Ask HN: Build Own PC in 2022? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Build Own PC in 2022?

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Back in the day everyone was building their own PCs: chose a motherboard, a CPU, RAM, a video card, an audio card, a power supply, verify the compatibility, assemble and pack it into a case. It was flexible, customizable, easy to evolve (unless you change the motherboard), and easy to repair. It was also buggy and a lot of fun. At least the way I remember it.

Today I buy a laptop and everything is pre-assembled. I still get to choose the configuration, but it doesn't feel the same. And voids a lot of the above features. Except that it may still be buggy. Also, the real reason I moved to laptops is because they are, well, mobile. Now, with the remote work I spend my day at the same desk. So I would like to give it a try: assemble my own PC again. (Not a laptop, the Framework Laptop is definitely not what I am looking for.)

Do you have any recommendations for how to do it in 2022? Are there online resources that can bring me up to speed? How to choose the components, make sure they are compatible...

Thank you, and good luck with your New Year's resolutions!

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Edit: I would use the PC for work mostly: coding, compiling, somewhat heavy-ish on the browser; think AWS M-type instances.

In about mid-2020, I used sites like https://buildmypc.net/ and https://pcpartpicker.com/, read through some other people's builds around my price point (I was aiming for <$1000), and researched individual components. Ended up building around an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + Asus Prime X570P, with 32GB of RAM and an Rx580 GPU.

Example of a problem you'll have right now: I bought that Sapphire Pulse Rx 580 8GB for the GPU. Spent $190. Used ones of those are selling in the $400-$500 range right now, and $500-$600 new. And that seems about the baseline for most 8GB cards. Looks like some 4GB cards cost less, but still more than I paid for the one a year and a half ago. I think it's possible to jump on a local retailer when they finally get something in stock, but I'm not even positive on that.

CPUs don't seem to be quite as bad, but have had a serious price jump too. I paid $175 for my 3600. Some are still selling used for around that price, and new for more (but still under the prices of the zen 3 CPUs after it).

Well, the basics are "evergreens".

The list you put up is close (today it is more like: motherboard, cpu,cpu-cooler, ram, storage, psu, case). No-one really uses separate soundcards anymore (in the very old days, you also had controller cards with serial, parallel, floppy and IDE - sometimes spread out over multiple cards).

Building it yourself is challenge (in the good way) if everything goes well, and a challenge (in the nervewracking way) if not... especially if you don't have a comparable second system to swap stuff with to find the faulty device...

I have personally build most of my home computers from around 1995 to 2018. Then I got lazy and bought a completed system from a small, local integrator. I still assemble barebones once in a while (especially tiny ryzen ones)...

As for your resources question, there are LOTS of youtube channels. I like JayzTwoCents but there are a lot..

But it sounds like you have the history and hence skills..

The main stuff as a sorta primer:

Mainboard -> CPU = socket type (check the MB page if your wanted cpu is compatible)

Mainboard -> RAM = formfactor (DIMM vs SO-DIMM and generation DDR3/DDR4/DDR5, non ecc, non registered unless you are doing something special). You could also look at the mainboards "qualified list" (most other comparable ram works just as well).

Mainboard -> SSD/HD (sata) .. number of ports

Mainboard -> SSD (m.2) .. length of slot most common 22x80 mm (i.e. nvme 2280)

PSU: enough juice.. I usually see what prebuilds advertise with and add 100 (watts)

GPU: what can you find (and pay for) right now

Mainboard -> Case.. is the mainboards formfactor mentioned as compatible with the case

CPU-cooler: Right type for cpu, if case is small also check for height.. Two main types today Air-coolers and AIO (all-in-one water).. A good air-cooler is fine for an non overclocked-into-hell system..

> It was also buggy and a lot of fun

Sadly, "building" a PC nowadays is not very fun.

Install CPU, RAM, m.2 SSD... and that's all if you use iGPU. Just almost bare motherboard, there is even no cables to the disk drive!

GPU? Isn't needed if you aren't driving multiple monitors and/or gaming. Even if, it's just one card, install it.. and that's all.

BD/DVD? In 2021? Really?

Soundcard? If you really care than you just pipe it to your $kkkk receiver through SPDIF/HDMI/whatever, otherwise it is just fine.

OS? Just install it. Win10/11 would work out of the box, most Linux distros would work too.

The only "fun" there is hunting specs through the atrocious naming schemes (to be sure you aren't buying some 5-10 y/o part with the same index re-used on a modern piece) and hunting down the specialty things, like a SFF[0] mini-ITX cases and parts what would fit in it.

[0] https://old.reddit.com/r/sffpc/

If integrated graphics work for you, I think you're fine. Go to PC part picker, start with your choice of CPU (Ryzen 5600G or 5700G would be my suggestion, but something intel works too), and then use the compatibility filter for the rest of the stuff you need. (Motherboard, RAM, storage, PSU, case). For motherboard, I'd recommend looking for something with the ability to flash the firmware (BIOS) without a CPU, in case it comes with too old of a version for your CPU.

There's a lot fewer components for a basic system these days.

If you want a GPU, prices are crazy, and the best value seems to be buying a whole system with the GPU in it already. If you go with a smaller integrator, you'll get real parts that can be upgraded later as needed, if you go with like HP or Dell, you may get a propriatary PSU and case which could be difficult to upgrade later.

Some of the latest gen Intel motherboard use DDR5, which is also crazy to get right now. Word is supply is coming soon, but early DDR5 isn't much better than current DDR4 for most things, so I would go with a DDR4 system (3200-3600 MHZ seems to be the right balance of price and performance for DDR4)

I would just buy a pre-made machine with the GPU and CPU and RAM you require.

I build my own and have done for years and years and these days I am considering just buying one from https://www.acom-pc.de

Highly recommend starting with a budget and use cases (VR, ray tracing, 4K, etc) and then using https://www.logicalincrements.com/ to fill in the details.

+1 on this. I also recommend you think about the peripherals you'll need to buy to satisfy your requirements, like one or more screens, a good mechanical keyboard and so on.

Thank you so much for this. I mean, it sounds obvious to state it like this - set the goal first. And yet it is actually something I didn't do.

You can get by pretty well for 2k gaming on a 4-5 year card like a Radeon 480. That is a good way to save budget until gpu costs level off. (They may never actually go down since people and companies are accustomed to spending 4 figures. Hopefully the invisible hand of competition helps)

Hm. Thank you, actually an interesting idea. Provided I can find something that is compatible with a modern motherboard (so as to be able to upgrade later), it can be an interesting option to limit the cost at start.

I build a PC during peak pandemic in 2020. The main problem I had was getting all the parts. Had to buy from 5 different places.

I am very happy with the machine. If I were to do it again, I would probably get a bigger power supply.

Short answer - everything is expensive due to supply chain issues - at every step, videocards are even more expensive due to crypto miners using them. Unless you are price insensitive - wait a bit.

Definitely not a good time to be building a PC. I'd wait as well.

I'd say watch a bunch of Linus Tech videos to get a broader sense of what is adequate for you.

My recommended specs are the following-

Ryzen 5 5600X

B550 Motherboard

RTX 3060

32GB Trident Z RAM[16GBx2]

Samsung 970 EVO 1/2TB

NZXT case - H510 variants to choose from

850W Modular PSU

I faced this same dilemma and decided to not get up to speed and figure it out myself.

I ended up going with https://xidax.com

Get on the phone with them and they will help piece out something in your price range. They are a bit more expensive, but they also provide warranty on all parts beyond the manufacturer's.

Might take a little while to get, they have more business coming in than they can keep up with. This is usually a good sign for a company. Their customer service is the best I e experienced in many years.

Check out https://pcpartpicker.com/!

> How to choose the components

For CPUs, I normally use cpubenchmark.net ratings. For GPUs, I simply look at “single precision TFLops” column on Wikipedia.

> make sure they are compatible

That’s a bit tricky indeed. TL/DR version – pick a CPU first, a compatible motherboard next, the motherboard’s manual will tell you about compatibility with RAM and disks. For RAM, go with maximum supported frequency, and minimum latency you can find (the latency is CL number, lower the better, if you’ll pick an AMD CPU the latency better be an even number). For disks, manufacturers typically specify both sequential (MB/second) and random (IOPS) performance, for both of them higher the better.

Once you picked the rest of the components, use an online calculator to find PSU wattage, leave some reasonable headroom like 20%.

> coding, compiling, somewhat heavy-ish on the browser

You’re lucky you didn’t list gaming, the global GPU shortage is still ongoing. A CPU with integrated graphics should work fine for you. BTW, I’m currently using a PC with Ryzen 7 5700G CPU, can recommend.

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