[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Having just built a system I thought this might be of interest!

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[RadioAstronomer]

I just rebuilt my system (again :-))

Pentium P4B 2.56Ghz (533 FSB)
Swiftech MCX-462 CPU cooler
Gigabyte GA-8IHXP 850E + ICH4 dual channel 1066 (533 bus) rambus with ATA-133 raid, USB 2.0, dual bios, etc.
1Gbyte 1066 Rambus memory
Silver rounded IDE cables
Copper rounded Floppy cable
Nvidia Geforce4 Ti 4600
Gigabit ethernet card
Digital video capture board
WinTV video recorder board
Audigy Platinuim with live drive
TDK burn proof CDR-W
16x DVD
LS-120 drive
Two 120Gbyte 7200 RPM Hard drives (raided)
One 80Gbyte 7200 RPM hard drive
Sony SDM M-81 LCD hi-rez monitor
Ultra wide SCSI card
Lian Li aluminuim case with 5 fans and a side window
Enermax 430 watt dual fan power supply
Cold cathode blue lit interior
Intel PC camera
Laser JetIII printer
Cannon USB scanner
Wingman Extreme Joystick
Hp 8 pen color plotter
Full surround sound system
1.44 floppy drive

Will smoke any prebuilt system out there. It is not terribly difficult to build a custom computer. :-)

[boris]

You know what? I've built dozens of systems for myself and friends.

I've had my fill.

What is not factored in to such analyses is the marginal cost of your time. If you are an unemployed garbageman, go ahead. My employer charges the government $150/hour of my time, so I use that as a 'reasonable' estimate. Would I pay a tech $150/hour to build me a super-duper PC when one from Alienware would be 95% as good? Add the cost of time to this analysis and it evaporates.

Everybody needs a hobby; if building PCs is yours, be my guest.

"A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money." Or a PC can be a substitute 'hole' for those without access to the briny deep.

--Boris

[Charlie OK]

that thar's a lotta big words and stuff.