Prebuilt vs built around your parts
A prebuilt PC is assembled from whatever the manufacturer bought in volume, in a case designed to fit every possible combination — which is why it is fifty litres with a card that needs thirty. Building around your parts means the case follows the components: smaller, quieter, and a power supply sized from the actual load rather than from a dropdown.
We build around your parts, and the honest caveat is that we are slower and not cheaper. If the machine is a means to an end and the standard configuration fits, buy the prebuilt — we would rather say it here than have you find out after ordering.
| Criterion | Prebuilt PC | Built around your parts |
|---|---|---|
| Case volume for the same components | 45–55 litres regardless | 7–35 litres, computed from the parts |
| Power supply sizing | Whatever was in the bundle | Load × 1.6, rounded to a size that exists |
| Cooling | Enough fans for the worst configuration they sell | Airflow computed from your heat at your chosen temperature rise |
| Price | Lower; volume buying and thin margins | Higher; made to order and flown |
| Delivery | Days, from stock | About nine working days |
| Component choice | Fixed bundles | The parts you picked, listed with suppliers |
| Repair and upgrade | Often proprietary board and PSU form factors | Standard ATX parts throughout |
| Who to call when it fails | A support queue | Us, with the build log and thermal test from your machine |
The case is the part nobody chooses and everybody lives with
A prebuilt case has to accommodate the longest card, the tallest cooler and the biggest radiator the manufacturer might ever fit, because one case has to serve a whole product line. That is a sound business decision and it is why the box under your desk is twice the size of the parts inside it.
Ours is drawn after you choose. A mini-ITX build with a 285 mm card and a tower cooler closes at about eighteen litres; leave the card out and it is seven. The dead space does not shrink because we are clever — it is not there because nothing was put in for it.
Sizing a power supply is arithmetic, not taste
The usual advice is to buy more watts than you need, which is how a 300 W machine ends up with a 1000 W supply running at a third of its load, outside its efficiency peak, with a fan that never spins down. The sum is load × 1.6, rounded up to a size that exists: enough headroom for transient GPU spikes, no more.
Our engine does that sum and fits the result. It is not a choice we offer, because it is not a matter of opinion.
Where the prebuilt genuinely wins
Price and speed, and neither is close. A volume manufacturer buys components for less than we do and ships from a warehouse in your country. If the specification fits and you need it this week, that is the better purchase.
It also wins when you do not care. A machine that runs a browser and a spreadsheet does not reward a case designed around it, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.