Is it really cheaper to build your own machine rather than buy a premade thing?

Is it really cheaper to build your own machine rather than buy a premade thing?

I'm just confused because intuitively you'd assume big PC companies can buy parts in bulk, getting %s on the price tag hence lowering the cost of the finished product.

I've built my own machine before but i'm not sure if it's worth the hassle doing it again. Last time i had to send the CPU back because there was a version difference between the one i needed and the one i got that wasnt really obvious when i bought it, pissed me off

just get a laptop gayming is not worth it and if you were enterprise you wouldnt ask this

Are you being sarcastic? Please tell me you are

>there was a version difference between the one i needed and the one i got that wasnt really obvious when i bought it, pissed me off

Maybe you should have taken your medication that day.

In my experience it is cheaper. On the most part compared its are more focused on portable computers then desktops. You'll also find it will be easier to replace parts if you build your own.

>drops presumably several hundred dollars on a cpu before fully researching product
>gets salt
off yourself

Where's a stupid questions thread when you need one

no.
i actually checked the version but the change wasnt in the normal version number, it was some internal revision 2.0_2 bullshit that made it incompatible with my mobo. the only way i even found out that was the issue was through some old thread in a support forum, the rev thing didnt even show in the specs on amazon.

i was thinking about replacing parts rather than getting a new one but i'm not rly sure what the bottleneck is and if it's worth upgrading - assuming that another part will be outdated in a year or two

You get such a better experience for a better price. Prebuilts are expensive because they're already put together, ready to go. Customs are easier to maintain with easily replaceable parts and you can upgrade as you wish. I think that's worth the little hassle it is to put it together and find the parts.

If you're expecting to play games on it and continue to play games on it as they come out, yeah its def cheaper to build your own.

If you're buying a desktop, the only good value prebuilts are the really cheap ones, and I'd only get one of those if you just "need a computer" for "computing"

I couldn't build a $200 USD desktop computer that gets anywhere near the performance of a prebuilt $200 desktop computer

at ~$500 or greater and you start getting better price/performance by building your own

I think the real savings come into play the next time you upgrade, most people stop using the entire old computer if it was a prebuilt, but if you assemble it yourself you know that you might as well salvage the optical drives and HDD's, maybe some other parts as well

Advantages of custom-built:
1) You can get virtually everything you want.
2) You have the satisfaction of successfully completing what most plebs would consider a daunting project.
3) They're easier to work on if you know cable management.
4) There's more support for expansion and standard parts (some pre-builts nowadays STILL use non-standard components.)
5) You don't have to deal with all the bloatware that comes pre-loaded on all pre-builts.

They might not always be cheaper, but you can always save money by using used/refurbished components, or by taking parts from your old computer and transferring them to the new one.

I would definitely advise building your own.

>tfw ONE OFF

No, it's much cheaper to buy off-lease hardware. I've always bought surplus decomissioned dell hardware from a big e-cycling company downtown. Pay $100 and you get enterprise-grade hardware from 4 years ago, which is still better quality than consumer grade from today, and all you have to do is furnish an ssd.

Pic related is what I got a year ago. Runs like a champ and I couldn't build a comparable machine today for twice or more what I paid.

>Internal revision
Umm...what CPU?

What does Cred Forums think of my new build? I'm using the PCPartPicker from the Wiki, just wanted a sanity check and some advice. It'll be a high-intensity gaming-build that will be as future proof as reasonably possible (~5yrs).

>Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz
>MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
>Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866
>Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
>MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card
>Apevia X-Trooper (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case (pic related)
>Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer

Obviously I'll need a CPU cooler but I know next to nothing about the types and what is good or not. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Has anyone got that monitor size/distance comparison chart for the optimal distances; I want to know the best size for a 4K monitor for a desktop rig
>inb4 opinion war

that case looks ugly as shit

This. I bought a xeon 3ghz workstation with a 2gb Nvidia card for $90 on ebay. Works out of the box with Linux. I dropped in a $50 ssd and it flies cool and quiet after a cleaning of the case.

I use it to dev and light audio as well as photo editing and it's better than the new imacs in my college library.

>no SSD
If you're spending that much you're dumb to not include one
>optical drive
It's 2016. If you really want to watch blurays, maybe, but you clearly don't.
>CPU cooler
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, or Noctua NH-D15 if you're overclocking
>that case
Ugly as fuck. Also everyone knows red LEDs make you overheat.
>i7-4790K
Why? If you're gonna waste money attempting to future proof, you should be getting a 6700k

Anyways, there's threads dedicated to this kind of thing. Go there.

I recommend getting the Corsair 750D as a case, can hold that big ass card and your Corsair +600W PSU

>there was a version difference between the one i needed and the one i got that wasnt really obvious when i bought it, pissed me off

god damn it OP.

www.pcpartpicker.com

look there for part compatibility. it allows you to pick ALL the parts for your PC and tells you if theyre compatible or not. it even shortlists available compatible parts so you dont have to do much searching. use this tool OP.