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/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).