Nowadays there is not that big of a price advantage in building your own gaming computer. The advantages lie elsewhere. Most people seem to overlook the case. If you are going air cooled, it is important to buy a case with plenty of fans ( 3speed if possible). My current case has 3 front 120mm, 2 rear 120mm and 1 top 200mm fan. All fans are 3 speed fans. If you recently bought one of those $1000 specials you would be well served to check how many fans came with the PC. Most prebuilt computers will have one or two fans. The case will usually have room to add more fans. You can buy 120mm 3 speed fans for around $15 on Amazon. A case that has proper cooling will keep that video card from throttling up. The video card can be annoying if this is constantly happening. 3 speed fans are great because if you have enough of them, you can run them all on low speed. Having more fans can also eliminate the need for custom CPU coolers. These CPU coolers are usually more expensive than a few more fans. Prebuilt systems are usually more concerned with what the PC looks like rather than how it performs. Better cooling will mean that your gaming machine will last longer.
Another big advantage of building your own is you can handpick the parts. Prebuilt systems always are concerned with the lowest price. That is not usually the best option. The video card is a great example. When choosing your GPU, you should look at cooling, quietness, and clock speed. Many times you can spend an extra $10-$20 and get a superior card with better cooling. For example, EVGA has a super clocked version that has a better cooler on it. It will be quieter, with better cooling and better performance. Prebuilt machines will usually not have overclocked GPU's
PSU's are also a concern. Prebuilt machines will always have the smallest least expensive option here. If the video card manufacturer recommends a minimum of a 500 watt PSU, that's what it should have. It may run with a smaller PSU but in the long run it may be a problem. If your PSU is working close to it's maximum it will run hot. PSU's that run hot do not perform well under heavy load. If you are running a PSU that is less than recommended, this will be an issue in the future. Back to bigger cases with more fans.....
I won't talk about Motherboards as researching MB's is quite exhausting. But less expensive MB's are priced like that for a reason. I don't recommend putting the cheapest MB in a gaming machine.
If you have the extra $100-$200 find a knowledgeable friend or a good computer store like memory express that can help you build a great machine.
Another big advantage of building your own is you can handpick the parts. Prebuilt systems always are concerned with the lowest price. That is not usually the best option. The video card is a great example. When choosing your GPU, you should look at cooling, quietness, and clock speed. Many times you can spend an extra $10-$20 and get a superior card with better cooling. For example, EVGA has a super clocked version that has a better cooler on it. It will be quieter, with better cooling and better performance. Prebuilt machines will usually not have overclocked GPU's
PSU's are also a concern. Prebuilt machines will always have the smallest least expensive option here. If the video card manufacturer recommends a minimum of a 500 watt PSU, that's what it should have. It may run with a smaller PSU but in the long run it may be a problem. If your PSU is working close to it's maximum it will run hot. PSU's that run hot do not perform well under heavy load. If you are running a PSU that is less than recommended, this will be an issue in the future. Back to bigger cases with more fans.....
I won't talk about Motherboards as researching MB's is quite exhausting. But less expensive MB's are priced like that for a reason. I don't recommend putting the cheapest MB in a gaming machine.
If you have the extra $100-$200 find a knowledgeable friend or a good computer store like memory express that can help you build a great machine.
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