Compare my possible build with these prebuilt?

K

KevinG

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
348
So, I always build my own machines...but I'm having trouble justifying it against this time? Someone tell me where I've gone wrong in my thinking?

Here's where I started:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3zDGLJ

This was basically off the cuff. Not much thought involved. (also, prices will be somewhat lower since I have microcenter nearby)

But then I stumbled on this:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/497084/G460_Desktop_Computer

And there's also this: (open box, but still $2,069.96 is pretty hard to ignore versus my pcpartspicker build)

http://www.microcenter.com/product/496896/Titanium_GXH7B01l_Desktop_Computer?ob=1&rf=Search+Results


Sure, I'm giving up the case of my choice (which I haven't really chosen yet), and the power supply will be questionable and not fully modular...but these seem really hard to beat?
 
Price differential comes down to this:


  • Less RAM
  • Smaller SSD
  • OEM
  • Air cooling

Here's a similarly equipped PCPP rig. Comes in right about the same price as the MicroCenter rig.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zsHY9J

If the difference in drive size, initial lower amount of RAM, and lack of liquid cooling aren't huge obstacles for you, the Microcenter box looks like a decent deal.
 
Chas said:
Price differential comes down to this:


  • Less RAM
  • Smaller SSD
  • OEM
  • Air cooling

Here's a similarly equipped PCPP rig. Comes in right about the same price as the MicroCenter rig.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zsHY9J

If the difference in drive size, initial lower amount of RAM, and lack of liquid cooling aren't huge obstacles for you, the Microcenter box looks like a decent deal.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I forgot that I left the pcpartspicker list with 32gigs....probably overkill. No issue with 16gigs.

Yep, the first one has a 480 gb ssd which is the bare minimum I'd want, but the second one has a 500gb m.2 boot drive. That's livable (I have plenty of spare ssds around that will get stuffed in the box anyway)

The second rig, though not spelled out, appears to be water cooled (as seen in the photos).

Also, these boxes comes with mice/keyboards/windows pro license (none of which I need/want, but just adds to the inability to actually match the price?)
 
Ah, the second MicroCenter box.

Yes, yes it IS water-cooled. I'm not terribly worried about the PSU. Sure, it'll probably be some shitty, nameless brand.
Still, considering that the machine, at max, should pull down less than 500W, you've still got an excellent safety margin.
 
Pre-built warranty is different no ? I mean you won't have 7 years on the PSU ... maybe Im wrong ?
 
Chas said:
Ah, the second MicroCenter box.

Yes, yes it IS water-cooled. I'm not terribly worried about the PSU. Sure, it'll probably be some shitty, nameless brand.
Still, considering that the machine, at max, should pull down less than 500W, you've still got an excellent safety margin.
Click to expand...

The photo of the 2nd box seems to indicate that the power supply is a thermaltake smart series. One other thing I noticed from the photo (if it can be trusted) is that it is a single 16 gb dimm...no dual channel. Of course,. since it is open box, I can have a look at it in person to decide if I like what I see before buying it.

MMitch said:
Pre-built warranty is different no ? I mean you won't have 7 years on the PSU ... maybe Im wrong ?
Click to expand...

Yeah, hard to say...The system itself is fully returnable for 15 days, so I can at least run it hard for that long...in my experience, things rarely die over time...they just get replaced/upgraded.
 
Yes and no... things can die and warranties are important. That is the most important point to building it yourself... Here we only get 1y warranty on prebuilt while all my parts have 3,5 or 7 years... and yes I used some warranty on RAM and GPU so far...
Also, as pointed out above, pre-built use the worst PSU possible and do not put proper TIM or airflow...
EDIT:: RAM even gets lifetime warranty !
 
Last edited:
Chas said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve

As for single DIMM.

Well, you wanted 32GB anyhow right?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the curve jives with my experience...it's either dead on arrival or nearly so...and after that, it generally lives until you want to replace it anyway. Not too concerned with long warranties.

I guess I "wanted" 32GB only because that's what I have in my current rig, and I do run VMs, and do video editing, so it does come in handy...but I think with that build, I'd be morally forced to upgrade right away (to achieve dual channel), and I would have to factor that into the costs if I'm going to compare apples to apples. That's the only reason I brought it up.
 
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