Should you Buy or Build your PC – BWOne.com
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The great debate has always been should you buy or build your own PC? Its always been known to be cheaper to build your own PC but with hardware cost lowering is that still the case today? Lets start off by taking a look inside my own custom PC.
Buy or build is a debate that has been going on forever and in most cases with the tech community building is always going to be better than buying. I would be one that agrees fully but there is also a case that can be made for buying a PC.
Personally I’ll always build my own PC as I have fun and very passionate about doing so. I never had store built desktop before and my first machine was one that I went to a local expo and bought all the parts there. The knowledge that you gain from building it yourself is invaluable and knowledge that everyone should have and at the very least the basics. There is definitely time and energy that goes into it but in the end of the day the satisfaction of building if yourself is worth it.
As far as a cost factor is concerned that’s where buy or build can get a little grey. PC hardware has dropped much lower in prices these days and store bough machines are coming built with much better hardware than in the past. The advantage where you save with cost comes with building a high performance machine. Building one instead of buying from high end companies such as Falcon Northwest or Alienware you should see the savings there. But if you are building for an average users a store bought one may be better in that scenarios. You also have to remember that you have to gauge the level of technical knowledge the person you are getting a PC for. If they have a decent amount of knowledge, patient and looking to spend a decent amount of money then a custom PC would be the way to go but if they are the opposite you may want to consider that store built PC due to the warranties attached and a way for them to get support in the event you are not available.
You can go back and forth with buy or build. Personally I will always build a PC but there are come scenarios where the store built pc is the better idea.
My Core Desktop Components
Intel Core i7 920
Asus P6T Motherboard
OCZ Gold 12GB PC 12800 Ram
Corsair H50 Hydro Cooler
EVGA GeForce GTS 450 1GB DDR3
Intel X25-M 80GB Solid State Drive
3 Western Digital 1TB RE Black SATA 3.0 GBs HDD
1 Western Digital 1TB RE Black SATA 6.0 GBs HDD
Corsair 800d Case
Corsiar HX 750W Power Supply
Asus QT DVD Burner
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
Duration : 0:13:56
Comments
Comment from pantscrapper12
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
I agree that, when …
I agree that, when it does come to Falcon Northwest computers versus building, it probably is cheaper. But they sure are purdy 
Comment from shmuck50
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@bwonedotcom a guy …
@bwonedotcom a guy wrote that he saved his credit card details in his “memory”….nvm
Comment from bwonedotcom
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@shmuck50 Not sure …
@shmuck50 Not sure what you are referring to here?
Comment from shmuck50
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@bwonedotcom well …
@bwonedotcom well think logically. it would obviously be in the hard drive coz u cant save anything on ur ram. just saying. not trying to u off or anything
Comment from xXJeeXTeeXAyeXmanXx
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
argh damn. ive got …
argh damn. ive got all the stuff i need to make a pc shell at the moment, and id do it now! but its 2:14 AM!
Comment from kohahh
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
Oh yes, i forgot to …
Oh yes, i forgot to say, that in my country it’s better to build your own PC. Otherwise you spend the same amount of money for lesser hardware. Another user before me mentioned this. The quality brands cost even more for the same parts used, or for a less performing system.
Comment from kohahh
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
Hey your PC is too …
Hey your PC is too clean man!! Get some dust in there! lol
Anyway, great build and i like the case. Pretty clean design with a lot of space inside.
“Putting lower power supplies in high performance machines is asking for issues.” So true!
TOTOsupra obviously has no idea how important is the PSU.
Comment from About14Pandas
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
isn’t the GTS 450 …
isn’t the GTS 450 GDDR5? not DDR3 (in the desc.)
Comment from MN12BIRD
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
Nice PC BTW. You …
Nice PC BTW. You nailed the buy vs build pros and cons on the head.
Comment from MN12BIRD
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
When you run a …
When you run a single card in the white PCi-e slot does it run at full x16 lanes? I know if you have three cards in there the white slot only runs at x4 lanes.
Comment from MN12BIRD
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@bwonedotcom Plus …
@bwonedotcom Plus TX and HX series are all Japanese caps inside and have a 5 year warranty. CX series are not and only have a 3 year warranty. I’ll take a TX series for the warranty. Plus as you said you bought bigger for future upgrades. Plus modular is nice if you don’t need to use too many cables.
Comment from Grandburger
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
4 Tera bytes xD you …
4 Tera bytes xD you must listen, and watch loads of movies. That or your an intense gamer.
Comment from visionimagify
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
I’ve built my …
I’ve built my computer in 2006. Wish I had enough money to build another one, 
!!
Comment from StaticMP
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
i buy coz idk how …
i buy coz idk how to build it xD
Comment from bwonedotcom
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@TOTOsupra The …
@TOTOsupra The CX400W is not modular and is louder that my current power supply. Putting lower power supplies in high performance machines is asking for issues.
Comment from TOTOsupra
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@bwonedotcom The …
@bwonedotcom The CX400W is very stable and it’s eenough for your configuration.
If it’s for the future, i agree with your Choice.
Comment from acreaperr
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
Learned so much new …
Learned so much new things i didnt know bout pcs def will build my own pc thanks alot
Comment from Evilnils
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
I also got some new …
I also got some new comp, now I connected all, cabling done simple as that, now when I pressed the magic button nothing happend, my motherboard doesnt get any power as my fans dont start turning , my psu still works cus I tested it with the paperclip, now this seems just logical that the motherboard is broke right?
why get a better gpu anywya, I mean its fine enough atm – and they keep making new ones anyway, so the top top ones atm will drop in price sooner or later 
Comment from bwonedotcom
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@TOTOsupra When …
@TOTOsupra When purchasing a power supply you should always look into expansion for future. I might decide to add more powerful components to my system. Also the last thing you want is a power supply to be the reason for instability because it doesn’t have enough power.
Comment from TOTOsupra
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
750W.
LOL. What …
750W.
LOL. What For ?
The Corsair CX400W can power this PC.
Comment from CABdosdos
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
hey dude….your …
hey dude….your comp is smexxy for what you use it for…..are the noctua fans really worth their price???
Comment from conyo985
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
I say build it. If …
I say build it. If you live in my country this case applies. Prebuilt systems here have bad parts. Like generic PSUs, non solid capacitor motherboards or flimsy cases. It costs the same building it yourself but with better quality parts.
Comment from jackhacker123
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
lol i bet my 6 core …
lol i bet my 6 core 3.9ghz amd would be the out of that intel sucks
Comment from bwonedotcom
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
@Sports564 Are you …
@Sports564 Are you talking about memory as in RAM or when you say memory do you really mean hard drive? If you are talking about hard drive you can take the hard drive out of the dead PC and formate it on another computer to eliminate the data. IF you want to be sure the data is off you can do what’s called a D.O.D wipe. (google search this).
IF you are talking about memory as in RAM. Ram on a PC is volatile so when the power is off all data is cleared from it so no worries there.
Comment from SuperSONYdude
Time: March 8, 2011, 9:43 pm
i bought an hp …
i bought an hp computer and upgraded it. 550w psu, amd phenom ii 945 @3.0GHz, and a gts 450 @900/1800/2130