If you´re reading this article you´re either planning on upgrading your gaming PC or just did it and are wondering if you got yourself a fair deal. Either way, I hope this article serves as a useful reference for those who are about to invest in a gaming rig.
Here is always a case to be made for buying each component separately and getting our hands dirty building our rig and spending a weekend testing it and installing the right software. However, there are many things we need to factor in if we want to go the DIY way, no matter how much we enjoy building our own rig.
Some think that they’re saving money when putting their computer together. However, all the time we put into researching components, making sure they are compatible with each other, waiting for the pieces to arrive, and then finally making sure everything fits and works smoothly can amount to at least a few hundred dollars. And we´re not considering the costs of having to return a defective piece of hardware and the hassle of getting a replacement. All in all, if you factor in all that time and the risks involved, a DIY custom-built gaming PC can represent a lot of hidden costs to be paid in the most scarce of resources: time.
Maybe that´s why so many people prefer buying prebuilt gaming PCs from big stores. They´re right there, they work right out of the box, and they can start playing right away. These grab-and-play builds always sound too good to be true, and more often than not that’s precisely the case.
Many of them offer great processing power, enough memory, and decent graphic cards. However, stores skimp on components when they don´t feel the need to list them. For example, cooling systems, RAM speed, and, the worst offender, power supply units.
These components are crucial and tend to annoy the heck out of gamers because of the noise caused by underperforming fans, or the overall power consumption. For example, the difference between a generic PSU and an 80 Plus Gold certified unit can represent as much as a hundred dollars a year in electricity bills. Moreover, if you need to replace any components, you will find that you won’t have enough headroom for upgraded CPU or GPU versions, creating frustrating bottlenecks in your system that usually force buyers to invest in a completely new system.
The solution is to buy custom-built gaming PCs from providers that allow you to pick the components you want according to your specific needs or budget, assemble them, test them and ship them. Right now, computer system integrators give you the power of choosing pieces without the risk of having incompatibility issues, so you have the best of both worlds: A completely customized gaming rig that offers top performance right out of the box.
The most advanced providers even allow users to compare components and see how each one affects the overall performance of the machine so you never end up wondering if you made the right choice. We have worked with CLX Gaming for years and we are amazed at the sheer quantity of components in their inventory. Every computer they built is top-notch, and they even offer an overclocking service if you want to squeeze the last megahertz out of your system for smooth gameplay and increased performance. Their Foundry section also allows you to completely change the aesthetics of your computer case for a more personalized touch. I can’t recommend them enough.
