Building your own computer – worth it?

Every single time I’m ready to buy a new computer, I’m faced with a dilemma: do I buy a ready-made PC? Or do I roll up my sleeves and build one from scratch?

The answer is the same. Every single time. We BUILD!

Assembling your own computer

Putting together a desktop PC yourself is easier than people often think. With a little basic knowledge it’s a cakewalk. Laptops are a bit harder – but more on that later. First you’ve gotta ask yourself, are there really any benefits to it, or is this a a-job better left to real enthusiasts?

I’ll break it down for you.

Building a PC: cheaper or not?

A few years ago it was always advantageous (read: cheaper) to put together a computer yourself.

However, due to falling hardware prices and increased competition, this is no longer always the case. In addition, the computer manufacturers buy the necessary parts in bulk, which reduces the price of a ready-to-go PC considerably.

However, the cost is not the only reason to assemble a computer yourself. After all, the computers that people buy ready-made are usually much less powerful than they claim. If you want a beast, you’ve gotta build it yourself!

The best example of this is the motherboard, which provides the connection between all other parts, and is therefore immediately the most important part!

build a computer

The motherboard: the single most important part!

Few users are aware of this, and only look at processor speed, amount of RAM and the size of the hard disk when purchasing a PC. The manufacturers ARE aware of this and thus offer PCs with fast processors and a lot of memory, all mounted on a substandard motherboard.

Not only does this make a huge difference in price (motherboard prices roughly range from $35 to $250), but it has a drastic impact on your computer’s performance. This is just one example of how manufacturers are pushing prices down by incorporating substandard parts into PCs.

So if you count on high performance, it’s better to select each part yourself and build your own PC. This is the only way to steer clear of lower quality parts that undermine the operation of your entire computer.

What about laptops?

Do you want to put together your own laptop? There are several ways to do this, but beware, there are quite a few snags!

Don’t feel like buying a ready-made laptop? There are really only two options for those who want to put together their laptop according to their personal taste.

1. Compose your laptop online

Some brands allow some flexibility in putting together your laptop. For example, on the Dell site, you can put together your own laptop to a certain extent. In practice, however, the choices are very limited, you never really get much freedom in your choices…

2. Compile your own laptop

There is also another solution for the more technically oriented user. You can purchase a ‘barebones laptop’ – also called a ‘whitebox’. This is a laptop that is completely empty except for the motherboard. You then have to buy and assemble the rest of the laptop parts – processor, video card, RAM memory, hard disk, etc… – yourself. However, this is only for experienced users with good technical knowledge!

laptop parts

Laptop parts

Whatever you decide, a good knowledge of the different laptop components is required. Here’s a preview:

Processor

The choice of processor depends on many different factors. In general we can say the following:

  • Cores: the more the better? Not completely true. Two cores is nice for multitasking, more is really not necessary unless you want to use 10 or more applications at the same time. Each program can only run on one core.
  • GHz: The faster the better? Sure enough… especially for computationally intensive tasks (video editing, graphics programs, gaming) a faster processor is absolutely necessary. It goes without saying that you should stay away from the cheaper but slower Celeron processors.

RAM memory

Provide at least 8 GB of RAM, because your operation system WILL gobble up a huge chunk of that. Also ask whether this can be expanded to, for example, 16 GB or 32 GBlater.

video card

The choice of video card depends on the type of use. If you want to be able to play some games or run graphics programs, we recommend a video card from ATI or nVidia, with an onboard memory of at least 4GB, certainly no integrated graphics chips!

Hard Drive

Go for a fast SSD hard disk. There are still a lot of laptops sold with slow hard drives, try to avoid these.

Reusing laptop parts

Scavenging is a time-honored part of computer building. For desktops this is relatively easy, but for laptops it can get a bit more complicated. Do you have an old or broken laptop and don’t know what to do with it? If you’re a bit handy with a screwdriver, you can give a lot of parts a second life (or sell them separately).

Laptop parts can not only be used in another laptop, but with the help of some (usually cheap) adapters, they can also be used in a desktop computer or as external peripherals.

Which laptop parts can I reuse?

We list the laptop parts that can be reused, from easy (1) to very difficult (5):

  1. The hard drive is easy to disassemble, and can be used in different ways: with the correct adapter cable, it can serve as a hard drive in a desktop computer (2.5” to 3.5” adapter for IDE or for SATA drives). In addition, the hard disk can also be used as an external USB hard disk. To do this, you only need to mount the drive in an external case that converts 2.5” IDE or SATA to USB 2.0.
  2. The same story applies to the CD or DVD player as to the hard disk: easy to disassemble and use an adapter in a desktop computer. (Slimline CD to Desktop Adapter)
  3. The RAM can only be reused in another laptop with the same type of memory and free slots. It is not difficult to recover, but somewhat more difficult to find a destination for…
  4. Like the RAM, the processor can only be used on another laptop with a compatible motherboard, so it is also difficult to find a suitable candidate for it.
  5. The display, on the other hand, is a part that everyone would like to reuse, but it is almost impossible unless it is on the same laptop model. Technically it is possible to build an adapter to use the display with a desktop computer (these are very hard to find, but there are one or two places where you can buy them). However, it is not cost-effective, since these custom-built adapters cost almost as much as a new screen…

Want to practice?

If you want to practice before you get into it, there’s a PC building simulator, which is fun way to learn. You can build your PC from scratch and then see how it performs against industry benchmarks. A must-play for wannabe DIY computer geeks! https://store.steampowered.com/app/621060/PC_Building_Simulator/

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