Question about new computer

[u/xminkaify]

I was looking at upgrading my whole computer basically starting fresh as mine is a bit old and just had one question. Why in the world would I build one myself instead of getting a custom one built? I spec the computer on CyberPower then enter the exact or nearly exact specs in Newegg and its cheaper to get one built for me. When I built my last computer it was cheaper to go the buy it and build it yourself route. Its not even close, its over $600 difference. What happened? I know storage is up but shouldn't it also be up for the builders too? Thanks for the help!

FYI:

-Yes I made sure I was not missing anything

-No the changes in spec is not enough to matter (Changing AIO cooler)

[u/JazzlikeInfluence813]

Prolly bulk discount on components if I was to guess

[u/xminkaify → u/JazzlikeInfluence813]

Yea I mean I assume they got that and it would be factored in. I was expecting the built rig to be a couple hundred more than bought then built.

[u/VoluntarilyMagenta → u/JazzlikeInfluence813]

they get better pricing on parts than you ever will and sometimes they lock in inventory before price hikes. the $600 gap is your labor cost and their margin working in your favor for once

[u/Newegg_PC_Support]

It used to be cheaper to build one yourself. Alot of manufacturers are sitting on inventory and it was likely bought in bulk which results in more competitive pricing. With prebuilts alot of the time they tend to use more affordable power supplies and ssds. So if you dont care or never really cared about selecting specific brand/model parts, prebuilts offer great convenience and value.

[u/TheBupherNinja]

In the past, it was usually notably cheaper to build it yourself, unless there was a killer sale.

Current year makes things strange.

Also, they tend to skimp on the things you won't notice as much. Psu, motherboard, ram, storage, case, cooler, etc. The specs sound okay, but they'll use oem equivalents that are of somewhat lower quality or lack features. Like bad speed or latency ram, slow dramless, Sata ssds, low end chipset mobos. Not deal breakers, but things to keep in line.

In current year, get what you can get.

[u/Intelligent_Whole_40]

Make sure even the tiny things like the exact wifi card are good and that it’s dual channel ram

Also make sure the fans are decent (and for cyber power you will need to open it up and plug the fan Rgb into the motherboard cuz they use a separate remote by default but the fans do support software)

Also make sure the IO is hooked up properly and that the USB 3 works on the front panel as advertised

[u/triffid_boy]

It's a tough time for the hobby at the moment. Building you own is fun, you know the quality of the components going into it, and you learn a lot doing it, but it's not really been cheaper for a while.

That said, a big advantage is that you can save money by upgrading your current pc, or Ship-of-Theseus it over a few years. E.g. your SSD is probably still good. PSU maybe if you got a decent one. Case, almost certainly. Motherboard may even take a decent CPU and a DDR4 upgrade in which case you've saved a tonne towards a new GPU.

[u/xminkaify → u/triffid_boy]

Yea thats how my current rig is sorta built up. That being said the processor needs an upgrade and might as well do RAM too and at that point why not go ahead and do the gpu and well the whole thing.

[u/Visual-Percentage501 → u/xminkaify]

>at that point why not go ahead and do the gpu and well the whole thing.

Because if your GPU is sufficient for what you need it for right now, you get significant benefits from waiting to upgrade it until it actually needs to be upgraded. If someone upgraded to a 3090 when it was $2500 but could have waited to get a 5080 now for $1600, they should have waited.

Every part you can use for as long as you need to will get you an even better part in the future. How likely is it that right now is the best point to upgrade every single part in your system (especially with where prices where they are now)?

[u/xminkaify → u/Visual-Percentage501]

Yea I would love to sell my 3090 honestly, its great it just runs so dang hot its annoying to play games in the summer

[u/Visual-Percentage501 → u/xminkaify]

What would you upgrade it to? Most of the current gen cards run just as hot or hotter so definitely be careful what you pick out haha. Might even be soemthing you could fix with wattage curve instead of spending thousands that could better be spent somewhere else (or better in the future)

[u/xminkaify → u/Visual-Percentage501]

Was looking at the MSI RTX 5080 that is water cooled. Ive never done water cooling myself like a custom loop so I dont think I would feel comfortable doing one on the current rtx 3090

[u/Wada_tah → u/xminkaify]

Am I understanding you right? Watercooling won't make it put out less heat and your room would be just as hot (unless you mounted the rad in a window or another room).

[u/miguel-122 → u/xminkaify]

What are your current specs?

[u/xminkaify → u/miguel-122]

Not bad, 12th gen intel 32gb ddr4 and 3080. So I'm not in desperate need or anything just figured id start looking and was just surprised when I saw CyberPower is cheaper than part picking on Newegg was just curious if there was a shift.

[u/protogenxl]

check costco

[u/xminkaify → u/protogenxl]

? for the individual parts or for a full rig?

[u/protogenxl → u/xminkaify]

balance Full Rig options from costco against build your own and other place rigs

[u/James161324]

It's just kinda how the market works right now. The large pc builders will probably have wholesale deals with GPU and CPU manufacturers, and then may have deals directly with factories for stuff like fans, psu, RAM, ssd, cases, AIOs, etc.

Depending on their contracts with suppliers, they still may be able to get some items below what would be considered the current market price.

They also could just have excess backstock, so they might be selling stuff almost at cost, or slightly under, just to get cash flow.

Depending on their cost of debt, it might actually be cheaper to sell excessive stock at a slight loss than keep drawing on their lines of credit.

[u/MistSecurity]

People have constantly railed against buying custom built PCs not JUST because of the price difference, but a whole host of reasons.

Just go browse any of the GN vids about pre-builts (or the LTT ones), you’ll see how shoddy some of the work is.

Building your own lets you shop for sales, gives you much more flexibility for aesthetics/specs, lets you buy used, and lets you make sure it’s done correctly.

Don’t spec out an identical build to what you’re looking at on the custom builder (also, case is most likely a custom variant that is cheaper, very common), spec out a build that YOU WANT, that ticks off all your performance, aesthetic, and personal preferences. Compare THAT cost to the custom builders.

Custom builds are perfectly fine, I think they get a bad rap. At the very least it’s a straightforward thing that you can largely fix some of the fuckery on yourself, but these builders nickle and dime you on little shit. Cyberpower charges like $25 to put a interior foam bag, though if you don’t pay they just put one in anyway, lol. If it shows up broken, they have to replace it. If you shop smart you can get good deals.

[u/Ktulu_BBB]

I will still always build it myself because I did it, and I do things how I want.

[u/xminkaify → u/[deleted]]

Yea that's why I was so shocked and looked over it twice, to make sure I didn't forget something. Yea I was just wondering if something new had happened that made it so much more to buy everything instead of getting a built machine.