaXaN | 08/14/09
That reminds me...  ShadowGIATL | 08/14/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  JohnMayer | 08/14/09
no, you can't  ARyKaXaN | 08/14/09
Satisfaction is not perfection  User 13 | 08/14/09
Well...  Jkirk3279 | 08/14/09
yeah the OS would be the sticking point  User 13 | 08/14/09
Not just for gaming but for quality and longevity  User 13 | 08/14/09
i built a system for a client  crabbypup | 08/14/09
God news / bad news. If you can build it, you can maintain it.  softwareFlunky | 08/14/09
Excuse to replace them  usr001 | 08/14/09
Re: Excuse to replace them  nbahn | 08/14/09
I just built myself a brand new office computer  Edesw88 | 08/14/09
build your own  hadoz | 08/14/09
Reality Check  bump911 | 08/14/09
Alive at what scale or in what context?  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 08/14/09
That is a terrible comparison  User 13 | 08/14/09
Re: Alive at what scale or in what context?  bump911 | 08/14/09
Home Built vs. Box Purchase  radar696@... | 08/14/09
Cars and computers - both popular hobbies...  randysmith@... | 08/14/09
Old Builders Never Die  truetejas | 08/14/09
Old Builders Never Die  geoffrey.seymour | 08/14/09
But what if the pc you built exceeds what you thought it would  Michael L Hereid Sr | 08/14/09
Old Builders Never Die  geoffrey.seymour | 08/15/09
NEWEGG, "once you know..."  MrSinatra | 08/14/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  rparker009 | 08/14/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  cjc82s | 08/14/09
You used the wrong store(s)  Drakaran | 08/14/09
Bad reviews of TigerDirect  babyboomer57 | 08/14/09
Yep, still bad  Drakaran | 08/17/09
Agreed! TigerDirect is not as reliable as Newegg  kyn_67@... | 08/18/09
I still like Tiger, but not for system building..  JCitizen | 10/08/09
A need to create  jeff996@... | 08/14/09
Tigerdirect SUCKS P-E-R-I-O-D !  Gradius2 | 08/14/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  maxsonmb@... | 08/15/09
cellphone/PDA homebrewing?  in situ | 08/15/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  fletchoid | 08/16/09
Newegg...  Narg | 08/17/09
AMEN!  jhimes | 08/18/09
Sorry Jason ... but No ... not this one.  p_msac@... | 08/17/09
I had plenty of frustration with my first system this summer, BUT...  Jeff Hayes | 08/17/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  scarney@... | 08/17/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  PizzaManWill | 08/17/09
Nope  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 08/17/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  wirloe | 08/17/09
Why would anyone buy a stock system  StanMM | 08/17/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  Secret52@... | 08/18/09
You had the most important and expensive pieces: the CPU's !!!  EE-Rob | 08/18/09
WOW!!!  nbahn | 08/18/09
Skill set  robert.lazor | 08/27/09
RE: Der Frankenputer: A Last Hurrah at System Building  smith@... | 08/18/09
Assembled PCs: Macdonald VS Home Made!  p_msac@... | 08/20/09
I gotta admit, in the old days..  JCitizen | 10/08/09
Good article Jason; I've long suspected...  JCitizen | 10/08/09

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