Is building your own PC still the way to go?

[tobben]

also prebuildt systems like dell and similar brandings tends to do horrible things to save money .. no cable management super tiny noisy crappy fans very unbalanced build etc etc

usually it seems better to buy a no branded pc from someone who simply buys the parts you want and puts them together 

[TheIceCreamMan]

yup your profile pic matches your comment superbly ... i can also say that prebuilts from big companies are more expensive ... reason being you won't see a high end asus motherboard in them neither would you see an 80+ gold power supply, also if it is an apu setup very rarely  you would get fast enough ram  

The dog never lies

[adi518]

Building your PC is the ONLY way to go IMO. :)

[Emkryan]

If you get a pre built computer from a larger company such as Dell they will tend to use sub par components such as the power supply and motherboard.

This

[_ASSASSIN_]

ASUS makes good pre-builts
but experience is what is gained through doing it yourself

[Nicktrance]

Even if the price for parts vs pre built is the same, there are several advantages which make me stick to building my own PCs.

[Rhotis]

I can generally get within 100 bucks building my own at any price level of a store bought computer.  That 100 bucks more I might pay though will net me a MUCH better computer at the price point. I just did a couple price points verses 2 dell computers

 

I did one against the Dell Inspiron 660 since thats their lower end machine.  I priced a kickin A10 6800K system that would smoke that i3 3220 Dell with onboard Intell HD graphics for 100 bucks more than the dell.  Drop down to a lower priced mobo and an A8 5500 and they were the same price still outperforming the Dell.  

 

I then priced against a Dell XPS 8700 that had a new haswell 4770 in it.  I priced a better system within a 60 USD price limit.  

 

THe big killer was windows as both my price specs included a copy of windows.  If you have a windows license you can legit use like I do (I have a few non functioning windows 7 boxes sitting around that I literally only have them for the windows license.  Dead systems given to me.  So if I have to put a box together I can just grab one of those licenses call it a motherboard replacement for a bad mobo and legit windows for no cost.  

[IronSoldier]

Building it yourself will always be better imo.

[vanwazltoff]

dell = cheap parts, cheap motherboard, cheap power supply, crap case, no enough airflow, a hot running machine, etc.

[Fenzee]

dell = cheap parts, cheap motherboard, cheap power supply, crap case, no enough airflow, a hot running machine, etc.

 

Totally agree, I had to fix my cousin's prebuilt hp computer. 

[S2000Gan]

Remember to check the Shipping of prebuilt systems!
When my roommate was looking at getting a new PC our options were either build it ourselves or maybe get the ibuypower revolt. 
I configured one and the price for the same specs and building a similar PC ourselves was about the same until the HUGE shipping price of a revolt.
He decided to just buy the parts and have me put it together for him.
 

And that's buying from a builder like ibuypower who uses mostly the same parts we would use to build our own custom systems.
When you buy from an OEM like Dell or HP they tend to use much lower quality parts.

In general, building it yourself is cheaper and you will get to control the quality of the parts put into your system.