The debate between prebuilt PCs and their DIY counterparts is nearly endless, but the truth is that right now, it’s a good time to embrace prebuilts. Building your own PC used to be the more economical thing to do, but these days, rising component prices often flip that situation on its head. You might be able to save yourself some money and some trouble by buying a prebuilt.
The trouble with prebuilts is that they aren’t as straightforward to buy as they might seem. Buy the wrong one, and you can end up with poor performance, upgrade headaches, or stability issues. Fortunately, if you avoid some of these common pitfalls, you’re much more likely to find a PC you love.
Watch out for vague specifications
You want to know everything that goes into your PC
If I had to pick just one thing that frustrates me about prebuilts, it’s that their descriptions can be awfully vague. That’s the last thing you want when you’re spending thousands of dollars on a PC. When buying a PC, it’s crucial to know every single component — not just the type, but the exact model and specifications.
You will often find listings that only say that the PC comes with a power supply, but won’t mention the brand, efficiency rating, or whether it’s modular. Similarly, RAM may only be listed by capacity, but you want more information, such as the brand, speed, and timings.
The same applies to storage. You’ll know the capacity and the type (SSD vs. HDD), not whether it’s a fast NVMe drive or a slower SATA SSD, or what kind of read and write speeds you’re getting. Motherboards and their various specs are also notoriously vague, so you often won’t see the chipset or the feature set listed at all. Even graphics cards can be unclear when only the GPU model, but not the manufacturer, is mentioned.
A good prebuilt manufacturer will always have a full spec sheet with complete information on each component.
Don’t end up with an underpowered power supply
The PSU is often overlooked
I’ve seen too many friends and family members buy prebuilts that then started crashing under load. In several cases, the culprit was the power supply. Some system builders use no-name, low-efficiency PSUs that just barely meet the wattage the PC needs. It might suffice when you’re just doing some light browsing, but things like gaming can cause shutdowns, crashes, and throttling.
Little to no power headroom also limits your future upgrades. You’ll have to replace the power supply yourself before buying any additional components. To avoid these issues, look for PSUs made by a reputable brand, such as Corsair, Seasonic, be quiet!, Thermaltake, EVGA, or Cooler Master. Use a reputable PSU calculator, such as the one from Newegg, to determine whether the PSU in your prebuilt is good enough for that particular PC.
(Potentially) avoid proprietary parts
Upgrades and repairs can get tricky
Some brands use custom components in their prebuilts. There’s nothing wrong with them at a glance, but you may run into problems down the line since upgrading these PCs can quickly become difficult. Proprietary motherboards or cases may not follow typical ATX or mATX standards, which makes fitting other components an issue. Proprietary CPU coolers may not accept standard mounting brackets. Power supplies may use non-standard connectors, too.
If you don’t see yourself upgrading the PC, this is less of a problem. However, any repairs once the warranty expires can be challenging when you need to find proprietary parts.
Don’t fall for the “gamer” branding
Shiny doesn’t always mean great
This ties in with my previous points: don’t judge a prebuilt by its case. Many prebuilts go all-in on the “gamer aesthetic,” with lots of RGB lighting, flashy cases, and related branding. Unfortunately, the branding often masks low-quality components. Many listings claim that the PC can play today’s most popular games, but a glance at the spec sheet reveals that it’ll struggle with some titles.
Don’t take performance claims at face value. Check the exact specifications and do some research to make sure that the system can live up to your expectations.
Aim for balanced component pairings
Prebuilt specs can be all over the place
Your prebuilt PC is only as good as its weakest part. Unfortunately, some system builders still prioritize the more recognizable components while neglecting others, and the result can be underwhelming.
You may sometimes see PCs that pair a modern graphics card with an ancient CPU. The opposite is true, too — some prebuilts have overkill processors that make them look way better than they really are. The reality is that most gamers don’t need a high-end CPU, especially not one that’s paired with an entry-level graphics card.
Identifying these mismatched parts can make choosing a good prebuilt difficult. If you don’t want to do hours of research, make sure you’re buying from a reputable system builder and avoid no-name brands. Some of the more popular options include Alienware, Maingear, Origin PC, HP Omen, and Lenovo Legion.
- Brand
-
Lenovo
- CPU
-
Intel Core Ultra 7 265F
- Graphics
-
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
- Memory
-
16GB DDR5-5600
- Storage
-
1TB SSD
Lenovo Legion Tower 5i is a midrange gaming PC that can play most of the latest games on high settings at 1080p. It pairs an Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU with an Intel Core Ultra series 2 processor.
Only buy PCs with all new parts
Used components come with risks
Some budget sellers may mix new components with used/refurbished ones to cut costs. It’s best to steer clear of such PCs unless you’re buying them at a bargain.
There’s a lot of merit in buying used PC hardware, but when you buy these parts piece by piece, it’s easier to avoid getting scammed. When they’re part of a prebuilt system, you might not even know that they’ve been used.
A family member of mine recently ran into this problem — they bought a prebuilt that turned out to be painfully slow. The SSD was the culprit, which had already completed thousands of read/write cycles before my relative ever bought the PC. Used SSDs, HDDs, coolers, and PSUs may show signs of wear and tear that affect the lifespan of your PC. It’s best to buy new if you want to avoid issues.
Compare pricing vs. DIY
Make sure you’re getting a good deal
Component prices are through the roof. RAM prices have skyrocketed recently, making DIY builds a lot pricier, and GPUs have been expensive for a while now. System builders can sometimes avoid these price spikes by buying components in bulk, which makes prebuilts more affordable.
Still, it’s important to do the math before you buy. Use a website like PC Part Picker to compare the cost of all individual parts in the prebuilt to buying them separately. The prebuilt will often cost extra due to assembly and testing, but it shouldn’t be wildly more expensive than building the PC yourself.
Check the cooling setup
No one likes thermal throttling
Even the most powerful PC will bring you nothing but disappointment if it’s not stable. Unfortunately, some prebuilts pair a poor cooler with a powerful CPU, and the result is often disastrous. Cheap builds may come with a tiny stock cooler, but a mid-to-high-end CPU needs a dedicated air or liquid cooler to run well. Poor cooling often results in throttling, frame rate drops, or even crashes.
Outside of CPU coolers, poorly planned airflow routes or low-quality fans can affect the temperatures inside the entire system. Just because a build has a lot of fans doesn’t necessarily mean that it moves a lot of air. Look for PCs that clearly state the exact cooler model, and double-check that it’s suitable for that processor.
There’s nothing wrong with a good prebuilt
Emphasis on “good”
As someone who always builds their own PCs, I’m heavily biased in favor of DIY, but even I’ll admit that prebuilts can be great. If you do your research and buy from trustworthy retailers, you’re more than likely going to end up with a solid computer. Take your time, do some reading, and remember: if something seems wrong, it’s best to look for a different PC.