t0asty Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 My manager (and friend) is wanting to build a PC for his son for Christmas. He showed me what the shop down the road was going to build and it was pathetic for what he was going to be spending on it. I offered to create a build for him for the same money that would be way better than what he would be getting. If you see anywhere that I can save some money, please let me know. I was trying to be as frugal as I could, but still getting decent components. I would say his budget is ~$800 but wants to spend less. CPU:i5 3570K $169.99 Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX $69.99 Ram: G.Skill Ripjaw DDR3 1600 8GB (2x4GB) $39.99 GPU: GIGABYTE GTX 660 Ti $269.99 PSU: Corsair CX500 500W $29.99 Case: DiabloTek EVO Midtower ATX (His son wants this one so no changing this) $39.99 Hard Drive: 1TB Seagate Barracuda $69.99 Optical: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $19.99 OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit $99.99 Total comes out after all rebates and discounts to $808. The question he keeps asking me is how much I am going to charge him to do this. I have never build PC's for anyone and have no idea where to begin money wise. I told him it would take 2 days for me to do this right with memtest86 and Prime95 stability, etc... He wants to buy these parts today so we can have it ready for his son by Christmas. Thanks in advance for the help! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 $20 an hour is what I charge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_Capitan Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 Looks good to me. What I usually do is charge half the difference of what it would have cost for the same system built anywhere else. So if they find something they like online or at a shop, and they're adamant about it (even if it sucks), say you can build it with everything the same. Chances are, you are saving them ~$300 if you build it right (in which you'd get $150). The more high-end it is, the more you save them, usually. You can go lower with an i5 2500K or even something like an i3. Also, another option is to go for an HD 7850. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkakmanH Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 All good components - I would, however, use the LG GH24NS72 DVD burner as it is more reliable than the Asus. As for the charge - no less than $50. Here, locally, Fry's charges upwards of $100 for a build and that is when you buy the parts from them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 I like Caps recommendation to consider the HD7850. Here's a great one and it will save you almost $100 bucks on the build; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814202004 As far as a fair cost goes - guess that depends on how long you want your boss to remain your friend. If it were me and I wanted to keep my boss and my friend, somewhere between $80 to $100 for the build is fair. I know that the stability checks are time consuming, but honestly they are set it and forget and come back four hours later and make sure everything is cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dling Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 Just be aware . You will also become his tech support. Every time he or his kid screw up the computer he's going to ask you about it. I helped out a co-worker by doing what your planning on doing. I will never do it again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 Just be aware . You will also become his tech support. Every time he or his kid screw up the computer he's going to ask you about it. I helped out a co-worker by doing what your planning on doing. I will never do it again. Very very very true. Sadly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
t0asty Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 Just be aware . You will also become his tech support. Every time he or his kid screw up the computer he's going to ask you about it. I helped out a co-worker by doing what your planning on doing. I will never do it again. This was my biggest concern. I am already "that guy" at the office that knows about computers. I have already attempted to fix something his son did to an older desktop to no avail, so there's no telling what he would do to this one. Of course I would install MSE and Malywarebytes, but somehow people are still that stupid. He knows the guys at the shop that were previously going to build the PC, so I can just make this clear to him I won't be his techie for software problems. That extra $100 right now during the holiday season would really help though... And thanks for the 7850 suggestion. I don't even think he games at 1080p, so that would be more that enough for what is out right now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 The HD 7850 will handle most anything at 1080 just fine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroFight Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 I would recommend something like AVG instead of MSE. MSE has a much lower detection rate than other AntiVirus software, I myself have had some issues with MSE not detecting viruses. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 I'd never recommend AVG, not even to my enemy You will also become his tech support. This, its so sad Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 Just use avast free, it's decent and doesn't bog your system down. MSE is garbage, and lost its av-test certification. Read my article about it. Also, avg blows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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