It is increasingly popular to build your own computer. In most cases, it saves money, and it guarantees you get what you want. It also assures you avoid proprietary designs many companies use to keep you coming to them for new parts. Best of all, having built the system yourself, you become very familiar with that system and with computers in general.
People from all walks of life today build their own PCs. Executives, engineers, students, housewives, they all do it today. But, at the same time, pre-built PCs have come down in price quite a bit. Today, one is left to wonder whether it is best to build a PC yourself or to simply buy one off the shelf. I’ll address that here.
If you are a real PC enthusiast, this question may be a non-issue. The answer may be as obvious as the color of the sky. This is predictable, of course. When one builds their own PC, they are able to not only understand their PC better because they built it, but they are able to choose each component that goes into their PC. There is really something to be said for choosing your own components, and I’ll go into that further below. There is also a certain sense of satisfaction with having built a PC. One spends a few hours (or less for those more familiar with the process) to put the thing together. Then comes the moment of truth when one hits the power switch for the first time. If it works on the first try, its beer time!
But, besides the joy of it, is it worth it? Is it a practical use of your time? Will it really save you money? The answer to that question today has become a bit gray. A few years ago, the answer was obvious. Pre-built PCs were typically built from OEM, cheap components. The performance was average to simply awful. The choice was obvious: If you wanted a decent PC, you better build it. Today, the line has blurred. Where many off-the-shelf PCs today still use cheaper components in an effort to save money, there are more pre-built PCs today which do use quality hardware and whose performance ranks up there with the best of them.
Let us look at some of the key areas of interest in this:
Component Selection
Most commercial PC buyers (except for the ones who build higher end models) do not make a big deal of which components they use. They will, of course, tell you the specs of the system, but often do not elaborate on the brands of the equipment they use. Most lower to average priced pre-built PCs use more or less generic hardware. It gets the job done, but what you get is what you get. Upgrading can be a problem for this reason. In contrast, building your own PC means you can handpick all components in your system. You can ensure you get good, name brand hardware which will have proper manufacturer support and driver support. Most importantly, you can ensure you get hardware that will perform. One aspect of pre-built is that compatibility issues are taken care of by the manufacturer, but there is a tradeoff made in that guarantee.
Price
In general, you can get more bang for your buck building your own PC. In many cases, you will find equally priced and comparable PCs, where one is pre-built and one would be homebuilt. You can buy PCs cheaper than you can build them, but when you consider the hardware choices within, the price is offset in favor of homebuilt. One thing to consider here is the value of your time. If you are a very busy person where time is money, then you most likely want to buy a pre-built PC. If you don’t mind taking the time, though, you can do better doing it yourself.
Support
Available support is a key concern for do-it-yourselfers. When you build it yourself, there is nowhere to take the PC for service. You can’t say “Here, make this work.” On the other hand, pre-built machines typically do come with manufacturer support. But, support is anything but consistent. Some manufacturers have questionable records on support whereas some are quite good at it. Having support for your PC is no guarantee of having a problem-free user experience, and it is certainly no guarantee that they will take responsibility for your PC if it doesn’t work. The good news for do-it-yourselfers is that the community of people who do this kind of thing themselves is increasing. There is a lot of data on the internet, and community sources for assistance. I’m compelled to mention our own forums where a community of thousands is available to help you out on your PC.
Warranty
On pre-built PCs, there is typically a warranty on the whole system, and in many instances, you are offered an extended service plan at the time of purchase. Home built PCs do not have full system warranties, of course, but if you buy good name brand hardware, most of the components will themselves have warranties. So, really, either way, you can be covered here.
Software
Pre-built PCs often come with much software on it, most importantly the operating system itself. The actual price of the software is pretty good, because manufacturers get great deals on this software because they buy in bulk. On the flip side, though, these PCs sometimes come with too much software, meaning garbage that you do not want and just clutters the hard drive and bugs you to buy stuff. It can be quite annoying. On homebuilt PCs, you might pay a little more for the software per unit, but you will get what you want and only what you want, plus you can set it up how you want.
In general, I’m a big fan of the homebuilt PC. I’ve never used a PC I didn’t build myself. I think its a huge money saver. In my case, I built it myself, and then as technology progressed, I incrementally upgraded the machine. This saves a lot of money in the long run, because with a pre-built commercial machine, once it goes out of date, you pretty much need to start anew with a new PC.
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Big Thank You to the author for this article.I just wanted to say that this also made my final decision in buying a self made pc.I hope everything will work out after all…
My bugdet line is about $1000.My goal is to create a Machine that can play modern Games fluently and with good graphics.Any sugestions are welcomed…
It does depend on what you’re looking for and your budget. My first computer was a Compaq Presario ‘98 that came with a keyboard, mouse and no other peripherals. For my second computer I knew I wanted to gear it towards making music and had a limited budget. I put most of my money into a high end sound card (w/ sound board). I then bought a mediocre motherboard, mediocre processor, 128 MB RAM, 120 GB HDD, a mediocre fan, a nice big tower (for getting in and out of) and mediocre video card since gaming was not my focus. I used the old mouse, keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and speakers; all of which have been replaced with scavenged or new peripherals since then except for the keyboard (10 years old). And now I have more RAM since I took my Dad’s old RAM because he upgraded his. My next computer will have some of the last computer’s hardware and a lot of it’s software. I feel building my own PC has saved me a lot of money through scavenging and waiting for technology to go down in price.
Well I’m trying to build my on computer. My question is how do I find out if all of the system that I’ve order are compatible?
Hey I used Part of this Guide but Not All of It and I made a GREAT Computer that will probally Last for me about 6 Years And if It’s too slow I just have to buy more RAM =D
If you want a Compatible Match here it is!
Asus M2A-VM Bulk AMD Socket AM2 690G CSM DDR2 800 4SATA PCIE Gb LAN 10 Motherboard
Microsoft Windows XP Pro X64 Edition SP2B for System Builders
APEX PC-319 ATX Mid Tower SL 300W 4 2 (4) Bays USB Audio 2*FAN C2D System Cabinet – Black
Kingston ValueRam 2GB 667MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 DIMM (Kit of 2)
Antec PRO 80MM DBB 80mm Double Ball Bearing Case Fan Pro with 3-Pin & 4-Pin Connector
LiteOn SOHC-5235KBLACK 52x-32x-52x CD-RW 16x DVD-ROM Combo Drive
AMD ADO4400DDBOX Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4400+ 2.3GHz Processor
Western Digital WD800BB 80GB 7,200RPM Ultra ATA/100
That is Everything I used =D
you should have tried a different ram type. The Kingston ValueRam 2GB 667MHz DDR2 is exactly that VALUE RAM. try a ram with a 1066mhz if your mobo can support it, youll notice a HUGE difference, but you’ll also notice a difference in price as well, where your value ram was probably 20-30 bucks, this ram will probably be 60-70. but it is worth it because of the MHZ. the fact that it has 2gb of memory isnt the ONLY factor in your ram, then mhz is way important too, never forget that. most people dont uderstand why they should buy the ram that has the same 2gb of memory, but can be up to double the price. it is because they do not realize that the more expensive ram runs on a different MHZ, thus making it faster, and more efficient. That 667mhz ram you have is lower end, regardless of how many gb’s it has.
I found this off a google search just to see what people are saying about pre-built/canned computers. Admittedly, pre-built computers are *very* cheap, and they can help you “get the job done”. However, as others have said before, if anyone is reading this article and these comments, please remember that if you DIY, you will make yourself even more tech savvy than the person who “just bought it off the shelf”. You will learn more about how your computer works, what is connected to what, etc. Brand manufacturers like Dell and HP attempt to hide this information from you, and instead throw specs at you with BIG NUMBERS to impress you into buying their machines. There is documentation on how to take apart these name brand manufacturer computers, but you often have to dig deep inside their “Knowledge Base”s to find it.
Doing it yourself is really the way to go. If you are not going to be a hardcore gamer, please don’t read too much into the numbers that people throw around on Newegg. Most of the male DIY-fers like to throw numbers at each other to “one-up” each other. This may make you feel that you’re getting a bad part – don’t be put off by it. If they start throwing things like CAS Latencies, voltages, milliseconds, etc. take note of it, but I don’t think it should be your PRIMARY means of deciding on computer components, especially if you aren’t going to be using it for anything heavy like gaming, video editing, etc.
But yeah, be mindful of the brands that you buy – look for recognizable brands. You will want to make sure that the tech support for these brands are good – they will be your first lines of defense for any problems you incur. You can also tap into the community of DIYfers, but the tech support personnel you contact will allow you to get immediate responses.
I started building my own computers, when I bought one from the store and it was junk. I learned that after I got on the internet and found out what else was out there. The preloaded software and demo programs really slowed down my pc. I had to add 2 gigs of memory, sound card with 5.1 surround , HDTV Video card with video out and turner, wireless internet radio 802.11 a b or n , Blue Ray player, DVD burner, Blue Tooth and Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate or XP Media Center. I did this pretty cheap and over a period of time. I signed up as a Microsoft Partner and became a System Builder and got the software from Authorized Distributors at low prices. I sold several computers and fixed many in my neighborhood and helped a few people start their business. To make it official I started the A+ certification and the Microsoft Small Business Accounting course and it’s been Business every since! I never bought another computer again or paid for any tech support or warranties. I do provide warranties for the systems we sell and offer Tech Support from Affiliated companies. I recommend you get help from you local PC Tech at rates of $15 to $80 an hour. I did $10/hr most Technicians Should only be fiscally working on your computer for 2hr the rest is reading, upgrading or ordering a part. Shop around I’m sure you will find one at a great price or maybe even free! Family members are a good place to start and forums like this can get you really going.
This is very easy to understand.. even people who dont know much about these stuffs will be able to understand..
Thanks for sharing this over the internet.
Peace
-Soctt
I’ve been building PC’s for my friends for years, and recently I decided to start charging people, so I googled quotes and came up with this site. Just a quick tip to Do It Yourselfers, the biggest difficulty in building a computer is compatibility issues. The big ones to keep in mind is your case and motherboard, most motherboards today use and ATX form factor, so make sure your case is ATX form compatible. Most hard drives today use Serial ATA connectors, so make sure your motherboard has SATA input connections. Those are a few examples, but just make sure to keep an eye out. If you want an example rig, here’s one I just recently put together for a client using both Newegg and Tiger Direct for parts:
1. Apevia Black X-Cruiser Midtower Case
2. EVGA GeForce 8800 Graphics Card
3. OCZ Dual Channel 4096 MB DDR2 RAM
4. Asus M2N Motherboard
5. AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ CPU 3.20 GHz (fan included)
6. 680 Watt Sunbeam HUSH PSU w/ 12V rails
7. Sabrent TV Tuner Card
8. Maxtor Diamond Max 500 Gb Hard Drive
9. DVD-R/RW Burner Disc Drive
10. Windows Vista Home Premium OEM 64-bit Edition*
*note, the OEM OS is $110.00 and the same as the $240.00 retail copy, without the fancy packaging and intended for people who build their own computer.
I hope this helps!
This information is great…
And I haven’t even seen computer parts before!
Dell’s Intel Core 2 Quad Processor costs $170, whereas I searched for Quad processors on that website and there was some that only cost $60-$100. I’m enthusiastic to build my
own computer!
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i’ve needed a new computer forever and i was thinking of building one my highest price is 650-800 dollars can i build a pc that will play todays games for that price but nothing like crisis
The answer is YES. I have built 2 “gaming systems” in less than 9 months. Both systems cost app. $700 to $800. The 1st one has been performing well on games like Flight Simulator X, Mass Effect, F.E.A.R., Oblivion, Age of Empires III, Company of Heroes (which came free with my video card), Sims Life Stories, Sims Castaways, & the latest game of Spore. All these game are turned up all the way. Just do some researching, and I bet you can build your own custom system that will play what you want it to play. Here is my two systems:
Both in Master Cooler RC-690 cases & OS is MS XP Pro.
System 1: Elitegroup MoBo; AMD Brisbane 2.2GHz dual core CPU; 4G DDR2 800 G.Skill mem.; Raidmax 630W PSU; XFX 256M Video Card; Samsung DVD burner; 320G Western Digital 7200rpm HDD (SATA)
System 2: ASRock MoBo; AMD 6000+ 3.1GHz dual core CPU; 2G DDR2 1066 G.Skill mem. (adding 2G more soon); ABS Labs 700W PSU; PALiT 1G Video Card; 2-LG DVD burners; 2-500G Western Digital HDD (SATA)
Hopes this anyone wanting to build their own computer.
For all you do-it-yourselfers out there..this site http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/ is a great start –was for me.
I know a littIe about PC work, but never built from scratch before. My son and I took our time researching through newegg and tigerdirect and then went ahead and bought all the parts needed while making sure to pay attention to compatibility. We watched several build PCs videos on youtube and checked some of the ‘build your PC online sites’. Our goal was to build an acceptable gaming PC for under $700 and we did it. Ended up buying everything via newegg. Started the build after supper on a Thursday. Had it running by 10:30 PM and loaded the OS the next morning…loaded the drivers and configured that day after work. This is a great project to get a kid involved with! Teaches them the value of research and analysis (just like homework, but don’t tell them that until the project is over and successful). Also, don’t pay attention to all the wiseguys that say they are at expert level on newegg reviews. Many are simply arrogant people with a list of buzzwords. Good luck!!
-Rosewill RCX-Z300 92mm Ball CPU Cooler
- EVGA 512-P3-N980-AR GeForce 9800 GT Hybrid Power 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD – OEM
- GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel
-Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400
-G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK
-Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
-LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model
-pick a case with t least 500 watts, I bought RAIDMAX and that was my one bad purchase
If you do not want to pay for the OS software, I suggest looking into Linux.
Its free =D
I need one piece of information that I did not find addressed on here.
How do we know our hardware is compatible?
The 1st thing I tried working on was a store bought EMachine. I wanted to add a video card to it. A co-worker told me about Newegg.com, so I went to their website and started “researching” on the different type of cards. It turns out that I had to settle for an old AGP card due the the EMachine being 5+ years old. That’s when it dawned on me that I could and now always will build my own computers. (My next big step is to get A+ cert.) I guess to answer your question, is to RESEARCH everything you can before you commit to buying any parts.(Just like being on the website.)
Read the specs. Mobo is the mother of all components, as the name says. Mobo bus speed must be compatible with CPU speed (eg. 1333MHz). Mobo video slot must be compatible with video card (eg. PCI-E). Mobo RAM slot must be compatible with RAM themselves (eg. DDR2 or DDR3). PSU power must be able to run all components, specially if you are going to use these modern energy-demanding video cards in parallel. If you buy any third-party heatsink, for the video card or the CPU, it must fit not only into the video card or CPU but also inside the case because these days these heatsinks are huge and you may buy a small case. So on… It looks complicated but it is not because if you buy only modern components (and I don’t mean expensive components), they should already be compatible with each other mostly, but still, keep a look at the specs to make sure.
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Just like every facet of life, fools and their money are easily parted when it comes to buying a PC. Even the simple acts of comparison shopping and researching before you buy will save you serious money, regardless of whether you build your own or pay to have someone else do it.
When it comes to consumer products in general, the amount you pay for equivalent products is inversely proportional to how much you know.
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Most of the time when you purchase a pre-built PC there’s 3-4 component inside that going to be realy cheap.
1: The PSU. When you purchase a budget pre-build PC .. You will have a no-name Powersuply.Yeah that can cause you a lot of problem .
2:Motherboard : Sad but true . 90 % pb budget pc use crappy motherboard.
3: 99.99 % of pb budget pc use crappy yes realy crappy computer case.For exemple i purchase a pre-build PC and i can’t even screw my videocard and my new powersuply don’t FIT.
I have 2 spot for 80 mm fan but i can’t use them both because of the tiny space between both.
4:Warranty . SImple . If you open your box your warranty can be void .
5:Hobby and fun factor.You can create something unique if you do it yourself.There won’t be another identic PC..
wow nice article. I think when i get a job i’m going to build my own computer. I took a computer apart and put it back together with success it was pretty fun. This article inspired me to build my own computer. i’m so excited!
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Well, I must say that building a computer is not as intimidating as I thought it would be. I had never done such a thing in my life. All the worries of component compatability really did deter me from building my own computer. I would just like to say that this article was a tremendous help in my favor. I would also like to say thanks to MikeL for posting his build, as I also used some of the same components. I have just ordered everything via newegg except for the os, case, and graphics card and I cant wait to began assembling it. Thanks all for your help!!
Jacob