It costs more to upgrade my computer than to buy a new one....

Publius Aelius Hadrianus

Seriously, WTF?

I thought it was supposed to be cheap to build your own computer these days, and I'm not even starting from scratch.

Here's what I'm thinking:

New OS:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=32-116-754&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=3#scrollFullInfo

New CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851

New MOBO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131655

RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-231-311&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

GPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127478

Total: ~ $780


I thought that was decent until I built a similar set up on HP's website that came with a larger hard drive and a blu-ray drive for around $900. For that price I also get a new tower and power supply, mouse, and keyboard.


So what the heck is the deal here? Are there any other cheaper sites out there? Should I try to buy some of this stuff used or something?

Publius Aelius Hadrianus

Rofl I guess I should have checked the stickies first. I'll post this in the computer build thread. Go ahead and lock this B.

stfuad

Dunno if someone answered your question but most HPs/Dells/etc... come with cheaper parts. Discount motherboards and the like. If you want any semblance of expandability/being able to upgrade the processor at some point, it's cheaper to buy the more expensive motherboard now.

Dark Shroud

Those cheap pre-built OEM PC are loaded with a lot of garbage. The mobos are as cheap as you can get & will receive almost no bios updates. The PSU are utter garbage that will have to be replaced when you want to upgrade your video card. And the memory is usually the cheapest they could find.

Quantux

Remember, if you have access to a .edu email address, windows 7 pro upgrades are only $30... And since nothing (well almost nothing) even uses 4 cores, why pay extra for 6?

Jakarrd

The thing with buidling your own comp is that you can use anything. I mean, if yer into the overclocking scene you could build a mid range comp that can almost keep up with bleeding edge.

If you know what CPU you are snagging you can probably search around for Mobos and find something cheaper to still handle it. The funny thing is if you can get a parts list from HP or Dell you can probably find comparable parts for less.

pricewatch can sometimes give you a good smattering of comparable price parts to go with. I love Newegg but I don't always use them for shopping.