Homebuilt computer

Building a computer at home is generally considered a cost-effective alternative to buying a pre-built one because it excludes the assembly labor cost.

However, the total cost of building a computer can vary based on an individual's budget, the quality and availability of the parts used, and the discounts offered by mass production.

Customization is a major selling point for homebuilding; hobbyists may add components ranging from multiple hard drives, case mods, high-performance graphics cards, liquid cooling, multi-head high-resolution monitor configurations or alternative operating systems.

The growing popularity of laptops and tablets has led to a mobile-first design methodology that is difficult for home builders to duplicate economically.

Because the components are pre-selected by the vendor, the planning and design stages of the computer-building project are eliminated, and the builder's experience will consist solely of assembling the computer and installing the operating system.

In either case, the purchaser will need to obtain and install whatever parts are not included in the barebones kit (typically the hard drive, Random Access Memory, peripheral devices, and operating system).

Because many home computer builders are gamers, for example, and because gamers are often young people, barebones computers marketed as "gaming systems" often include features such as neon lights and brightly coloured cases, as well as features more directly related to performance such as a fast processor, a generous amount of RAM, and a powerful video card.

[8] Economic reasons may also be a factor for an individual to build a new computer from used parts, especially among young people (including teenagers) or in developing countries where the cost of new equipment places it out of reach for the average person.

Homebuilt computers ensure the use of industry-standard parts for operating system compatibility or to upgrade the original build at a later date with little hassle.

Despite the aforementioned benefits, there are some drawbacks and compromises to building one's own computer: A poorly designed system or case may have several flaws that would be exposed during a manufacturer's testing.

The lack of technical support and warranty protection other than what may be provided by the individual component and software vendors can create a disadvantage compared to a prebuilt computer.

While integrated accessories offer dramatic economic savings (and satisfy many users), these options generally do not perform as well as dedicated hardware under high-demand situations such as current games, CAD, and media production.

An example would be a gamer using a slightly outdated CPU and disk drive, spending the difference on a more capable dedicated graphics card.

Constructing a system with future expansion in mind allows for such upgrades, which in turn are much cheaper than buying a brand-new computer every time individual components become obsolete or insufficient to meet the needs of the user.