Whenever a friend came to me asking for gaming PC advice, my tip was always the same: build it yourself. Beyond it (normally) being cheaper, there’s just something so therapeutically satisfying about putting it all together yourself and watching it leap into life.

But we’re in a crisis situation for PC components — RAM prices have exploded and SSD costs are following, and for the first time since I can remember, it’s actually cheaper to just get a pre-built PC than it is to build it yourself. Let me talk you through my investigation.

By the numbers

I went to my trusty go-to source whenever I start planning a PC build — PC Part Picker — to figure things out. Let’s start with replicating this modest MSI RTX 5050 system on Newegg, which is currently $829.

Running it through PC Part Picker

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