Building vs Buying A PC (What Should You Do?)

The whole idea of building your own PC is something that a lot of people want to get into, but the thing that you must understand about this is that it is not something for everyone and can confuse a lot of beginners.

Therefore, in such situations, it is better to just go for a prebuilt PC. I do understand that it is going to sound like blasphemy for the hardcore PC gamers, but over the past couple of years, buying a prebuilt has become a lot better and easier.

Now, if you are stuck between building vs buying a PC, then this post is for you because we are going to make it clear to you as to why you should go ahead and focus on what you should be doing with your money.

Let’s not waste more time and start breaking this down, shall we?

Should You Build A Custom Gaming PC?

If you are planning on building a custom gaming PC, you will have to be sure that you are prepared. This is not the simplest thing to do for newcomers and definitely requires some patience going towards it. Still, we are going to help you sort it out.

Advantages of Building a PC

Building custom gaming or a custom PC, for that matter, does come with a number of advantages. First, you get complete control, creative or practical, in the build process.

This means that everything ranging from part selection to color schemes, size, and other aspects of the PC is done by you. You can make a custom gaming PC as flashy or as stealthy as possible.

Another thing is that it helps you understand the process and become better at it. This allows you to learn how to troubleshoot the PC in the process.

I must tell you that, at times, you will not get a successful post right away, but it certainly is a thing that will teach you a lot about PC building.

Last but not the least, the benefit of building your own PC is that in case something does not look good, you can always change it for your preference without really running into any confusion.

Another benefit is that since you are building the PC on your own, you get insights as to how each component works.

So, if you ever have to troubleshoot, instead of sending your PC all the way back to the system integrator and waiting for them to run their tests, you can do so by yourself.

Simply put, the whole idea of building your own gaming PC is a rewarding experience that most people tend to stay away from because they are overwhelmed with what can happen or cannot happen in the process. However, if you do not cross this road, you can end up having more issues in the future.

Disadvantages of Building a PC

Moving onto the disadvantages, I would not really say that they are disadvantages but some issues that people face along the journey of building their own PC.

It is not as complicated as some might think but still, better to look into because, after all, this is going to help everyone develop a better understanding.

The first definitive thing that actually bothers me is the fact that when you are talking about building your own gaming PC, sourcing parts can often be difficult.

If you are familiar with GPU shortage, the RTX 3000 series was one of the most difficult GPU series to get our hands on, with thousands, if not millions, of people paying a massive premium to get their hands on the GPUs. With prebuilt gaming PCs, you do not have to deal with any of this.

Moving further, another disadvantage is that if you are doing it for the first time, the process can be daunting, even something as simple as installing a cooler can be confusing for most people.

Last but not the least, with building a custom gaming PC, every part carries a separate warranty, which should not really be an issue, but if you have purchased your parts from separate retailers, it can be a pain to claim the warranty if you need it to be.

Simply put, the disadvantages are there, but they are not as massive to break the overall experience of building a PC. You can still learn from these and mitigate these issues and come on top.

Should You Buy a Pre-built Gaming PC?

Next up, we are looking at pre-built gaming PCs. They have become very, very popular over the past couple of years, and the best thing is that if you are looking for something that is solid across the board, you can get your hands on a prebuilt PC without wasting your time.

Advantages of Buying a Pre-Built Gaming PC

Now that we are done discussing the advantages of custom gaming PCs let’s turn around and start exploring pre-built gaming PCs because, of course, the benefits are certainly there.

Now, there was a time when prebuilt gaming PCs were the bane of the PC gaming industry, but that has changed over time.

The first thing that I like about prebuilt gaming PCs is convenience. Prebuilt gaming PCs are easy to buy. You can just head to any system integrator’s website and pick the PC you want and check out.

This also rids you of any process of building the PC on your own since you just have to plug the power cable in and turn on the PC, and you are good to go.

Another thing that I like about prebuilt gaming PCs is that you are not going to have to worry about warranty as all products are covered by the system integrator that is selling you the PC, so in case of something goes wrong, they can handle it for you.

Last but not least, with prebuilt gaming PCs, you normally don’t run into issues such as shortages because system integrators get a lot of stock allocated to them, which makes it easier for everyone to get the PC they want. Sure, there are some downtimes, but overall, the flow is pretty constant.

Disadvantages of Buying a Pre-Built Gaming PC

As far as the disadvantages are concerned, there are not a lot of glaring issues or issues, in general, when you are talking about prebuilt gaming PCs.

If you haven’t guessed already, it all comes down to the personal preference that you might have, and this can change for people, going forward.

Still, we are going to talk about a few things that you should know about whenever you are in the market looking for a prebuilt gaming PC.

For starters, you do not get a lot of creative freedom when buying a prebuilt; this means that what the company sends you is pretty much it, and if you want to make customizations, you will have to do it on your own.

Sometimes, prebuilt gaming PCs use proprietary parts rather than generic, off-the-shelf parts, and that makes it incredibly difficult in case something goes wrong with the PC.

Similarly, I have seen a lot of gaming PCs that had a K series processor but not a motherboard that would support overclocking, so that is another thing that you have to keep in mind.

Overall, prebuilt gaming PCs are excellent for those who want to have something convenient, but if you genuinely want something that will deliver the performance you are paying for, then getting your hands on a prebuilt one is not at all a bad choice.