So, you are going to build a new PC be it for gaming or productivity. You are going to need to buy the parts. There are several choices in each category of part that it can be confusing to the everyday consumer. Such that, it might be easier to just buy a pre-built PC rather than build one. There are pros and cons to each. In this post, I will go over those and you can decide for yourself which is right for you.
Building a PC
Pros:
Freedom of Choice: You can pick your parts; mix and match as you want. Not all pre-built PCs have options or even the options you might choose.
Customization: When you build a PC, you can make your PC match how you want it. RGB or no RGB. What your case looks like and how you want it to look. Aesthetics play a big role in gaming PCs these days. While this may not be a priority for a productivity PC, it is still on option. Sometimes, they can be in plain ole “white boxes”.
Cost: Many people believe that building a PC is more costly than building one, but I say that is not necessarily that case and cost will also show in the cons as well. Most of the time this depends on the system, the components, a “sale”, or if you go with a bulk brand like Dell or HP.
Standardized Parts: For the most part, there are standards for parts for PC when it come to aftermarket part or standard PC parts. Power supplies, graphics cards, CPU coolers, etc. They are interchangeable between different systems because they are standard or be reused in a newer system.
Satisfaction and Knowing all of the parts: Another pro is that you have the satisfaction of building your own system. And you know all of the parts of your system. Kind of like a captain of a ship who knows every nut and bolt of their ship, you will know the same about your PC. You will take pride in knowing that you built that PC and it’s not just another PC that rolled off an assembly line.
Cons:
Servicing the PC: When you are dealing with different parts from potentially different manufacturers, you won’t have a central support number to call. So, when something goes wrong… you have to know what part and who made that part to get service. For many, this is a deal breaker.
Cost: Yes, I did say that cost would be in both places. Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy one but beware of scam listings on Ebay and Amazon. Try to stick to bigger name builders called SI (System Integrators) like Cyberpower or NZXT or iBuyPower. Even within these brands there could be ones that are not quite the value proposition that the seem to offer.
Buying a PC
Pros:
Servicing: Probably the biggest pro to buying a PC is the servicing. Weather is is bulk system builder like a Dell;HP OR a system integrator like iBuyPower, or Cyberpower. There is usually a single number to call to get service on all of the parts, not just a specific part. The warranty on a pre-built is across all of the parts. When you build your own, you will be responsible for keeping up with the warranties on each part.
Limited Part Selection: You would think of this as a con and it is to a degree, but for those who don’t follow technology or know someone who does, then you may be overwhelmed at the amount of choice you have in picking parts. Limiting the part selection can alleviate those concerns. Depending on where you are coming from, this could be a con but for most it is a pro.
Ease of setup: You buy it. You take it home. You unbox it. Connect it to a monitor, keyboard and mouse and you are up and running. Building a PC is like that …… once it has been built.
Cons:
Prevalence of proprietary parts: This really mostly applies to the big bulk system builders like Dell and HP and Lenovo. I have seen many different power supplies that were non-standard. That means that either you have to track down the same power supply on Ebay or somewhere like that or trash the whole system. It happens more than you think.
Lack of upgradability: Most of these pre-built machines don’t have a real upgrade path. Either the CPU cooler isn’t strong enough to handle a higher wattage CPU or it has no EPS power for graphics cards so you can only use the ones that get their power solely from the motherboard. They may have only 2 RAM slots and 1 PCI slot. This is to promote ease of use but in the long-run, produces more e-waste than needed.
Summary
This comes down to how you want to use your PC and if you are willing to handle the additional responsibility of upkeep and service. For me, the biggest con for buying a PC is the use of proprietary parts. It really causes issues when you have a component fail. Sometimes, you can find the part and sometimes you can’t. But also, the use of proprietary parts leads to the lack of upgradability. So, in some instances they go hand-in-hand.
The biggest con to building a PC is the service (or lack thereof). My gaming PC has at least 4 or 5 different vendor parts in it. Do I know when each of their warranties expire? No, I really don’t. I do know that I feel like I am responsible for fixing any issues with the PC and I do that, but I have also been trained and studied how to do that. Many people can fix their cars but I can’t. Many people (including myself) can fix a PC but many can’t. So, you have to keep that in minds as you have a PC built or build it yourself.
I plan to do a series of posts going over different parts of the PC that you will need to choose if you build it yourself or you have a friend built or perhaps have Micro Center build it. Those parts are:
CPU
Motherboard
GPU
CPU Cooler
RAM
Case
PSU
Stay tuned for that…. for now, good-bye.
