"do it yourself" PCs

[WildCat]

Anyone else here that builds their own desktops from scratch?

 

[. . .]

Anyone else here that builds their own desktops from scratch?

I know how to do it and have replaced parts from computers numerous times and have done so since the early 2000s, but I've yet to order all the necessary parts to assemble a fully functional computer.

The next computer I get will likely be built from scratch. I'm not all that fond of pre-built PCs because they always include parts that you'd rather not be included with you computer. When building a computer from scratch you get all the parts you want and can set everything up the way you want it to be. Another great advantage is that you can overclock your system to get more juice out of it (most pre-built computers prevent you from being able to overclock your system since that lowers the life-expectancy of your system).

 

[juffur]

I build my own, with laptops being an exception. I keep all of mine in 4u rack mounted cases inside a 15u rack cabinet as well.

 

[King_Oni]

I build mine myself and have done so since 1996 or so.

There's a couple of brands which do a really, really good job in selling pre-made and pre-configured systems, but most of em are kinda lacking. It's poor hardware choices for really too much money. It's also a think if you prefer the novelty value of a new CPU or something, which is where you have to wait, and eventually get stuck with a subpar system which features hardware x or y but lacks other good stuff.

Besides that, buying parts is in most cases so much cheaper. The other upside might be, that I don't need to replace everything. Perhaps my memory is still sufficient, my videocard, my soundcard... some stuff rarely needs replacement. The case is one, dvd or blu-ray drive is another, but you are actually paying for that through a pre-built system.

If a company were to build me a system with my specs and get the parts for the best price I could find, I might go for "pre-built".. but it's not really pre-built I guess. And I guess the company wants to earn about it and those 50 bucks or so are easily saved by doing it myself.