In my estimation, there are different ways "to build your own computer." You can buy the parts and assemble yourself. You can find a company that will do the work for you. The key here is to find a company that will provide a computer full of "identified parts," and give you the options to make your choices. They should do this without charging a whole lot more. I worked, for a short time, at Radio Shack. They made a big deal about a plan they had that allowed you to "build your own computer" by selecting parts using a program they had. In the end, you paid lots more for all the parts... I mentioned that to the manager, and he didn't see any problem with it. Maybe that's one of the reasons I no longer work at Radio Shack, and I won't buy a computer there.