Is it worth it to build your own Desktop PC in 2013? by 6IXSTRINGJACK

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Is it worth it to build your own Desktop PC in 2013?

POSTED BY: 6IXSTRINGJACK
UPDATED: Friday, November 29, 2013 22:48
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Friday, November 29, 2013 10:48 PM

I see this question asked quite frequently in the last year. I also see a lot of self-proclaimed experts that dismiss building your own PC as a legitimate way of getting the best bang for your buck.

On the surface, the argument seems to be valid. Laptops are cheaper than ever. Tablets and smartphones are eating away at the profits of laptops. How could your antique Desktop PC even be relevant anymore?

Honestly, I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I've actually built a PC from scratch. I'm planning on carrying over a Soundblaster Live card from a 2007 build to my new PC, but the truth might be that the on board-mobo sound is better than that card i had to pay for back when only the most expensive mobos came with on-board sound.

I'm not even going to give an opinion piece here. I'm just going to state the facts of the purchase I bought today. Black Friday deals, unfortunately, missed me completely except for the monitor which is $60 cheaper than Amazon if I bought it today. Other than that, I just bought at the "sweet spot" where you get the most bang for your buck in terms of functionality and upgradability. (which is something any one of you could do the other 364 days of the year with friends like me :))

THINGS I NEED:

MOBO: ASUS AM3+ USB 3.0 with 4x8 (32GB max ram), 6 SATA ports and all the "PCI" needs you'd have for at least the next 3 or so years.

CPU: AMD FX-4300 Vishera 3.8GHz (4.0GHz) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor. The last mobo/CPU combo I had was clocking well under 2GHz. It was also a single core and this is a quad-core CPU, meaning that not only can it handle a lot of different applications, but some of the top-echelon apps work faster and more efficiently with multiple cores at their disposal.

MEMORY: 16GB. 4GBx4. Originally, I was just going to buy two 8GB sticks, but after researching it, it's better if I buy four 4GB sticks that were tested together. When you're running a quad-core PC, it makes much more mileage out of 16 GB when each core has a memory module to work with.

Things I already have....

PSU: (Power Supply Unit). I still have a pricey one I bought back in my money days. It works fine. No need to replace it. I believe it cost about $130 back when I bought it. If I had to buy a new one today, I'd spend less than $40 on one. I'm quite confident that I have a few years left with this beast.

CASE: Truthfully, I could never afford this case today, and it will last me for the rest of my life

1st off, it's GIANT. It's PURE aluminum through-and-through, which means that not only will it not rust or otherwise degrade, but it's 1/3 the weight of a stainless steel enclosure. Every screw is machined specifically for this rig, and it has all the proper screw-holes for hard-drives and optical drives and any after-market parts. There is a tray that is easily removable so you can install the motherboard without reaching into the case. There are no rough edges that will slice your thumb open. It cost me $300 bucks back in the day. For MUCH better computer parts today I only spend $50 more than what that case cost me back in 2007.

HARD DRIVE: I have 4 of them in my old rig. I don't plan on changing any of them in the short term. HD space gets cheaper every year. For only 60 bucks or so I could buy one drive to compensate for the 4 drives I have currently, but because cash is an issue there's no need to do that now. The longer I wait to upgrade on this, the cheaper the tech gets....

I won't insult anybody who knows what I'm talking about with specs and prices. They already know I can make one hell of a PC with only $350 or less with a case and PSU and the hard drives I've got.

While I was at it though, I upgraded my monitor. Had a 21" 720 monitor that friends drooled over 7 years ago. I'm typing on that today.

The new monitor cost me damn near twice what the new rig cost, but it will be a 27" LG monitor with 1080 display.

After discounts are applied, I'd have a hard time believing that anybody could have a PC/laptop/smartphone with those specs.

Modern mobo with USB 3.0, and upgradability to 32MB DDR3 240 pin RAM.

16MB of 2133 RAM that is sold as a group that has been tested to be compatible with each other (anyone who has tried to cram different RAM in their MOBO over the years and is familar with the self-inflicted BSOD knows what I'm talking about).

A top-tier AMD FX CPU rated at nearly 4GHz......

1/2 of your parts are easily "recyclable" when you upgrade.

My "video card" will be the obvious bottle-neck in this build until I upgrade. (But it still works, compatibility-wise, no problem... and in the end with how high-end other components are, it barely has to work at all unless I do some uber-high-end-video-editing)

It was more important for the start of a new build to have a VERY competent MOBO and CPU first.

Meh... yep....

I made money by not spending money.

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