Introduction:

After comparing pre-built PCs from two of the more popular manufacturers, I calculated how much it would cost me to build my own PC with the specs I wanted. Since I did not customize either the Dell or Gateway machines in order to keep the price down, I went with base models that I thought offered good performance for the money. The Dell and Gateway machines were similarly prices ranging between $1700 and $1800. The machine I can build would cost approximately $300 - $400 less. I am looking for a high end machine capable of fully utilizing high speed cable modem internet access, web design, doing my schoolwork, and playing the latest games on. I would also need the computer for some sound and video editing because it will be on a network with another PC which I have built that will act as a Home Theatre PC. This other PC records TV shows for later viewing and storage. I would use this new PC to remove commercials, compress the video file, and possibly burn DVDs for long term storage. I didn’t want to spend more than $2000 on the computer itself because I am purchasing a UPS and other accessories which will be expensive. These peripherals will be purchased no matter what computer I select. All of the parts with the exception of the case that are used for my computer are from newegg.com. The case comes from xoxide.com. The exact URLs are listed at the end of this document.

Processor:

The Dell and Gateway machines only offer Intel processors, so they both come with Pentium 4 chips. The Dell is rated at 3.2 GHz while the Gateway is rated at 3 GHz. The machine I’m building will be run by an AMD Athlon XP 3000+. It is rated at only 2.1 GHz, but due to AMD’s superior engineering, it performs slightly faster than an Intel Pentium 4 3 GHz chip. Clock speed isn’t the sole determinant of how fast a processor runs, which is why AMD rates their chips with numbers such as “3000+.” That number is intended to indicate to the consumer that it is comparable in speed to an Intel running at 3 GHz. An Athlon XP 2500 would run at similar speeds to an Intel Pentium chip rated at 2.5 GHz. Because clock speeds can be misleading, now Intel is following suit and their next line of chips will be named with model numbers instead of clock speeds to reflect the processor class, speed, and features.

RAM:

The RAM in all three machines is DDR RAM and is therefore some of the fastest available. DDR RAM works in either a single chip or dual chip configuration. For example, you can have 1 gig of RAM as two 512 chips or one 1024 chip. Because of the ability to use two chips in a dual channel setup, the two 512 chips will run faster than the one 1024 chip. With the Dell machine, there is only one 512 chip, so you do not have that speed boost available. The Gateway machine has two 512 chips, but they do not state whether their motherboards support dual channel and whether its enabled for that computer. The machine I’m building will be a dual channel setup with two 512 chips. The max RAM capacity in all three machines is 2 GBs.

Hard Drive:

The Dell machine comes with an older and slower 80 GB Ultra ATA drive. The Gateway machine comes with new state of the art 160 GB SATA drives. Both the Dell and Gateway machines make no mention of other features such as buffer size and disk speed (measured in RPMs). The drive that I will be using is made my Western Digital and has a large buffer size of 8 MB (standard size is 2 MB) and spins at 7200 RPMs.

Optical Drive:

The Dell machine comes with a 16x DVD-ROM drive only capable of reading DVDs and CDs. The Gateway comes with an impressively fast DVD and CD writer that does both +R/RW and –R/RW formats. It doesn’t do the –RAM format, but that’s not a concern since my research shows that –RAM is not supported by standalone consumer DVD players nearly as much as the other two formats. It also records slower and takes up more space on a DVD, so the exclusion of that format is not a concern for me. The machine I’ll be making has a similar DVD and CD writer as the Gateway machine, but it runs at only half the speed.

Modem:

A modem is inconsequential for me, and as such only the Gateway comes with one standard.

Monitor:

The total purchase price of all three computers includes a monitor. The Dell comes with a bulky CRT while the Gateway and mine come with LCDs. All three monitors are 17”, but LCDs generally have a larger viewable area. While it’s said that LCDs are not good for gaming because of image blurring, that is no longer true if you have a decent quality monitor. Both the Gateway and my computer are coming with recently manufactured LCDs which have all but eliminated that problem.

Video Card:

All three machines come with an ATi Radeon video card, one of the best available. The Gateway comes with a slightly older Radeon 9600G, while both the Dell and my computer come with 9800 Pro cards. All three have 128 MBs of DDR RAM and are high performance cards. The 9600G will start to show its age a little sooner than the other card, but it will not be a big enough difference to affect game play significantly.

USB ports:

All three machines have 8 USB ports.

Firewire ports:

Only the Dell has any firewire ports (2), but considering the lack of any widespread consumer electronics or PC based peripherals that use Firewire, this isn’t a concern. The only exception to this is that many digital video cameras have Firewire support, but I have no interest in digital video cameras, so I am not affected by this.

Drive bays:

The Dell has seven total bays, three of which are filled with the hard drive, floppy drive, and optical drive. The Gateway has five total bays, two of which are filled with the hard drive and optical drive. My computer has eleven total bays, two of which are filled with the hard drive and optical drive. The more bays I have, the more drives I can fill them with in the future. The case I’d be getting for my computer would have ample room for later conversion to a server that could hold many drives in a RAID array for storage of data such as the recorded TV shows and movies mentioned earlier.

Expansion slots:

The Gateway, Dell, and my computer have 3, 5, and 5 PCI slots, respectively. Each has 1 AGP slot. The more expandability one has, the longer one can derive use from the computer.

OS:

The Gateway and Dell machines come with Windows XP Home. I have previously purchased a full copy of Windows XP Professional, which I would install on the computer I build, as it is more stable then the Home edition.

Other Software:

The Gateway and Dell machines have a variety of software, most of which is useless to me. I have previously purchased a copy of Microsoft Office XP and will be using that for schoolwork. I would receive a variety of useful software from the manufacturers of the components I buy, such as antivirus software from the motherboard manufacturer and DVD authoring software from the DVD burner manufacturer.

Warranties:

The Dell warranty is vague and only lists general support for their computer. The Gateway computer comes with a 1 year, parts/labor warranty and 1 year tech support. Gateway has an extended warranty that can cover up to 3 years. My computer’s individual components are covered under warranty from their manufacturers, ranging from 1 to 3 years, depending on the component.

Summary:

I would elect to build a computer myself rather than purchase a pre-built one because I could make a better, faster computer for cheaper than what the big companies offer, and if I were so inclined, I could use the money saved to customize my computer’s case by doing silly things like adding a clear window panel to the side of the case to view the insides, adding neon lights to the insides, and adding extra cooling fans. To see examples of how I could waste the money I saved, visit xoxide.com and look at their selection of cases and case mod supplies.

URLs for computers/components used in this comparison:

(Please note: Dell is constantly changing system specs so the URL may take you to a slightly different priced machine that has slightly different features, but overall it should be the mostly the same.)

Gateway:

http://products.gateway.com/products/GConfig/prodconfig.asp?system_id=510xlp&seg=hm

Dell:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=XPS&s=dhs

My computer:

Case/power supply: http://xoxide.com/lianlipc5b.html

Chip: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-381&depa=0

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-413&depa=0

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-152&depa=0

Optical drive: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-106-927&depa=0

Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-103-186&depa=0

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-286&depa=0

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-162&depa=0