I tell most people who want to buy a PC to build it themselves. Of course, I often forget that these people aren’t equipped with the knowledge I have. There is still hope, however. Building a PC is really quite easy, and could be learned in no time. If these people really want to have a solid PC they must consider buying parts and putting it together themselves.

Prebuilt PCs have these issues:

• No choice of OS, it’s already installed (and included in the price)
• Hardware is cheap wherever possible, this includes the power supply, the cooling system, and the motherboard.
• Upgrades are difficult, most of the time they must be done through the manufacturer, power supplies are weak, so upgrading any one component might cause an instability.
• Generally, there are not many options for tweaking in the Bios.
• The cases are cheap, they provide very bad cooling.

Now a homebuilt PC has no issues, so long as the right components are purchased.

• Choice of OS whether this be Linux, Windows, or Hackintosh
• Complete control of what goes into the PC.
• Upgrades are easy, almost anything on Newegg will work on your PC, so  long as it’s supported by your motherboard (which you picked out yourself)
• Many tweaks are located in the Bios, so long as you selected a decent motherboard.
• Assembling your own PC may actually be cheaper than the pre-built PCs.
• Home built PCs are generally more stable.
• You can use some older components on newer builds.
• Fixing hardware related problems is much easier.

My first PC, which I built when I was about 11 years old, had a lot of crap components and was very similar to a pre-built PC. It took me awhile to find the quality components I really wanted.

This is where computer enthusiast forums come in handy. If you visit extremeoverclocking.com or XtremeSystems.org they will be happy to help you select the right components. There are stickies noting the better hardware out there. I could also help you with a build if you want, just post in the forums.

I had many issues with powersupplies failing on me until I spent the money for a Corsair 520HX, and I haven’t had an issue since. My PC is rock solid even overclocked, I have no problems leaving it on for days, and it still be completely responsive. Prime95 is also a great test to see if your PC is running stable, my guess is that most pre-built PCs would really struggle with that kind of program.

Using websites like Slickdeals.net or similar is also a great way to save money on your build, you just have to watch for deals on good components. If I would have bought everything from my build directly from Newegg.com I would have spent $200 more than I did being thrifty on my last build. I say it’s completely worth it, but it’s up to you to see if you want to put the time into it.