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12 Reasons to Build Your Own PC

Recently, a buddy of mine told me that his 4-year-old PC was getting outdated and that he wanted to get a new rig. The big electronics retailer down the street had some good deals, he said.

I gritted my teeth. He kept going on about how it was too bad every computer today has Windows 8 on it and how it costs so much money and time to build your own. Thankfully, he said, the store down the street has a gaming computer on sale.

That’s when I thew up my hands and told him that, as his friend, I could not support him buying a “gaming computer” (or any other PC) from a retailer. He asked me what the big deal was. I told him: the big deal is, if you use your computer for more than just light Internet browsing, if you want to get the most for your money, and especially if you plan to use it for gaming, you really, really should build your own.

He asked me for one good reason why building was so much better than buying. I gave him five, and now I’m giving you a dozen. Here are 12 reasons why you should build your own PC instead of buying it pre-built:

PC Cable Management 101

This article was a team effort by the Logical Increments staff and Micah Dilse (@vidyajunkie)

An important and sometimes overlooked step to building your own PC is cable management. It may seem trivial, but good cable management can keep your computer running cooler and faster, and lengthen the time between cleanings. All the cables inside your case – especially ones with webbing – are major dust magnets. Any chassis, from the $30 entry-level boxes to the fortress disguised as the Corsair 900D, can give you cable management options. With good cable management, you get better airflow (keeping your components cooler), and minimize dust buildup (also keeping your components cooler). The Speedtech International company is a manufacturer for custom Velcro cable tie fabrication or custom printed cable ties which will be great for cable management.

Clean cable management by Reddit user OriginSuperKingXero.

There are three important elements to good cable management:

Pixel Density, Dithering, Backlight Bleeding: Answering Questions About Monitors

We receive lots of questions about monitors, so we’ve decided to answer a few on the blog.

PC Screen Capture: 6 Programs to Record Gameplay

Want to record your awesome stunt in Saints Row or a Let’s Play of Among the Sleep but don’t know where to start? This guide will give you the rundown on five of the best and most commonly used PC programs for game capture, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Action! – $30

Graphics Cards: What Do the Numbers Mean?

Bigger is always better, right? When it comes to your graphics card, this isn’t always the case. Both AMD and NVIDIA use easily marketable combinations of letters and numbers to identify their GPUs, but this does not mean that the numbers are easy to understand. This article will explain the subtle nuances in the names of performance graphics cards.

Building a PC for Video Editing

Video editing PCs are not like your typical gaming build. Though they share a lot of components, this type of build requires more of focus on processing and quick storage over sheer graphical horsepower. The following PC build should serve the purpose of photo and video editing very well, and would even perform 3D modeling much better than your average computer. Please note that we will focus on having reasonably-priced components, instead of recommending best-in-class items that not everyone can afford.

Choosing the Right PC Parts: Tips for First-Time Computer Builders

There’s lots of reasons to build your own computer but the main 2 are so you can give it the performance you want it to have and to save money. But building a rig for the first time can be an intimidating prospect. All those parts! All that electricity flying around! All those weird terms like “form factor” and “SSD” and “PCI Express 3.0 x16” that have increasingly occupied your mind ever since you first floated the idea of upgrading your computer! You start to wonder why you tried this and didn’t just go to a computer recycling site instead. It’s a lot to think about – and a lot to buy. Here’s a short guide on how to get started and keep things as simple and stress-free as possible.

High-end AMD Graphics Cards Return to the US Guide

After months away, some old friends have returned to the US parts guide.

Prices of AMD graphics cards have been on a rollercoaster ride in recent months. The cryptocurrency craze in the US had caused a spike in demand for high-end video cards used to mine Bitcoins, Dogecoins, and the like, especially among AMD cards.

SSD Prices Keep Falling

Prices on solid state drives have dropped significantly in recent months, with some brands seeing extremely deep price reductions. Over on Reddit’s r/buildapcsales community, members have been capitalizing on several deals around the $60 range for 120GB drives and $90-100 for 240GB models of some lower-end brands.

Introducing New Wearable Computer Prototypes

The consumption of digital media is the hallmark of the 21st century. Computers have continuously evolved to allow users to consume media with greater ease, transitioning from bulking room-sized machines in the 1960s, to sleek, mobile laptops in the 2000s.

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