Is it cheaper to build or buy a computer? I compared 5 price ranges

Conventional wisdom says that buying computer parts and building your own machine is cheaper than buying one pre-built by someone else. But does it still apply today?

I picked five pre-built desktops from different manufacturers and compared their prices to the price of similar parts obtained from Newegg to see if a pre-built PC actually saves money.

Basic gaming PC

First, let’s start with a basic gaming PC. With a budget of less than $800, I found the NZXT Player: One desktop from NZXT. It features a nice, clean case with no RGB lights, but at least it offers decent performance. Its original price is slightly above our budget ($829), but at the time of writing it’s a steal at $699.

Here’s a comparison of the PC specs to what I found on Newegg. Note that I have only selected brand new items sold directly by Newegg to ensure quality. Also, the price in parentheses is the original price of the item if it is on sale.

As you can see in our table, similar specs cost about the same on Newegg based on their retail prices. Since NZXT already builds the PC for you, the pre-built PC actually wins this round. Of course, if the comparison is based on sales prices. If you’re just relying on the original prices, the NZXT Player: One will cost $829, while the Newegg parts cost $758.93, saving you about $70 if you’re building a PC.

Note that I went with the RTX 3050 6GB on this build to match the price of the NZXT build. If you have an extra $30, I highly recommend going for the MSI Ventus RTX 3050 8GB for better performance. If you have a bigger budget, you can choose other GPUs, but I recommend you stick with these five GPUs no matter what.

Entry-level gaming PC

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If you can spend a little more, you can upgrade to a basic gaming PC. For this tier, I chose a system from iBuyPower, which features a nice case with RGB lights and gaming performance that should handle a few AAA games, even if not at the highest graphics settings.

I had a budget of between $1,000 and $1,500 for this build, so that’s what I could get.

At the entry level, you’ll save over $110 if you build your own PC. This includes an even better processor (AMD Ryzen 5 7600 vs. 7600X), so if you go with the exact same chip, you’ll get even more bang for your buck.

Mid-range gaming PC

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Our budget for a mid-range gaming PC is between $2,000 and $2,500. I also wanted to go with a major PC brand for the money, so I chose the Acer Predator Orion 5000 for this comparison. At this level, you should be able to comfortably play most of the games you want.

If you’re within that budget, you have the flexibility to choose components without worrying about going over budget. However, you still need to do it judiciously to get the most out of your hard-earned money. That’s why I recommend you take a look at our detailed PC buying guide before choosing which parts to add to your build.

As you can see, you will save a lot of money if you build your own mid-range computer. You save over $500 with the parts on sale, and even if you didn’t have any of the components on sale, you still save $324.08. You can then use that money to get a nice display, like this InnoCN 39-inch curved gaming monitor that costs less than $500.

Top gaming computer

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At this level, you will get amazing gaming performance. However, you should also be prepared to spend upwards of $3,000, which is what we’re paying for with the Alienware Aurora R16. I’ve picked the most expensive pre-configured desktop model that Dell offered to gamers, and then we’ll compare the costs of similar parts from Newegg.

Although the price difference at this level between a pre-built and custom PC is no longer more than $500, you’ll still save over $275 if you go the custom route, which is still a pretty significant amount. However, the savings mostly come from discounts and promotions. So if you remove them all, the difference comes down to just over $56. At this point I’d rather go with prefab as the labor and overhead costs of building a PC would be higher.

Gaming PC without limits

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This is the level where your only consideration is performance, regardless of cost. This is the kind of PC most gamers could only dream of, and our budget starts at $4,000. I chose the Corsair Vengeance i8300 as an off-the-shelf representative, mainly because it’s one of the first off-the-shelf computers to use Intel’s next-generation desktop processors (codenamed Arrow Lake), which use Intel’s new CPU naming scheme.

Pre-built computers at the higher end of the spectrum are surprisingly more affordable than custom-built computers. This is probably because the prices of components at these performance levels are often out of control, especially when manufacturers know that the people who buy these products can afford to pay for them.

While you can save money on pre-built computers, you can’t be sure what the manufacturer would put into your computer unless they specifically say so. That said, if you’re aiming for the best money can buy, you might not get every drop of performance out of the box.

Is it cheaper to buy pre-built or build your own?

According to our data, pre-built PCs save you money at the extreme ends of the spectrum – when you’re on an absolute budget and cost isn’t an issue. But for everything else, custom computers are actually cheaper.

However, please note that the prices listed here do not include incidentals such as thermal paste and screwdrivers. In addition, you have to spend time building the computer yourself or find someone to do it for you. This is an additional cost that you need to consider, especially since the cost of time varies from person to person.

One of the benefits you get with pre-built computers is customer service. If you run into a problem with your computer, you can call the manufacturer and they can help you troubleshoot. Pre-built PCs are also important if you don’t know anything about specs, as the manufacturer can simply ask about your budget and what you want to achieve, and then you’ll be given a recommended package.

Being computer savvy, my only consideration would be the price difference. If it’s under $100 and I’m confident in the quality of my pre-built supplier, I’d go with that option. But otherwise own PCs are the way to go.