• Cost

  No, you will not save money.  Many people think that building your own is a way to save money.  However this is almost never the case.  Just step back and think about it, most manufacturers buy in quantities far larger than you and therefore get far better pricing.  Also in todays world there is very little mark-up on computers.  This is not to say its not possible to save money, it is.  Just do not go into this thinking that you are going to save a bundle.

• Quality

Here is a big plus when building your own.  You control the quality.  You decide which parts will be used.  You control how well it is assembled.  You control how it is set up.  In brief you can build a system with far better parts, assembled with greater care to detail then you can get from most any retail or white box.

 

• Satisfaction

  Let's face it there is a certain satisfaction in building your own PC.  A pride when you know that it was you that put it all together. 

• Knowledge

Yes, if you do this right you will gain alot of knowledge and experiance.  If it breaks you will be more likely able to fix it.  After all you researched it, bought the individual parts and built it.

• Where to Start (a beginners guide)

1. The heart of any system is the motherboard, so this is a logical place to start.  Here it most certainly pays to do some research and choose wisely. 
2. The Operating System or OS. 

See MotherBoard article and OS article.  More to follow!