Building your own PC was long considered the best way to save money. Instead of buying a complete computer from a manufacturer that has to pay for its factory, employees, transport, marketing and margin, you buy the components directly and assemble the computer yourself.
However, when you compare the prices side by side, the conclusion is much less straightforward. A self-built PC may cost less than an equivalent preassembled model, or the difference may be only a few dozen euros. With some entry-level configurations, the prebuilt PC may even cost less than the sum of its components.
There is nothing surprising about this: an individual buys components one at a time, while a manufacturer can negotiate the purchase of thousands of processors, motherboards, memory modules or SSDs on terms that are obviously unavailable to an individual buyer.
In this article
- Building your own PC is not necessarily cheaper
- Manufacturers do not pay the same prices for components as we do
- Industrial assembly costs far less than expected
- Do not forget to include the cost of a Windows licence
- Promotions have a greater impact on a high-end configuration
- So, should you build your own PC to pay less?
Building your own PC is not necessarily cheaper
The first idea to abandon is that a self-built PC is necessarily cheaper.
It is better to see building a PC as another way of buying a computer. It gives you more freedom, but that freedom does not automatically mean savings.
The final price of a PC is not simply the sum of the processor, graphics card, memory and SSD either.
To build a complete tower, you need to plan for several components:
| Component | Required in a typical configuration |
|---|---|
| Processor | Yes |
| Graphics card | Depending on the processor and use |
| Motherboard | Yes |
| RAM | Yes |
| SSD | Yes |
| Power supply | Yes |
| Case | Yes |
| CPU cooling | Depending on the processor |
| Operating system | Depending on how it will be used |
A €400 graphics card and a €250 processor do not yet make a €650 PC. You always need to complete the configuration before comparing its price with that of a preassembled computer.
Manufacturers do not pay the same prices for components as we do
This is probably the most important factor in understanding why a prebuilt PC can be cheaper. When you buy a memory module or an SSD from an online shop, you are buying a retail product. The retailer had to buy it from a distributor or manufacturer, store it, transport it and add a margin.
A PC manufacturer operates on a completely different scale. It can order very large volumes and negotiate directly with suppliers. It can also use selected components for its product ranges and standardize part of its production.
Imagine the difference between buying 10 SSDs and buying several thousand. The manufacturer benefits not only from a better purchase price. It can also organize its production line around those components.
This economy of scale is one reason why an individual buyer can sometimes find it impossible to match the price of a prebuilt tower.
Prebuilt PCs are competitive on smaller budgets
This is particularly visible with PCs sold for around €500 or €600.
At this price level, there is not much room for savings. A few dozen euros already represent a significant share of the total price.
Let us take an entry-level gaming configuration:
| Component | Indicative retail price |
|---|---|
| Processor | €100 |
| Graphics card | €200 |
| Motherboard | €70 |
| Memory | €40 |
| SSD | €45 |
| Power supply | €50 |
| Case | €45 |
| Cooling | €20 |
| Total | €570 |
If a manufacturer manages to obtain several of these components for a few euros less and then optimizes assembly and logistics, its complete PC can quickly become competitive.
It can then offer a computer for €550 or €600 that you would struggle to reproduce at the same price by buying each part separately.
Industrial assembly costs far less than expected
The manufacturer has to pay someone to build the PC, so surely an assembled PC should cost more? The thing is, industrial assembly has little in common with building a gaming PC yourself.
In a factory, operations are standardized. Components are available in the right place, procedures are repeated and computers are assembled one after another.
The time required to assemble a standard configuration can therefore be very short.
The manufacturer also spreads its costs across a large number of computers. An expense that seems significant when it concerns a single machine becomes marginal when spread across thousands of units.
It is the same principle that allows a large chain to sell some products more cheaply than a small independent shop.
Do not forget to include the cost of a Windows licence
A prebuilt PC sold with Windows includes a preinstalled Windows licence. Manufacturers can provide Windows under an OEM licence directly with their machines.
When you build your PC, you also need to consider the licence:
| Comparison | Build-it-yourself PC | Prebuilt PC |
|---|---|---|
| Components | Yes | Yes |
| Assembly | Your time | Included |
| Windows | To be budgeted | Included |
| Testing | Your responsibility | Completed |
| OS installation | Your responsibility | Completed |
| Warranty | Component by component | A few months |
The balance changes as the budget increases.
The larger the budget, the more worthwhile building becomes
On a high-end PC, the components represent much larger sums and price differences become significant. But this is not only because a €1,000 graphics card offers more opportunities to save. The manufacturers’ business model also changes.
A manufacturer can sell thousands of units of a €600 configuration without any particular difficulty. It only needs to offer a standardized machine, with a combination of components attractive enough to reach a broad audience. A configuration equipped with a very high-end graphics card, 64 GB of memory and several SSDs targets a much smaller market.
The manufacturer therefore produces fewer identical computers and no longer benefits from the same volume effect for each model. It still has to manage its stock, assembly, testing, warranty, distribution and margin. These costs are spread across fewer devices.
The price of a high-end PC can therefore be significantly higher than the price of the components it contains.
Promotions have a greater impact on a high-end configuration
On a high-end configuration, a promotion on the graphics card alone can save €100 or €200. A price reduction on the SSD, memory or motherboard can reduce the total cost even further.
Individuals can take advantage of each of these opportunities separately.
A manufacturer cannot continually change a configuration that has already been defined. It has bought its components, planned its production and set its selling price according to its costs.
That is one of the advantages of building your own PC: you can wait for each component to reach a good price instead of buying the entire configuration at once.
The difference becomes significant on a €2,000 configuration
Let us take a configuration with a budget of €2,000.
A 5% saving already represents €100. If several components are on sale at the same time, the difference can quickly reach several hundred euros.
At this price level, it also becomes easier to avoid certain oversized components or components that are poorly suited to the intended use. You can invest more in the parts that will directly affect performance and spend less on those that will have practically no impact.
Building your own PC is not only worthwhile because it lets you find cheaper components. Above all, it lets you avoid spending €2,000 in the same way a manufacturer forces you to spend it. Instead of spending €450 on a 10-core CPU, you can use that amount to balance the PC around your needs.
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So, should you build your own PC to pay less?
With a €500 or €600 PC, a prebuilt model can be very competitive. Production volumes, bulk purchasing and standardized assembly allow manufacturers to reduce their costs enough to offer computers that are difficult to reproduce at the same price.
With a high-end configuration, the situation is different because volumes are lower, configurations are less standardized and the price of each component is high enough for optimization to have a real impact on the budget. Building your own PC then lets you select each component, take advantage of promotions and allocate the budget according to your needs.
Building your own PC is therefore not necessarily cheaper. It depends on your budget.
For a small configuration, a prebuilt PC may be the best deal. For a larger configuration, building it yourself gives you better control over the budget and lets you create a setup that is better suited to how you will use it.
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