In the world of technology today one may wonder if they should build a desktop or buy something from a large manufacturer. The answer to this question can be debated, but in my eyes it is determined by the user’s skill level. If the person is a complete computer novice, then by all means buy a prebuilt computer. It will better suit their needs and not cause a massive headache when it does not function properly. On the other hand, if the user is looking to get the best bang for the buck is building a computer the best option?
To figure out the best option for someone we need to know what the computer is going to be used for. There are several common computer uses: gaming, graphics, workstation, and the average joe. Each of these are different beasts in themselves, so let’s take a look to see what the best option is for them.
The Gaming Machine
The first category we are going to look at is gamers. These are people who spend most of their time playing the latest and greatest games. They need some of the latest hardware on the market to be able to keep up with all of the games coming to market.
For the really hardcore gamer who needs the best hardware there are only a few options out there such as Falcon Northwest, Alienware, Dell XPS, and HP Blackbird. There is one common factor of each of these machines, they are expensive. You will be hard pressed to get any of these machines for under $2000.
Building a custom gaming machine is a great option as one can spread the purchases out over time. You can upgrade just small pieces of the puzzle and easily upgrade later. If you skimp out on a great graphics card today, tomorrow you can replace it. This means that you do not have to spend a ton of money up front. Don’t get the wrong impression, if you build your own custom computer you can put amazing hardware in it and spend a whole lot more than any prebuilt system. It is your option on how much you want to spend and when.
The Graphics Computer
In a slightly smaller group to the gamers there are the graphic designers. These are users who use PhotoShop all of those other graphics tools on an amazing level. Their needs are only slightly different than a gamer, they need overall computer power rather than bursts. The graphic designer needs to be able to apply filters to their project in a fast manor and many other functions that use pure horsepower.
The main difference between graphic designers and gamers is that gamers have the patience to figure out exactly what they need. The graphic designers that I’ve dealt with do not have any interest in that aspect of getting a new computer. They just wanted to get a computer that works. This is the reason why most of them got Mac Pros. They are expensive, but are setup to run multimedia programs at their fastest.
Workstation
If one sits at a computer all day every day doing their work they need a computer that is powerful enough to keep up and stable enough not to crash every ten minutes. This person does not normally need the latest and greatest hardware, they need reliability.
To meet these requirements one could easily go with either a prebuilt or custom machine. The main difference in this class of computer is support. If you build the computer yourself you have no support when something goes wrong. However, the last few times I’ve called support it felt like I had no one who could fix my problems.
The Average Joe Computer
To the average computer user it does not matter who makes the computer as long as it works. For this reason I normally point these people to a prebuilt computer. Some people would tell them to have someone else build them a custom computer, but from my experiences this can turn disastrous. If they get a bad part who are they going to blame? I’ve seen it turn from a friendly transaction into an argument.
Conclusion
The main difference today between building a computer yourself and buying one prebuilt is support. If you do not need support then you will be able to save some money by building it yourself. If you just want a cheap computer to be able to access the internet then some emachine type computer will probably suit your needs. If one actually plans on using the computer more than an hour a day this type of machine will die rather quickly for them.
For those who are thinking about building a computer, go for it. Building a computer for the first time is a fun experience. It is not as painful as some tend to think, the process is rather simple. The most complex part of building a computer in my opinion is making sure you get all of the right parts. The fix for this is rather simple, show your list to someone who knows. They will be able to tell you if you are missing something or duplicated items.
