Custom PC

Status
Not open for further replies.

Thread Starter

ApacheKid

Joined Jan 12, 2015
1,533
Like many here I often build rather than buy when I want a new PC, and I need a second PC now so started looking at components.

Well forget it, prices are sky high, delivery dates are sometimes months away and shipping is very silly.

This is not a time to build a non-trivial PC so I may just opt to buy one from one of the dreaded suppliers like HP, Lenovo or Dell.

Is anyone else facing this challenge?
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
I have always put mine together, and Always use Azus MOBO's, they are the best IMO.
If you want one in the interim, usually there are re-sellers that refurbish off lease units etc, for cheap.
Also check out Tiger Direct, they have refurbished deals often.
 
Last edited:

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,845
After building around half a dozen, I gave up because it wasn't worth the money to have the ability to cherry pick components and be on the bleeding edge. Now I'm inclined to buy refurbished computers
 

Thread Starter

ApacheKid

Joined Jan 12, 2015
1,533
My experience is that the higher spec, the greater the markup on these machine. I built a machine for about 4,500 dollars around ten years ago and that was pretty much cutting edge at that time, a pre-built machine with the same spec back then would have cost around 6,000 or so.

So if you're looking for a very high spec, perhaps high end gaming, I'd always build.

I got high end for every component, with 64 GB Ram and Intel I7 3960X and Asus Rampage IV Extreme mobo, the case was and is a stunner, very high end case (cost about 260.00).

But as the spec is reduced the markup falls and I guess at some point ready built is cheaper than home made.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
Back when PC clones first appeared there was a lot of home brew going on. The parts were pretty much standard as there was only 1 standard. It didn't take very long until the advent of Pentium and its wannabes changed that scene. Even the 286 and 386 had some issues that could confound the average builder and even the name brands occasionally had problems. IMHO so I decided to go with an engineered system instead of a mishmash of "compatible" parts along with a multiyear parts and support warranty. I have been pleased with the results and any monies spent on warranties were recouped before the warranty expired due to system issues that needed addressing. My son and his buddies wanted to go the cheap route and build their own and suffered from constant and unsolvable issues. Intel and AMD are still developing their processors and its adjunct chipsets. What used to be peripherals are being integrated into the motherboards making home brewing an even more daunting task with varying "standards". My latest computer, which I am very pleased with, is an Alien R5 i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz with 32.0 GB system memory and 1Tb SSD and 2Tb SATA hard drive. I am not using the built in graphics on the motherboard opting instead for a NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 Graphics card. Lots of memory overhead although the need for speed is always there. Nothing like having "Instant" gratification but I typically am running several applications at once and still have plenty of system memory overhead. The only thing I wish was better is the response time/speed! I am a firm believer in under the desk towers with large monitors and although I have a few tablets I do not like laptops...
 

bertus

Joined Apr 5, 2008
22,270
Hello,

I have bought a HP Z240 PC a couple of years ago.
This is the hardware infor from my operating system:
Operating System: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20210420
KDE Plasma Version: 5.21.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.81.0
Qt Version: 5.15.2
Kernel Version: 5.11.15-1-default
OS Type: 64-bit
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 8 × Intel® Xeon® CPU E3-1245 v5 @ 3.50GHz
Memory: 31.0 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa DRI Intel® HD Graphics P530

Bertus
 

Thread Starter

ApacheKid

Joined Jan 12, 2015
1,533
Back when PC clones first appeared there was a lot of home brew going on. The parts were pretty much standard as there was only 1 standard. It didn't take very long until the advent of Pentium and its wannabes changed that scene. Even the 286 and 386 had some issues that could confound the average builder and even the name brands occasionally had problems. IMHO so I decided to go with an engineered system instead of a mishmash of "compatible" parts along with a multiyear parts and support warranty. I have been pleased with the results and any monies spent on warranties were recouped before the warranty expired due to system issues that needed addressing. My son and his buddies wanted to go the cheap route and build their own and suffered from constant and unsolvable issues. Intel and AMD are still developing their processors and its adjunct chipsets. What used to be peripherals are being integrated into the motherboards making home brewing an even more daunting task with varying "standards". My latest computer, which I am very pleased with, is an Alien R5 i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz with 32.0 GB system memory and 1Tb SSD and 2Tb SATA hard drive. I am not using the built in graphics on the motherboard opting instead for a NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 Graphics card. Lots of memory overhead although the need for speed is always there. Nothing like having "Instant" gratification but I typically am running several applications at once and still have plenty of system memory overhead. The only thing I wish was better is the response time/speed! I am a firm believer in under the desk towers with large monitors and although I have a few tablets I do not like laptops...
That's a decent PC, similar CPU performance to the one I used, this site is great for getting relative performance data.

Just look at how these new AMD chips are blowing Intel out of the water (each of our CPUs rates about 8,500 as the performance measure).

1619375755311.png

Ten years ago AMD were an also ran, and made their money by offering cheaper prices in the lower spec CPU market, undercutting Intel on their lower spec devices where Intel didn't really care. Intel owned the market and set the prices as they saw fit, for the very high spec devices, not any more.

Look at that lonely Intel Xeon W-3275M rated at 39,478 (and that is the highest rated Intel CPU) and priced at 7,000 bucks!
 

xox

Joined Sep 8, 2017
838
Like many here I often build rather than buy when I want a new PC, and I need a second PC now so started looking at components.

Well forget it, prices are sky high, delivery dates are sometimes months away and shipping is very silly.

This is not a time to build a non-trivial PC so I may just opt to buy one from one of the dreaded suppliers like HP, Lenovo or Dell.

Is anyone else facing this challenge?

Well for one thing the lockdowns have lead to a rise in demand. There's also a global chip shortage going on right now which doesn't help things either.

Have you had a look at Rasperry Pi based systems?
 

Thread Starter

ApacheKid

Joined Jan 12, 2015
1,533
Well for one thing the lockdowns have lead to a rise in demand. There's also a global chip shortage going on right now which doesn't help things either.

Have you had a look at Rasperry Pi based systems?
That does look like a fun machine, not so much for a seasoned old crow like me but I can see huge appeal for anyone entering technology and not wanting to be tied down to PCs and Windows etc.

Its reminiscent of the mid 1970's when the electronics hobbyists first began to explore microprocessors, I have this issue of Byte somewhere, how I miss those days!

1619379316530.png
 
Last edited:

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
Have you had a look at Rasperry Pi based systems?
I have that on my long to do list. As a re-introduction to Unix/Linux with Debian. Not sure when I'll start as I've promised myself to finish a few other tasks first. I well remember the Jerry Sanders/AMD wars with Intel over the 386 and considered them second fiddle in the processor game. But then been out of the loop for quite a while keeping up with PC game. Prices are down comparatively in the PC market from the 80s and performance far beyond what we imagined. Gains in performance from advanced "super" processors still come at a costly premium to the consumer though. That said, it's a long ways from the "drop your keypunched card deck in the box and come back tomorrow to see if it ran" days on a computer that occupied the entire floor of a building.
 

xox

Joined Sep 8, 2017
838
I have that on my long to do list. As a re-introduction to Unix/Linux with Debian. Not sure when I'll start as I've promised myself to finish a few other tasks first. I well remember the Jerry Sanders/AMD wars with Intel over the 386 and considered them second fiddle in the processor game. But then been out of the loop for quite a while keeping up with PC game. Prices are down comparatively in the PC market from the 80s and performance far beyond what we imagined. Gains in performance from advanced "super" processors still come at a costly premium to the consumer though. That said, it's a long ways from the "drop your keypunched card deck in the box and come back tomorrow to see if it ran" days on a computer that occupied the entire floor of a building.
It's the same with any technology. $250 for a 48" television...or pay 10 times that for a 60" with just a few more bells and whistles. At least with computers as you say they've gone far and beyond what used to be possible. So unless you're a big gamer or something, "next best" is probably going to be good enough!

Now if you really do need high-end gear but just want to save some money, the "lightly used" market is the way to go. You could easily build a decent data center with a grand in your pocket using that approach.
 

xox

Joined Sep 8, 2017
838
I'm a big fan of "Used" as long as it has a warranty. Bought quite a bit from the Dell outlet Refurbished & Overstock Laptops, Desktops, Monitors: Dell Outlet | Dell USA over the years it's been there.
Well sure, that's even better. But I've bought lots of stuff over the years without a warranty. Just haven't had enough issues to justify it I guess. It is a nice perk though. Although you do have to be careful, I've heard of people getting burned by bad warranties too...
 

Deleted member 115935

Joined Dec 31, 1969
0
Like many here I often build rather than buy when I want a new PC, and I need a second PC now so started looking at components.

Well forget it, prices are sky high, delivery dates are sometimes months away and shipping is very silly.

This is not a time to build a non-trivial PC so I may just opt to buy one from one of the dreaded suppliers like HP, Lenovo or Dell.

Is anyone else facing this challenge?

To answer your question @ApacheKid,
at the current time, the market for parts has gone crazy.
I'm being quoted 90 weeks delivery fo some chip we need,
and other orders are being re written by the supplier 6 months after we ordered.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ortage-in-computer-chips-reaches-crisis-point

The reason is blamed on the automotive industry in particular, suddenly coming out of cv19 , and demand going through roof.
which is funny , as during the big lock downs list price of chips did not drop !


But anyway,

If you can, hold off for a year , and with the normal winds of the past, well be in glut of chips,
if you need a pc now, as mentioned, the big guys have purchasing clout, and can provide PC's or the refurbished market.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top