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Door staff@engadget.com (Dave Meikleham) - 29 Sep 2026
This primarily boils down to time and effort. If you want to have complete control over every component that goes into your rig, are willing to investigate the Blue Screen of Death that will likely occur when first booting a freshly-made PC and don't mind getting your hands dirty when applying thermal paste, by all means assemble your dream gaming machine.
Building your own rig can be immensely satisfying, and it's not terribly hard to do. Do your research and have some YouTube tutorials on hand, and you'll find building a PC isn't that different from snapping Lego bricks together (albeit extremely techy and expensive bricks). Assembling a gaming rig also takes patience, with some and trial and error, so it's wise to avoid the custom-built route if you're short-tempered.
As for prebuilt PCs, the main attraction is convenience. Buy one from a reliable outlet, and it will work out of the box without issue. Purchasing a prebuilt PC also means your rig and all its components are covered under one warranty, which isn't the case with custom builds. There are other minor niceties with not ordering everything piecemeal: there's no dealing with mail-in rebates, waiting for one part to come back in stock or having to make sure all your parts fit together. Windows will be ready to go, too.
Manufacturers typically buy parts in bulk, which can result in savings for you. OEMs haven't quite yet passed on the rising costs of prebuilt models to consumers, but that won't last forever. The only real downsides are that you won't have control over every part that goes into your PC, meaning a prebuilt system can be harder to upgrade than one you've assembled yourself. If possible, buy a machine that uses standard parts that will be easy to swap later.
Building your own rig can be immensely satisfying, and it's not terribly hard to do. Do your research and have some YouTube tutorials on hand, and you'll find building a PC isn't that different from snapping Lego bricks together (albeit extremely techy and expensive bricks). Assembling a gaming rig also takes patience, with some and trial and error, so it's wise to avoid the custom-built route if you're short-tempered.
As for prebuilt PCs, the main attraction is convenience. Buy one from a reliable outlet, and it will work out of the box without issue. Purchasing a prebuilt PC also means your rig and all its components are covered under one warranty, which isn't the case with custom builds. There are other minor niceties with not ordering everything piecemeal: there's no dealing with mail-in rebates, waiting for one part to come back in stock or having to make sure all your parts fit together. Windows will be ready to go, too.
Manufacturers typically buy parts in bulk, which can result in savings for you. OEMs haven't quite yet passed on the rising costs of prebuilt models to consumers, but that won't last forever. The only real downsides are that you won't have control over every part that goes into your PC, meaning a prebuilt system can be harder to upgrade than one you've assembled yourself. If possible, buy a machine that uses standard parts that will be easy to swap later.