Corsair's released a rival to PCPartPicker that completely misses the point
Building a PC from scratch isn't an easy task, so it's wise to do your research and plan. Corsair hopes to relieve some of the stress of PC building by launching a parts-picking website and app. Unfortunately, it isn't much use unless you're building an entire gaming rig with just Corsair components.
Corsair PC Builder, at a glance, seems like a decent tool for putting together your parts shopping list: it walks you through a component checklist, making sure it only shows the bits that are compatible with each other. It's an easy-to-use website that'll walk you through choosing a GPU, CPU, motherboard, and go down the list. The only issue is almost all of the components included are unsurprisingly only from Corsair's catalog.
Except for cases, Corsair PC Builder doesn't feature any competitors for the categories it makes products for. For example, in the SSD category, you'll find drives from the Corsair MP600 series to choose from and none from, let's say, the best SSD for gaming, which doesn't feature any Corsair SSDs.
Unlike popular parts picking websites like PCPartPicker, the Corsair PC Builder does not give any pricing for non-Corsair components. This makes it impossible to figure out how much your build will cost when items like the GPU, CPU, motherboard, and not-Corsair case don't have a price. Corsair PC Builder will soon let you build from a template which I hope lets users pick builds best for 4K gaming or live streaming.
There's an assumption that you're choosing the Corsair ecosystem for all your parts, which seems farfetched. Most folks will go with parts that give them the most bang for their buck and don't care about having everything made by the same brand name.
I get it; you want people to choose your products over the competition. And to Corsair's credit it's pretty upfront about what products they've 'curated.' But pretending they don't exist isn't helpful and just makes your PC Builder feel like a marketing tool rather than a valuable resource for PC builders. It would be wiser to show other brands but maybe offer a discount for anyone who chooses to go with Corsair: incentivize customers, rather than frustrate them.
There's no shame in Corsair PC Builder showcasing Corsair products, but if you're telling folks to "build your dream PC," the reality is you gotta show folks all their options, so they can make the best buying decisions. Pretending that the competition doesn't exist just makes the tool feel a little, well, unfit for purpose.
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