This is the personal website of John Watson: father, software developer, artist, guitar player. Follow me on Mastodon or Twitter or Twitch or itch.io or GitHub.

I kicked Dell's ass!

So I went to buy a new computer (because my current aging machine is really starting to annoy me sometimes—it’s several years old) and since my last few purchases have been from Dell I clicked on over to see what they were offering. Isn’t it funny that the simultaneous advance of technology and the decreasing cost of components always balances out so that the computer you want at any given moment is always around $1,500? And I probably would have bought it if it weren’t for the ship date. It’s currently taking about 3-4 weeks to get a new Core2 Duo machine from Dell.

So I went through the process of pricing out my own components and doing the research to build my own computer, something I haven’t done since 2000 when it seemed you couldn’t build a decent computer for cheaper than you could buy one from Dell. And (shock!) it came out cheaper with slightly better components and they all shipped the next day. I should have my new machine by Wednesday.

It’s going to be a Core2 Duo machine with a 2.4 GHz 6600 CPU, 2 GB of DDR2 800 memory, a 320 GB SATA drive, DVD+-RW (dual layer) + CD-RW combo drive. And the motherboard supports up to 8 GB of RAM, 6 SATA channels, and Core2 Extreme processors whenever I decide to upgrade it.

Total price after shipping and tax: $1,411. Dell’s price for a similarly equipped machine: $1,533. Suck it, Dell!

Update: I ordered the machine on Thursday, it shipped Friday, and the UPS website says it is out for delivery this morning, Monday. I’m getting it today! I ordered all of the components from Newegg.com, the best computer store in the world.

Update: Here’s the full part list for the curious:

  • Antec PERFORMANCE TX640B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ 400W Power Supply --- $110
  • GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard --- $145
  • eVGA Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card --- $156
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz Processor --- $315
  • G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit --- $225
  • Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM --- $100
  • LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black --- $32
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional Upgrade with SP2 --- $200

TOTAL: $1,283 (before shipping and tax)

Update the third:

The machine went together in two hours with my 4-year-old son helping out (he screwed in the drives and the video card and held stuff for me). And—all hail modern computer components—it POSTed on the first try. After that came the grueling, tedious process of installing software. But I am now writing to you from a shiny new modern computer. A huge upgrade over the 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 I was using. And, as I had hoped, with the 120mm fan and thick aluminum case, it is virtually silent. sigh

Comments

  1. Glenndavid on 2006-10-15 12:53:28 wrote: hahaa, thats really funny, and a very nice machine for that money, i bet that here in belgium you can’t find that machine for under €2500, wich means i would pay about US$900 more than you… great machine! i hope you enjoy it! glenndavid

  2. JPL on 2006-10-16 04:40:19 wrote: That’s great!!! May I ask which motherboard you chose? JPL

  3. David on 2006-10-16 06:03:33 wrote: But what kind of a price are you going to put on your having accumulated the knowledge to actually do that? I usually reach my limits when having to install anything that isn’t completely idiot proof. You’re quite right though - the price does seem to hover around the same level for what you want - but the carrot of what you might want, with all those endless updates and improvements - always stays too far away.

  4. john on 2006-10-16 08:09:56 wrote: @JPL, the mobo is a Gigabyte 965P. @David, building your own computer isn’t as hard as it used to be. Back in the day it was a lot more difficult. In the last few years, with color-coded connectors that only insert one way and auto-detection for everything, it’s a lot easier. A whole computer is only about 8 parts (case, power supply, motherboard, memory, hard drive, CPU, optical drive, operating system) and goes together in about an hour, often without tools. Case and power supply often come together. Most motherboards these days come with video and audio built-in. You can even buy “barebones” systems that are case + power supply + motherboard. There are lots of books and websites on the topic with detailed tutorials.

  5. Brett on 2006-10-16 09:11:35 wrote: Did you get a new video card too in that $1411 price? If so, what did you get?

  6. guynameddave on 2006-10-16 10:20:21 wrote: i only see one chink in your armor. you bought another pc.

  7. Phil R on 2006-10-16 10:34:03 wrote: I was looking at the same thing about a month ago… I was ringing my hands over the price cause it would’t drop below my price level. Then I found the scratch and dent store at Dell. I got the machine I wanted for half the price… I even tried to piece it together from self build and couldn’t come close. Ah, thank you to who ever returned that system!

  8. john on 2006-10-16 11:56:29 wrote: @Brett, I did. GeForce 7600 GT, mainly because I’m not sure if I’m done being a gamer yet. I haven’t played many games at all in almost two years. I’ll probably load Rise of Nations and Civ4 on the new box and see if they stick. ;-) I added the part list to the post, above.

  9. Tracer on 2006-10-17 10:58:48 wrote: This is one of the single biggest reasons I havn’t switched to Apple. (the other being lack of Tablet offering). I’m a huge Hardware Geek. And though I like OSX more than Windows, I love building my own boxes! Congrats. Enjoy!

  10. Padrone on 2006-10-17 19:45:47 wrote: Nothing quite like building your own. Only way you know whats really inside!

  11. The Hungry Ghost on 2006-10-18 13:02:31 wrote: Another good thing about building your own is that you have al the drivers etc in case you have to reinstall everything from scratch. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to find the correct drivers for a generic sound card because the recovery disk did not have the right ones. It is also hugely satisfying

  12. Melster on 2006-10-18 13:22:14 wrote: Did you leave a blood sacrifice? These modern cases with rolled edges are for wimps. :) I am going to go home and try to install Mac OS X on my PC tonight! Wish me luck!

  13. Patrick Dowden on 2006-10-19 01:11:30 wrote: Love your site, John. I’ve been a fan since I first saw it linked to from that Despair.com promo. As for your PC shopping, it was totally Deja Vu, amigo. I also extended an enthusiastic obscene finger gesture after seeing Dell’s (as well as similar competitors’) prices for a PC with some reasonably powerful innards. Considering their volume purchasing power to keep their costs down, the markup they were adding had to be at least 35% or more. No thanks! I just took the plunge and bought a whole box of new gear from NewEgg.com this week myself. (Tenth anniversary…wife got a diamond pendant, I got a new geek toy…thank you God for the blessings in our lives!). I went with the Core 2 Duo 6700 and am semi-regretting the extra cost vs the 6600. Otherwise our systems are going to be really similar: 2GB Ram, 320 GB HD (2 of them), DVD burners with Lightscribe (2 of them at $33 each). As a gamer myself, I chose to pony up for a 7950GX2 video card. Cost for it was about as much as the Core Duo CPU, but for a gamer it’s the video card that keeps the computer able to keep playing new games as they come out for three or more years. Plus with the SLI option on my mobo, I can add a 2nd video card when the price drops in a couple of years to extend the life even more. My final payout was just over $2000 with shipping. NewEgg is just the finest example of NerdVana you can find. Prices are unbeatable there. Anybody looking to build up a great machine should start there. Anyway, love your site. Keep up the great writing and photo tool development. I really appreciate it.

  14. Marty on 2006-10-20 06:57:08 wrote: Great job - I’ve thought about doing this, but ran into the same thing you did: it just wasn’t worth the time and effort to find the best components, review, order and then put it together when Dell could put together a system that would work out of the box for the same money. But I’ve been putting off the urge to get a new system - and you just made it harder. Of course, I’m still struggling to stay with a PC or go for one of the MacPros - more $ but I can run Mac AND Windows…

  15. myla on 2006-10-24 23:37:17 wrote: thank you so much for the specs. i’m about ready to upgrade and this will help more than I can say ;) (and awesome about the dibs, I’ll have to buy some of those!)

  16. Nikographer [Jon] on 2006-10-27 17:03:09 wrote: Ha! Take that Dell! Nice job. $1,400 is a nice chunk of change, but you got a great machine out of it. And touching that you’re little one helped out. And cool that it posted on your first try. Often a mis-connected floppy drive is my culprit for why it won’t post. Also, I was meaning to write you, or post a thread but didn’t seem worthy on its own…. That link on scout: View the Best Photos on Flickr… Really cool. It gave me a huge grin. I’m sure others had the same reaction. Scout/Explorer can be such a whicked vixen that the link really swung my mood. Well done. I am not bitter any more over their constant changes, I’ve learned to just roll with it. With millions of photographers on flickr I am happy/proud to have just one. -Jon

  17. Kerwin on 2006-11-06 05:08:54 wrote: great inspiration! keep up the good work with this blog in general… it’s a joy to read.