Prebuild vs custom PC

Is this a good purchase? Mind you, I don't need a moniter, I've already got a 24" LCD.

I've heard you can save a lot of money by building a computer yourself, but this feels like a good purchase.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11312469&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=〈=en-US

hate to say it, but, no.

You could get all of that for less than 1 grand (well, except the RAM) but the ram is extremely unsecessary, see my thread.

The case could get very annoying, and the graphics card isnt that great.

I would also say no dice on that one. I built my computer a couple months back and I paid 2 grand for mine and it blows that out of the water.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2.66ghz

Case: Antec 900

Monitor: Acer 24" LCD 2ms response time 1920x1200 (love this thing)

GPU: VisionTek HD4850 512MB

MOBO: ASUS Rampage formula x48 chipset DDR2 1066

RAM: 2GB OCZ Reaper 1066 DDR2

OS: Windows XP Pro SP3

PSU: ABS Tagan BZ series 900W

So if you take out the monitor which mine cost around $400 Then your left with a $1,600 purchase and you really don't need as good as a mobo or psu that i got and you could save even more money. My processor is also a step above that one too. Right now Quad core cpu's arent really necessary either. I just got one because I do some audio/video editing and recording along with gaming. Core 2 duo E8500 processors are nice and are much cheaper

Thanks for the info.

I did a newegg search for the parts (not the exact same ones, but I went with reviews for the parts that didn't have brands or model numbers) and the price came to $1506, and that doesn't include any software or the OS. Where did you guys get your parts in order to save so much?

Here are the parts I've found:

Chassis: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146027

Processor:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043

RAM (x2):http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Hard drive (x2):http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Optical drive #1:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137&Tpk=super%20multi%20drive

Optical drive #2:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135180

Video card:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127333

Sound card:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024

Power supply:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Speakers:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836119009

Keyboard:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126009&Tpk=logitch%20g11

Mouse:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104240

Operating sytem:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116205

Motherboard:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024

Ok I tried many time to put links in, but I kept getting the same .html error and I don't know how to fix it. So sorry, but no hyperlinks.

Chassis: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146027

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043

RAM (x2): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Hard drive (x2): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Optical drive #1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137&Tpk=super%20multi%20drive

Optical drive #2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135180

Video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127333

Sound card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024

Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836119009

Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126009&Tpk=logitch%20g11

Mouse: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104240

Operating sytem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116205

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024

a_blind_man

Fixed.

EDIT: The two main causes of your high price:

-You listed a Vista 3-pack instead of a single
-You added a Blu-Ray drive instead of a DVD drive

Thanks for the hyper links.

Is there a point to having a blue-ray drive on a computer? I know the PS3 uses them, and movies are on them, but do computers use them?

Thanks for the hyper links.

Is there a point to having a blue-ray drive on a computer? I know the PS3 uses them, and movies are on them, but do computers use them?

a_blind_man

Ok thanks. I do have an HD moniter, but I'm not sure I'd buy any blu-ray movies.

So is there any place aside from the disk drives I could cut corners? I do want to keep the quad core processor, I keep hearing that they aren't necessary but I just want to be able to keep the processor in for as long as possible. Also, what would be your recommendation for a better video card, while staying within a $1500 budget?

Thanks for the help y'all.  I'll look into it.