Every new PC gamer ultimately faces the same question that haunts them until eventually, they get their PC all ready and up running. That question is whether a person should build his own gaming PC or buy a prebuilt PC off the shelf.
As much as the hardcore PC enthusiast crowd may tell you that one approach is better than the other, it really isn’t. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to building or buying a prebuilt gaming PC.
Both the approaches have their own benefits and flaws. Like everything, no single approach is perfect, and the decision ultimately boils down to the preference of the individual. Through the years, both the prebuilt and the as well as the PC hardware industry has evolved to the point where previous speculations don’t hold weight.
Gone are the times when prebuilt gaming PCs were heavily overpriced and were sold at a premium just because they had the tag of a reputable manufacturer. Nowadays you can find the best prebuilt gaming PC under $1000 like SkyTech Chronos Mini that rival their build counterparts both in terms of performance and price.
Therefore, coming to a distinctive decision has become more difficult than ever. So how does one choose between building your PC and a prebuilt PC you ask. Well don’t worry, in the next segment we will assess each aspect of building your PC and also of buying a prebuilt one so that at the end of the day we can make a more informed decision between the two.
Building Your Own PC
If you ask any seasoned PC gamer whether they will buy a prebuilt gaming PC or build their own the answer most of the time will be to build their PC. This is because building your PC has one great massive advantage over buying an off-the-rack machine.
No, I am not talking about the price. The main advantage of building your PC is that you can pick and choose each part that goes in your PC. This aspect of building your PC allows you to mix and match different components and fine-tune the PC according to your liking, making your PC unique from the other machines out there.
With buying each part for your PC also comes flexibility. You can shop at different locations, hunt for deals or even use some existing parts that your friend might have lying around hence saving the overall cost of the build.
Talking about the cost, even if you do pay full price for every PC component that is going to be part of your build the total amount will still come out lower than a similarly priced prebuilt PC. At the end of the day, this is just a fact and there is no other way around it.
With building your PC also comes satisfaction. No one can deny the feeling of accomplishment you have when you finish your PC build and boot it up for the first time. With building your PC you also get to know things better hence if anything goes wrong it will be easy for you to diagnose the issue and troubleshoot it.
Building your own PC isn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. The biggest drawback of this approach is that even before starting out the process you have to do a lot of research. That research consists of not only how to build a PC but also on the compatibility of different components.
Then there is the stage where you have to physically build the PC which is exhausting as well as time-consuming. Some folks just don’t want to go through this process and it is fine and understandable.
Buying a Prebuilt PC
The prebuilt PC industry has evolved but the core advantage of this sort of approach has remained the same.
The main benefit of buying a prebuilt PC is that you don’t have to go through the process of researching for the parts that go into your PC, nor do you have to worry about spending a whole day building your PC.
If you end up buying a PC from popular vendors like Dell, NXZT, Cyberpower, iBUYPOWER, or others they will send you the completely built machine to your doorstep. Therefore, you can get straight to the action without having to worry about anything.
In most cases with a prebuilt PC, you also get complimentary technical assistance hence if anything goes wrong or you have trouble with a certain program then you can ring up the technical support and ask for their assistance to solve your issue.
That being said, the main drawback that pulls people away from buying a prebuilt PC is that buying a prebuilt PC is still more expensive than building your own PC. This is because at the end of the day you are paying for the labor costs for assembling your PC.
Conclusion
To sum everything up, all I would like to say is that the ultimate decision of whether to build your PC or buy one should depend on your personal need and preference.
If you want to squeeze the most value out of your PC and also want it to be unique then building your own PC is the more favorable approach because it not only saves money but also allows you to select each component of your PC based on what you like.
On the contrary, if you feel anxious about building your own PC and don’t have the time to put in the proper research then buying a prebuilt PC is the superior approach. With this, you will also get complimentary technical assistance which will aid you immensely if you are new to PC.