Build your own PC or buy one ready-made? The calculation with real prices

In September, two requests reached us in the same week whose budget was below the price of our cheapest PC. The easy answer would have been: then unfortunately it is not enough. Instead, we calculated what the same parts cost if you buy them yourself.

The result is here, with real prices and without sugar-coating. Including the number that is not flattering for us.

The calculation with real prices

Our entry-level PC, the YKON Entry, part by part. In each case the cheapest available offer from a regular shop, including shipping, as of 1 October 2026:

Then there is Windows. A regular licence for Windows 11 Home is available in price comparisons from about 110 euros. That makes the comparison look like this:

Between assembly by us and the ready-made PC there are 368 euros. With the same parts.

What is in those 368 euros

The question is fair, and it deserves a precise answer.

One contact for the whole device, for two years. If you buy individually, you have seven sellers. Each is liable for their part, nobody for the whole. If the PC no longer starts after a year, you first have to find out which part is to blame, remove it and send it to the right retailer. With a clear defect that is annoying. With a PC that only crashes sometimes, it is detective work.

The risk before handover. If a part arrives faulty, we replace it, and the waiting time is ours.

Purchasing, shipping and packaging. Seven orders, seven deliveries, one insured shipment to you.

And our earnings. That is what we live on, and it belongs in an open calculation instead of being kept quiet.

Whether that is worth 368 euros to you, only you can decide. For some it clearly is, for others it clearly is not.

When the parts list pays off

Your budget is not enough for the PC you actually want. With the same amount you get one level higher via the parts list.

You already have parts. A good case, an SSD, a Windows licence: anything you can reuse drops out of the calculation. The only exception is the power supply, more on that in a moment.

You want to buy used on purpose. A used graphics card can save a lot of money. We do not fit anything used in our own PCs, why is explained in the article Why we no longer fit used parts. If you buy yourself, it is your decision, and we tell you where it is reasonable and where it is not.

You want to build it yourself. A PC you have put together yourself is also a piece of knowledge. Once you have built it, you can upgrade it later without help.

When the ready-made PC is the better choice

If there is a problem, you want to write to exactly one address, not seven.

You do not have time for orders, deliveries, return deadlines and troubleshooting.

It is a gift, or the PC has to work on a specific day.

You do not trust yourself with troubleshooting in case something does not start after assembly. That is not a weakness. It is exactly the work you pay for with a ready-made PC.

What matters with a parts list

Even if you put your list together yourself, these are the places where things go wrong most often.

Compatibility is more than the right socket. A motherboard can take a processor and still only recognise it after a BIOS update. Without an older processor to update with, you need a board with a flashback button or one that ships with the right version.

Two modules instead of one. A single module halves the memory bandwidth and costs noticeable performance in many games. More in the article 16 or 32 GB of RAM.

Never a used power supply and never the cheapest. It is the one part that can take others with it when it fails. Saving here is the most expensive saving in the whole PC.

Prices with a date and with shipping. Memory and graphics cards are currently changing their prices weekly. A list without a date is wrong after two weeks. And seven shops mean up to seven times shipping costs, which a good list includes.

Build and test promptly. A part that arrives faulty should be noticed while the delivery is still fresh, not after weeks in the box.

What we offer for this

Parts list for 49 euros. Specific models, where to buy them and the prices of the day, mixed new and used if you like, and for every part a sentence on why it is exactly this one. You order yourself, and the parts belong to you from the start.

Assembly for 99 euros. Installation, testing, Windows installation and a test report. We credit the 49 euros for the parts list. We agree the date with you beforehand.

Write to us via the request form what you have in mind and what you want to spend. If the ready-made PC suits you better in the end, we will tell you. And if it is the parts list, we will tell you that too.

Prices as of 1 October 2026: in each case the cheapest available offer from a regular shop according to price comparison, including shipping. Windows 11 Home as a system builder licence from around 110 euros. Memory and graphics cards are currently changing their prices weekly, so a parts list from us always carries a date.