Custom PC's

Custom PC's

It's something that has been renowned by PC gamers for years, building a PC. This is not only limited to gamers, however. This can be beneficial to anyone that uses a PC. Custom PC's can have as much power as needed and are less likely to become outdated as a pre-built computer. Pre-built computers are built with basic current components while custom ones are able to be built with upgraded components that are brand new and are even able to upgraded years down the line when they have become outdated. I personally have built my own PC and am incredibly happy with the results. 

Aside from my horrendous cable management, this PC is probably the best machine in the building. 

My brother also built his own PC this week!

Building a PC isn't even all about having a great PC, it also gives people more technical know-how. A Forbes article was written telling how the CEO of Stronghold Cyber Security, Jason McNew, builds desktops with his son Logan as a pastime. Logan enjoys building computers and even plans to become A+ certified. His goal in the future is to work hard and even start his own business. 

Another great benefit of custom computers is that they save the consumer money in the long run. Instead of paying several hundreds of dollars every few years for a new computer, you're able to spend less on a specific part. Instead of the entire computer becoming outdated, certain pieces may become due for an upgrade. A pre-built desktop can run you anywhere from $75 dollars for the most basic computer, to $4,000 for a computer that could be built for about half that. 

Building a PC brings a boatload of benefits with it on top of just being cost efficient and giving technical experience. The entire experience of building a PC can be a group effort. Often putting the computer together is a fun activity for a group of friends. Having one or two friends who have previously built a computer allows for everything to move smoothly and guarantees a less argumentative process.

Most people don't necessarily understand specs of a computer, but that is the biggest benefit of building your own PC. The two biggest components of custom computers that most pre-assembled units don't have are Solid State Drives (SSD) and a Graphics Card (GPU). SSD's are small hard drives that are able to start up and run a little faster than a regular hard drive. The common use of these drives are to install Windows, so it will open very soon after the unit is turned on. GPU's allow people to better control and upgrade their graphics capabilities. Computers running some of the newest graphics cards will run in 4K with 100+ fps as long as the monitor is capable. Mark Kyrnin from Lifewire talks about the differences of building vs buying a pc. He lists out the various benefits including the selection of parts. With building a pc you know exactly what components you have and what specs to expect. With pre-assembled units manufacturers switch suppliers fairly often for a number of reasons so you aren't guaranteed certain specs or parts.

One of my personal favorite aspects of building a computer is that you can choose how your computer physically looks. It can be something as basic as a gray box like this,

or something ridiculously complicated like this.

Something that most people don't know about building a desktop is that it is relatively easy. When building computers, as long as you know how to turn a screw, and plug things in you can do the entire process yourself. As long as you're wearing an anti-static wristband to avoid shorting out any of the components, you can easily build your own computer. Screwing in the motherboard, hard drive, fans, cpu and cooler, and any other extra components are the first steps. Then plugging everything in to the power supply as well as motherboard and viola, your computer is built. Plug it in to the wall and a monitor and you're all set to install your operating system and drivers.