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PC Prices to Rise?
guinan writes "The Economist is running a story about how now that PC makers think the worst is over, it's high time to raise prices. In particular, the focus is on the steady price of flat-panels and a possible end to the decline we've seen in the price of memory. Granted, most of the /. crowd build their own boxes, but if you want to buy a computer from a major brand better go for one soon while you can still get all the perks."
"possible end to the decline we've seen in the price of memory."
What is this person smoking? Memory price is almost triple what it used to be.
Memory prices have doubled in six months. What decline?
The masses are the crack whores of religion.
if you want to buy a computer from a major brand better go for one soon while you can still get all the perks
Perks?
Memory has already doubled to tripled in price, and LCDs are up 25%.
The time for bargains was over a month ago, if you buy today or wait 2 weeks not much is going to change.
Many people actively want to spend more. One of my relatively clueless neighbors asked me to bless his decision to spend $2700 on a new Dell. It was top of the line. I knew he did a bit of word processing and spent the rest of the time at home playing flight simulator games. He's not an avid, fast-twitch gamer. I tried to talk him into a $700 system. He wouldn't budge. He wanted to spend that much. He wanted to make sure it was "upwardly compatible" and "expandable", even though he would just spend another $2700 in a few years. There are plenty of suckers who have too much money. It's fine by me if the computer companies take it. The only thing that worries me is that they'll increase the cost of low-end systems that I like. It's been a long time since I did anything but basic coding and editing.
So because one or two companies show slight gains from last quarter, the entire tech economy is rebounding? Bah... I wonder when media sources would like to give some proof as to recovery, rather than jumping on the optimistic bandwagon in their articles.
Even so, raising prices at the beginning of a rebound might serve to shove us back in the gutter again. People are tighter with money now, especially tech workers, who are the #1 customers for these technologies. I don't think they're willing to give up the money so easily now.
doo you know what this will do to the "over priced Mac" argument!!!!
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
I always build my own, stopping by Pricewatch to find the best prices.
But everywhere I look, places are building custom PCs now. BestBuy was even building pcs to order. They had many vendors, Alienware, hp, compaq, etc.... You could order a custom PC, or build your own with off the shelf items. CompUSA started to carry OEM products awhile back, funny to see those white boxed oem products on sale at a retail store.
These are just usual rumours to get the people buy now, and not postpone. We've seen such manipulation over and over again (e.g. with memory prices, causing huge price fluctuations; there is always a group earning lots of money on price fluctuations).
Over time PC prices shall come down inevitably, there is no fundamental reason why progress of technology (enabling more power for same price or equal power for lower price) should stop any time soon.
Example: LCD prices are bound to fall sharply in the second half of the year. New production capacity comes available in big quantities in july/august (new generation plants, higher efficiency, less shortages etc). I guess some stakeholders want to push people into buying now (out of fear for price increases) to get rid of their old inventories.
"Granted, most of the /. crowd build their own boxes..."
I highly doubt the accuracy of this statement.
The phrase "decline in the price of memory" comes from the submitter, not the article. According to the article (and the market), "the cost of some chips has been steadily increasing."
Oddly enough, the article points out that steadily rising component prices may actually encourage some companies (e.g. Hynix) to get back into a market they had recently abandoned, despite shrinking margins. It also mentions that since Dell tends to pass changes in component prices quickly on to customers (for better or, in this case, worse), that it may actually be a competitive disadvantage WRT Compaq or HP, since those companies sell to retail at somewhat fixed prices.
What a strange business - when technical innovation is the driving force in a market, the usual business laws don't seem to apply...
"and a possible end to the decline we've seen in the price of memory."
A possible end?
The ram I'm using in my system, which I bought late August/early Septemer, has nearly tripled in price since then! At the time I bought it, I thought it was a reasonable price, but now it's just way too expensive.
Keep in mind that memory prices have a great deal to do with supply and demand (or so they say.) Here's a price FAQ I found at crucial.com when wondering why my ram had become so expensvie.
-kidlinux.
What your "clueless" neighbor wanted to you to "bless" was his decision to spend a huge amount of money on a computer merely to demonstrate his commitment to being on the cutting edge. In other words, he wanted you to let him know how L33T he is.
;#)
Normally, I wouldn't be so condescending about a newbie, but the fact that he asked you about it, specifically telling you the price, indicates that he was just showing off. It would be kind of like him showing you his brand new Porsche, as he rubs his chin thoughtfully saying, "hmm, do you think I paid too much??"
Meanwhile, I don't think you need to worry too much about the cost of low-end systems being affected, since we l33t coders "know" that building it yourself will always be cheaper, especially since you don't have to pay the Microsoft Tax...
The author owns stock in Memory and Processor companies? And probably at least one of the big brand name PC vendors...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I really don't think prices will go up too much and if they do go up it will probably be a temporary increase. Look how much competition there is amongst the PC makers. The reason why PC prices are so low is because of the ease of entry in to the marketplace coupled with rapidly changing technology and a reduced consumer demand for the latest and greatest PC. Ten years ago, you had to buy a new computer every two years in order to run the latest and greatest software. Not so anymore, a Pentium II will run just about everything the non-gamer needs to run, plus I've seen some thrifty gamers running P-II's with not too much of a problem, besides a little wait.
As of about 5 months ago, a Sony VAIO RX550 went for $1000. P4 @ 1.5GHz, 256MB RAM, 60GB HD, DVD-ROM, CD-RW. This was the last brandname I ever bought. One box that I built died on me and I didn't have time (or the parts) to screw around building one. Mind you, this was _without_ a monitor.
The specifications could be found here.
Now they're selling about $750 refurbished. But what do i love most? That blue light in the front. It just looks cool.
Now, a "Good enough" system can be had for $200, and the "I'll never need another" system can be had for $700.
Wow, I take it you do not plan on installing any MS products on your computer.
Only the losers buy systems at DELL, Compaq, IBM, HP or whatever the brands are.
And BIG companies. Like.. umh.. Those that matter. And consumers, those who really pay manuf.'s bill.
Those who can build their own system are not a big market, they're more like marginal. Maybe a PR market, but really, really small.
fucktard is a tenderhearted description
t's only a personal thing, but as far as my own personal machines go, hand built is the only option. The advantages from having carefully chosen each and every component, exactly as required to do the job in hand are worth the few hours (good components/knowledge/luck permitting) it takes to build the thing. Even if I buy a system, the first thing I do is wipe the disks and start from scratch.
Also, I'm probably not alone in being a serial upgrader, I replace something in one of my machines about once a month, funds permitting. So, I haven't actually built a whole new machine for myself in 4 years, though the only original parts left from that machine are the keyboard and case (currently home to my Linux dev box).
However, I'd always go the way of prebuilt machines, preferably from one of a few big firms (I'm not going to plug ANYBODY) if I were putting a network together for people (something I do regularly), it's more for tech support and a good warranty than anything else.
I look more to the used market for bargins in HD's , Memory , Monitors etc when I build a PC.
:D
I have a greater chance to HAGGLE
Some great bargins there when you haggle them down.
Even if it isn't used products, you can still haggle. No harm in trying. I always do.
----- Whats wrong with this picture? http://www.revoh.org:1234/whatswrong
Because there was a huge glut of it on the market. Memory manufacturers had increased capacity immensly during the boom times. Then the slump happened, and they were left with a huge amount of excess inventory and capacity. The only real way for them to alleviate that was to basically dump it into the market at whatever price people would pay... Since there was sooo much, the price was extremely low. Now that inventory and production are nearing demand levels, the price is rising back up again...
Typical...
Yet again, where Apple lead, the others follow.
Yeah maybe its a little rude, but the dude is right...
"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -Homer Simpson
I thought that time travel guy said he'd have his device ready by fall! Now he's already been here and back telling about the rise in computer prices!!
Find Escorts, Strippers, Massage Parlours, Swingers
What this means is that first of all I save time on not having to assemble the thing and test individual components, plus if something breaks, I can get it replaced more easily. But I still get to choose the exact configuration, and don't have to pay the Microsoft tax if I choose not to (if I choose to, however, I can still get OEM pricing for Windows).
I may end up paying that 100 - 200 bucks for their work; but usually it's not even that much, since they still get volume discount for components. That is, if I bought components from them, the price would be about equal to what they charge for the whole system.
I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
If PC prices do rise, the timing may be fortuitous for open source. Although Linux still does not seem to be gaining ground on the corporate desktop, it is at least gaining mindshare: it's no longer a wild idea to suggest that a business should entirely migrate to Linux. If businesses do perceive that new hardware is more expensive, they may realize that Linux is like a low-cost hardware upgrade.
Miko O'Sullivan
Toxi waste - computers have a very short life and lots of toxic materials.
Not to mention people who want support. Or rack mount servers.
By the time you buy a rack chassis and the compatable parts, you might as well have purchased it from Dell.
Or, if computers is your business, i.e. webhosting, you want something with a warranty, because if it breaks, as far as the clients are concerned, it's *your* problem to fix.
Plus you have to look at: If you can get a system from dell for $500 with a celeron 1.1 Ghz, 256 MB ram, and a 20 gigabyte hard drive, you have to think, by the time you get all that from pricewatch, you're going to spend about $400 by the time you include shipping, they send the parts class R mail, and they're not quality pieces anyway, then you have to pay your employees $10/hr to put it together and test it? Not only do you lose time, but you lose money cause the time could have been spent doing something else.
Even walmart sells computers with no windows. Honestly, its hard to save money building your own low end system anymore.
sig?
... the economy is still not really growing - only able to level even.
Rising is never as fast as falling. And the mergers are not going to reduce the over-capacities. OK the memory was really too cheap, I think. But the rest? Flatscreens are not _that_ cheap.
So all comes down to wishfull thinking for my opinion. We have ample time to compare prices and bargain. I don't need a Dell or HP - on the inside they are pretty much the same anyway.
In the past you could buy a C64 (when they were popular) for $400 and the disk drive for $200, making a system price $600 (IIRC). That can be tough to find with a PC nowadays (not impossible, just tough).
hmmm. you haven't really grasped the concept of inflation have you. Now inflation at 2.5% (UK trend) compounded over 12 years runs to a 35% increase. In 1990 you could get yourself an Amiga 500 and a disc for about £500 sterling. factor inflation and you have £675 in today's money. I'm sure I could buy/build a pretty decent machine for that money.
"The new wave is not value-added; it's garbage-subtracted" - Esther Dyson, Dec 1994
You know, I used to think building my own box was the way to go. I'd get on Pricewatch and find the best motherboards, CPUs, etc. and build the whole thing. It used to be cheaper.
:)
Then my parents needed three new computers at once, and I decided to check out Dell Refurbished.
For $580 shipped (each), I got 2 computers with a 1.1GHz Celeron processor and one with a 1.6GHz Pentium IV. All had at least 128MB RAM and one had 256MB (I bought extra memory from Crucial.com to bring them all up to 256MB.) All had at least a 20GB hard drive, which was all my parents needed for the office. All came preinstalled with Windows XP Home (fine for office work.) And one came with a Firewire card; one came with a kick-ass video card. All had either Ethernet or a 56K modem (in card format, even, not built on to the motherboard.) All of this also came with free one-year ON-SITE hardware tech support from Dell.
I was a bit worried about the quality, since I've seen how Dell shafts its low-end users with shoddy parts. But the computers performed flawlessly upon arrival and have since, with no system crashes. Then, when it came time to swap out a CD-ROM for a CD-RW, I was truly impressed. Swapping out of a drive consisted of the following:
1. Unplugging the computer.
2. Pulling a thumb-tab at the top of the computer.
3. Pulling a latch that released the CD-ROM drive.
4. Unplugging the CD-ROM drive's cables.
5. Pulling out the CD-ROM drive and putting the drive brackets on the new drive (which just snapped on.)
6. Sliding in the new drive, plugging in cables, snapping case back together.
7. Plug in.
Done! No screws, no screwdriver, no nasty cheap ATX case with a hood you have to struggle with getting in the right place. Check out this picture to see what I'm talking about.
There was no way I could have built these computers, bought Windows XP, and had any money left over to profit at $580 a computer. Plus, I would have had to put them in an ugly case that would have caused hassle for me later.
I don't think it's economical any more to build your own computer. This is a GOOD thing -- it shows that computers have become a commodity. Do you build your own TV? Probably not. Microwave? Heck no. The quality to price ratio of pre-built computers is now such that even geeks are starting to buy pre-built computers. I, for one, am glad. Let Dell take over the hassle of being called when the computer has a problem. I'll spend more time doing things that I'd rather be doing.
Simpli - Your source for San Jose dedicated servers and colocation!
Wallmart sells computers without an operating system, but with a winmodem?
Hmmm. No wonder microsoft has antitrust problems
Prices will not go up. The main reason is Dell that is using this downturn to clobber their competitors. Notably Compaq.
Dell as the lowcost producer only needs to keep the level and the rest will try and fail. Then go back the old pricing.
This is being done in the Airline industry all the time. One of the major airlines sends a signal of higher prices waiting for reaction. If nobody follows they go down again, usually within days.
Dell wil not follow as they have publicly stated they will use this trough to gain share.
The PC price elasticity is such that pretty much price is the only thing that will spur market growth short-term. A hike will kill short term demand as no compelling reason for upgrading now rather than in 6 month time can be articulated.
There is no new "must haves" in the newer boxes and it will be a while. Dell is the major culprit here as well since they have less than half of the R&D than other majors. Around 2.5% if I remember.
Help fight continental drift.
See here. 256meg PC2100 DIMMs back down to $70 apiece. Kudos to amdmb.com for the heads-up.
Member of both the RIAA and MPAA. Real Intellectual Property nazis. They love picking on people who hack their products, like mod chip builders and AIBO programmers. They pretty much ran the Dreamcast out of business.
I will never buy anything Sony. Ever. No matter how kawaii their stuff looks.
Sony makes Microsoft look like choirboys.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I've always been a big fan of "build your own clone!" too - but it almost doesn't make sense anymore. Oh sure, from a "coolness" standpoint - there's really no substitute. That's only because LAN gamers and the computer "3lit3" turn up their noses at anything that isn't overclocked, hacked up with extra cooling fans, and has neon lighting inside of it.
If you're a regular or "power user", however, and want value for your dollar, the home-built clone is looking less and less viable.
In recent years, I've built several home-built clones for use at home, as well as used a couple of Dell systems. Neither Dell has given me *any* reliability problems, but all of the home-built PCs have. Conventional "wisdom" of the self-proclaimed PC gurus says "Oh, you need to use better quality parts!" Well, Adaptec SCSI controllers, Muskin memory and Asus motherboards haven't been the magic answer for me - so I'm not sure what they expect I should be buying instead?
Fact is, most clone cases use crappy quality power supplies. I had one literally go up in smoke while the machine was plugged in but powered off! (Before that, it worked fine for about a year - but 1 year before burning up isn't what I call quality.) Cases with *good* power supplies in them cost big $'s, making the system cost uncompetitive with companies like Dell or HP.
Then, you struggle with warranty issues. If I buy a name brand PC, at least I can buy an extended warranty that pretty much guarantees me free replacement of any parts that die for 3 years. Try that with a generic clone! You might get a manufacturer 3 year warranty on the hard drives, but that's probably about it.
One of my Asus motherboards constantly freezes up running Win '9x. With Linux, 2000, or XP however, it's fine. (I wanted Win '98 on it because I used it for MIDI and hard disk audio recording, and had some older software.) No amount of driver updating ever got it stable, even with the latest BIOS updates.
Of course, now, if you ask the same people that praised that board when I bought it, most will simply tell you "Oh, yeah - that chipset is screwed up. You need the new Asus model XXXX!" Whatever.... This kind of thing only happens to people building clone PCs. The name brand systems get returned as defective when they can't run a popular OS properly, so that's usually weeded out before they go on sale.
Would that that were true. :-(
I'm looking at buying a new PC in the UK just now, not quite state-of-the-art, just behind the huge price jump to the absolute top of the line kit. I've looked at several well-reputed suppliers of individual parts, and several manufacturers' made-to-order systems as reviewed in recent PC magazines. There's no question that buying a made-for-you system is around 30% cheaper. For the best prices I found for a basic setup (mobo, proc, RAM, HDD, gfx card), I could get a whole, award-winning system, with almost identical spec + monitor + CD-RW + DVD-ROM + lots more + legal WinXP (even if I'd immediately replace it). Building your own system is definitely not a financially sound move in these parts. :-(
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
hmm I didn't realize till now that Dell was resorting to advertising in posts on /.
And to think an AD got a +5
http://Lenny.com
You're so right. I've built a few machines of my own over time. The last was about three years ago (and is still going, though about due for replacement now). It took four major part swaps before I got it all working. Fortunately, I'd bought everything from the same place, and I used them because they had good customer service, so that caused no problems beyond a little frustration. We agreed that next time, I'd let them put it all together for me... :-)
And you're right about the myth of upgrading bit-by-bit as well, IMHO. You can add new hard drive space, but mobo, processor, RAM and gfx card often go together. If you're replacing that lot, you're really down to "I can reuse the monitor, printer, KB and mouse" rather than "I could just upgrade the mobo, processor, RAM and gfx card" anyway.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Sorry, my experience is markedly different. Simple things like combining the wrong mainstream motherboard chipset with the wrong mainstream sound card can screw a whole system, as recent experience on several systems with the same combination has demonstrated. (It was a KT7A and SoundBlaster kit, BTW, and in case anyone else is in the same boat, it's worth looking in the alternative KT7A FAQ...)
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
I look more for what I Want. ;)
Let's consider my first system. An IBM PS/1 (486sx/25,4Mb/170Mb,14"). I paid my ass off for that almost $2000 (1994 something..).
Next computer I had, I paid for it with my summerjob, it was about $1500, and it was almost top-of-the-line one (PPro180 when most you could get was PPro200).
I paid much, much less than any corporation for that one. At that time I already got some connections and I bought it in parts.
Most of that joy was to get it assembled
Don't know about you, but I ain't gonna get some dell-dimwit computer full of already b0rken parts (i740..). I'm gonna build mine from ground up. And I will not get any support for that.
I know only one single reason (for consumer, not prosumer) to get a 'branded' computer: Support. 1-3 years will be almost enough for everyone.
fucktard is a tenderhearted description
If you have a system that uses at least the Intel 440BX chipset, you can run most current software pretty easily, even Windows XP Professional.
:-)
The big bottleneck nowadays is not the CPU, it's not enough memory and too-slow hard drives. Fortunately, memory prices for PC-100/133 DIMM's aren't really that bad, and most 440BX chipset motherboards with a BIOS upgrade will support modern 7200 RPM ATA-100 hard drive (they are backward-compatible with ATA-33).
I'll almost bet that once you get 256 MB of RAM and a 7200 RPM ATA-100 hard drive, your computer's performance could increase as much as 60%.
I'm running a Celeron A 466 MHz system using an Abit AB-BM6 motherboard, 256 MB of RAM, and a 10 GB ATA-66 hard drive; most everything I throw at it runs pretty reasonably quick.
Simple things like combining the wrong mainstream motherboard chipset with the wrong mainstream sound card can screw a whole system
Christ, I'm glad I only deal with Apple and Sun gear these days... I haven't had to deal with any of these cock-ups in years.
--saint
>> Granted, most of the /. crowd build their own boxes
/. poll. Perhaps something like:
This should be the next
I often build supercomputers
I've build my own home machine
My friend helped me build a machine once
I plugged in my machine and connected all the cables correctly
I can put batteries in a flashlight correctly
Generic CowboyNeal choice
You can get 256MB PC2100 (CL2.5) in good old Europe for under 70 Euros including (local) sales tax. And the Euros are pretty cheap at the moment, too :-/.
DDR prices.
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
agreed definately.
Ohhh, if only i had $4000 to spend on a computer. I'd rule the world. I'd start with an apple cinema display and the adapter kit for the PC, a dual athlon 1900+, 1 gig of ram, 100 gig western digital ata100 hard drives, special edition w/ 8 megs of cache, 2 of em, in raid 0, ohhhhhh.... I'm getting excited just thinking of it.
sig?
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I am a software guy. I spend my nerd thots on trying to figure out things like why some people like fricken OOP, and not on hardware.
I never really had that much interest in the hardware beyond a basic understanding. My hands are too clumsy and large, and I cracked the &@#$ motherboard the last time I put in extra memory because the doggone things wouldn't lock into place. Fortunately, it still worked miraculously. If I paid somebody, then I could demand a replacement if it cracked on them.
I might add a new drive and try to add memory, but I decided not to try to learn hardware by trial and error because I don't wanna deal with flakey hardware problems. It if does not work the first time and 40 minutes with the manual does not uncover it, to the shop i go.
Table-ized A.I.
yeah, after the first two systems i built, i was gung ho, and advised all my friends to do the same.
then the one i built last summer...
bad motherboard, returned for (payed shipping twice more)
bad processor, no response from vendor, had to buy a new one
bad harddrive, returned (paid shipping twice more
bizarre conflict with soundcard + motherboard
all in all it took nearly an extra month of troubleshooting and dealing with online vendors, and an extra $150, killing any price advantage i had.
in the future, i'm going to a local shop, one that's been around for a while, and getting a custom built box. i may pay an extra $100 or so for it, but i'll know what goes in, and if i need tech support, i'll have a warranty, and only need to drive it over to the shop.
building your own system is fun. i suggest everyone try it once. but there are risks, especially when dealing with the kind of companies that give you the best prices. (www.pricewatch.com)
the tech support you get from the OEMs is aweful, and they use second rate components.
local shops are the way to go. i like a place where 3 years warranty actually means "if at any time in the next 3 years, something breaks, drive it in, and we'll fix it as fast as possible."
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
I hardluy ever need a completely new computer. With prices dropping all the time (with some exceptions but mostly unpredictable ones), buying for the future is a joke. Every part of my machine has been replaced at some time or the other, most if not all multiple times, but it's never been completely replaced with something brand new. I'm on my 6th CPU, 5th(?) GFX card, 3rd case (small to large to ATX) and kazillionth HDD, and the idea is to upgrade when needed, and not before. Sending it in to some shop to do every little thing costs some in the long run, so I'd rather do that myself.
For a complete PC I know a nice shop that'll put together whatever pieces I want for a brand new PC for 35$ if I want to. After all the trouble I had getting the @#%$@#% fan to snap on last time, it'll be worth it.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Reporting from Taiwan ahfoo sez:
That last quake cracked a lot of ferrocement buildings in Taipei, and the cranes falling from the 55th floor of the building down the street sounded like all hell breaking loose, but the power didn't even blink and that's what caused the chip productiong problems during the big one a few years ago. There was no influence on production in the science parks where the fabs are according to the local news.
AND Taiwan isn't the major source of RAM. Korea and Japan produce more RAM than Taiwan. Taiwan's got some too, and so does the US and probably some of those companies use the Taiwan fabs, but from what I've read most of it is from overseas.
For Taiwan think motherboard chipsets, video chips, sound chips, DSPs and some early CPU action that should pick up over time but not so much RAM. Of course it's all going to mainland soon. So, as far as price increases go. . . uhm, you been to mainland China lately? I think prices are going down long term.
And for those who have asked in the past, yes, it's still the same system, and it actually, finallly, and supposedly arrives tomorrorow--so it will sit for a week while I'm off at a conference.
hawk, who *Really* wishes his number-smasher had been here to use for the last week while getting ready for the conference.
Hey, I'm in the same boat. I built a completely new machine a few months ago, spared no cost and used the best components I could find. I wound up with a machine that was about as stable as something I could pick up at Best Buy and had only marginal performance gains. My theory is that QA in the component market no longer exists while the big name companies spend quite a few dollars making sure their machines can do 95% of what they expect the customers to want. If this trend continues, building your own computer will be a fool's endevour in just a few years.
A microwave only has one purpose. A computer has several. In fact, if there were microwave parts out there that would let you cook different foods better (a 'cordon bleu' style microwave, or a 'fast food only' microwave) people would probably go for those.
Most people don't build their own TV, but they do assemble their own entertainment systems (DVD, CD, speakers, etc).
creation science book
In many cases, it's not brand names of the components that give you quality (anymore). All mainboard manufacturers fluke every once in a while, all drive manufacturers do, a bunch of cdrw manufacturers did, etc. But also, many lower-budget manufacturers make excellent high quality and long-term stable products every once in a while.
In any case, motherboard manufacturers such as Abit are fair in their warranty service, if you don't mind waiting two months for your repaired item. Drive manufacturers also are good at sending replacement items for broken drives.
But you don't want to be without PC for weeks waiting for warranty repair, so lesson number one: When you build PCs yourself, build multiple PCs so you can keep spare components laying around.
A problem here is also that it's getting harder to identify which components are of good quality. Review websites will give you some information, but of course nobody has long-term stability tests for those brand-new chipset mainboards.
BUT, neither does HP, or Compaq, or Dell. The last Athlon-carrying HP I've examined contained a mainboard based on the lobu KL133 SDRAM(!) chipset (further rant deleted). Bringing your broken PC back to the retailer 9 months after you bought it also doesn't give to an instant fix or replacement, they might send it to the manufacturer for you though, saving you some shipping cost.
What I'm trying to say is that 'whiteboxing' your own PC is not as simple as going onto pricewatch and finding the cheapes supplier for the latest and hottest hardware reviewed by tom on the web.
Succesfull whiteboxing requires keeping good track of all review websites (and top magazines such as the german "CT magazine"), and paying special attention to stability issues. Even then, don't go whiteboxing just for one PC, because you'll have much more trouble diagnosing which part is broken or unstable in case you have problems. When you have multiple PCs that you are 'whiteboxing', you can often quickly identify problem components by swapping them around.
For succesfull whiteboxing, you will want to run your own stability tests (memtest86, cpu+disk loads, benchmarks, etc), and you will want to have alternate (varying brand or model) components to swap in and out to find the optimal combination.
You will want to do all testing while you don't have to wait for it, so it will have to be at least your second PC, so you can keep surfing the web for example while a 48hour test runs.
Then, you want to deal with suppliers that you can simply send low quality components back to with not much more than a quoted reason like 'unstable', 'unreliable', or 'incompatible'. If you can't find such a supplier, you want one that is 20+% cheaper than the rest so you can simply stoss one in every 5 components you buy in the bin if they are pieces of junk.
For most people, that means that they can only be succesfull whiteboxers if they build computers for themselves, and their family, and maybe the aunts friends, the neighbours daughter, their pets outdour house and that cute girl in the bar.
But that's the way it has always been, and nothing is changing there at all. Whiteboxing is not for the amateur, if you want the perfect system and you're not ready to go all the way, then buy your stuff at the dealer and buy the expensive extended warranty, and forget about whiteboxing. If you don't mind messing with the stuff, reading and learing about the stuff, and doing it for others too (including fixing it when they bring it back broken (which they will!)), then go ahead you've found yourself a more interesting alternative to fishing or stamp collecting.
That's what whiteboxing is all about, it's not about spending a couple of evenings at pricewatch and toms web site after watching a technet show and then flushing the cash for the 'perfect' system that you will love for years to come.
--- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.
If your budget is $/Eur 2500, and stability is very important, than use that budget to build two simpler and each slightly different systems. You'll love it, especially when for example you think the video drives of that top-of-the-line video card you bought are causing those hard-to-reproduce problems. You'll have a PC right next to it with a different brand videocard that doesn't hav the problem, and a 20-minute swap-diagnostic will show you if the problem is related to the video card.
Plus then when that harddisk goes, or powersupply gives up right before that deadline, you'll have a working spare computer on which you made that backup of your files yesterday!
--- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.