Is it still possible today to custom build a PC cheaper than the likes of Dell or HP?

[Andaho]

Dell offer all this for £349 (including VAT and delivery)

AMD® Sempron™ Processor 3600+
Windows Vista® Home Basic - English
Dell™ 19" Silver Wide Flat Panel (SE198WFP) - UK/Irish
1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512]
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
Integrated nVidia® GeForce® 6150 LE graphics
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black
Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio
19-in-1 Media Card Reader
Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English
1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return

I'm asking this because my sister is asking me what she should get for a new basic PC, asking if I can build her one, or if she should get one from dell... what do you guys think?

I find it hard to believe that it's possible to custom build that system cheaper???

[TMD]

I think you would struggle to get that lot for that price if you did it yourself! That isn't a bad spec for the price...what does she want to use it for? Internet and word processing sort of things?

[jackvdbuk]

the problem with low budget is pc's is what your left with after you actually buy a monitor and OS, windows xp home = £60 (OEM) and a 19inch monitor? about £100? so that leaves about £180 for the whole pc

[Andaho]

I liked what this guy said his friend will use a PC for:

She'll use it for installing spyware, contracting viruses, running 5 different google style toolbars and writing crap on Facebook. Oh, and some coursework.

That's pretty much what my sister will use hers for, lol.

the problem with low budget is pc's is what your left with after you actually buy a monitor and OS, windows xp home = £60 (OEM) and a 19inch monitor? about £100? so that leaves about £180 for the whole pc

That's my point... a bargin!

She currently has some old peice of crap that I don't know the spec of (haven't seen it myself) but it's running Windows ME, so must be pretty old!

[Funkstar]

It's not really possible to build a budget PC for less money than the box shifters.

You can build better PCs than them though. You can also built less expensive systems at the high end for a comparable spec. But not once you get below about £600 or so.

[kalniel]

Well it's basically the same price as building it yourself (just spec'd up a similar system for £330 from scan - no works, but can use open office, and you should be able to cut that down as I had to go for an expensive monitor)..

But unless you have a desire for choosing your own components, there's nothing wrong with going with Dell or HP.

[Pob255]

You might be able to remove the monitor from that and save a bit, reason I mention this is also listed in the other thread you mentioned

Reason for no monitor is that they want £176 for there 19" tft (the basic one not the ultra sharp one)
A cheapo 19" tft will cost £110, and you can get a decent high quality LG 19" tft for £125 from Scan.

Also remember that you're going to have to spend a good hour removeing all the crap that comes pre-installed on a dell.

[staffsMike]

You won't get any better for that price but using scan/hexus free delivery you can get pretty close.
Pink keyboard and mouse if she's into it lol

Your Basket
QTY Price (ea) Ex VAT Total Inc VAT Remove
LN19006
Samsung SH-S203/BEBN 20x DVD±R, 16x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM inc. Nero £15.99 £18.79
AMD AM2 Sempron 3600 Manila Core, 2.0GHz, 256KB Cache, Retail £21.25 £24.97
1 LN14242 AMD AM2 Sempron 3600 Manila Core, 2.0GHz, 256KB Cache, Retail
LN11094
1Gb Corsair Value Select, DDR2 PC5300 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15 £17.53 £20.60
LN18052
160 Gb Western Digital WD1600AAJS Caviar SE, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9 ms £27.55 £32.37
LN18478
Asus V3-M2A690G AM2, AMD 690G, DDR2 800, PCI-E(x16), Onboard ATI X1250 VGA £66.79 £78.48
LN17662
19" Cibox SC-1905D, Black, Widescreen, 5 ms, DVI/VGA, 1440x900, 700:1, Speakers £96.99 £113.96
LN16381
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2b (Release 2) OEM - Single Pack £45.19 £53.10
LN17887
BCL LK860P Pink Rubber Coated Wired Keyboard, USB 1.1/2.0, 800dpi Optical Mouse Bundle £7.95 £9.34


Net Total £299.24
Carriage £11.37
V.A.T. £54.36
TOTAL £364.97

that monitor is actually on scans today only supersavers so it would be another £10 cheaper.

But if you up the budget by £40/£50 then you could have dual core and 2gb of RAM if you wanted it.

You could also get a seperate case/psu/mobo for the same money as the barebones i was just being lazy.

[kalniel]

LN19151
Asus TM982 Black MicroATX Case with 400w aPFC PSU £27.50 £32.31

LN14238
AMD AM2 Sempron 3000 Manila Core, 1.6GHz, 256KB Cache, Retail £16.49 £19.38

LN16636
Asrock AM2NF6G-VSTA, NF6100, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533 667 800, SATA II, SATA RAID, uATX £29.49 £34.65

2x LN7595
512MB Corsair Value Select, DDR2 PC4200 (533), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12 £8.42 £19.79

LN15713
Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-5170A 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, IDE, Black, OEM £14.10 £16.57

LN8042
Scan 3 in 1 Office Desk Manager 2 + Speakers Wired Keyboard, PS2, 400dpi Ball Mouse, Ivory £5.95 £6.99

LN18658
160 Gb Maxtor STM3160211AS DiamondMax 20, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 2MB Cache, 9 ms £25.24 £29.66

LN17169
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD) £44.24 £51.98

LN19539
17" Asus VB172T Black LCD, 1280x1024, 1400:1, 300 cd/m2, 5 ms, Speakers, VESA £98.39 £115.61
Net Total £278.24

Carriage £13.79

V.A.T. £51.11

TOTAL £343.14

[staffsMike]

*unzips and waves*

[Andaho]

everyone always says how not to go cheap on a PSU, but you've all forgotten that while specking up those... Dell's come with FSP PSUs.

doesn't look like you can even get close to beating the big suppliers when it comes to cheap bargin PCs

[usxhe190]

Some mag did an article of a self build PC vs a dell PC and the conclusion was that dell is not cheaper than self built..around the same actually. Self build is more configurable but dell is less of a hassle.

[joshwa]

Some mag did an article of a self build PC vs a dell PC and the conclusion was that dell is not cheaper than self built..around the same actually. Self build is more configurable but dell is less of a hassle.

Custom PC compared a £1000 self build PC to a £1000 Dell gaming PC. An interesting comparison but not the same as comparing a cheap self build with a cheap dell unfortunately. ebuyer.com have a heap of base units starting at £150 inc vat.

[usxhe190]

yep, sorry, i didn't mention about the level of pricing for the two systems...

[staffsMike]

Well you can use Kalneis mobo, get an fsp 350w (25w on scan) and a cheap case for the same price as I specced.

[Lucio]

To be honest, I don't think it's worth trying to beat the big boys in the budget market. They offer packages that are straight forward and let's not forget the time it takes to put a unit together. The only thing that annoys me is the "carriage" cost which infaltes things at the checkout stage.

That said, if you argue with them (as a corporate account anyway), you can get that reduced even further.