Building Vs Pre-Built
Posted by StatisticianTight368@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 15 comments
Hello, I’m new to PC’s I’ve been gaming on console my whole life and now that I’m working I’ve decided to upgrade to a PC. I’ve heard people say that recently, pre-built PCs are cheaper than building one yourself, I can’t find a recent definitive answer, so I thought I’d ask here.
Are Pre-builds currently more cost effective than building your own, and if not, what’s the average price vs performance difference?
Also for reference I’d like to be able to run a game like rust at 120fps, cost isn’t that much of a problem.
Thank you!
jake93s@reddit
Everything is super expensive at the moment. If you are uncomfortable building your own, or don't have a friend to lean on for experience. Don't feel bad buying a pre built.
One option that I've been telling friends is to go used. There are some really good deals out there. It is a risk, and you need to test the rig throughly before handing over the money.
Fuzzy_Yossarian@reddit
Prebuilts on sale... Now you're talking...
diosky27@reddit
There really isn't a definitive answer. I will say if you're willing to buy used parts, you can easily save quite a bit. I almost never buy new parts anymore as there is such a strong used market nowadays and between craigslist, ebay, facebook marketplace and even reddit, anything you are looking for can easily be found used. Yes, there is a chance of getting a problematic part, but the truth is that can happen just as easily as buying new. Yes, you also loose out on a warranty, but I personally have had very few instances where my parts have had issues. No more than a new part that was out of/past warranty. I also like finding insane deals on used parts and the satisfaction that I built my PC for much less than most. Keep in mind what games you really want to play and build for that in mind, not for the best you can buy. You can always upgrade later if/when you need and sell the part you are upgrading from. That's one of the best things about PC's compared to console gaming.
Skysr70@reddit
The true cheapest PC's are used ones. Look at Ebay or FB Marketplace
Sad-Rooster2474@reddit
Prebuilt is safer and plug and play!
As a geek, I personally enjoy building, so I always buy parts. That also lets me select exactly the parts I want.
But if you don’t want to spend too much time comparing, reading, checking manuals and tweaking stuff, then go prebuilt.
diosky27@reddit
Honestly, almost all PC building is plug and play. You've got to be pretty inept to screw up a build. Its easier than legos 🤣
Naerven@reddit
Pick a prebuilt you are interested in. Take the parts and see how much they would cost you. Compare the two. Generally speaking you won't get bulk sales discounts. You can also pick out higher end parts for things like the motherboard and PSU that might not be off the shelf parts in a prebuilt.
diosky27@reddit
This is a great way to get an idea! I prefer to build, but this is a super smart way of looking at things
Effective-Habit2765@reddit
In terms of value, pre-built deals are really hard to beat. If you are just gaming with it, you might not need to be as picky with the parts that you would be if you're building a server hosting sensitive data. If you pick your own parts, you can pick reliable power supplies, RAM and disk drives that some pre-builts often skimp on.
But... It's fun to build a computer. You study the components and pick each part and plan the layout for cooling. Get it up and running and check your temps, or if you overclock check the speeds. If that doesn't sound fun, then pre-builts are probably just fine for you. I would just make sure to have a good system for backing up your files (which you should always do anyway) if you don't trust its RAM or disk drives.
figmentPez@reddit
The answer not only depends on your location, but also on your budget. If you're going for the cheapest PC, then a pre-built is likely to get you better value than assembling parts yourself, especially if you buy something on clearance or a deep sale. For example: A $1,000 PC on sale at Costco for $800 is going to give you better performance than $800 worth of parts will (unless you're finding some good deals on used parts).
If you're spending $2,000 - $4,000 then you're more likely to be able to get better bang for your buck by assembling things yourself. Especially if you value getting to choose the case you want, getting a more reliable PSU, etc.
If you're only buying the highest of high end parts, the flagship GPU and most expensive processor with RAM the price of a used car, etc. There have been times when buying a pre-built is cheaper than buying parts separately. I don't know if now is one of those times, because it's fluctuated. But if you're spending that much you probably either want someone to do it for you, and are willing to pay for that, or you want the experience of doing it yourself, and are willing to pay for that, so why does it matter which is cheaper?
Cultural-Accident-71@reddit
If cost is not a problem, its always better to build yourself. You gain experience and in case on an error you have a base understanding what part you put in and how to change it or fix it.
If you are near a microcenter you are very much set for a monster pc without breaking the bank. Best buy has sometimes good offers to otherwise go for a midrange build first, if you get addicted and want more pixels with more frames you can always sell your parts and get new. Rust is cpu hungry so a 7800x3d would do it. As you are less experience i recommend a Nvidia GPU as they are plug and play without much errors. Something like rtx 5070 would do great in 1080p and 1440p gaming. 32gb of ram is more than enough for gaming! Don't save on psu, if it blows up your whole pc could suffer, better pay 40usd more for a tier one option. A 850w should be enough for any midrange build.
Red_Malibu@reddit
It depend on where you're located. For example, when I started building my PC I looked pre build options and they were cheaper, but average quality. There were a couple pieces that didn't looked reliable, not a reliable brand nor there were specifications for those certain pieces
I suggest that you build one yourself, there are a lot of places that you can find that will build the PC for you (hardware) if you buy a pieces from them. In my case I bought everything from a store because it's the cheapest in my area and it's pretty reliable compared to another stores that are reliable as well, but would've paid +500 if I would've picked that other stuff just cuz
So, if you can find a service like that, definitely buy one, you will know exactly what your PC contains, and when you wanna upgrade it will be easier. Plus you can pick everything, you know you're not getting scammed or will be using a top tier GPU with a trashy CPU, or some cheap ram that will worse your experience etc
NoEnvironment2356@reddit
Entirely depends on where you are located . In my country it's still more cost effective to build it yourself OR alternatively, to go to a local PC shop and pay them to build you a custom machine. The name brand pre-builts where I am are priced ridiculously and generally have out of date hardware.
Id think about what resolution you want to game at, 1440p is a good option and easy to get good performance on modern hardware and come up with a budget and the community online can suggest some parts . I'd then go down to any local PC shops and see what they have to offer , or many online hardware retailers will build the system for you for a fee.
Accomplished_Emu_658@reddit
Sometimes you can get a good deal on a prebuilt that is cheaper than building. Sometimes they are more expensive than building. Sometimes they are the same. Other times building is more expensive only because you start splurging on more expensive parts than you would just getting a prebuilt.
What you got to do is figure out what you are looking for than comparing whats available.
9okm@reddit
It’s a wash.