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RE: thinking of getting a new box
I am going to go ahead and disagree with everyone who said "custom built is cheaper". That hasn't been true for many years anymore, at least not in the US. Make sure you are comparing the same exact configuration, don't leave out the cost of a legal OS license if the pre-built machine comes with one, and you should find there's either no price difference or pre-built is cheaper.
Sure, you may be able to save money when you can't get the exact configuration you want pre-built without having to pay for extras you don't need. However, then we are comparing apples to oranges and that doesn't make "custom built is cheaper".
Anyway, reasons to custom build are the flexibility, more expansion room, and the experience (if you put it together yourself). Reasons to buy prebuilt are minimal hassle and better overall design (smaller, more quiet) than you'd easily get from generic cases and components.
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