The age old question among tech enthusiasts and gamers has always been should I build my own PC or buy a prebuilt system? There are a lot of factors to consider with this question. Preference and price are the major players. Do you preferer to pick your own parts so you know what is going into your PC? Do you want to start gaming immediately when the system arrives or would you rather spend time connecting everything? Questions like these can help you narrow your search.
Building your own system
When it comes to custom built PCs the possibilities are endless. with this approach you choose all the parts and are responsible for the assembly. You could choose to go an AMD AM4+ socket on a mini-ITX board and include all the RGB lighting you could imagine, Or take a simpler route and build a sleek PC with an Intel CPU on a ATX/Micro-ATX board.
Utilizing sites like PC Part Picker can help you visualize what components you want in your system and help narrow down the best price for your rig. This is by far the best approach to gain more knowledge about computer and have fun in the process. You will learn what parts go where, how to install the CPU and what happens if your RAM is not seated properly. Once everything is install you will go through the process of installing your OS of choice.
There are some things to consider with this choice. PC parts prices often fluctuate so it could be hard to find good prices on your components. You are at the mercy of the hardware vendors if something happens to no work or you need support for troubleshooting. You should also consider the knowledge it takes to build a computer from scratch, there are numerous tutorials online to help you make sure you do not damage any parts in the process.
Buying Prebuilt
The benefit of prebuilt systems is they are ready to start using once they have arrived. Unlike building your own system, you don’t have to worry about installing the parts and OS, all of that is taken care of by the manufacturer. This can be a trade off from building your own system because there could be time where you have build computers in the past and are looking to have something in place now.
You will find that prebuilt computers can usually be purchased somewhat cheaper than buying all the parts individually, manufactures can do they by purchasing their parts in bulk. Another benefit of buying prebuilt is the availability of parts. While it might be hard for you to find the individual components you need for your rig, manufacturers may have been able to acquire those parts in bulk and will not have a shortage issue. Many OEMs like Dell and HP allow you to customize some parts of your computer before you purchase. This could allow you to add more RAM, a better CPU, choose a beefier graphics card and add other options like a RAID config for the hard drives.
Which one should I choose?
This really comes down to personal preference, If you are a geek at heart and love tinkering by all means build as many PCs as you can, if all you want to do is unbox your PC and start gaming choose the prebuilt route. It is best to research both options and see which one gives you what you are looking for at the best price.
Sites like Newegg.com, Amazon.com and even Ebay.com are great places to browse for parts. Places like Dell.com, HP.com and Alienware are good places for prebuilt machines.
Ordering a PC from a custom PC builder like Falcon Northwest or IBuyPower offers the best of both worlds. These vendors give you a large amount of options to configure and deliver the product ready to go right to your door.
