Why not build my own custom gaming computer?

The most common question that we hear at KB Custom Computers is why not build my own custom gaming computer? In this article we will explain to you all of the pros and cons of building your own custom gaming computer. We're not writing this to steer you into doing business with us but rather inform you of obstacles you may face either way you go.

The most common justification for a person to build their own custom gaming computer is that they can build the same exact machine for less money. We will not dispute this, you probably can round up parts on amazon, ebay, and even your local computer parts store for cheaper than we sell them. It's reasonable to assume that a company who builds computers for you will charge for their services. The places that you buy the parts do not have to assemble, test, and support the computer system for you so you are able to just buy the part at a lower cost.

So I guess what it boils down to is whether or not building your own custom computer is worth it or not. Mostly anyone can complete the task, the assembly of a computer system really isn't all that hard especially if you've done it a time or two. If you have some experience building your own custom gaming machine you know that there is often more than meets the eye in preparing to build your new computer.

The first place you start when building your custom gaming computer would be to decide on the parts you need, keeping in mind that you want something that will last for a while and not kick the bucket in a few months of use. Most people do their research on what is quality and what is not. They look at cnet, consumer reports, and pc world to find the latest and greatest parts on the market. Most people will spend a significant amount of time reading reviews and ratings to find stable and reliable components. After all it is the responsible thing to do. After you are finished researching your components you have to find and purchase them. It's likely that you will not find the best deal at one place so you will end up ordering from at least two different places. Often times the retailers of these parts will mark down a few components and mark up the other ones that you would normally buy along with them to get a little more money out of you. So you're better off shopping all the different sources for the best deals. By this time you've spent a lot of time on this project, and now you wait for your orders to arrive. You'll have to be home to sign for the packages or they usually won't deliver them. If you're lucky enough everything you ordered is in stock and shipped on time. In this business it is all too often that this is not the case. All the time we deal with back ordered parts and it creates a lot of stress when up against a deadline. Often times it is easier to just give our customers a free upgrade rather than delay the build or search around for hours looking for a specific component.

Congratulations if you have made it this far in your build process. Now you have all your parts, they appear to be in good condition and you're eager to get your custom gaming computer up and running. On your dining room table you're putting this computer system together after work instead of enjoying the family or watching Monday night football. All too often we run into problems at this point that no one could have foreseen. Maybe the heatsink for the CPU is too large for the case. Maybe the power supply you ordered is a fraction of an inch too large for your particular computer case. Or maybe the power supply doesn't have the correct cables to plug all your components in. Let's just say none of those things happen in your case. Pat yourself on the back and hope your luck doesn't run out.

You boot the computer up and you cross your fingers that the motherboard posts. Assuming none of your components are DOA or dead on arrival you are all set to install your operating system. This should go without too much of a problem and you'll be up and running before the end of the football game. You boot it up with the operating system on the hard disk for the first time and you get a blue screen with a bunch of letters and numbers on it. You install the operating system again and you're able to load windows and install all of your drivers. After reboot you notice your computer will freeze up for a second every 20 or 30 seconds. The next day you find it's a problem with the driver for your sound card. In the end everything works out but three months later your hard drive fails and you lose all of your wedding pictures...on top of that you need to buy a new hard drive.

Of course it doesn't always go like this but it is not uncommon. There are many upsides to building your own custom gaming computer. That is how we all here got into computers. I can remember my first build...lets just say it was a disaster but I learned a lot in the process. Remember the computer you build will not have a warranty so any problems are on you. If you do decide to build your own computer have fun with it and we promise you will learn lots.

If you don't decide to build your own custom gaming computer then do your research on what companies to buy from. I almost recommend building your own over trying to buy a quality gaming computer from the likes of HP, Dell, or any of the big box manufacturers.

In conclusion building your own computer may not be such a bad idea if you have a lot patience and a willingness to learn. On the other hand if you are easily frustrated, or believe that your time is worth money then it may not be a bad idea to look into someone else building your custom gaming computer.