Building Your Own Graphics Workstation, Part Three
Page 6 of 6
What’s this Gonna Cost Me?
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Gateway’s closest system rang in at $2,300, and was pretty similar to our setup, while an Alienware machine clocked in at $2,350. Again both these systems ran with the ATI 9700Pro gamer card, and had no option for either of the pro cards I specified (NVIDIA 750XGL or ATI FireGL8800). However, and this is a nice plus, all these vendors supplied some form of support, whether phone or on-site, and had one- to three-year system warranties. A less well-known online vendor, Champaign Computers, clocked in a similar configuration in at $1,950, which is pretty good, though there was no support for that price. Nor did it have the customized case accoutrements we do. ABS Computers in Whittier, CA, had a system with a faster 3.06GHz P4 CPU with a similar setup for about $2,450, using 1GB of RDRAM and the 9700Pro card as opposed to the GL8800.
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So what the hell’s the bottom line here?
There are just too many options sometimes. You can get a system built for you that is similar to what we’ve built here, though you’ll find yourself compromising here and there on gear, or going above and beyond the best price-to-performance ratio. You do get warranties and support with the vendors typically, but be forewarned that the warranties are usually voided as soon as you try upgrading the system yourself. And the warranties typically require you send the whole system back for service.
With our build-it-yourself camp, you have the ultimate control over what goes where. It is more of a hassle, but in the end run I think it’s worth it. Firstly, most if not all these components have their own warranties. If something fails, you troubleshoot it, remove the part or replace it yourself and send it back for replacement. In over a dozen years of building my own systems, I’ve had one motherboard fail and one hard drive die, and both of those were replaced by their respective makers within a week (both were in their warranty period). If the part, say the hard drive, is out of warranty (drives are usually one year), they’re cheap enough and easy enough to replace.
The grandest thing about building it yourself is the ability to upgrade easily and with lower cost down the road. With a Dell system, for example, you wouldn’t be able to swap out for a new motherboard and CPU after a year or two because their cases are not a standard form factor (ATX). You would have to replace the entire system basically. And any smaller upgrade (new drives, more RAM) and you risk voiding your warranty in the process. Check with the vendor, though.
With a self-built rig, you upgrade what you want, when you want, and still retain the component warranties. Maintaining a top-notch system over the years becomes much more cost-effective when a practically full system overhaul of a next-generation motherboard, CPU and RAM (if next-generation RAM is needed) costs about $650, as opposed to the cost of a whole new Dell or Gateway machine.
The smaller vendors do use standard parts, so they will be much easier to upgrade in the future, less voiding of the warranty, of course; but again, finding one to fit your exact needs is not easy. Plus the thrill/agony of making the machine yourself will teach you how to work your machine and keep it in top shape, and endear you heartily to the opposite sex. And by "endear you heartily to the opposite sex" I mean "keep you locked away in your basement where you’ll get pale and pasty as you wring your hands together figuring out how to squeeze one more MHz out of your CPU without crashing out on SETI@Home and losing your chances of making contact with little green men."
Good luck. Sucker.
Dariush Derakhshani is 31. Nicely bald. Slowly going insane. Has a fear of commitment and of an early Protoss rush. Contributing author for "Maya: Secrets of the Pros" and Co-author for "Maya 4.5 Savvy." Animator. Teacher. A few awards and a couple degrees. Stout little man making reality at Sight Effects in Venice, CA. Flat feet. Can be found skulking about at www.painfulurination.com. You can reach him at koosh3d@earthlink.net.
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