Depending on your interests and finding my other computer posts you may not be aware that I purchased my latest computer just a couple years ago. My first one was a Commodore 64 setup that lasted 7 or 8 years, then I moved on to a myriad of used and hand-me-down MS-DOS and Windows computers over the next 30 years that included some Gateways and HPs and Dells, and then I splurged for a very good Dell XPS system in 2009 which lasted until 2023. All told that's about 40 years of computers—some bad, some good, and some very good. I never expected that one to last so long but that was the main reason I splurged. That computer still lives on in donor parts my son used to put another old system together for the girls. I ended up purchasing an Alienware R12 system which I consider 0the best one yet. But in all those years I was not so much concerned with all the parts that went into a system, just that the computer worked. When memory sticks failed I replaced them. When the hard drives crashed I replaced them. When a power supply gave up the ghost I replaced it. If a lightning strike took out a modem card I had spares. And when a graphics card got slow I upgraded to a faster one. It was fairly simple back in the day to carry out all these tasks yourself. Just that simple knowledge kept me in demand among friends and family. As you can see below the computer of the 1990's was a beige box with little character.
Gateway Computer System
Over the years since we've seen a lot of changes to the personal computer. They were used in all sorts of business ventures, in office productivity, in bitcoin mining, in YouTube streaming, and in gaming to name a few. Gaming has pushed the need for ever more powerful processors and faster graphics cards along with large high resolution monitors. In addition the use of lighting within the computer system seems to be a way for gamers to differentiate their machines from others, and every item of computer hardware can be found with lights. It's usually a love or hate reaction to such lighting but it highlights a more recent phenomenon where a segment of computer users have built their own systems in order to stand out from the crowd. No more plain boxes. The photo below gives you an idea of this lighting.
|Alienware R16 Computer System
But what if you don't have the inclination to buy all the pieces and build your own personal computer? Well, that's where all the system integrators come in. There are hundreds of companies out there that are willing to build you a computer, from a very basic setup to a full-on custom build. For those who just want a computer to work for them without upgrading it, this can be a fine solution. These system integrators put together a computer from all the standard off-the-shelf parts that are available from computer parts companies. Often they take a more careful look at what parts to used to fulfill a specific purpose and these may cost a bit more in labor charges as a result. The custom builders provide the option to use specific parts for those users who are looking for specific features and aesthetics. Usually those choices are limited to what works best together as they don't want to build you a computer that might self-destruct because you did not choose well. But it allows the most variation to those who know what they want. This level also costs the most.
At the other end of the spectrum are the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) who make a lot of the various parts themselves in order to push their own brand. Dell and Alienware, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo, and Apple are examples of companies that design and build a complete computer without asking for your input. Do you want a Dell computer? You'll have to contend with their own brand of power supply which is just off-sized enough that you'll either have to pony up the higher cost of theirs for a replacement or hope that you can modify the case to squeeze in an off-the-shelf part. Want to upgrade memory? If you want more RAM memory on an Alienware you'll need to pay their inflated costs as they use their own specs that don't play nice with the standard memory parts. Want to replace a motherboard as an upgrade? Some OEM motherboards are so different and wildly shaped that you can just forget about that. OEMs have a vested interested in keeping you as a customer so that you will purchase another from them when you are looking for another computer and they don't expect that you're the kind of customer who wants to mess with their computer. Is there anything inherently wrong with that? Not necessarily. I bought Dell computers for decades because they just worked well. I had not even been aware that building a computer yourself was an option. But I see now that you have far more choices when going to a System Integrator.
It was only a year ago that I discovered all the computer YouTube folks who were sharing their knowledge and expertise with all the rest of us. (And no, I wasn't interested in YouTube at all before them as I hate all the ads, and I usually don't finish a video because I won't watch the ads, and I refuse to pay a king's ransom just to NOT watch their stupid ads. Glad I got that off my chest.) Turns out there is a right way to put a computer together and a wrong way, which was quite interesting to me. You don't just pick out any old power supply, you need to make sure you have the correct wattage for the build. The CPU and GPU need to be properly matched. You need good airflow in the case, not just a cool look. You have to provide extra cooling for powerful parts. The options are overwhelming, but I learned a lot about what makes a great computer. However, I really don't have the desire to fully assemble a computer and figure out all the settings after seeing all the decisions that go into it. Newbies have been know to burn up parts if they were wrongly assembled so I don't think it's worth the risk. Besides, I already had the new Alienware. In fact I bought my R12 during the Bitcoin mining boom when graphics card prices went through the roof, but the clearance price at which I bought the Alienware did not include the crazy markup. I heard of gamers who bought an entire system just to get hold of a graphics card. Those were crazy times. But I did have fun putting a list of parts together in order to see how much could be saved doing it yourself. Spoiler alert, not so much anymore. In fact, in true Andreasen style, I have found that one could find these SI pre-builts for less money than putting one together.
I would have to say there are a few caveats to making that happen. You need to be open to what is available even if it's not your "perfect" computer. Many of you have found, like I have, that you can pay less on a car if you just look for one they're wishing to unload. My son is finding out in that he cannot find the exact computer he is looking for, that also comes with a great price. He's going to need to change his expectations if he wants to save money. You also might find a computer at a good deal but with less memory than you wanted or things like that. Since these pre-builts use standard parts you can get what you need easily enough. Even Dell is getting better at their use of parts and their engineering choices to better reflect what gamers want. So it was with keen sense of bargain hunting that I aimed to find out the lowest price for a high end system I had in mind. Because David Andreasen. Note that these prices and deals are valid of today, June 22, 2024. Your future mileage may vary.
PCPartPicker List, A Handy Tool
The list above is a computer with a high-end processor and the most powerful consumer grade graphics card. For the processor I chose the 14900K which has the capability of overclocking, meaning it can be pushed higher than standard speeds. The graphics card is the Nvidia RTX 4090 which is the fastest at the moment, though new models are coming out in the next year. The motherboard is a special Z-series that can handle the overclocking duties. The cooler, memory, storage drive, tower case, and power supply were about the cheapest ones listed. I used PCPartPicker.com to handle this task as it pulls all the parts available and puts them in one place and you can choose what you want. These prices are the near minimum you can spend for this build. If I were building one I would probably take some liberties that cost a bit more, but in general a computer based on the 14900K CPPU and RTX 4090 GPU should cost you about $3,000 in parts. (You may be able to save some money if you can reuse parts from a previous computer, and that's a big if.) You would then have the unenviable (in my opinion) job of assembling the above parts. And if you did the job correctly you would have one of the fastest computers available for gaming. I say one of the fastest because there are all kinds of computer tinkerers that are trying to boost their build to be the fastest on the internet speed lists. Keep that $3000 number in mind.
Alienware R16 at regular priceAbove is the present price for the Alienware R16 Gaming Desktop on the Dell website (Alienware was bought out by Dell some years ago). It has all the specs as that of the DIY list. You will see that it is listed at $3,700 in round numbers which is $700 more than going the DIY route. Whatever the exact dollar difference might be, that extra cost is what you pay for Dell building you their proprietary gaming machine. It will be built well and probably last you for years. Now, what do we have below this paragraph? It is the same R16 Alienware but with a Pro version of Windows, 64GB of memory instead of 32GB, and a 4TB storage drive instead of 2TB. If you wanted to add those upgrades to the $3,700 build above you would find Dell would charge you an extra $1,000 for the privilege because Dell inflates those memory prices. Yes, that crossed out price of $4,695 is the regular price for this build. But, in true Dell fashion, their computers go on sale now and then so right now this one is on sale for the same price as the one with the lower specs. A better deal at least, but the difference in price with standard parts would only be about $350 more than the DIY list, making that deal below valued at $3,350 after the price adjustment. Of course, you can't ask Dell to change that price for you so you're stuck paying the extra $700 but you'll get more memory and storage (it's actually not a bad deal). But you could look at this conundrum by deciding that you are getting that DIY parts list built by Dell for $3,350 with the extra $350 going toward the extra memory and storage. Better, but not great, unless you really want more memory and storage.
However, about a month ago this exact model shown above, which closely mimics our DIY build, was on sale for $3,200 which would mean the premium for them to build it was about $200. So, in that sale price example, it would seem that system will cost you about $200 to have Dell build it provided you have been watching the Dell site for months (like I did) to see what deals there might show up. Of course, I'm sure Dell pays less than $3,000 for their parts since they make them in-house but unless you start your own company you'll have to contend with retail prices. So, that makes $3,700 for the standard parts list or the same price with extra memory and storage and Pro Windows, or catch the deal for the standard build for $3,200 from Dell. All three of these options showed up over the space of one month.
Alienware R16 with a special price
Before I move on to the other side of $3,000 I'd like you to see this one below, the in-house ABS (Advanced Battlestations) brand of Newegg.com where they take their vast inventory of parts and build computers for sale at all price points. Because they make so many they are able to better close the gap between DIY and Pre-Built (custom builds for this one run from $4,000-$5,000). The specs are the same as the DIY part list for this ABS Kaze Aqua system with one exception, and that is this ABS version comes with a 13900K processor instead of the 14900K processor and the number of fans and the better airflow through the case, plus the lighting. The difference in price between the two processors is about $75 which is made up by the better case, fans, and airflow of the ABS system. Call it a tie. This one is priced at $3,100 which means only $100 for having them build you one and I would probably take this one over the R16 if I had the choice. This one has far better airflow, and cooling for the processor. Spending the extra $100 over the DIY parts list would definitely be worth having it built properly. And I do happen to like all the RGB lighting and the exposed parts.
The ABS Kaze Aqua Pre-Built
But, I'm an Andreasen and we don't stop looking for a better deal. I ran across this next one (below) last week and it is still selling for $2,700 on Newegg. Below is a screen shot of the ABS Vortex-X on the website which describes this as a "High Performance Gaming PC." I would normally have considered that simple hyperbole but it turns out they were correct. ABS is one of the few companies that lists the exact parts in the description so you know exactly what you're going to get. If you put all those parts into PCPartPicker you end up with at least a cost of $3,350 to build it yourself. There are differences from the parts list. This ABS Vortex-X below had the 13900K processor which is worth $75 less than the 14900K but has the extra fans and cooling to even up the score. And did I mention those two processors are virtually the exact same thing except for a teeny tiny boost is speed? The motherboard is a high end model that costs double the plain one and sports four extra M.2 slots. The power supply is a 1200W Thermaltake GP3 instead of a 1000W unit in all the others so far. That allows for a little more power head room. PCPartPicker estimates that this list of parts will draw a maximum of 850W so the 1000W should work alright, but I would rather have some extra breathing room. And might I interject that this Thermaltake power supply is at the highest level of A (out of A thru F) on the PSU Tier List which rates the quality of power supplies (I put in a link to the PSU Tier List if you'd like to check out where yours stands). You can't buy one rated any higher. Where do the previous mentioned power supplies rank? The ones actually on the list are on the C-Tier while the others are probably there as well but have not been tested. Builders have a vested interest in ensuring a stable power supply. There is another difference you may have noticed and that is this one is "refreshed" meaning it is a refurbished model. You have time to return it if you get a bad one but I have had a good track record with refurbished items so I would take the chance on this deal. With this build you are saving $300 from the parts list, getting an extra $350 of value in better parts, and having it built for you as a bonus.
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I'll bet you thought I was done, didn't you? There is one more computer I'd like to show you and it's also from Alienware, the prior year R15 model. This design is over a year old but it is an updated look from the one I purchased, the R12. About a month ago there was a big sale and several of these models were listed as clearance items, and one by one they disappeared until the most expensive model was left. This one was offered with an AMD Ryzen 7950X processor instead of the Intel 14900KF and the 7950X costs about $50 less but is better for productivity work. The AMD 7950X and the Intel 14900K represent the top specs of processors. (Okay, for those of you who will squawk that the 14900KS is faster, that is true. However, a 1% or 2% increase would not even be noticeable.) So if you add that $50 processor difference into the $2,750 price to level the playing field, the comparable value compared to our DIY list would be $2,800. Or, put another way, the DIY parts list would cost about $2,950 if it had the 7950X processor which also comes out to the same $200 difference. Buying this Alienware R15 would save you $200 from the parts list, with the bonus of being built for you. But in reality it cost you $250 less than the parts list because you were willing to accept the 7950X as another extraordinary and capable processor.
(Ignore that estimated tax amount, I had the location set on Louisiana)
But wait, there's more! Dell was trying to unload these fast so they had a 10% off coupon on computers with an AMD processor, which brought it down to an actual price of $2,475. And not for nothing, Dell was also offering a discount of $100 if you put it on your Dell Credit account (which I have used before) with 6 months no interest. Final price would have been $2,375 before tax. Buying this computer would save you $325 over the ABS Vortex-X and it would end up being $625 less than building a comparable system yourself. If I were in the market for this type of system it would be a hard call between this Alienware R15 and the ABS Vortex-X system. There are pros and cons with each one. Either would be phenomenal. But in the end, the least expensive high-end system I found comparable to the DIY parts list cost only $2,375 before taxes and would be an amazing system. While this one does not have the Intel 14900K processor of the DIY parts list, by the time you get to this low of a price on a computer like this you have already made the choice that the lesser cost processor is its equal. I could also add that this R15 model has a 1350W power supply so there's also more headroom for the high power parts. In the end an Andreasen would probably just call it a win and take this one home.
From the numbers above a computer listed at $4,050 had a discount of $1,575 with the extra coupon (39% off) or a discount of $1,675 if you used their financing (41% off). My system from two years ago had a regular price of $2,400 and a discount of $900, which resulted in a price of $1,500 or 38% off. You can see it is in the neighborhood of the first deal above since they didn't offer me the Dell financing. It also begs the question whether these list prices are inflated (I believe they are) but it seems that Dell is finally structuring their list prices to better reflect what computers really cost. There are many people who would never buy a Dell computer because they see it as priced too high, when in reality their clearance prices even beat the bargain pre-builts. It always pay to check around.
If you weren't aware of what bitcoin mining did to the price of some higher end graphics cards, you may be surprised to hear that you could not find an RTX 4090 at list price, nevermind less than list price. What COVID did to auto prices, the bitcoin mining craze did to the RTX 4090 to a spectacular degree while other models down the line were also affected. List price for the 4090 was set at $1599 when it launched in October 2022. However, that number rose to $2000 very quickly and then to $2500 at some retailers (and ebay scalpers even higher) so it cost a great deal of money for a regular gamer to build such a system. Of course, there were those few that had to have it at any price and paid the money, supply and demand and all that. My point in mentioning this is because the final system I priced out was the Alienware R15 at $2,375 which means you could have purchased a complete prebuilt computer system with the 4090 for less than the 4090 sold a year ago. And sadly the price for the 4090 still hovers around $1,699 at the moment so it has yet to be available at its list price. Such was my reasoning for using this system as an example of do-it-yourself versus pre-built.
So my conclusion is that you should still consider building your own computer system if you are mechanically inclined and are looking for a challenge, or you just want to build something special. But for the average person out there (that includes me) the ability to have someone else better qualified build your computer is compelling. Even a minimal surcharge would be worth it as you'd have a warranty to back the build up. But when you can beat the DIY price with a pre-built system it's hard to even consider building one yourself.
Later,
Arktander
(aka David Andreasen)
