Features - QOTW: Do you self-build or buy built?

[brasco]

Self built since '04, but will be looking at a tablet to get me more mobile when win8 is out. I just love the researching and building/testing to get the best value from whatever I choose.

cheers
brasc

[Greecean]

why no poll?

[Percy1983]

My first was prebuilt, but I was 14 and dad was paying, it was from tiny, 8.4gig drive and pentium 2 350mhz! I did add more ram, second hard drive and cd-writer in its time.

I later bought a used prebuilt hp system (pentium 4) and added a graphics card.

Then I finally built my own which is still going (kind of) there is no point where I started again but none of the original parts remain.

[Roobubba]

Fond memories of that rig? Cripes isn't that tech only a couple of years old?! In my day...

Just built myself a NAS 2 days ago, and I always self-build, that's the fun of it for me! Aside from thrashing these script kiddies at FPSs of course

[Badbonji]

I built my first computer after I got my first part-time job. I don't find pre-built nearly as exciting and custom built is more geared towards what you want/need.

[pwnerman]

I have to say I never built a PC before but just started looking into it (which eventually led me here and many wonderful websites), definitely see more merits building my own PC than buying them. So much room for customisation plus the experience will definitely help you 'troubleshoot' problems such as overheating etc. It's definitely a steep learning curve but I think it will be rewarding. Generally able to get parts cheaper than pre-built for what you get

I also checked out MaximumPC and have been using their guides (not quite sure if the budget champions in their best of the best section are actually 'budget' for the common man, definitely packs more power than what most people consider 'Budget')

[hiyayhi]

Usually always self build because I can get exactly what components I want and you get much greater satisfaction from building your own. Worth checking out pre-builts though just in case you can grab a bargain.

Yep this is me too.

[snootyjim]

Self built is the only and best option

Have to disagree with that really. I've built 5 machines myself, and came to the conclusion that it's not always the best choice.

When I was building the AM2 and LGA775 rigs I had an array of (very cheap) spare parts, so when the memory went wrong, I could try the spare set. If the motherboard went dodgy, I could try a different one and pinpoint the problem. Now that I've moved onto an i5 platform, do I really want to buy (at much higher prices) 2 motherboards, 2 sets of DDR3, 2 processors and so on just for testing purposes? And then I've got to cart them up and down the motorway when I go back and forth to university.

Don't get me wrong, I think building PCs is great and I would love to still be doing it, but the alternative does make a lot of sense.

My last machine was a custom 3XS build, so I picked what I wanted, told them and they built it for a fee. It took about 10 minutes to install, saving on me cutting myself and swearing a lot, I didn't have to think about keeping a spare set of components for testing, I knew for certain that all of the parts were going to work, and I knew that if it went wrong I could just ring a number and get it fixed.

Some people have never had any trouble with RMAs, but I've had a lot of them over the years. It almost killed my love of PCs, and that's why I'm going with prebuilt for the future.

[OilSheikh]

+1 for Self Build.
In fact, I can assemble a whole PC carefully and super quick in 30 mins.

snootyjim, do you OC? That must be causing you issues. I never OC and I have never had any CPU / RAM / MOBO issues.
Intel CPU's are truly amazing, I have yet to come across a faulty one and I have built hundreds of PCs. With recent mobos, they are more reliable because of all the Steel/Titanium MOFsets and what not. With RAM, again, never had any issues. But keeping a spare 512MB stick is good enough to get you through wile your ordered replacement turns up.
Keeping an el cheapo new PSU is also a good idea.
So, is keeping a spare whatever size SATA laptop HDD.
Graphics cards, well. unless you self-changed the cooler, you shouldnt have issues.

[Nuluvius]

I will always self build until I turn Senile and can no longer do the research/pick up any tools.

Seriously though my opinion is this:
You build it, you know it, its yours... it wouldn't feel right to buy a prebuilt system and you might even be admitting you no longer have the ability. Moreover it would be uncomfortable to have someone else's work sitting there as a testament to that possibility.

My wife is of the same mindset, we both thoroughly enjoy the whole process...

[martian_aphid]

why pay someone else to take away the fun of building your own PC!

[snootyjim]

+1 for Self Build.
In fact, I can assemble a whole PC carefully and super quick in 30 mins.

snootyjim, do you OC? That must be causing you issues. I never OC and I have never had any CPU / RAM / MOBO issues.
Intel CPU's are truly amazing, I have yet to come across a faulty one and I have built hundreds of PCs. With recent mobos, they are more reliable because of all the Steel/Titanium MOFsets and what not. With RAM, again, never had any issues. But keeping a spare 512MB stick is good enough to get you through wile your ordered replacement turns up.
Keeping an el cheapo new PSU is also a good idea.
So, is keeping a spare whatever size SATA laptop HDD.
Graphics cards, well. unless you self-changed the cooler, you shouldnt have issues.

No, I don't OC. I've had (off the top of my head), 1 dead PSU, 2 damaged CPUs (both Intel, one was brand new), 2 sets of bust RAM, 1 dodgy motherboard, 1 set of incompatible RAM and as always a few dodgy hard drives. One graphics card failed on me as well.

I spent 8 months I think without a desktop at one point, sending bits to and from Scan endlessly.

[zaph0d]

Other than my first 386sx-25 I've always self-built.
It might not be the cheapest to buy all the parts and build but then again, you tend not to change some parts from one build to the next.
I tend to do an 18 month system, put in cpu,mobo & memory with existing gfx, then 18 months ater when the gfx is getting old swap in a pair of the latest of that, new psu and maybe a couple hd's, then 18 months later new mobo, mem and cpu again. Then buy a cheap case and bundle the old stuf into it and sell it on as a reasonable machine and usualy get around 1/2 my money back from the 2 sets of upgrades.
My Cpu's in order (after 386) are 486DX33@50, Pentium 100@133, P133@200, k6-2 350@450, k6-2 500@650, athlon t-bird 1.4(no-oc), athlon 2200+ at 2.0, athlon64 3200(sock754), athlon64 3500(sock939), athlon64-x2 4200 @2.45, xeon3210 2.13@3.20, and currently i7-920@3.92.
all that takes me from 1990-2012.
The thing is, cpu's now are so overpowered that there's little point in upgrading them as much, I've had the 920 for 3 years now and it's still more than powerful enough with a HD6970 to play any game I can throw at it with max detail and have no issues whatsoever, I reckon it'll go another 18 months without upgrading no problems. I'll probaly even skip Ivy-B-EX when it rolls around.
Also I've just put in 24G of ddr3 ram to act as ramdrive for games as thats a hell of a lot faster then SSD and can be infinitely re-written without failure.

[taowu]

Self build. I love spending the time research parts and putting it all together. Oh and the awesome new smell lol

[pp05]

It definitely isn't the most economical especially in the budget space.

[ironleg1963]

my first computer was a hp back in 1997. I have built mine and family members ever since.best price and you choose what you want instead of a OEM company system that probably will not allow you to upgrade.