Choose cheaper desktop computer: DIY versus branded - part 2

In the last article, I have reviewed whether it's worth the hassle to build your own desktop pc. This time, I will take a look at what the famous brand - HP- offer to us with their latest promotion, "Kungfu Panda" desktop series :P. The desktop pc I will use for comparison here is HP Pavilion M9222 with the following specifications :

1. Processor : AMD Quad-Core Phenom™ X4 9500 (2.2 GHz, FSB 2200, Cache 4x 512 KB)
2. Motherboard : Unknown with chipset nForce 430
3. Memory : Standard 2x1 PC 6400 DDR2
   
4. Vga Card : NVidia GeForce 8500GT 256 MB
5. Audio : onboard 7.1 channel
6. Harddisk : 320 GB Serial ATA-II/300, 7200 RPM, Cache 8 MB
7. Keyboard : HP PS/2 Standard Keyboard
8. Mouse : HP Optical Scroll Mouse
   
9. Card Reader : 15 in 1 Media Reader
10. Operating System : Microsoft* Windows Vista Home Premium
11. Monitor : HP 19" LCD
12. Chassis : Mini Tower ATX
    

HP bundled printer HP F2180 with this desktop pc and gives price tag at $1185. Now, we will see if this promo is worth to be called as promo or not :P. Let's summon peripherals for our desktop pc then....

Tadaaa, the specifications is as follows:

1. Processor : AMD Quad-Core Phenom™ X4 9550 - $194
2. Motherboard : Asus M2N (chipset nForce 430) - $66
3. Memory : Corsair Twin 2x2048 - PC6400 - $58
4. Vga Card : Asus 8500 GT 2500 MB silent - $91
5. Audio : onboard - none
6. Harddisk : Seagate 320 GB SATA II - $77
7. Keyboard : Logitech KB Multimedia - $19
8. Mouse : Logitech Optical black (bundled with keyboard)
9. Card Reader : 15 in 1 Media Reader - $15
10. Operating System : Microsoft* Windows Vista Home Premium - $115
11. Monitor : Samsung 19" 940BW - $270
12. Chassis : CoolerMaster Centurion C5 tower - $78
13. Printer : HP F2180 - $74

We will spend total amount of $1057 for all peripheral above. Again it's proven that we can save more money if we put some effort for building our own desktop pc ;). Even with promotion price, branded pc is still more expensive -> the difference in $128 is not a little sum of money for most people in Indonesia, include me :P.

Choose cheaper desktop computer: DIY versus branded

In this article, I will try to compare the cost required for building a DIY desktop pc versus buying the branded pc. The branded pc used for comparison is HP Compaq DX2300MT which does not bundled with monitor. DX2300MT is priced at $559 (price is taken from www.bhinneka.com) and has the following specification :

1. Processor : Pentium Dual Core E2160
2. Motherboard : OEM with P946GZ intel chipset
3. Storage : SATA HDD 80 GB
4. Front panel : card reader, esata
5. Memory : 1 GB DDR2
6. Optical Drive : DVD/CDRW Combo
7. Operating System : Windows XP Pro oem
8. Chassis Form Factor : MicroATX
9. Keyboard and mouse : HP standard

Now lets count the all the components' price. Would it worth it to buy branded desktop pc instead of build your own and save $$$? Let's find out then and let the cheaper win!

After googling and seacrhing a while for all components used in HP Compaq DX2300MT, the result is listed below :

1. Processor : Pentium Dual Core E2160 -> $63
2. Motherboard : OEM with P946GZ intel chipset (use Asus P5B-MX)-> $81
3. Storage : SATA HDD 80 GB -> $42
4. Front panel : card reader, esata -> $15
5. Memory : 1 GB DDR2 -> $25
6. Optical Drive : DVD/CDRW Combo -> $32
7. Operating System : Windows XP Pro oem -> $135
8. Chassis Form Factor : MicroATX (used SimCool ATX 450W) -> $48
9. Keyboard and mouse : HP standard (used logitech multimedia) -> $18

All are totalled $459! The difference is $559 - $459 = $100. With that amount of money, you can buy a decent printer or speaker or both! How about additional Canon ip1880 ($48) and Divoom Titan 767 ($35)? And even after buying those two, you will still have money left ($17) for covering transportation cost :P.

The conclusion is straighforward. Let's spend a few extra hours for making our own desktop pcs instead of buying from branded if price is always be a concern for you :).