In this article we want to address a topic that until a few years ago was indisputable: are pre-assembled gaming PCs more convenient or those created with our hands?
Before the semiconductor crisis, with the great abundance of silicon in the market, the advantage of assembling a PC piece by piece was undeniable. Then with the sudden rise in demand to the skies – did anyone say mining? – the components have become practically unobtainable, especially the fundamental ones such as CPU and GPU. With inflation and the world held in check by a tense geopolitical situation, things are improving very slowly.
So we asked ourselves: but today is it better to go to pre-assembled gaming PCs or not?
Pre-built gaming PCs: snubbed for years
The prices of a preassembled desktop PC have always been higher than homemade configurations. The production and assembly costs are obviously recharged on the final customer and then, in addition to the component manufacturers, those who designed and built the machine had to earn. And then someone marched a little on rampant ignorance. Moral of the story: assembling a PC at home was less expensive, it allowed you to customize your components to the maximum and also the aesthetics by choosing houses, accessories, lighting and so on.
With the scarcity of components, however, the bargaining power of the big brands allowed them to secure a part of the precious stocks, while the free market was at the mercy of crazy and speculative inflation. Thus the pre-assembled gaming PCs have returned to be attractive to enthusiasts.
But how much can it cost to build a PC today?
Let’s try to do a simulation of a mid-range configuration, the one on which most players would focus. Here is the list of components with relative prices:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F, prezzo 208 euro
- GPU: ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 3060 V2 OC 12GB, price 487 euros
- RAM: 16 GB, Crucial Ballistix BL2K8G32C16U4B, price 80 euros
- SSD: 512 GB, Crucial P2 CT500P2SSD8, prezzo 54 euro
- Motherboard: ASUS PRIME H670-PLUS D4, price 170 euros
- PSU: Seasonic PRIME GX-650, price 14o euro
- Heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo V2, price 40 euros
- Case: NZXT H510, price 86 euros
The total is 1265 euro. Obviously if we then want to add fans or something else the price goes up.
And a pre-assembled one?
Let’s take the MEDION DESKTOP ERAZER RECON P20 which has pretty much the same specs as the PC we described above. This is a low-to-mid-range gaming desktop PC designed for gaming in FHD. The design is quite elegant and minimal. The price is approx 1199 euro.
This is not really a huge difference. However, several aspects must be considered. The first is that we don’t have to spend hours and hours assembling all the components, hoping that the PC won’t fail as soon as we start it. We have a product that we can use right away, just after unpacking it. Secondly we have a guarantee on the product which protects us from any malfunctions. Even on the individual components it exists, if you have assembled it yourself, everything can be more complex.
Certainly a pre-assembled gaming PC compared to one assembled at home it is less customizable (although there is usually some margin). But after all, there are some really nice models as they are and, to some extent, we can even replace some components in the future to keep our PC up to date.
Let’s sum it up
We have seen that building a PC today is no longer like it used to be. First of all it is expensive and sometimes it is difficult to find the desired components. The choice of using a pre-assembled PC can be a valid solution, however, in the current market conditions. Obviously then the final decision will be up to you. Who is more geek you will certainly find it more challenging to build your own PC. Instead who is interested in the game and that’s it, without too many frills, can consider the option of a pre-built gaming PC. You buy it, discard it, press a button and play. Stop.
After all, what matters is to have fun and spend a few hours in peace. So if you have fun wrapping the CPUs with thermal paste, go homemade. If you just want to start playing, buy a ready-made desktop PC! That’s all from the hardware section, keep following us!