* $450 -- 12-core Zen 4
* $250 -- x670 motherboard
* $130 -- 48gb RAM
* $100 -- 1TB SSD
* $170 -- 750w PSU
* $130 -- case
* $600 -- 3070 GPU
* $80 -- CPU air cooler
* $200 -- Windows
* $100 -- so-so speakers, mouse, keyboard, etc.
We're very close to $2200 if we go with solid, midrange stuff and don't include a monitor.
The cost to apple self-repair guys for a 16" mini-LED display is $670 with Apple offering around $100 back if they'll turn in the old screen.
If we add in $600 for the monitor cost, we're up to $2800 while the 16" MBP we compared to is actually $4000. The savings of a desktop are there, but they aren't what you make them out to be.
If we look at a comparable laptop with good build quality like a Lenove Thinkpad, we're going to pay as much or more. For the same price, we'll have terrible battery life and our performance when not plugged in will drop off a cliff.