Is it better to buy a specific computer or have a custom one built for you?

There is nothing wrong with buying a custom built computer from a friend, but there are a few things to consider before making your decision:

1 – Purchasing individual parts and assembling them into a working computer, you will be the one who will have to handle any warranty repairs. For example, if the hard drive or SSD has an issue you’ll have to deal with the company you bought the drive from and hope they’ll replace it under warranty. So could the motherboard or power supply and other components.

That means you will need to keep up with all the receipts and warranty information for the various parts in case something fails while it’s still under warranty.

Buying a name brand PC simplifies things by a whole lot because regardless of which component breaks, you’ll only have to deal with one company and one receipt.

2 – If you’re capable of building a PC from scratch, you’re probably also capable resolving any issues that might arise in the future. But if you’re not building it yourself you have the peace of mind knowing that you can go the store where you got it and have it looked at.

3 – It used to be easy to save money by building your own computer, but that’s no longer the case. Buying computer parts was pretty cheap from order companies that specialized in selling computer parts, then assemble them into a working PC. Those parts were typically sold at huge discounts, allowing you to save money by building a machine instead of buying one off the shelf.

But nowadays the big computer manufacturers buy their parts in large amounts and get huge discounts as a result, so competing with them on price for a comparable machine is simply no longer possible.

4 – One huge advantage to buying a custom built PC instead of a mass-produced unit is Upgradability. Custom built computers can usually be easily upgraded in order to keep up with emerging technologies.

For example, upgrading to a faster, more modern motherboard and CPU can often give you almost the same as a new computer at a lower cost, and it’s always a lot easier to make important upgrades to a custom-built PC than to an off-the-shelf machine.

In conclusion, you’ll need to base your decision on the four factors listed above. They both have their advantages and disadvantages and target market based on use case and skills.