The parameters used to be a little more clear. You could easily save money by building your own computer. All you needed was the basic know-how, the time and initiative, and wah-la! You had a good computer at a better price than you could buy new.

But things have changed over time. As technology improved and prices dropped, suddenly the the savings benefit seemingly dwindled away. However, that is not always the case and there are still many excellent reasons for building your own computer!

Customize to Your Needs

By building your own computer, you can customize it exactly to your needs. Whether you're into gaming, video production, audio recording, autocad, or just general word processing and internet surfing, you can build a computer specifically suited to your task.

Easier Upgrades

By using non-proprietary, quality parts, your new home-built computer will be much more easy to upgrade than its store-bought counterpart. Many retail computers have proprietary components that are tied together in such a way as to make part replacement or upgrade difficult. Your customized computer should be easy to work on, repair, and upgrade for a good while.

Learning Experience

Building a computer is a great learning experience. You get to see firsthand just what all the parts do and how they work together. Not only is it educational, but it's great fun too! And you get the satisfaction and pride of having a tangible result of your labor at the end of your project.

Drawbacks of a Retail Computer

There are a number of reasons why most store-purchased computers today are inferior to a custom-built machine. Retail computers often come with bundled software packages that are average at best. The quality level of much of the software is quite low, and most of it is probably unnecessary. It's often poorly-written proprietary software (specifically written for that computer manufacturer) and is usually infesting every nook and cranny of the computer, slowing down performance and taking up storage space.

Much of the brand-name software included in these bundles are basic versions and even trial versions. If you need quality software (and who doesn't), you're most likely going to have to buy it separately anyway.

Many of the computer components are also proprietary, making repairs and upgrades difficult. Sometimes off-the-shelf components just won't work well or at all with a retail computer. And they are often not designed for much room to expand or upgrade.

Warranties

One argument for purchasing a computer from a retailer is to obtain a good warranty. This has some merit, but keep in mind that redeeming warranties is usually not a walk in the park! You may also be without your machine for a while during the time it is being repaired or replaced.

Individually-purchased components most likely also come with a warranty, so if one fails there may be recourse for replacement. The warranty issue probably is about equal with either method you choose.

Partial Upgrade vs. Replacement

An alternative to building a computer from stratch is to perform a major upgrade. This should be cheaper compared to total replacement, and can still give you an excellent machine well-suited to your needs. You must already have an upgradeable computer though, and it needs to have a few key components which you can build around. Perform a cost/benefit analysis and determine which method would best serve you.

A Personal Experience

In the late '90's, my Win95 Pentium 100 (retail purchased) desktop computer was getting pretty inadequate. It was virtually non-upgradeable, there was no room for expansion and key components (motherboard, case) were getting obsolete. So I purchased a custom built computer (tower only, no monitor or peripherals) from an experienced friend, and it served me well for a number of years.

Several years later I got into audio recording and upgraded to larger hard drives. I also purchased a larger monitor.

Last year I made significant upgrades, specifically centered around my needs for audio recording. I purchased a new case and motherboard while utilizing my existing hard drives and all peripherals. Down the road I'll upgrade further to more hard drives (the new motherboard is SATA compatible) and a new flat panel monitor.

You can see that over the years I kept my computer system relatively current and meeting my needs for less than I would have spent in complete replacement for a comparable machine. I've had fun and learned a lot in the process, too.

Not only that, but I took the case and motherboard I replaced, bought some used large hard drives from a friend, and turned my old computer into a backup machine. You can see how much flexibility custom computer building can give.

What's Right for You?

That's something only you can decide. But if you have the interest, a willingness to learn, a need for customization, and the desire for a solid, quality system, I believe you're a perfect candidate to build your own computer!

Ryan Griffith is the webmaster of Build-My-Computer.com. He loves his home computer network and thinks more people should build their own computers!