Prebuilt <> homebuilt? and need some advice.

Hello All,

First off, I was planning on replacing my laptop, which works perfectly well for word and googling for school, with a more expensive laptop to get better performance out of it. I have come to my senses and realized I just should save myself some money, keep the laptop for school, and buy a desktop.

So my first question is: Does building your own system make the most sense? How much markup is placed on pre-built systems from boutique companies(cyberpower ect)? I don't really feel comfortable, or even want to bother putting it together myself.. but sometimes my wallet can be very persuasive.

Second: I read through some of the recommended builds and saw some tagged as "gamer" for sub 1200~ since that is my price range are those configurations the be all end all in terms of performance to dollar ratio?

and finally can anyone give me advice on what performance I can reasonable expect for roughly $1200, and suggest some prebuilt options that would work in that price range as a gaming only rig?

Thank you for your time.