Many people say that building your own computer will give you the best bang of your buck. Is that really true? In this blog post I will be comparing a couple of intel based computer builds in comparison with Dell Australia’s current lineup. All the computer parts that I choose are based on my personal preferences and I will be using IJK online as a store choice. Please note that I’m not in any way affiliated with IJK or Dell.

Core i7 PC

Quad Core PC

Dual Core PC

As you can see that building your computer is indeed cheaper, but the price difference is not really that much. The extra price that you pay for the Dell machine is for better warranty policy and customer service. With Dell offering free upgrades every week, I think that the price difference has become negligible. For example, sometimes you can get a free upgrade to 23” LCD monitor. The price difference between a 21.5” monitor and a 23” monitor is about $125, which is the difference between the Dell Studio XPS with the Core i7 build.

One problem with building a system is that, there is a chance of incompatibilities between components. Does this memory module work for this motherboard? Does this PSU has enough power for the whole system? When you are getting a premade system you do not have to worry with those kind of questions. Getting a premade system means that it is guaranteed to work. You also get the convenience of plugging a couple of cables and your system is ready to use. No hassle of assembling your system and no skin cuts too.

Building your own system has its benefit too. You can mix and match any components and choose components of best quality. Building your own system means you will get better quality components. I’m not saying that Dell has a subpar quality, but most likely that the components you get from dell would be generic value oriented components (probably not the case for XPS pcs). For example, in Dell machine, You will not get RAMs with heat spreader, You will not get high speed HDDs (not on default configuration), and most likely you will not get good efficient PSU. With better hardware you can push your system further by overclocking it, and that is a big plus for building your PC. You can still overclock a Dell (on certain models), but doing that will probably void your warranty.

I think when it comes to choosing whether to get a premade system or build your own, you should not really be worry about cost, as both option will virtually cost the same. It all comes down to your personal preference. The convenience of a premade system or the better quality of a ”build your own” system.

RWendi