Is it expensive and or worth building your own gaming computer . Should the kid just buy a pre made one

[Sue_10]

Got a 15 year old who wants to spend and build a gaming computer and seems pretty expensive . I need direction on supporting this idea or not .

 

[ak47jar3d]

It actually cheaper to built than to buy premade. Building a computer isn't hard but I don't know how tech savvy your kid is. I guess only you know if knows enough about computers to build. If you decide to support it, we will gladly help here.

 

[Gnuffi]

Building your own, will often most likely always be cheaper than buying a pre-assembled, ofc there can always be exceptions to this rule

while the idea might be daunting to do it yourself, it is honestly not all that difficult when doing background research and following proper guides

depending on what country you live in, and the retailer, the reason alot of people still buy an assembled system, even when factoring in price and "ease" of building self, is the "ease of mind" and possible less hassle warranty, since its 1 warranty on the system as a whole, where as if you build your self you have to deal with a warranty per component basis

the best thing todo is to look at what your boy want/"needs" the computer to be able to do,
check what pre-build systems you can get that can do that, and then compare what you could get taht same system for should you assemble it yourselves
usually you can get the system cheaper doing it yourself, or a better/more powerful system for teh same money, but again, there are sometimes exceptions, but usually not often

first determine the needs, then decide what you are prepared for, and if/or the cost/hassle is worth it in regards to pre-build/self-build

even for a first timer, a first time build can be very easy with proper research done and guides followed, not to mention step by step video guides as one assembles, so in all honesty the "fear factor" should be the least of teh concern, consider want/"needs", price and "hassle" first before weighing in the worry of assembling self

 

[USAFRet]

Got a 15 year old who wants to spend and build a gaming computer and seems pretty expensive . I need direction on supporting this idea or not .

What is the proposed budget for this?
How technical is the boy?
How technical are you?


Building your own may or may not be 'cheaper' than a prebuilt. But, it will almost certainly end up with a better parts selection.

 

[Tradesman1]

As USAFRet mentioned, a lot will depend on your budget. And does he currently have a computer - is it going to be kept in use (if not some parts can be used in new reducing costs)