Building a brand new PC from scratch can be daunting, but it’s not an impossible task. In fact, it’s not all that difficult once you get the hang of it; some folks may even find the experience quite entertaining.
Even if you’re completely new to PC hardware, it’s definitely worth giving the idea of building your own desktop a consideration. Here are a few reasons why you’d want to do just that, and trust us: it’s very rewarding.
Customisation
As you’ll be picking your own parts for your PC, you can customise it to your heart’s content. Want a portable machine? Get a smaller case. Want more storage drives? Just buy more drives as and when you need them. The possibilities are practically endless.
The most important part is, you’re not stuck with whatever hardware configuration PC manufacturers have chosen for their desktop machines. And that’s not the only downside of pre-built PCs, which brings us to our next point.
Upgradability
Usually, pre-built PCs parts cannot be upgraded to your liking. Building your own PC, on the other hand, affords you the opportunity to upgrade – or buy – individual parts whenever you want. Say you’ve got the funds to build most of your machine, but you don’t have quite enough for that shiny new Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU. That’s fine: just build your machine first, and get the GPU at a later time.
While you won’t be able to do some serious gaming until you have the GPU, you can still do some light gaming by relying on the processor’s integrated GPU. That’s the beauty of a custom-built PC.
That being said, things have changed to an extent: some PC makers are making it much easier for customers to upgrade their PCs on their own. However, there is one thing PC manufacturers can’t (usually) offer in comparison to building your own machine: value for money.
Price
This is perhaps the best reason to build your own desktop machine. As you’ll be buying different parts of your PC individually, you can look around to get the best deals. This is especially true if you get your PC parts from online retailers on Lazada, Shopee, and other e-commerce sites. The moment you see a good deal on any particular hardware, grab it.
Of course, if you opt to do this, it will be a time-consuming process. But say you want to get your components at the same time; certain retailers offer discounts if you buy all of your PC parts from them. This comes down to your bargaining skills, but more often than not, most retailers have bundle deals – especially bigger hardware retailers.
Better Warranty
This is a bit of a mixed bag. While it’s much easier to send in a pre-built PC for warranty purposes (depending on the manufacturer you got it from), individual hardware parts usually come with longer warranties. Pre-built PCs normally come with a year’s warranty, but PC hardware may be under warranty for as long as two to five years.
It can be a hassle to claim for warranty with individual PC parts, but hey, at least you still have your system if you need to send some parts in for warranty claim. Pre-built PCs don’t have that luxury.
It’s Fun!
Last but certainly not least is the fun factor of building your own PC. Now, this is a subjective thing, but I can say from personal experience that it’s a rewarding experience. From researching which PC part to get, to the actual building process. Once you got your brand new PC up and running, it’s a really satisfying feeling.
The hardest hurdle to cross to start building your own PC is the research process. It’s not as easy as looking for, say, a new laptop, but finding out what each part of your PC does can be really fun.
Without a doubt it won’t be an easy process, and with that in mind, keep an eye out for a PC build guide from us – it will especially appeal to gamers who are looking to get an AMD-oriented, value for money gaming rig.