Why would hard economic times push enthusiasts to STOP building their
own computers? I just built an HTPC for ~$800 and modestly overclocked
it in order to get a little more juice. It's the first time I've built a
computer, but it was satisfying and affordable, and even though people
who build it themselves are the minority, I agree that we're probably
here to stay. And we're not crazy people who want $16,000 machines,
we just like computers.
Jason Perlow believes that the days of the extreme PC and homebrew systems are over. I disagree.
First, let’s consider extreme PCs. Jason seems to think that extreme PCs are all $16,000 systems. These aren’t extreme PCs, these are super extreme monster PCs. The market for these systems is (and always has been) tiny and the companies that build them normally use them as little more than Wow-packed PR tools. Sure, there are a small number of people who have more money than sense and will pay stupid money for something, but what’s new about that.
Do people actually buy these systems? Sure they do. I wouldn’t, but that’s not the point. To some folks spending ten thousand on a PC (or something completely left field) is peanuts. It’s like you or I going out to buy gum. Swiss watch companies, German and Italian car manufacturers and yacht builders the world over have relied on people willing to pay over the odds for things for decades. If someone wants to spend vast sums of money on something, that’s their lookout.
Extreme PCs don’t cost $15,000+. In fact, $1,500 buys you a pretty amazing PC, while $2,500 to $4,500 buys you a real extreme system. That might sound like a lot, but Apple’s Mac Pro fits comfortably into that price bracket, and with a few clicks of a mouse you can push the price of even the Mac Pro up to a whopping $15,000 - and remember that this is a system based around two 2.93GHz Xeon processors and 32GB of RAM. Add a couple of 30″ flat panels and some software and you have a machine that’ll set you back nearly $20,000. High-end hardware has always cost a lot of money. Your money buys you more nowadays, but there’s always room to spend more.
But what about home-built homebrew PCs? Are they on the way out? No way. While some people are happy with an off-the-shelf PC, there are people who aren’t willing to compromise on anything and want total control over everything that goes into their PC. These people aren’t willing to pass up the responsibility of putting together a PC that works to a third party. It’s not an issue of price, but of pride in building the exact system to fit their needs.
And then you have the extreme homebrew PC. There are huge communities of overclockers and modders out there spending small fortunes squeezing a few extra frames per second or a few extra Folding@Home points from their systems. Again, there has always been people willing to spend money to outdo one another.
Extreme PCs and homebrew systems are here to stay.
