Building your own gaming PC is often considered a challenge. You need to research carefully, understand the component compatibility, and depend on yourself to get it up and running. Furthermore, it can become costly if you don’t watch where you spend your money. On the other hand, buying a pre-built gaming PC takes the least time and effort, and is usually cheaper than building it yourself. So which is better for you? Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.
Pros Of Building A Gaming PC
Opting to build a gaming PC yourself can provide you with a great learning experience. You’ll understand what each component does and how it works with the others, giving you insight on why parts are priced the way they are. You’ll also have complete control over what parts you choose and can ensure good component compatibility during assembly. You can also save money since you can choose each component’s price according to your budget and you’ll know what works best for you. Lastly, there’s also the satisfaction you’ll get once you complete the build, and know you can proudly show it off as your own.
Cons Of Building A Gaming PC
Building and managing your own gaming PC can turn out to be a lot of work. First you need to research the best parts out there and look at compatibility and pricing. Then you need to figure out the assembly process, if there’s any special tuning you need to do, and also troubleshoot in case of any issues. This can be especially hard for people who aren’t tech-savvy and have no prior experience with building PCs. All these factors can end up costing you more time and money than what you estimated initially.
Pros Of Buying A Gaming PC
The biggest advantage of buying a pre-built gaming PC is its ease of use. You don’t need to think about compatibility issues and you don’t need to customize your PC; it’s already put together for you. You can just plug it in and you’re ready to go. Furthermore, you can also choose better components compared to what you can find while building your own. Lastly, pre-built gaming PCs are usually cheaper than building them yourself.
Cons Of Buying A Gaming PC
Unfortunately, buying a pre-built gaming PC also has its drawbacks. Most of the time, these PCs come with outdated components and there’s no way to upgrade them. And if you want to choose the most up-to-date parts, you’ll end up spending more on the gaming PC than if you had built it yourself. Moreover, you won’t have the satisfaction of knowing that you built it yourself and it’s truly yours.
Conclusion
So which should you choose, buying or building a gaming PC? Ultimately, it depends on your own preference and what’s most important to you. If you’re satisfied with pre-built PCs, their ease of use will be the most attractive factor for you. However, if you want to learn more about PCs, have more control over your component choices, and take pride in building it yourself, then you should opt to build a gaming PC.
Performance
When it comes to performance, it’s important to compare the processor and graphics card of each build. Building your own PC allows you to pick components that serve as the foundation for the intended use of your gaming machine. Components like CPUs, GPUs, and RAM can all be tailored to your needs, allowing you to choose the best performance while addressing the cost of the build. Pre-built gaming PCs may offer decent performance, but they may not offer the upgrade potential or best value that a custom build offers.
Cost
Whether you buy or build a gaming PC, both will have an associated cost. When building your own, you can tailor the system to fit within your budget, though the cost for building can vary depending on the specifications you choose. On the other hand, pre-built PCs typically have a fixed price and offer fewer customization options. GPUs and CPUs may not be as powerful as those you’d find when building your own PC, but cost savings may still be possible depending on the company from which you buy.
Upgradeability
When shopping for components, gamers often consider the potential of upgrading their system down the road. By buying a high-end processed and GPU initially, you can easily upgrade other components such as RAM and storage devices, since they are typically cheaper to purchase when compared to other components. Pre-built PCs usually offer limited upgrade opportunities, and restoring the original performance level can often be challenging, as components may be obsolete for a longer period of time.
Expertise
Having the technical expertise to build your own gaming PC can save you time, money, and help you get the most performance possible out of your build. If the thought of building a gaming PC intimidates you, buying a pre-built system may be a better choice. Pre-built gaming PCs typically require little to no extra tinkering, unlike their custom-built counterparts. Those who lack the technical know-how may want to opt for a pre-built gaming PC.
