Building your PC vs Buying One?

So, you’ve finally decided to join the big leagues. You want to get into PC Gaming. Congratulations! But now you have to decide, do you build your PC or buy one? If you’ve got a friend or family member who knows how to build, the choice is probably easy. But if you don’t, the idea of building a whole PC alone can be a pretty daunting one. So, to help you make your choice, we’ve compiled a list of pros and cons for building your PC vs buying one!

BUILDING A PC

Pros

• Choosing your Parts. One of the best parts of building yourself is being able to choose exactly what goes into your system. Everyone uses their PCs in different ways. For example, there’s no point getting an insanely beefy graphics card, if all you’re doing is playing basic RTS games. If you are doing your own build you can research each part individually and really design your PC based around your use.
• Save Money. Picking parts to suit you, often means you save money overall. You also don’t have to pay extra for labour. Additionally, you can shop around for the best prices or find things on sale, or even second-hand, to save even more cash.
• Customisation. Buying pre-built, means you’re stuck with whatever they give you. But building yourself means you can make the build truly your own. Don’t like RGB? Then you can pick hardware that doesn’t have any. Have a certain type of case style you like? You can go with that in particular. Your build will feel far more like yours if you build it yourself.
• You Know your system. One of the worst things about not building yourself, is your system is basically a stranger. So, if something goes wrong you will feel far less confident to fish in and figure out what the issue is. Also, in the long run, you might lose more money by sending it off to be repaired.

Cons

• If you have no experience, it can be overwhelming. Even if you have done a lot of research, your first build can be pretty daunting, especially if you’re doing it alone. The cost of PC parts can add up, and it can be nerve wracking handling such expensive hardware with no experience.
• Installing Windows/ Working with BIOS. There is a lot of extra set up you have to do after you get through the stress of building. Installing an OS for the first time is something you don’t really have to do until dealing with your first build, so it can seem a bit confusing. Additionally, anything to do with the BIOS can also be entirely terrifying. One wrong click in the BIOS can be disastrous, and that’s why playing around with it is not really recommended for newbies.
• Waiting for Parts. When you order each peice of your Build separately, you can end up waiting for weeks for each one to arrive. This is annoying when you end up with 80% of your hardware, but you’re still waiting on the rest, so you can’t even start building yet.
• Building takes a while. If you have a busy schedule, it can be tough to fit in building a PC. If you’re new, you’d want to block out a good few hours to work on it, and if you’re balancing it with working full time, or children, you may find fitting it into your schedule is tough.

  

 BUYING A PC

Pros

• Everything is done for you. This is by far the most appealing thing about buying a pre-built PC. The stress of choosing parts, putting it all together, testing things, and installing Windows etc, is all handled for you.
• Plug and play. Because your PC is all finalised before you even get it, you can use it straight away once you set it up. There’s no annoying installing Windows or BIOS setups, it’s all done for you! For people with a busy daily schedule, this is a super appealing part of pre-built systems.
• Warranty. A lot of Pre-built systems will come with a warranty. So, if you have any problems with it over that time, you can send it back to the place who built it to repair it for free. This is a nice safety net for people who are less confident with performing their own repairs.

Cons

• Your system is a stranger. In contrast to building yourself, you know very little about your system if it’s pre-built. This is made worse if you have no building experience or knowledge. If something goes wrong, you’re basically left in the dark with your hardware. You either have to brave the unknown of your pre-built configuration, or send it off to get it checked out.
• Can be more expensive. Because you’re paying a lump sum for a PC, often you’d save money if you just bought all the parts separately and installed them yourself. You also end up paying for the labour of the builders who assemble it, which is an extra cost you don’t pay if you build yourself.
• Not customisable. Once again, in contrast to building yourself, you are often stuck with whatever look the builders give you. If you have a mostly white colour scheme in your set up for example, you might end up with a pre-built system in an entirely different colour. This is because sometimes they can switch out things like cases depending on availability. So, if you have a certain look in mind, pre-built might not work for you.

  

So, there is a quick breakdown of some Pros and Cons for building your PC vs Buying one.

At the end of the day, it’s a personal decision. You have to weigh up your budget, time, and experience to make the best choice for you. Regardless, making the switch into the world of PCs is a great one, and I wish you all the best whatever avenue you choose!

If you want to have a browse at the water cooled pre-built systems we offer, check them out HERE! Otherwise, you can check out our How-To Build guide right HERE on the Blog! Additionally, our community Discord has an entire section devoted to tech help and PC build suggestions, so feel free to join HERE if you need some extra help!