By DPA
Washington : Just about anyone who is handy with a screwdriver these days can build a computer. Computer parts are available everywhere, and with a little know-how, you can assemble them into just the computer you want. But does it really make sense to build your own PC? Read on for some answers.
Q: A friend of mine said I could save money by building my own computer. Is this true, and if so, how much could I save?
A: Because there’s lots of competition – and lots of low prices – at the low end of the desktop computer market, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to build a budget PC for less than you can buy one. Also, if you’re factoring in the value of your time, building a low-cost computer will almost never be cheaper than buying a budget model from the likes of Dell, HP, or another large box maker.
When it comes to higher-end power machines, though, building can certainly be cheaper than buying. The major PC vendors have higher margins on more powerful components, and by buying yourself, you can shave some significant money off of the total cost of a computer.
Remember, though, that even if you save some money by buying and assembling the parts yourself and the hardware assembly goes as expected, you’ll need to spend additional hours – perhaps even days – installing and configuring the software you plan to use. How much is your time worth? Also, a home-built computer will have no warranty – other than whatever comes with the individual parts. And you won’t get the benefit of any free software that typically comes with a computer purchased from one of the major computer vendors.
But if you have the time and the desire, there are advantages of building a PC yourself that go beyond any potential cost savings. You’ll be able to pick just the components you want, for instance, and upgrading your computer later will be easier, since any computer you build will consist of industry-standard components, not higher-cost, proprietary parts that you might have to buy from a PC vendor. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll gain some considerable knowledge of how computers work, which can make you better able to diagnose, troubleshoot, and repair problems yourself when something goes wrong.
Before you even start to think about purchasing parts to build your own computer, however, spend a good deal of time on the Internet looking at various tutorials on how to build your own PC. You’ll want to look for two things in a how-to guide for building computers: easy-to-follow instructions that are not out of date, as well as plenty of pictures. Tech Power Up’s “How to build a computer”(http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/other/144) provides a good overview of the steps you’ll take, but you should do a general Internet search to read through as many tutorials as you can.
Q: I see external hard drives that come already assembled as well as empty shells that require the separate purchase of a hard drive. Is it cheaper to build your own external hard drive out of parts? How hard is it?
A: Assembling an external storage device from an external storage enclosure and a bare hard drive is one of the easiest do-it-yourself jobs around. Some external enclosures do not even require the use of a screwdriver. Just flip a few latches, slide the drive in, plug it in, and you’re done.
There are two advantages of assembling an external storage unit over buying one of the pre-assembled models from makers such as Seagate and Maxtor. First, you’ll have a much greater selection of storage capacities. With bare 3.5 or 2.5-inch hard drives ranging in size from 80 gigabytes (GB) to one terabyte (TB), you won’t have to settle for the capacities available in a ready-made unit. Second, you’ll save money, since the cost of an empty enclosure and a bare hard drive together are almost always significantly less than the cost of a pre-made model.
What you’ll sacrifice by building yourself, though, is the software bundle that typically comes with an off-the-shelf external hard drive unit. Still, this is not much of a downside for many, since backup software comes for free in most versions of Windows. Plus, depending upon what you use the external drive for, you may not even need special backup software. Look at an online vendor such as Newegg (http://www.newegg.com) to get an idea of the range of external enclosure and bare hard drives available.
Q: I upgraded my computer’s graphics card and hard drive. Now that I have an extra graphics card and hard drive, I’m considering using those to put together another computer. Does it make sense to build a new computer from old parts?
A: Yes, depending upon the purpose for which you intend to use the additional computer. In fact, making good use of additional parts you end up with as a result of upgrading your current computer is yet another good reason to learn how to assemble a PC yourself. Of course, old parts won’t give you the performance of newer equipment, but assembling a second or third computer for the purpose of creating a home server or dedicating a machine to a specific task – such as recording television shows – can make good sense.
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