Aren't they? 1: The computer has been tested before shipping (at least enough to install an OS on it), so odds that it's got a DoA part is virtually nil. 2: Su

Aren't they? 1: The computer has been tested before shipping (at least enough to install an OS on it), so odds that it's got a DoA part is virtually nil. 2: Sure, but see above: less risk that any components will be broken. 3: You don't have to do nearly as much research - you know that they're shipping you a working configuration, that the motherboard socket fits the CPU and the RAM in the listed configuration. You might still want to do research to try to find the best bargains or performance, but the time is way less.