Luxia Le

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Building your own personal computer has gained a lot of attention in recent years. As gaming gets more popular with the general public, more people are looking into building PCs as a way to improve their gaming experience. However, there are cons of building your own PC that new users should be aware of. Let’s examine the pros and cons of building your own computer.

Pro: You Control the Component Selection

One of the primary reasons people choose to build their own computers is because they want agency over the selection of components. Pre-built computers are a “get what you see” deal. If you don’t like one of the components, you have no choice with pre-built machines. When building your own computer, you have full agency over what components you use in your build. You never have to settle for less. The computer will be exactly as you built it, designed around your specific needs.

Con: You Need to Ensure Component Compatibility

Not all computer components are compatible with each other. If you aren’t careful, you may end up with components that don’t work together. This is an especially big risk for brand new users who don’t have someone guiding them. Many new users don’t know how to check socket compatibility and other types of interconnection between components. Thus, it is possible to end up with a computer that doesn’t actually work due to the components not fitting together.

Pro: You Can Get More Power for Less Money

It is cheaper to build your own computer. You don’t have to pay for the labor to put the components together. You only have to pay for the components themselves. Self-built PCs also lack a “sticker tax” where they have an artificially increased price due to the presence of a brand name sticker. When flying without these additional fees, you can get a more powerful PC for the same price as an equivalently priced pre-built machine.

Con: Warranties Are Per-Part

One downside that can sometimes be an upside depending on the situation is the warranty. When building a PC, you have to manage the warranties on every individual part. Pre-built computers have a warranty for the whole machine that covers all the parts inside at one time. Self-built machines require you to be able to diagnose the issue down to the part and replace that part individually rather than sending the whole machine and having someone else do it for you.

This doesn’t have to be a downside though. Some part manufacturers have better warranties than pre-built manufacturers, which means that a computer with per-part warranties might be covered for longer by technicality.

Pro: No Underpowered Components

More powerful components are more expensive. This concept shouldn’t be hard to understand even for those who have no experience with computers. Thus, when a pre-built computer manufacturers utilizes more powerful components, they mark up the final product to increase the profit margin. However, they also do things to drive the manufacturing costs down. This combination of choices brings you a computer at the price point the manufacturer intended.

One way manufacturers bring the cost of their machines down is to manufacturer underpowered components in-house. Companies know what components users are looking at most closely when they buy a computer. They know if they use, say, an underpowered, in-house processor, people aren’t going to buy the computer. However, there are components that people don’t look at as closely. For instance, do you know what motherboard your computer has installed? It’s unlikely if you bought the computer pre-built because manufacturers usually build their own motherboards unless they’re planning to advertise the computer based on its MOBO.

Components like motherboards, RAM sticks, and power supplies can be sneakily manufactured in-house with crucial features removed to reduce the manufacturing price of the whole unit.

Con: Overall Price May Be Higher Even If Per-Component Cost Is Lower

Let’s say you want a computer with an Intel i3 and 8 GB of RAM with no discrete graphics card. You can get that PC easily for around $180-400. However, if you choose to build it, you may end up paying for components more powerful than what you strictly need. For people looking for the most possible power for the lowest price, building a computer is the way. However, If your personal needs allow for more flexibility with parts, those underpowered, in-house components could be really useful to you.

A modern Intel motherboard costs at least $100 and the i3 is another $120. Add in the RAM and power supply and you may go well over $400 depending on what you buy.

Additionally, with modern computers requiring more and more power, components manufacturers are phasing out many low-powered components. They don’t generate enough money because most people who build their own computers want more power rather than less.