Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 19. Building or Upgrading Systems
System Components
In these days of commodity parts and component pricing, building your own system from
scratch is no longer the daunting process it once was. Every component necessary to build
a PC system is available off the shelf at competitive pricing, and the system you build can
use the same or even better components than the top name-brand systems.
There are, however, some cautions to heed. The main thing to note is that you rarely save
money when building your own system; purchasing a complete system from a mail-order
vendorormassmerchandiserisalmostalwayslessexpensive.Thereasonforthisissimple:
The larger OEMs buy components in quantity and receive a much larger discount than you
can by purchasing only one of a particular item.
In addition, you might pay more for shipping if you purchase parts from multiple vendors,
as compared to the shipping and handling charge when you purchase a complete system.
The cost rises further if you encounter problems with any of the components and have
to make additional calls or pay for shipping charges to send improper or malfunctioning
parts back for replacement. Also, many companies charge restocking fees if you purchase
something and then determine you don't need it or can't use it.
If you purchase parts locally to avoid shipping charges, you typically must pay the addi-
tional state sales tax as well as the higher prices usually associated with retail store sales.
Then there is the included software. Although I can sometimes come close in price to a
commercial system when building my own from scratch, the bundled software really adds
value to the commercial system. For example, an OEM copy of Windows costs roughly
$140ormore,andit'sdoublethatforaretailversion.(Upgradeversionsdon'tapplytonew
systems.) This is a legitimate expense you'll have to include when building a new system
from scratch.
Another operating system (OS)-related issue is Windows activation. When you purchase
a system from a major OEM with Windows preinstalled, that version is permanently pre-
activated via something Microsoft calls System Locked Preinstallation (SLP), which relies
on special code both in Windows as well as in the motherboard BIOS of the system. This
means you will never have to deal with the activation hassle, even if you reload the system
using the product recovery partition or discs. When you build your own system, however,
you have to activate Windows every time you install it, and you may even have to reactiv-
ate it if you change too many devices in the system.
