In my previous post, I demonstrated just how much companies charge you for building a computer for you.

And the computer I used as an example was their cheapest offering.

Now, let's say you have $699.99 (their asking price) as a budget, and you decide that you will buy the parts and build the computer yourself. Is there a significant difference in the quality of the parts you would be able to buy with the money that you have saved? Let's find out, in the table below.

As of today, I actually found a cheaper offering for the Case I had listed on my previous post. Some of the parts I listed before are re-used here, simply because they are great and there is nothing wrong with them!

But without further delay, let's see what you could do with $699.99 if you build your own computer.

If you compare this table to the one in the previous post, you can see clearly that quite a few of the parts offered have improved greatly. For example from top to bottom:

Before, you had a 350 Watt Power Supply, now you have a 600 Watt Power Supply.
Before, you had a Dual Core CPU, now you have an Eight-Core CPU.
Before you had 6GB of DDR3 Ram at 1333MHz speed, now you have 8GB of DDR3 Ram at 1600MHz speed.
Before you had an Nvidia GT 640 Video Card, now you have an Nvidia GTX 660 Video Card.

The parts that were not changed is because they are fine as they are, but the key components: Power Supply, Video Card, CPU and RAM, were all upgraded thanks to the saving you made from building your own PC.

Comments? Questions? Leave them below :) I will reply to each one of them!

If you buy a pre-built PC by some "company" you are wasting your money. Here's why!!!

So you have some money and are ready to purchase yourself a computer for work, surfing the net, gaming, or all of the above.

There are plenty of options out there, some good, some great, and some, not so much.

You could drive to the nearest electronics store and pick up an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) PC, but you would be paying a premium not only for the PC, but for the service of "delivering" it to you, the consumer. (Not to count tax charges!)

You could go online and buy a pre-built PC, but you would be paying for the service of "building" the PC you are buying.

Or, you could cut out the middle man, buy the parts, and build it yourself. This way, you would only pay for the PC itself, and you would do the work of putting it together.

Even if you are not tech-savvy, or if you have never seen a motherboard all your life, building a PC is not all that hard. All you need most of the time is a screwdriver, a bit of patience, and a willingness to learn.

In this post, I will comment on a computer sold by a popular company that sells "gaming" PCs,list the actual price of the parts they use, and how much you could save by doing the work of building it yourself.

Some of the parts brand and model they use are not specified (for example, the motherboard, the power supply), so I have chosen an "equivalent" alternative in those cases. For the alternatives, I chose quality parts with good reviews, and you can be assured that it's better than anything they might have on their offering. (Otherwise, why don't they list the part model and number?)

In my next post, I will list what you could do, if you had the $699.99 they ask for their PC and are willing to build it yourself.

Questions? Need help building your own PC? Have a budget, and don't know what you could do with it? Comment here, and I will reply asap!