Poll: Gaming PC: To build, or buy pre-built?

[DerangedHobo]

Build, unless you like to burn money and have no time on your hands or dexterity, build it yourself. Cheaper and if you know how it fits together, you know how to replace parts as needed.

Even though you are new, provided you do your research and take proper precautions (anti-static equipment, don't touch the gold bits, compatibility compatibility compatibility, etc) you should be fine.

Edit: You can't beat the pride that getting the damn thing to work gives you, either.

 

[Destal]

Absolutely recommend building; for the most part, they've made it so easy that most cables and plugs won't fit in any port or socket except for the correct ones.

It's also far cheaper, so you can get a lot more PC for you money.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Cheaper to build it yourself. If you dont want to bother with learning and just want to game and are happy to spend the money then let some company build it for you. Also it would be under warranty. Just check the prices of parts etc and then decide. If you are still thinking price of parts...build yourself. If not, there are firms that will build it to your specs. Either way....enjoy your PC gaming my friend.

 

[Quirkymeister]

Thank you all for your input.
I've come to a sort of compromise between the two options; a friend of mine showed me this store that lets you assemble the PC as you wish, and then you pay them $70 to do the physical assembly for you. This way, I get full control over how powerful it is and what features my new rig has, and the peace of mind knowing that people who know what they're doing are building it for me.
I'll still modify and swap around the parts myself later when I need to, I just figured that it would be easier if the machine has been expertly put together from the get-go. It's just the initial step of turning a bunch of chips and cables into a working gaming platform that's proving daunting.
Anyway, that's the road I'll be taking. Thank you all for your assistance.

 

[Johnny Impact]

I like to build.

My machine sort of grows like a silicon Frankenstein -- time to change out the RAM, time for a BluRay drive, time to dual wield video cards.

Sure, you can do this with prebuilt rigs, but they're not meant for it. The cases and mobos tend to be really small. Sometimes there isn't a slot for the thing you want to install, or the power supply juts into a space you want to use. I've worked with the itty bitty prebuilt Dells in my company's office and let me tell you, you need an extra wrist to get your hands in there. That's why I have a monster case, it makes installation and troubleshooting easy.

The only problem with building your own is inevitably you will have a time when you get the whole thing put together, press Power.....and nothing will happen.

Side note: That's the first time I've ever said "my company." I became corporate president nine days ago. Woo!

 

[Private Custard]

I bought a prebuilt machine to start with. But, once I'd changed a few parts over as I went, I realised that it wasn't too complicated, so built my own, and have done ever since.

Don't skimp on power supplies and cooling and it'll be fine. Do some reading, buy a cheap toolkit, and go for it

 

[MisterLiver]

It depends on what you want, but if we ignore things like budget or personalization and stuff like that, and only focus on power and speed, it's kind of like asking would you rather build a fast car or buy a fast car. If you've got the money to buy it and the knowledge (or at least the willingness to acquire the latter) to maintain it after its parts inevitably fall into obsolescence, then why would you go to the trouble of building something that has no noticeable advantage over something you could just obtain?

 

[Pieturli]

As far as I've been able to work out, there is no reason to EVER buy a pre-built package. A pre-built is HUNDREDS of dollars more than the equivalent parts, and if you aren't confident enough to actually put it together yourself, I seem to remember many businesses offer to build PC's for a small fee which is still peanuts compared to what you would spend on a package PC.

 

[Quellist]

Pre-built is a good option if you don't have the skills to put one together or a trusted friend/family member who does. If you buy the components and pay someone else to put it together you have to pay them for their time and if they screw up you are likely shit out of luck.

 

[J Tyran]

Pre-built from a good custom PC builder (not Alienware) is a good idea in two circumstances, you are unsure if what you're doing or never done it before or if you want something that surpasses your building skills or something that needs specialist work. A twin Xeon compact rendering station with stress tested heat management (because you really don't want to run the risk of your pair of £2,500 CPUs getting damaged) or a really out there custom case and water cooling might be better left to somewhere like Puget systems or Singularity builds, if you have never done it before it might be best to buy a complete system and learn by doing some simply upgrades over time and fiddle with some settings and try some light overclocking so you have an idea of fixing any problems with a finished PC when you build your own for the first time.

Nothing more annoying than forgetting something or doing something simple wrong and then having no idea of how to track the problem down, even experienced builders do it sometimes but we know how to track the issue down.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

I bought a pre built system and have proceeded to upgrade the crap out of it. This is doable and really gives you a lot more confidence. Right now, the only stock things are the case and the motherboard, and I plan on replacing the mobo so I can jump to an Intel cpu.

I will do the next build entirely myself, but I never would have gained the necessary confidence without my pre built system. So call me an advocate for both.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Always build. You're gonna have to have the skills if you want to upgrade at some point, and its way cheaper.

 

[Callate]

It's way easier to build than it used to be. Probably the hardest part is spreading thermal paste on the CPU cooler, assuming you don't get one that has it pre-applied.

Well, okay, the hardest part is not having someone to be cranky with if everything doesn't work as advertised. PCs, like homes, tend to have their idiosyncrasies, and it's handy having a technically proficient friend around if, say, audio plays through the back of the case but not the front, or one of the USB connectors doesn't work.

But having a PC that's actually built to your specifications- that doesn't skimp on the parts that you actually care about, or splurge on things you don't need or want, is a very good thing. You don't need to worry about an optical drive that doesn't write, or $100 spent on glowing case lights that could have gone to a better video card. And if you do it once, you can do it again- and next time it will be even cheaper, because you can cannibalize still functioning parts from your first build.

PC Gamer does an annual "how-to" guide that's worth the $10 if you can find it in a bookstore; there's a free online equivalent here: [link]http://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-build-a-gaming-pc-a-beginners-guide/[/link]

 

[Lightknight]

If you have never done so before, do build one at least once regardless of what I say next.

However, there are some sites (like Cyberpowerpc) that give you a good enough deal during sales to be very close to how much you would have spent had you only purchased deals but plus the $50 or so bucks to build it.

I guess, is the time and energy needed to put your own machine together worth around $50? At my current financial status? No, it isn't worth my time. Four years ago? Very much worth my time.

 

[AgedGrunt]

If you are not confident, you can buy motherboards with the CPU and memory already installed. Those two bits are the most fiddly and the most likely to cause issues.

Good advice here. That also does away with compatibility issues, however it's still important to recognize what you're getting and what you need (processor speed, memory type/amount, motherboard features), and if it's good value.

OP, as always the correct answer is: it depends. Retail PCs are convenience items, and convenience is (usually) not the best quality. You'll almost always do better with a custom build, it will just require time and enough know-how. Experience isn't a deal-breaker; just keep it simple.

Some tips:
-Buy an old (but not too old) PC that someone is selling dirt cheap. Take it apart and put it back together to learn the fit and feel and where things go without worrying about damage.
-Buy a case that uses a tool-less design
-Get a case that has dust filters
-A power supply with more wattage than you need is better than one with "enough"

 

[Flammablezeus]

Never buy pre-built. You're so much better off getting the parts and having it built for you if you don't have a couple of hours to assemble something.

 

[RJ 17]

I'd say it depends on 1: how much funds you have and 2: how serious you are about being a PC gamer.

If you just want a PC that's basically a console with some upgradeable bits, I'd say start with a pre-built one and you can build from there. If you know what you're doing, however, then it's definitely better to buy and build yourself.

Personally I've got a pre-built one...that's because I tried going the "build it yourself" route and - even with a friend that has built dozens of PCs and helped me pick out all the parts and assemble the thing - it didn't work...processor kept overheating way too fast (like, before we could even finish installing windows). We tried numerous fans, different heat sinks, everything we could think of...just didn't work. Ended up returning everything I could and it was about a year before I decided I wanted to give PC gaming another try. Went with pre-built because I wanted something I had some assurance would actually work. Sure enough, it did.

I'm under no delusion, though: I'm fully aware that ultimately build-it-yourself is more likely to be superior to any pre-built PC you can get...providing you're not like me and absolutely cursed when it comes to technology.