The thing is…. Is it still a nobrainer to build your own PC as opposed to buying a new/refurbished one, or are the savings negligible?
It's worth considering NOT building your own anymore, I would say, depending what you want it for. There are several sources that might be better, considering...
I don’t need it for anything crazy, some general light browsing/video editing and gaming. (Just you know: 1080p 60 fps. Doesn’t need any crazy 1000$ GPU.)
That helps to know. General light browsing is neither here nor there, unless you have a 100 tabs of porn open. I'm assuming not. Video editing suggests higher RAM count. Gaming suggests faster single core clock speeds and not so much reliance on multi-threading. You'd probably do better with a machine with a half decent GFX card as well if you want to do video shit. You can go a long way with on-core built in GFX chips, but they are not ideal. Again, it depends how heavy you want to get with the video editing. Higher end gaming also benefits from a better GFX card if you can run to the expense. Thing is, everyone is looking for bang for buck cards like this and that is what makes them 'unobtanium'. So you really have to make do with cheapest shit that will get you by, or bite the bullet and pay through the nose for a higher end solution.
Also: Does anyone have recommendations for a classy case/finished machine? I absolutely loathe the “gamer esthetic” with see through case and goddamn lights everywhere.)
As someone already mentioned: Fractal Design -
https://www.fractal-design.com/
They run the polar opposite of Gaming cases that tend more towards the fucking monolith in 2001 A Space Odyssey. I got an R4 and couldn't be happier. Think they don't make them no more but they still do the R5 - a classic -
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/
Expensive especially if you want the tempered glass options and whatnot. But a basic case from them is doable, and that does provide a lot of options for expansions later on. I'm on my third build of this R4 I'm using right now. Got six drives in it. It's fairly quiet for what it is, but it's nowhere near 'silent' as some claim.
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It did used to be the case that building your own machine would save you a fair amount of cash. It may even be the case that building your own machine will save you some cash still, in this day and age. I don't know. I only know about my particular niche which is audio. It's not too far apart from video shit though as it needs high RAM counts, fast hard drives, and a fairly fast CPU to munch all that data. These days I would consider buying from a company like Scan in the UK. They test all the machines, and they already have a wealth of knowledge to start with. They will give you a machine that works. Ok, prices start over a grand. But if you were building a machine like that yourself I don't think you could build it much cheaper, have it tested, and have a warranty on it as well.
The thing is they can source certain components cheaper than what you will ever find them for. GFX cards especially. A lot of people say you really don't need a GFX card for audio. But it does 'technically' take some of the load of the CPU and may provide you with greater options for using other extra monitors. It depends.
Also, I've built so many computers (not that many really compared to some) that I'm kind of bored with it. Sure, it does cost a little more buying from a 3rd party - all that testing and also shipping out to you needs to be paid for - but for what extra you spend you can save on time and having less stress. If I had the money right now I'd buy a machine from Scan, but alas I don't have a spare couple of thousand bucks plus for the machine I want. I'll save up for it. I've opted to just upgrade my old computers instead. I'm still mainly win7 with a bit of winX, so there is method to my madness.
Scan can build you a gaming machine, a video editing machine, an audio machine, a general purpose business machine. Yes of course they charge for that, even taking in to consideration they get components cheaper than us chumps. There is the website to pay for. Bricks and mortar. People on the phones to sell. People on the phones to take complaints. People to assemble components. People to buy components. People to manage it all. People to test the machines once built. Etc. etc.
So if you really know what you are doing and you have the time and the patience and the will, yes, you can still build your ideal machine for cheaper than what they can, shipped out to you.
I looked at the cost of building an adequate machine for my needs that was a step above what I have now and came to the conclusion I would rather just buy from Scan. Not much more expensive for the benefits I would gain. If I had the cash I'd buy one of their lower end audio machines with a few upgrades built in. I still probably will at some point. Buying components and assembling them and testing them is a PITA after a while, and if you can stretch to a few extra bucks, it's worth it to have someone else take the load for you.
I realise this hasn't really answered your question. Other more knowledgeable people are better prepared to give you a more astute answer. I'm just posing a few 'what if's'.
It's a funny time in the computer world. Chip shortages. Only just about recovering from hard disk shortages. Price of GFX cards through the roof. Supply chain issues.
Couple all that with the fact that Moore's Law has just about broken down now.
I realise this is open to debate. But anyone who has had to buy a fuck ton of hard drives in the last few years will know that the price has been just about constant in recent memory. If you want to go over 6TB, then things start getting expensive. Been like that for years now. Also CPU speeds have not got faster per se, they have just become more parallel, with more cores.
Enough about that. If you can build this dream machine of yours yourself and you have the time and skill, you can game the system. If you can't do that and have a friend who can do it for you, then great, but he'll probably want some kind of 'payment' also. Getting a company that knows what they are doing like Scan will cost more, but saves on heartache and stress.
I think the options of buying those second hand systems are a viable solution. But keep in mind that extra RAM for those old systems might be expensive. DaVinci Resolve which is free needs something like 32GB of RAM to run properly IIRC, and you'd be hard pressed to find a machine with that in it. Then again you might. Only you know your system requirements. Only you know how much you can afford to spend. Only you know the time and stress you can take on board to achieve your goal.
Not the answer you were looking for. But you really won't get any better from anyone else, because that's just the way it is. These people have worked all this shit out to a fine art, never mind science. You and a million other people have asked this very same question. And they have spent good time and money making sure you never come up with an answer. Good luck.
