Build vs buy is the decision, when getting a desktop computer, between assembling it yourself from separate components and purchasing a ready-made pre-built system.1
Overview
Building means choosing each part — CPU, motherboard, RAM, GPU, storage, power supply, and case — and fitting them together yourself. Buying means a vendor delivers a complete, tested machine under a single warranty. The parts must still be compatible either way: the motherboard form factor has to match the case, the CPU has to match the board’s socket, and the power supply has to be sized for the load.
Trade-offs
Building usually costs less for the same performance, lets you pick exactly the parts you want, and makes future upgrades easy — at the price of your time, the learning curve, and the fact that you troubleshoot any problems yourself. Buying is faster and lower-risk, with one company on the hook for support, but you pay a premium and accept whatever components and limited upgradeability the vendor chose. Building shines for gaming PCs and enthusiast workstations; buying suits anyone who just wants a working machine. For a GopherTrunk bench either works — the radio front end is a USB dongle regardless of how the host PC was put together.
Sources
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Custom-built computer — Wikipedia, on building versus buying a PC. ↩