Assembling a barebone computer by hand is usually less expensive than buying a pre-configured computer from a retailer, and may save time and labor compared with building a system from scratch. A typical barebone desktop system consists of a
CPU, a
computer case (or
tower), with a pre-fitted motherboard and power supply. If not already provided, the purchaser of such a platform only has to equip it with a
RAM, and optionally a
hard drive (in some cases, an operating system is/can be installed to a lower-cost
flash drive instead). Additional input/output devices may be required depending on their needs. Sometimes, it is necessary to install an operating system if the one built into the motherboard is deemed insufficient (or not present at all). An
audio adapter or
network adapter may be added but this is less common as recent motherboards often already contain capable solutions. Peripherals, such as a
keyboard,
mouse and
monitor, almost always must be acquired separately. Barebone systems sometimes include a
graphics processor or
RAM, but rarely any mass storage media (hard drives),
operating system or other software. Sometimes PCs with everything a normal desktop PC has except
Microsoft Windows operating systems are sold as a barebone computer, but may include
free software such as
Linux.
Refurbished and used computers may also be repackaged as barebone computers, as many computers returned for refurbishing may have missing, broken, or obsolete parts such as hard drives and peripherals. ==Barebook==