These days probably the single biggest benefit of a custom-built PC is getting a clean OS install without all the vendor garbage add-ins. An off-the-shelf PC probably has AOL & several other online programs preinstalled as well as three antivirus programs already running on it. On the other hand, i normally keep around a genuine Microsoft OEM Windows install disc so that if i do encounter a store-bought PC i can wipe the drive and install clean myself.

Still though, even today, getting a custom built machine can often let you use your money better. You can tell builder to put in a bigger hard drive and more RAM rather than spending a ton on a uselessly bloated video card.

On the other hand, a $400 computer off the shelf at WallyWorld runs major circles around a custom built $2000 computer from a couple years ago. So ... *shrug* ... which is worth more to you, spending the time and money to research a custom build, or just opening a box and getting to work?

I built mine a few years ago and it is still working flawlessly today. I chose all top shelf components and brands after thoroughly researching compatibility. I went into it with a PROCESS in mind, not only the end PRODUCT.

I'm not sure about financial savings, but the DIY route gave me (1) terrific personal satisfaction and (2) a real education on how everything worked. Point (2) has been indispensable in me being my own tech support.

Steve

I built my own for years, but lately I've found that there isn't that much cost savings. While I agree that it is very satisfying to build your own, time has become something that I have little to spare. One thing though, I STRONGLY agree with getting rid of the crap that some companies put on the machine. I usually format and install a fresh OS.
Honestly, I REALLY DO miss all the "tweaking" that used to be involved with setting up the config.sys and autoexec.bat, extended memory, expanded memory, digging out the most base memory I could get (sometimes I could get about 635 of the 650 available). Now THAT is satisfying.

I am an electrical engineer by training, and have been in the computer business for a long time, but I would never build my own computer.

Why?

Because I would only build one every few years and, as an engineer, I know that the prototype is always full of bugs. And, that's what you will be building: your first prototype of the new design.

I realize that building a PC from off-the-shelf parts is not rocket science, but I also know that you can (and will) spend many days figuring out some incompatibility or problem or, worse, will NOT find the problem right away because it has to do with inadequate cooling or something else that doesn't show up right away.

Also, you may be able to save money, but then again you may not. Remember that you will be buying each component at retail and so you may find out that the result is a little like trying to build a car by buying the individual parts on the open market. It's not quite the same, I realize, because the car parts are sold through a spare parts channel that has huge markups, whereas most PC parts are sold through a more efficient channel, but you'll still be paying retail for each part. So, you may save some money, or you may not.

The post about avoiding the crud that many brand-name manufacturers load onto their PCs is quite important: you DO want to avoid that.

So, here are my two suggestions:

1. Buy the computer from a reputable big-name dealer, but make sure you get it configured so it comes with a full Windows install disc. Then, simply install Windows when you get the computer. This is what you'll have to do with the computer you build yourself, so you shouldn't mind this step.

2. Buy the computer from a custom build shop. This is what I do. I bought my last two computers from Polywell (they're a small outfit near the San Francisco airport). I'll admit I did spend a lot of money on these computers than if I bought from Dell or HP (or from Tigerdirect) but one has run for seven years without a single problem. My two-year-old Polywell did lose its power supply about three months ago, and they shipped a new one within 24 hours on a hot swap, under warranty (three year parts). Other than that, I have had zero problems, and it is still the fastest thing (or close to it) in the neighborhood.

And, do you know how much time I had to take away from my real work in order to get this new computer?

Zero.

[edit] I just read Daryl's post (I don't know how I missed it). I guess I duplicated a lot of what he said (but, as usual, took twice as many words to say it), and I got a great chuckle about the satisfaction I used to be able to get by tweaking AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS. I still remember discovering the joys of disk caching when I first installed PCKWIK. Wow! I add a little software and the computer suddenly runs twice as fast!

Specs of my current home build all from New egg...Running smooth for close to 2yrs now

Thermaltake Spedo Advanced Full Tower case
MSI X58Pro Motherboard
Intel i7Core 920
12 Gig DDR3 OCZ
EVGA GTX 295 1792MB Video Card
3-1TB Hard Drives
2-LG Bluray Burners {With Lightscribe ability)
Auzentech 7.1 Prelude Soundcard
850Watt Power supply
2-24" Acer HDMI LCDs
All in one card reader
Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit

Since prices have come down you actuatly loose out a bit on building your own, but there is an upside.

The $$ you're loosing is for software. Stuff like Office, Outlook, etc. can be included when you buy an off-the-shelf model. Say you spend $1000 on an off the shelf. For $1000 you could build one with just Windows & the software that came with the components, however (and it's a big however imho), instead of buying ~$300 worth of software you're buying $300 worth of hardware. So you buy the off the shelf one for $1k with a 2-core, 4gb RAM & 320gb HD space, for a build your own you get a 8-core, 16gb RAM & three HD's.

The cost to upgrade a store bought machine to a decent editing machine should be factored in to the cost as well. I've built all my computers & every error has been something I've done. Plenty of people I know who buy off the shelf have issues too. Now, do you want to wait a week while it's in service or do you want to just overnight a new replacement part & be back and running the next day, it's up to you. Once you get all the parts it shouldn't take more then ~4 hours to go from parts on the table to fully running with windows/linux installed.

Don't forget... the big computer mfg's set the testing specs and thus get the cream of the crop on a run of boards. The rejects and the rest go to the parts and pieces market.

You can never be sure what you atre getting building your own.

I have always built my computers for a couple of reasons.

1) I like to do stuff like that
2) I know exactly what is in it
3) I can fix it myself, normally
4) I stay a generation behind in tech, so I can build it cheaper (i.e. a $200 video card last year might be $29 this year)
5) I have seen the inside of a Dell computer
6) If i was not building I would look at the HP Workstation line.

I don't use my video computer as a living, just a side hobby and a little extra money, so downtime is not as critical. With some factory computers, you do get tech support and warrantys.

Dave T2

Don't forget... the big computer mfg's set the testing specs and thus get the cream of the crop on a run of boards. The rejects and the rest go to the parts and pieces market.

With the amount of issues I've seen with Dell's & Sony's, I'd like to see your proof on that. Last I recall, the "big computer mfg's" just buy in bulk specific parts, nothing else. I doubt Alienware was paying tons of extra $$ for a "cream of the crop" motherboard & CPU when it's the same parts you can buy at newegg or bets buy.

I too gave up on Dell and the others. While my "home assembled" may cost a bit more, I am much happier with a Corsair power supply than the cheap ones (I think I still have a drive around here somewhere with the main controller chip exploded when a cheap supply took out EVERYTHING when it failed). I have seen too many issues with the "pre-assembled" ones. Definitely agree with doing a clean install of the OS instead of the "recovery disk" routine for the system with all the included "value added (or not)" stuff they put in there. I am also an electrical engineer by trade and prefer to build them myself. (my new one is an Asus X58 MB, I7-930 processor with extra cooling on it, Corsair 750W supply ( running well under the rating) in an Antec Sonata case (I love their shock mounted trays for the hard drives that load from the side). I hate cheap supplies and cheap disk drives (says he who just had a 500GB Seagate fail this week - being replaced with a WD Caviar Black - we'll see how that does).

mikey

My only off the shelf systems have been Laptops, and all 3 have been Dells, only one has failed me and that was after 4 years of trouble free service, and they replaced it at No Charge for one far superior...My current Dell i7Core studio laptop has never had a single issue....I have built 7 systems for my employer's business who was quite happy with the performance and money he saved.. and all have run without a single failure... I love to build PC's whenever I can...... others experience may vary.....

Caviar Black seems to be a very good drive. We bought a bunch in bulk at work and they've been 100% on install, no failures yet after nearly 2 years.

At home i'm using the greens because i don't need the performance (or the extra price). All six are still in perfect shape, some over a year old already.

I was concerned at first about the 5400 rpm speed of the greens, but in fact they go much faster than the 7200s that they replaced. Thinking it through, i realized that the data density is so much greater in these 500GB+ drives that even with a slower spindle speed they still pass more bits under the head each second than the 10K rpm 74GB raptors we've used. That, and they run a whole lot cooler. I can tell the difference even just walking by the computer how much less heat is radiating from the front panel.

I was all set to buy a new custom computer from one of the main outfits that configures for video editing, but at the last minute, I decided to buy a cheap Acer tower at Newegg for $800. That was close to a third of what I was planning on paying.

Now, the idea was that if the Acer wasn't up to snuff, I could always just use it as a new personal computer for the family room and go ahead and order the custom job.

Well, two years into it, I'm still editing just fine with the Acer. That's not to say it's the answer for everyone, but off the shelf systems can be quite capable.

I have always had a custom built computer since the 286 processors. Since I have been in business I have only paid for a complete "new" system 3 times and that was when I introduced each respected workstation.

I just today put in a new graphics card, addital ram and started running a Seagate Momentus XT drive as my system drive. Every 2 years I will put "x" dollars into a system to revitalize it in some fashion. So... in two years I'll drop money on a new motherboard and processor for less than $300 and in turn be running what will be a like new computer experience.

Unless its broken theres no reason to replace the DVD Burner, case, etc. For piece of mind I do swap out power supplies about every six years. I don't really have a reason accept for the personal satisfaction of be proactive. (IMO all PWS and HD will crash in due time.)

-Chad

I would never buy an off the shelf desk top over building my own, but I enjoy building them too. I have yet to see an off the shelf computer from a big name manufacturer have the storage set up I would want, not enough space or redundancy in them and the cases don't have the room / design to expand the way I would want to. The companies have good set ups for what is provided but they aren't built for expansion, but instead are built for planned obsolesence. Like Dach said, I save money by reusing many of may parts in the new build when I do it, including HDDs, Bluray burner, case, power supply, video card and RAID card. The only things I really need to buy would are processor, MB, RAM and a cooler for the CPU because I like to overclock mine some. The parts I would reuse if I built one today are probably $1000 to replace with new ones.

A custom built computer would be a better way to go if you have someone you can work with and you don't want to spend the time building one yourself.

Laptops are a different story, I haven't and wouldn't build a laptop, but I don't see them as high end speed / editting machines either.

Dan:

Are you building/buying a really high end machine or an average more commonly available machine?

If it were a middle of the road machine, I would buy it pre-built from the mfg du jour. Probably cheaper, and relatively hassle free. I bought and set up 4 off-the-shelf machines in the last calendar year, and generally they were pretty speedy for what they were.

For a high end machine, the only solution is to do it yourself. My reasoning is; 1. High end components will only be available from a custom house 2. The sheer cost of a high end machine when passed through a custom house may be too much to bear.

On the other hand, both of the local custom PC shops in my area do not charge for assembly labor. They only charge for parts & OS. So the cost of buying high end parts to do it yourself vs. the cost of having them assemble, test, & burn it in is identical. The other advantage of having them do the build is that if any of the parts are bad they toss & replace them on their dime & time. I never have to be bothered.

On the other hand, both of the local custom PC shops in my area do not charge for assembly labor. They only charge for parts & OS

That would be the way to go for sure as long as the markup costs were no more than $300 (say 10%) or so.