It's Actually Cheaper To Buy Digital Storm's New Gaming PC Than To Build It Yourself - Forbes (link)

[Old Gregg]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2014/03/12/its-actually-cheaper-to-buy-digital-storms-new-gaming-pc-than-to-build-it-yourself/

 

 

 

In a sure sign that the world is ending — or that perhaps a boutique PC vendor is actually making use of economies of scale to benefit their customers —   Digital Storm’s newly released Vanquish II gaming rig is cheaper to outright buy off the shelf than it is to build yourself.

[AndyCapets]

Meh, you're still able to get something better by doing it yourself and putting other components in it, maybe for a little more, but yeah.

[TheNinjaNextDor]

I will keep that $20 and pride.

So many likes...

Thanks!

[zapsyou]

The reason most enthusiast build their own computer has nothing to do with saving money.

[Old Gregg]

I know. But it's still notable for people who don't want to assemble their own PCs. Probably nobody that goes to this forum is in that market, but it's a market nonetheless.

 

Here's the math on the "Ultimate" edition. Still holds up. ($20 more expensive but I didn't add the interior lights). http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=25255086

[rashdanml]

Well of course it's cheaper. Retailers (and perhaps large PC builders) don't buy parts at the recommended sales price, so they can set the price to any profit margin they want. 

[CtW]

Wow. That is actually really great for people who don't want to build their own system. I'm impressed!

[Rassilon]

Yes, but it is cheaper to just make a better build yourself.

Exempli Grata get a cheaper case.

[miyabwah]

I have no problem buying a pre-built, but I still would build my own.

[acidydragon]

The article also says "All done through Newegg", If you shop around it'll be cheaper.

 

They say "$739 Before Shipping"

 

Before shipping, I made it for $718.08, before 20 bucks of rebates, and then you lose 5.99 for shipping. (Totaling in the end at $704.07)

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/38T8o

 

This is a nice option though, for those who are won't make their own.

[XTankSlayerX]

I can see this being a thing for the new PC Gamer...

[Suika]

Price isn't the entire issue with most builders.

[TNA_LoL]

@digitalnav

[mr moose]

people who build their own pc's are the minority, always have been and probably always will,  Every now and then you will get pre-builts cheaper than DIY and into the future we will probably see more of it.  That's the way it has gone with many other tech hobbies.  

[TNA_LoL]

This is one example that a company either bought in bulk or is offloading backstock/overstocked items (ram/mobo/PSU's) to try and make back some money.  Or it's simply a sale trying to move one product?

[hawaiims]

Good deal I suppose, but it's not really surprising. Windows licenses are ridiculously expensive for custom pc builders while companies get them for 50$ or less. 

That's the biggest part that makes the build so expensive and why buying a pre built low end to mid range build is usually cheaper than building yourself.

 

Thanks microsoft for f*cking us over!

[hawaiims]

This is one example that a company either bought in bulk or is offloading backstock/overstocked items (ram/mobo/PSU's) to try and make back some money.  Or it's simply a sale trying to move one product?

it's mostly about cheaper windows licenses for these guys.

 

Of course they're getting the other hardware components for cheaper and should still be making a healthy profit, but I think the license has the largest difference in price percentage wise between buying it yourself and prebuilt companies who buy them in bulk.

 

Also I'm sure they're counting on people including upgrades when they purchase the computers. It's just like car manufacturers and whatnot. They make much higher profits of margins once you start adding in more RAM, a better CPU etc.. (with cars it's stuff like navigation, heated seats, leather trim etc..)

[Misanthrope]

Pure numbers never tell the full story: For example right of the bat I'd go with an AMD processor instead of the i3. Probably keep the price the same, squeeze out more performance at the expense of calculated risks like a bit hotter temps.

[LePawel]

Make 1 system configuration that breaks company even, and noobs will flock because it was on forbes...

ka ching 

[MagnetSh0CK]

"What I like about this system beyond the competitive pricing is that the 430W power supply leaves plenty of juice available to upgrade your graphics card down the road (provided it’s Nvidia). I’ve tested systems with the same power supply that pack a Titan or 780 Ti GPU without any issues."

^Did anyone find this odd in the article?

[Radioactive Ghoul]

People here are seriously arguing for a mere $20? after the service it's done and all the troubleshooting and time you don't have to do? wow...

 

I'm with my third build now and a maybe fourth one coming up this year, and even I'm considering paying for a pre-build, I don't have much time with these shifts at the hospital. Does that make me "noob"? haha

[deathjester]

Meh. Depends when you buy and where you buy and how big you are going.

 

Before and during black friday.

 

I7-4770k and motherboard 280 with tax combined. 

cx600m 55 bucks

Haf 912 49

memory was 55 if I remember right

GTX 770 openbox 279 with rebate Microcenter we will round it off to 300 with tax.

evo 212 was 30 bucks

Seagate 1tb was like 50 bucks (this price constantly on amazon).

100 bucks for win 8.1 (already had win 7).

 

So $919.00 for an I7 4770k OC build with a GTX 770 vs $750.00 for an I3 and a 750ti? Yeah it might be ok for a bottom build, but for 160ish more I will take a I7 with an aftermarket fan a better case, a better PSU and a GTX 770 over a 750TI all day.

 

The I3 might be great for gaming with low level coming to DirectX12 and OpenGL, but so would a 8320 (was 99 bucks at Microcenter last month), and all this is a while aways. If I am paying 750 bucks for something it better have an I5 in it or at least a GTX 760. I could have done that for nearly the same price last month. There are always GTX 760s for around 200 open box at my local microcenter and the I5/z87 MSI board was 220 combined.

 

Guess it depends where you live and if you can price match microcenter.

[MasterJV]

It can be cheaper since they buy in bulk and they receive discounts on Windows 8 keys, but the satisfaction you get when you spend a couple hours of building your own is worth it alone.

[digitalnav]

Thank you for the kind words. You guys have to keep in mind that you are not the target market as this forum is meant for those who are very tech savy.

[That Norwegian Guy]

This is probably just because they have a special deal with one or more vendors in that package to take the "undesirable" parts nobody bought for a slightly cheaper price. Like the CPU, bet Intel has whole warehouses full of just that one CPU.

 

This is horribly misconfigured also. 

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Lofty/saved/41Zl <--- Better, cheaper, smaller, no noticeable bottlenecks, twice the storage. Can even afford a monitor and peripherals on the remaining budget.

 

Also only 1x8GB DIMM as there are future games with 8GB minimum requirements and this allows expandability, besides, abiding to dual channel makes less than 2% difference.

 

"What I like about this system beyond the competitive pricing is that the 430W power supply leaves plenty of juice available to upgrade your graphics card down the road (provided it’s Nvidia). I’ve tested systems with the same power supply that pack a Titan or 780 Ti GPU without any issues."

^Did anyone find this odd in the article?

 

Nope, a 430W PSU is more than enough for single card configs these days almost irrespective of what GPU it is.