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Penny Arcade - Comic - For The Birds
Dog
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
Penny Arcade - Comic - For The Birds
Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.
Unknown User on
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Never forget to value your own free time in the cost/benefit analysis.
I'm not beyond asking for advice on hardware compatibility and suitability though.
If you don't mind my asking, where did you order your system from? I'm in the process of considering a new system, and I'm weighing my options of a self-build vs buying a premade. There are a few specs I want, but I'm sure there are sites that let me pick and choose components and they'll assemble it for me.
I went full pleb and got one from Dell in the sale :rotate:
I have built at least a dozen computers over the past few decades (for myself and for others), and I can say that has not been my experience. The research alone on which components I put into said system and where to find them at the best prices is already what I'd call time-consuming. Maybe if you were keeping up with all the components as they were released, you'd have that knowledge fresh in your mind. But I only looking into it at the time I want to build a system. Until then, I have no idea which CPUs are teh fastest, which graphic cards are the graphickest, and what newfangled type of RAM they've come up with now. I'm just a programmer, after all. Those things are normally not something I care about.
Though yes, once you've done all that and if everything works the first time then the next part can be easy. But if it doesn't, have fun pouring more time down the sinkhole.
Rebuilding my PC is something I do about twice a decade. I think the annual time overhead works out to about 40 minutes or so. While I look forward to the day when my time is that precious, I'm fully cognizant that it most certainly isn't.
Also I kinda like reading up on and arguing about the components.
I don't think you're including the reading up and arguing into your 40 minute time budget! But sure if you enjoy that bit and you already know what you're doing then it isn't a free time cost to you so self build works out in your favour.
I went through the same analysis this weekend and landed on a premade system since I figured I would end up with something like 40 hours research for parts + 1 hour of building. Back in the day maybe I enjoyed the research more or just knew enough to get through that quicker.
Now just to research where to buy the premade...
He's had worse.
Big bucks no whammys big bucks no whammys.
As for the topic, building a PC has never been easier and I still can't be bothered. I bought a premade last year from Microcenter that's been just fine, but it's just a midrange rig. I think the higher end you go, the more you save by building your own.
If I do replace the desktop, I too might give in to the dark side and buy something that is at least partially prepared for me in advance. I enjoy putting all the pieces together, but I don't have much enthusiasm for the research that would be needed to bring me back up to speed with the world of computer hardware. Maybe I can find a nice middle ground between "building my own" and "buying a computer at Best Buy." lol
-Tycho Brahe
The motherboard and CPU I had to have picked out like several years ago and ever since it's just been building on to it. When there's a 50% increase in performance CPU for $300-350, I'll bite on buying a new CPU/motherboard/RAM and the rest but until then DIY continues to have been the smartest decision. Same for a new GPU, I need to see some solid gains to plunk down the cash. Probably around the time the RTX 3080 Ti is out (or whatever it ends up being).
I'm dumbfounded that some people would spend an entire workweek's worth of hours figuring out the components...I don't see how one could spend so much time on that, but I guess it depends how much you flip through forums and argue with the resident fanboys about why Brand A is inferior to Brand B and so on. Admittedly I have my brand biases, so two of those X vs Y decisions are a non-issue for me as I always go for Brand A and X (Take that, shoddy Brand B and Y owners!).
I can't speak for anyone else, but I spend exactly zero time paying attention to the world of computer hardware EXCEPT when I'm planning to build a new computer. I'm not sure I would spend a workweek's worth of hours when all is said and done, but I could see the process being drawn out over a few weeks as I do little bits of research as time permits.
But, I'm guessing you are a much more serious PC gamer than I am. I have never overclocked anything and have no plans to do so. I also don't have any percentage increases that I'm watching for in order to decide when to upgrade. I'm not making fun of any of it -- I'm just saying kudos to you for putting so much energy into it.
-Tycho Brahe
Also, it's fun, and satisfying. It's like any side project you have. And you can get a better computer for cheaper by building it yourself, which makes it last longer. In all my builds I've only ever had to replace one hard drive. My current build is awesome and has some great RGB. My last build was able to continue playing all the newest games on High and some on Ultra still, even after 5+ years. I only upgraded because I wanted everything on Ultra again haha.
I wouldn't say it's like any side project, though. Those can vary in "fun" level. Anything related to plumbing, for example: not fun. At least for me. Maybe it turns someone's crank. I'm also not too fond on garden related side projects, but I know there are plenty of people that are crazy about them. They fall more under the "necessary but annoying" category for me.
Building my own PC falls somewhere below plumbing for me now. It's just not worth the limited free time I have now with a full-time job and a full-time family. Spending more time researching and building a PC means I will have less time to actually play games on said PC, which is the whole point. It seems like a bad tradeoff.
It just all depends on the person.
I generally just pop onto the Tom's Hardware forums or the like where strange people research and post builds for fun based on what's currently on sale. It takes maybe an afternoon and means saving at least several hundred dollars.
All things being equal I'd go for pre-built (and I've found myself generally just playing games on consoles recently partly for that reason), but it's hard for me to justify the drastic difference in price.
The laptop is better. Smaller. Faster. Quieter. Portable.
The world has moved on.
In general, I agree. But then I had to go and want to get into (desktop) VR.
(Still have an ultrathin laptop for surfing from the couch, though.)