Building a PC is still cheaper per frame than buying a prebuilt, but I don't think that gap survives your first mistake. In 2024 I built a mid-range rig for about $1,100 — 1440p on high settings, roughly one-third less than the closest prebuilt I priced. Then a bent CPU socket pin cost me a $180 motherboard, which erased the entire savings. Prebuilt buyers pay a premium for the RMA phone call, the single warranty, and the fact that someone else already found the driver conflict at 1am. Do-it-yourself PC gaming rewards people with time, patience, and a spare machine to Google from — and quietly punishes everyone else.