Build vs. Buy

Please build your own system. You get cheated so hard with prebuilt ones. That's my take.

There's a thread you can fill out if you want help with building something:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

+1
Or let us know ur budget and needs like monitor, OS, etc.
We will try to help you for new build.
Thank you.

Build. Anyone can build their own. It's easy and fun to learn how. It wont take you more than 3 hours from the time you pop in the motherboard, till the time you are at the Windows Home screen.

Think of it this way, lets say you buy a prebuilt desktop for 500 dollars. Now lets say you bought the same components in that 500 dollar computer, and you built it yourself. You're looking at no more than 350 dollars. Essentially, prebuilts are plug and play. If you build your own, you save tons of money, and even get to learn the simplicity of building your own system!

Just about anyone here will suggest building your own. It's what we all do. But sometimes buying a prebuilt is better for some people that don't have the time or inclination to undertake the project. Building your own isn't hard... until something doesn't work and you have to figure out what is is.

1) For a Non-gaming (ok For non-demanding games) a Home built will cost more depending on what can be salvaged from "old" computer, ie KB, Mouse, HDD.

2) While the "home build" cost more, YOU get to select the "quality" / brand of internal components.
.... "Store" bought - Memory, PSU, ect are generally a bid based on specs from OEM. Often these components are low to mid quality, The PSU is a major component that is often low->mid quality and almost always only sized for current configuration meaning that should want to improve gaming by upgrading the GPU you will probably need to also replace the PSU.
.... Bottom line is while the cost may be more, you get better quality/spec'ed components, For example
A) HDD they may provide a 5400 RPM "Green" drive when a 7200 RPM drive that is more reliable would be a better choice
B) Ram, Most likely you would buy better RAM
C) GPU - This is highly dependent on gaming desires. I'm Not a gamer; However I do normally use (buy) a Higher end GPU than what is in store bought systems.
.... If Not in to demanding games, the HD4000 That is included with a i5-3xxx CPU may mean you do NOT even need a dedicated GPU.

3) For OEM systems, the Bios tends to be more limited, some times very limited, in user selectable options.

My ONLY two store bought computers:
.. My first computer was from Standard Computers, a 386SX. Was very pleased with it and company even replaced the CPU after the Warrantee expired free of charge. Finally replace with home built and have never bought myself a store bought system since.
.. My wife need a computer PDQ, so I let her buy one (low end as she does NOT game). six months later, I built her a i3 system and GAVE the Cheap AS%$#ed system away for Free.

Added: @ sodapop707 - "If you build your own, you save tons of money"
I have NEVER saved money on a homebuild - It's about the choice of components.
OEMs spend about half of what you or I spend on the same component - They buy 10,0000 DVD-RW drives, They buy a Low end rebranded drive. I buy one drive that is higher quality at about double what the OEM spent. Same-Same for RAM and PSUs and Cases. Don't forget need to add in the OS cost, Here again You pay double what the OEM pays for windows Lic. PSUs are a very important component and choice of Case can effect how cool a system will run.
Above applies to OEM preconfigured systems, NOT to "customized" OEM models

Got to agree with pretty much any statement previously made. Anyone here will pretty much recommend building>buying. I personally go with building because you get to choose how you want it and don't have to settle for whatever some store wants to rip off from ya. I can't say you will save money building your own but you will definitely get more bang for your buck if you built one, plus you get the inner-pride of having built your own pc and that will make you value it so much more, and also like others have said it really isn't as hard as most people think to build your own, the only reason I wouldn't recommend building your own is if you really just didn't have the time to (even though it take only a couple of hours to put together).

You could always get a computer shop to build your desktop (depending on whether they are honest). But prebuilt typically has inferior parts and if you want reliable hardware building it is far much better. Also prebuilt tends to throw in smaller RAM cards then what you could be throwing in. Like they'll throw in 2x2 (4GB) vs a 2x2 (8GB) depending on the RAM capacity of the motherboard. Building your own you will be putting in exactly what you want and plus you know the motherboard specs on it so you could max it out if you're looking for a beefy system. I'd rather put the best processor the motherboard can handle vs a prebuilt one with a crappy one. You get the idea.

If you don't mind paying a bit more for the priviledge of having a pre-built computer gaming computer then there are some great choices.

Check out:

gaming desktops under $1000

or if you have a lot more to spend check out:

extreme gaming computers.

Hope this helps.