Or build it yourself and save $2000
My experience differs significantly.
Right after I bought mine, I opened a ticket for the model information. They provided me the full model code and hyperlink to maintenance manual with part numbers.
This was a few months ago.
At my current bill rate, I am barely better off financially for having built on my own. Had any hardware been defective, or if I had to troubleshoot the first boot, then I would have been better off buying.
I imagine anyone who can justify a machine like this for their work will likely be in the same ballpark for bill rate (or higher).
I chose to build because I enjoy it. I'm sure plenty of others wouldn't enjoy it, and so would be much better off purchasing.
Are you turning down paid work to free up time to build a PC?
Bench build with mobo on the desk and each stick of RAM individually, and one pass of memtest86.
Then full build in case. I am fiddly with cable management. Also had some extra fans to install. 3rd gen Threadrippers throw off a lot of heat.
Some BIOS config (biggest thing was adjusting RAM timings and enabling virtualization features).
Then 24 hours of Memtest86.
Install Windows (a lot of benchmarks and stress testing stuff is much easier to just download and go on Windows).
Then 24 hours of Prime95 with hardware sensor monitoring. A few other benchmarks.
Then install Ubuntu.
To be fair, I'd have done the stress testing on a purchased box as well, but that is pretty much hands off.
January was light for me in terms of scheduled work. I didn't explicitly turn something down, but I did take advantage of a gap in my normally billable period (midday on a weekday) to build the machine. If I had wanted to, I probably could have found a way to be billing during that time. I greatly value flexibility in my time.
Could I have gotten done faster? Probably. My mise en place was awful. I was building in a cramped space. I haven't built a machine in quite some time. I also took my time to read the full mobo manual as I was installing and plugging stuff in. But like I said, this is something I enjoy. I was happy to take the time to research and shop around and then build the machine.
The comment on the value of time is more illustrative than a concrete argument. It is worthwhile to consider, especially for someone that doesn't enjoy building a PC. I could have chosen to find billable work instead and devoted that toward purchasing a completed machine. I'd only be a few hundred dollars worse off if I chose to do so. To me, that's a very reasonable price to pay to avoid something undesirable.
There isn't. No next day on-site like you get with a major OEM.
Threadripper 3960X - $1400
16GB 3200 RAM - $70
256GB NVMe - $70
RX 550 - $70
System76 price = $3700
That said, if you're looking at their higher-end models, I think you still have a fixed ~$2k markup, and so you're looking at something like $10k vs $12k, which isn't a big deal for that sort of customer (does save time, after all).
Side note: I own their AdderWS laptop and am a happy customer.
DIY is free only if your time is worth nothing.
And, I guess these days most people who would need a desktop at home with this configuration are potentially power users.
Plus you need a quality motherboard, case, power supply, water cooling. Add another $1200.