prebuilt parts vs build your own parts

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encity5

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Hey, generally im use to always thinking of building your own pc is a better bang for the buck and get better components.
Running around bestbuy though i came across some fairly nicely specced computers at a good price, prices that beat build your own. now i would figure that the parts used are obviously not as high quality as if you would build your own but for non OCing uses what makes one of these prebuilt systems far inferior to build your owns? for the price i cant beat it. as an example i was looking at this HP, HP - Media Center TV Desktop with Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 - m8430f
q6600, 4gb ram 750gb HD, decent to **** graphics card. but all for 1000, with vista keyboard mouse, wireless lan and other little stuff that youd prolly skip over building your own, tv tuner media card reader, the things that can qucikly raise the price, and are not completely useless.
as an entire package i look at the 950 price tag pretty darn good compared to building your own computer of the equivalent. What advtages are over of building your own PC? price wise. are these components in the HP so more inferior in quality? i would figure the q6600 runs just like any other q6600, the 4gb ram will run as intended for 4gb, minus any real ability to OC, etc etc
thoughts? because if i cant see a clear reason to build my own over a prebuilt one from bestbuy, i might as well take the one from best buy. Whcih is normally contradictting the way i think
 
1. you can't game with an 8500gt
2. you will get better quality motherboard with overclocking capabilities with a custom built
3. it doesn't specify 64-bit, therefore its most likely 32-bit and not able to use all 4gb of RAM,
4. overall, not that bad of a deal for a prebuilt, lots of minor accessories that add up its bang for the buck
 
usually if you have a set budget, and need a whole system and aren't a "high end user" which would be like wanting to game on max settings on the newest games on a 24" + monitor, and you also need a whole setup including os/monitor/peripherials.

if the above applies to you, then i would almost reccommend getting a prebuilt setup just because they usually give you a huge discount on a monitor, free keyboard/mouse, and a huge discount/free printer which is always handy.
 
what if you dont plan to game?, (more along the lines of image/video editing)
or if you dont plan to overclock (stated no overclocking in original post)
building your own would require you to buy the 64bit anyway, so in this scenario, you can buy the 64bit version if you really want anyways.
even without all the accessories the price still competes with a build your own, (of course if ones not to worried about overclocking) i guess im seeing how far does the quality of these components effect everything or anything other besides overclocking.
ps. i hope im not coming off as rude

[edit] read some customer reivews, it seems to be vista 64bit

usually if you have a set budget, and need a whole system and aren't a "high end user" which would be like wanting to game on max settings on the newest games on a 24" + monitor, and you also need a whole setup including os/monitor/peripherials.

if the above applies to you, then i would almost reccommend getting a prebuilt setup just because they usually give you a huge discount on a monitor, free keyboard/mouse, and a huge discount/free printer which is always handy.

mm, well i intend to think like a "high end user" but with a budget of just under a 1000, and in the price range it just seems a prebuilt one is making more sense. Im not really gaming with the PC, but do want a nice specced computer for video editing. which is why the graphics card isnt impacting my system choice. I know prebuilts limit your upgradability, but i would imagine that the gfx card probably can be replaced in most systems.
 
Its hard to admit but there are a lot of times a prebuilt would be better than custom. Especially if your on a tight budget and don't overclock (which would be a custom computer sin).
 
first off. just gotta say this. if doing your own build, you do not need 64 bit os. only if you have 4GB of ram. ok, that off the shoulder. the difference is this. I could actually build something like that using "value" parts, and easily slap a guarentee onto it, and market it out. value is getting much better these days, I will say that. the biggest advantage of building your own is you know what you are getting, and what the quality of parts is. I can build a pair of computers, one with value parts and one with renowned companies, and prolly shave off a grand with the value pc. if not a grand, it'd be a larger chunk. that's what they are doing. yes, the q6600 will still be a q6600. the only parts you know anything about are the graphics card *and as stated, not that great* the processor, and the keyboard and mouse. you know nothing about the quality of any of the other parts.

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors =220
Newegg.com - SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory -x2=70
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives =120
Newegg.com - CHAINTECH GSV85GT 512MB GeForce 8500GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards =58
Ultra Internal 3.5" Floppy Drive wMulti Card Reader Black ULT31799 at TigerDirect.com =30
ECS GF7100PVT-M Motherboard - v1.0, 45nm Support, GeForce 7100630i, Socket 775, MicroATX, Audio, Video, DVI, HDMI Support, PCI Express, Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0, Serial ATA, RAID at TigerDirect.com =45
Newegg.com - ENCORE ENLTV-FM TV Tuner & Capture Card w/FM PCI Interface - TV Tuners & Video Devices =17
Power Up Black Gamer ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, Audio Ports and 450-Watt ATX Power Supply TC3J-4040 P at TigerDirect.com =40
Lite-On DH-20A4P-04 SuperAllwrite OEM DVD Burner - 20x DVD±R Burn, 16x DVD±R Read, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x32x CD-RRW, PATA, Black at TigerDirect.com =25
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit DSP OEM DVD 66I-00715 at TigerDirect.com =110
Logitech Deluxe 250 Desktop Keyboard And Mouse Combo - Optical, PS2, Black 967973-0403 at TigerDirect.com =20
TOTAL MINUS SHIPPING AND TAXES= $755
 
Holy crap Cyber that's a good deal on the ram there, have you had any experience with it?

( well compared to us in the UK anyway, £30 would be cheap 2Gb of ram, which is $65)
 
I think cyber just proved that you could build your own for a better price. And with his build, you have room to upgrade (like add another 2gb ram if needed, better card...etc) His doesn't have a monitor, but i don't know if the pre-built does either (didn't look at it) so if you needed one you could add it in and still stay under $1000
 
the only advantage that prebuilts have is usually deals on monitors/printers, that and usually some kind of 60 day/1 year warrenty which is nice if you don't know all the in's and out's of a system.
 
I think cyber just proved that you could build your own for a better price. And with his build, you have room to upgrade (like add another 2gb ram if needed, better card...etc) His doesn't have a monitor, but i don't know if the pre-built does either (didn't look at it) so if you needed one you could add it in and still stay under $1000
If you plan on buying more RAM, you want the 64-bit Vista instead of the 32-bit he has listed...
32-bit Windows Vista won't be able to recognize all 4gigs of RAM...
Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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