Windows

Top 5 Reasons To Buy A Custom Built Computer Over A Pre-Built Machine

Posted by on Oct 1, 2008 | 3 Comments

Hey Chris!

This is David Leonard, and I wanted to send you another top 5. This one is listing the top 5 reasons to buy custom over pre-built computers.

  1. It Costs Less – Yes, custom machines can cost less if you are shopping at the right places. You can usually go look up the specs of a machine, then find the parts at various stores and discover that it costs less. My favorite site to see the lowest price on a computer item is pricegrabber.com; it looks at some of the major retailers and compares their offerings on one page where you can sort by the lowest prices.
  2. The BIOS rocks – Usually on pre-built machines the BIOS is very limited, usually locking down overclocking capabilities and some diagnostic tools. A great example of this is when Compaq released a BIOS that did not allow a CD-ROM boot — this was later fixed in a BIOS update. Also, flashing any machine can go terribly wrong. I avoid it because on pre-built machines the BIOS is good enough, usually containing a Phoenix BIOS.
  3. More Options – When you first build a custom machine, you have a really big area to search and you usually get what you want from the products as long as they are compatible with each other. With pre-built machines, even on the manufacturers’ Web sites, you will find that you can be limited on choices.
  4. Easily Upgradable – When it comes around that we have ever faster and higher capacity products, it will be easier to upgrade a custom machine than a pre-built machine. Computer manufacturers are getting better with tool-less entry, but it is still far from having a custom case with lots of space.
  5. Start with a “Clean” OS – With pre-built machines, you will run into a lot of crapware programs that you do not need installed on the recovery CD and on the computer itself — so you have to uninstall them. With a custom machine, you can install a “clean” OS. Yes, you can put a “clean” OS copy on the machine, but you do not want to waste that OEM license, do you?

Thanks for taking the time to read my top 5!

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  • AG

    All of your points are well made but the truth is that when HP orders a container full of motherboards from a manufacturer they are going to get a better price than I can when I order the individual parts from Newegg.com, pricegrabber.com or pricewatch.com. These are all places that I use btw.
    Very few small computer stores build systems any more, they mostly depend on repairs for their income. The occasional system build is just gravy.

    AG

  • http://allzilla.com/ Mike Caudill

    It costs less? On my last machine, a comparable Dell was over $300 cheaper, though I much prefer the ones I build. I recently wrote a blog “Should I Build A Computer?” This blog is written for my former science students. I give some different reasons here: http://allzilla.com/?p=663

  • Greg

    I’d rather not purchased each component from a different source. For example, I have used pcusa.com in the past, and they are not bad. They give you a selection of parts and will build to your specs. Although, they don’t seem to have the same selection that I recall from the past. What other places do folks recommend?