What are the reasons for building your own desktop computer from scratch? Here are 9 that played into my decision to do it myself. When I started into this, I had no idea what I was doing, but there are enough resources on the web and from the computer component vendors that you can get up to speed relatively quickly. For example, I purchased several of my components from newegg, who have great video tutorials on how to build your own machine. The computer that I built has now been running for just over a year, and it’s been a worry free year.
1. flexibility
The few times that I have shopped for a desktop, it seemed like many of the offerings I looked at were really close to what I wanted, but none were exactly what I wanted. Roll your own, and you can get exactly what you want (you will also know exactly what you are getting). In addition to getting what you want, you also get to leave out exactly what you don’t want, which is often just as important.
2. a system of components
Nice thing about a system you build yourself is that it is easier to swap out/upgrade/whatever individual pieces of your system. It is also easier to do maintenance on your computer, if you ever need to.
3. no penalty for opening the case
I’ve used only a handful of desktop computers over the years, and most of them were designed to keep people out. Remember boys and girls, if you can’t hack it – you don’t own it. Being able to open the case without penalty is an important part of making your computer last. Cleaning out dust that will accumulate on parts, making sure that wires are still snugly seated on their connections, making sure that fans still spin freely – these are all part of keeping the system running properly. For me, though, being able to open the case and see that you have good air flow through the case is a big benefit. A little over a year back, I helped my dad with an intermittently performing machine that I had to void the warranty in order to open – and when I did I saw that the cable management was world class awful. The interior was rat’s next dense with cables going everywhere, preventing proper cooling.
4. proper components (better warranties)
The components used by major computer vendors are rumoured to be cheapened versions of the components that were originally designed. I don’t know this, but given what a low margin game computer hardware has become, it makes sense. The major vendors would have the run sizes to justify this kind of change. This means that when you build your own computer, not only might you get better quality components, but you will definitely get better part warranties than a pre-built system.
5. overclocking
If you are a gamer and looking for the extra clock speed, building your own definitely helps in this department… overclocking a pre-assembled box will quickly void your warranty. I do not do this, but hey it’s a free country, and you ought to be able to do this without penalty.
6. dual booting (and other operating systems)
Banish the thought, but it could be that everyone in the world does want to run Microsoft software (and only Microsoft software). Building from scratch let’s you run whatever operating system you choose. It’s a good thing.
7. cost
Used to be that making your own was much cheaper than getting it pre-assembled, for middle tier systems these days there is not much cost difference any more. For high performance rigs, you can still save significant costs building yourself. This is not a big motivator for me, but if you are on a budget you might be able to save a little. Even better, if someone has a broken computer you can usually replace a single component or two and get it back up and running for much less than new costs. My main rig at the moment has several re-purposed pieces from older systems.
8. no bloatware
For me, this was the biggest reason. When you buy a stock computer, it comes pre-installed with an operating system. It also comes chocked full of total crap software that you did not want and cannot get rid of. When you don’t do your operating system install from scratch, you have no way to know what kind of software is running on your machine. A buddy of mine, who knows his networking, recently set up a hardware firewall to monitor his traffic. It was interesting to see that the computer was phoning home to HP for … who know what? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my system sending out packets that not only did I not opt into sending, but that I am prevented from stopping. Bad form. Seriously bad form.
9. power
Again, for me another big reason. At it’s most basic, building is fun. Knowledge is power. Running YOUR system they way YOU designed it is the only true path to enlightenment and happiness. Remember what I said above, if you can’t hack it, you don’t own it. Go forth and build!