Is it worth buying a Gaming PC?

This can be judged on a few things. There are many companies in the market to choose from and a lot of them provide various options that are based on user experience and needs. If you’re on a budget then there are trade-offs between specs i.e. a few PCs maximize GPU and minimize their cost in RAMs and a few minimize in Processors. It is totally on the user to decide which one is better for his needs and requirements.

You have many options but do you have durability? Yes. All these companies have invested a lot on the design and quality of the components, to maximally satisfy their users. On top of that, if you still run into any problems they have their customer service in place and for the final resort warranty. So, you get the ease of mind from every aspect but it is true all of this security and durability comes with a price. A small extra portion they charge every user at their PC’s price.

If you have the budget and want security and comfortability then buying a Gaming PC is the right thing for you. It is because if you don’t know what you’re doing while assembling a Gaming PC yourself you can end up burning a chip and lose the money you saved in building it yourself.

Let’s get into more details of whether you should buy it or build it and we can discuss the pros and cons of each.

Should you Build or Buy a Gaming PC?

This point is highly dependent on the user’s budget and personal preference. We have discussed that buying a pre-assembled PC gives you security and ease over a few extra bucks but we haven’t discussed the benefits of building it on your own. Sure there is a factor of uncertainty, that you might lose a component but if you know what you’re doing you can save up much more. Build a high-performance gaming PC on a low budget. Budget, where the companies start cutting-off performance you can get the performance without the cut-off when building your own gaming PC.

A lot of factors do affect the prices of particular components i.e. the crypto-mining drastically increased the GPU prices but these are few factors that affect not only the separate components but also the price of assembled gaming PCs.

A point to remember is that when building a gaming PC, you will find many distributors selling computer components. It’s best to find a credible source and have prices of all the components in mind so you can bargain and get more in your current budget.

Pros and Cons of Building a Gaming PC

Pros:

Cheaper

Let’s start with the most basic point. We have discussed it briefly, but this is an important point of building your own PC. For some people, these tasks prove to be a very complicated one and they should learn before trying to build the PC. Since they can end up burning or damaging a component and can actually cost extra instead of saving. If you buy a pre-assembled PC from a company, you’re not only paying for the components of the computer but also the cost of managing all the customer support, employees, advertising, and much more. All this proves to be very costly and building it yourself means you are saving all those expenditures.

Personal Interest and Satisfaction

This is for all the gaming lovers out there. Actually no one starts from a high-end top-notch computer. You start from basic computers that can barely run a game and get to know about each and every component. Once you can support the extra cost, you know what you will need, how much of the RAM is required, which processor & GPU will be best for your needs and games. This is where no pre-assembled computer can beat because of the satisfaction of building the computer according to your needs and requirements. It is more than a sense of accomplishment but a personal belonging.

Customizability

Pre-assembled computers do also provide customizability but there are always trade-offs when it comes to budget. They either maximize the processing but lacks in memory, or they maximize memory and lacks in graphics. So, it’s always this or that. While personally building a computer you can be in control of what you want and go for low memory, or low graphics when you’re on a budget. But in the future, since you have built up that computer you can easily change that part.

Cons:

Risk of Components

This might be the most important con there can be and can be quite frustrating. Since you will be assembling all the power cables and other components. There is a chance that you might get the configuration wrong and end up breaking or burning a component completely. When this happens void that component’s warranty, cause frustration and basically if you’re doing this out of budget. It will cost you exactly the same or many more than a pre-compiled computer.

Compatibility Issues

Yes, if you don’t know much about the computer components it’s best that you leave this job to the experts. Building a Gaming PC is a bit of a hassle as there are different technologies for example in processors there are Intel and AMD processors, you first need to know which one of them is most suitable for you and furthermore there are generations in the processors. All of this and the GPU you are going to use can also cause compatibility issues with the processor.

However, you can easily find information but make sure before purchasing the components you spend a day reading about it. We haven’t discussed the risk of improper assembly even if all the parts are just right and compatible.

Pros and Cons of Buying a Pre-Assembled PC

Pros

No Hassle

Once you have chosen your computer, you just order it or ask them to ship it to your address, where a pre-built PC is delivered to you on your doorstep, actually some services also install it for you. This way you are sure to get a working product and if something goes wrong, well they are there to take care of that. At the end of the day, you will be sitting on your computer playing games without any worry.

No Compatibility Issues

The computer that is delivered to you on your doorstep has been manufactured and assembled by the experts. They have knowledge of every part and know what they are doing, so you won’t be having any compatibility issues i.e. graphics card is not working with the processor, or any other issue. Even if you do, which is a very rare one-time thing, you will have 24-hour customer support to have the issue resolved.

Warranty

This is a win-win situation for you. You don’t have to worry about anything, there will be no issues, and even if some part expires. You have that warranty to take care of you. However, these computers are tested and there is a tough chance for them to malfunction but even if they do warranty will save you.

Cons

Less Customization

Pre-built gaming PCs do have fewer customizations available, as there are many components that can be changed minorly for big improvements in that section. So, companies take up customer reviews and judge market trends to create computer specs that are most demanded. If the company starts making computers with all kinds of customizable specs they will have many non-sellable PCs lying around, which is bad for business. Hence, the companies make computer specs that are in high demand.

Expensive

This is justifiable since the companies are not only selling their products but investing in much more, hundreds of employees working for them, running the company, advertising their products, running durability tests on their computers. All of this costs the companies a fortune and they provide a few extra details like warranty and customer support. This ends up costing a bit more money compared to when building your own gaming computer from scratch.

Less Upgradeable

You haven’t built this computer, even if you know each of its components you will have to dig deep yourself opening each of the components for finding a suitable upgrade for it. This can damage or void the warranty (if you have one). All of this is not an issue when you have made your own computer.

However, depending on the build it may take years to upgrade the PC, but having an option is still appreciated.

Final Take

In the end, the question, should you Build or Buy a Gaming PC, boils down to preference, budget, and type of users.

It’s possible to find the right gaming specs for you even in market built computers but the idea behind building your own personal computers is just too alluring for some users that they don’t do it out of obvious benefits, like budget, customizability but for pleasure. Next, you can save a lot of money when building your own computer.

In our opinion, you shouldn’t invest in personal adventure (build it yourself) if you don’t have much information regarding it, only after studying about different components you should go for this approach.

Muhammad Azeem

Muhammad Azeem is an Electric Engineer (Specialization in Computer) with Dean Honors List. He loves to use and write about the latest technology gadgets. He also loves playing different high graphics games.