Build you own?

I've built my own computer since the 486.  Now that my current machine is 4 yrs old, it may be time to upgrade, but DIY prices are HIGH.  I've seen decent i7 machines on the shelf for $600, and a DIY proc, mobo, ram will cost that much.  Granted, I'll have the case, power supply, video card... Saw this article, so, how many are happy with a store-bought machine?  I'd want to use my current drives, so that throws a wrench into it, maybe.
 
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If your machine is only 4 years old, you can probably get a much better machine by spending that $600 on processor, mobo, and RAM.
 
Your case, power supply, and drives are probably still fine.
 
Or you could just wait until component prices slack off a bit...
 
The biggest point made in that article is the skyrocketing price of gaming GPU's, something that you do not need to be concerned with in a DAW build. That is something that the coin miners cannot seem to get enough of.
 
RAM may be higher too, but other than that you should be fine.

You can also buy assembled bare bones systems.  That will save you the hassle of installing a power supply, motherboard, CPU, and RAM, etc., and cabling that all up.  And avoid the cheap components and bloatware on off the shelf systems.  Sort of a hybrid of custom and DIY.  But you do get custom assembly and testing.
 
Might be another way to go for a first timer thinking about building a DIY system...
 
You can go with just the case and motherboard, or add as many components to the configurator as you wish for them to add to the build for you. 
 
Not giving a personal recommendation here (I build my own), but this is one example of a bare bones seller. 
https://www.avadirect.com.ustom-barebones-desktops
 
And you have many options for each component, including the case.  There are hundreds to choose from, and not all are shiny gamer cases as shown in the thumbnail....
 

What’s the easiest way to build your own custom gaming PC? A barebones PC kit from AVADirect is one of the fastest and most affordable ways to start building and upgrading your own custom PC. Preconfigured with just the case and motherboard, you can finish the build, adding and upgrading your components as you go, whether it’s online with our easy-to-use configurators or on your own, over time.
 
If you’re looking for more of a DIY project and love to build your own rigs, then an AVADirect barebones PC is the way to go. If this is your first build, your barebones PC is backed by our unsurpassed lifetime technical support, so you can contact one of our knowledgeable sales associates to help you choose the best components to complete your build.
 
AVADirect offers a variety of high-end components, in every price range, should you be ready to customize your barebones PC. We’re partners with some of the top computer component manufacturers in the industry, in order to offer you all of the available parts on the market.
 
Are you a gamer looking for performance?? Customize one of our barebones gaming PCs, adding top-of-the-line Intel, AMD and Nvidia components to complete your rig. We offer the newest releases, available day one, so you don’t have to wait.
 
AVADirect offers a variety of handcrafted barebones PCs for you to customize and make your own. Start building your one-of-a-kind rig and get a solid piece of equipment built to last for years to come.{/quote]

FWIW, I bought a Dell XPS8900 from Costco last year.  I added SSD and took the memory from 16 to 32G for not a lot.  It hasn't let me down yet.
 
If I was doing this for a living, Jim would be my supplier for sure.

Fan noise is a common complaint on the Dell forum with the new XPS 89XX models.  However, I do part-time PC support and have found the opposite with the PC's I've worked on. I have clients with Dell's (older Inspiron models), HP's and one Acer.  None of these are "noisy" to me (and I'm critical about that).  
 
But, I agree on the other points. Small cases in many models, not enough room in case for much expansion (maybe one hard drive), not enough PCIe slots on motherboards, proprietary CPU coolers and in many cases no room for an aftermarket cooler, etc.  Most are not easily upgrade able (e.g. different motherboard) due to proprietary motherboards, front panel wiring, motherboard I/O shield (on many Dell's its made part of the case and not an insert).
 
 

Maarkr
I've built my own computer since the 486.  Now that my current machine is 4 yrs old, it may be time to upgrade, but DIY prices are HIGH.  I've seen decent i7 machines on the shelf for $600, and a DIY proc, mobo, ram will cost that much.  Granted, I'll have the case, power supply, video card... Saw this article, so, how many are happy with a store-bought machine?  I'd want to use my current drives, so that throws a wrench into it, maybe.
 
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I think it mainly depends on what you plan to do. It can be difficult to classify the home studio hobbyist because you may have one chap who does the rock band thing with drums, bass and he might play guitar himself...so for less than a dozen tracks he's happy and that can be done on a pretty basic setup. Or you might have a chap who like to run dozens of soft synths. Granted you can "freeze" those as you go and save a lot of computer horsepower.
 
But say you're doing huge track counts using unfrozen soft synths so you can keep everything in midi until the end. That means a fast cpu with 16gb memory or more and a second hard drive that's 7200 rpm old school or SSD .That can still be done at a minimal level with run of the mill hardware so long as you don't get too carried away with it.
I bought a 5820K. Overclocked it to 4.4 and it takes everything I throw at it The 5820K probably isn't a favorite compared to some others. 6 cores but shows 12 in CbB with hyperthreading.
 
The main thing to look out for in any new build or store bought consideration is bottlenecks. If the mobo has limited throughput, if the HDD is slow, if the cpu doesn't offer enough lanes, if you can't properly configure your interface because of connectivity issues or software/hardware issues then you'll loose some performance. To use a computer as a basic audio recorder though requires a very minimal setup. You probably won't know you're a power user until you tip the scale. If you're in group 1 you probably need not worry.
 
Most of us want to have enough "just in case". For many here enough is an i5 and a basic setup. I tend to go for a little overkill when I build. I don't often need it, but if I do it's there.