How to Decide Whether to Build or Buy Your Next Computer

As times get tough it is harder to find money for the things we enjoy. It is a well known fact that computers go out of date very quickly. Upgrading your computer can be a very important investment, but what are your options?

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pen
• Paper

1. Price
   
   Buying an assembled computer from a store will be much more expensive than building it yourself. Large computer companies have so much overhead that there only price advantage is buying in bulk. You may have to purchase these parts at a higher price but it will still be a lot cheaper to build your computer over buying it.

2. Time
   
   Buying a computer from the store means your ready to go. Building it yourself however will take some time. You will need to order the parts and dedicate at least three hours into it.

3. Difficulty
   
   Building a computer is an easy task but it scares many people away for some reason. The hardest part is placing the CPU on the motherboard. The rest is very easy. Every part comes with a manually and is easy to follow.

4. Warranty
   
   When buying a computer it will come with a warranty on parts and labor and may come with an option to extend this service at a price. When you build your own you do not have this option, but every part comes with some sort of warranty. If your graphics card goes bad for some reason you can have them send you a new one and replace it.

5. Software
   
   Buying a computer at a store will give you preloaded software that you do not need. This will drain your resources before you even get a chance. When you build a computer you are in control of what software you need.

Tips & Warnings

• Get the specs off the computer you want at a store then find the same parts online and add up the cost
• Make sure you read up on hot to build a computer