Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to afford custom items that fit us and meet all our needs perfectly?  Let’s face it; it is not financially feasible for most of us to buy custom made things like clothing, shoes, or homes because the costs do not justify the benefits of custom over the standard mass production.  The one product that this may not hold true is a custom-built computer desktop or server system.  The retail market for computer components is a highly competitive, low margin market.  It is hard for the large vendors to produce the components, especially high quality ones, for less than what are available at retail.

Building a custom computer can be a daunting task, especially with the constant changing technology.  With a blueprint, anyone with determination and time can actually complete the task.  A blueprint is not a bill of materials (BOM).  The former contains components and the latter contains the actual parts.  Components are general part categories whereas parts are specific items to be purchased.  A lot of research and budgeting decisions are required to go from components to parts.