Now that I can afford and want a desktop computer, I am thinking of building it. Is that a good idea? How much difficult would it be? Can you share your experiences building one?
PS: I am thinking of going with AMD processors and graphics card. What suggestions would you give for complete noob like me?
I would figure out what your needs are: play modern AAA games in 4K definition at 120 FPS? Play older games on medium graphics? Do video or other media editing? Etc etc
Then go look at Logical Increments for example builds and figure out how expensive you want to go to meet your needs (they have example builds from basically a toaster on up to the best that consumer money can buy): https://www.logicalincrements.com/
(Edit: keep in mind that the prices on Logical Increments may be lower than actual parts, due to the supply chain issues, pandemic, etc)
Use PC Part Picker to keep track of your build items, they have a handy interface to make builds out of specific parts, track the price of the whole build, make sure you don't forget a part, and even generally warn you if you choose incompatible parts (it's not foolproof but it worked for me and is nice for peace of mind): https://pcpartpicker.com/
Finally, read/watch a few build guides on YouTube or find some articles via Google, to get more familiar with the process.
This is a rough and high-level approach to what worked for me as a first-time builder with roughly zero knowledge (beyond being as computer-savvy as an average person in tech, which I presume most HNers are). Good luck and have fun!
Other misc thoughts:
Don't try to save a few dollars getting a cheap, low-quality PSU.
One upside of PCs is modularity. If you're on a limited budget, one option is to select parts where you plan to upgrade and replace components in a year or three. You could start with a CPU with integrated graphics (e.g. AMD-Ryzen-5600G) with the option of replacing that with a better CPU and a dedicated GPU in future -- but for this possible future upgrade path to work you'd need to pick a motherboard and power supply that would support the future upgrade: CPU socket, size & version of PCIE socket, PSU with enough power to support future CPU + GPU -- otherwise upgrading will require also purchasing a new motherboard and going through a complete disassembly & reassembly.
If you're trying to get RAM running at a high clock speed, you need to find RAM sticks that are mutually compatible, and compatible with your motherboard. Mixing sets of RAM sticks from different manufacturers that are all rated at some high clock speed X probably won't work, and you'll get a system that doesn't boot and only communicates the symptom with pc speaker beeps and blinkenlights. This is more an issue when upgrading and adding RAM to an existing system than when starting with a new system. There are some resources online to help with this, if you search for "RAM <brand> compatibility database" etc you may be able to find lists from manufacturers of RAM with RAM+motherboard combinations they have tested and confirm work.
One note if you decide to go the integrated graphics route: if you’re planning on gaming, get a CPU with the most powerful integrated graphics you can.
I did as shoo pointed out, started out with a CPU with integrated graphics to save money (inflated GPU prices during pandemic), then later upgraded to better CPU plus discrete graphics card.
I started with a Ryzen 3400G for its low price and integrated graphics, but found I could barely play even medium-low graphics games like Valheim, maxing out at 15 FPS, dropping to 5 much of the time.
Hopefully you can avoid the same issue if you decide to get an integrated graphics CPU. I do prefer and recommend a dedicated graphics card, assuming it fits within your budget.
One of the primary areas of advancement is PC cases - they are so well engineered now that just a few screws and everything is assembled in minutes. And everything lines up like it was made to go together.
On top of improved designs, there are YouTube videos today which didn't exist in the 80s and 90s.
IMO it's never been easier to get into so I can't see any reason not to build your own PC. It's very rewarding, though not necessarily an economic advantage verses pre-built.
The absolute best deal on a PC is probably a lightly used, name brand system from ebay. But you don't learn nearly as much with that option.
Hummm, i would caution against that, especially for beginners. PC manufacturer are notorious for producing awefull garbage, and it can be quite hard to someone new to discern the lemon from good deal.
Honestly, it's much more straightforward than it seems when you think about how complex PC internals seem without much prior knowledge. I would say find some builds you like on PCPartPicker.com and try to emulate them. When it comes to assembling specific parts together, find YouTube videos that closely emulate your setup. For example, the last PC I built used a Lian Li mini case which is very small and can only house very specific sizes of some parts (mainly MoBo and power supply). But it's a very popular case, so there were a ton of very detailed youtube videos on doing a Lian Li mini build. That stuff really helps.
Another thing, highly recommend getting some type of screwdriver / tool kit like this: https://www.ifixit.com/products/mako-driver-kit-64-precision.... I am sure some frugal stickler will come along and tell me why I am dumb for overpaying for this kit, but I really enjoy the convenience factor and did not exactly have a robust set of hand tools laying around - which I expect is the case for many building their first PC.
The hard part for me 7 or 8 years ago was actually getting the right combination of all the parts. But those are all listed and put together by an endless parade of PC building YouTubers and websites like Newegg.
Later, any time you want to upgrade or change anything it is a pleasure. I have since moved on to an M1 but the machine is still humming away hosting stuff and rendering things and what not. I highly recommend doing it.
AMD processors and graphics cards are good, but perhaps require a bit more troubleshooting than Intel + Nvidia. I have a 5900X and while very good, I had to flash my motherboard bios to have it recognized and then again later to fix a TMP issue. These are small hurdles I haven’t encountered with Intel in some time and I would imagine would be a real head scratcher for a first time build.
If you are building for gaming it is also worth noting that Nvidia DLSS is a feature that is very much worth the premium in my opinion. But depending on what games or what you are looking to do with your machine AMD cards can be the better value.
If you love building stuff, yes. Do note that you need to put in quite some time to do it well.
> How much difficult would it be?
Not that difficult, especially if you prepare by looking at some videos on building PCs on Youtube
> Can you share your experiences building one?
I've build three personally, and I had only problem once with a broken USB connector on a motherboard due to poor build quality of the manufacturer. Do make sure that you check everything a few times while building, I had some interns in the past (when I worked in a PC store) who accidentally forgot to connect the CPU fan and almost fried the CPU.
> What suggestions would you give for a complete noob like me?
Depends on what you want. If you want something good for gaming, like me, I would go for a Ryzen 9 7800X3D paired to a Radeon 7900 XTX.
And I also would go to your local PC store and have a friendly conversation, they will be happy to help you out.
If you want to try your hand at hackintoshing, Intel is your easiest option. It's not a garbage platform either.
Not ripping open the static bags and handling each component myself would be akin to going on a big game hunt and hiring a skilled hunter to shoot the animal so you can pose with it. Based on your question I think you're in my boat more than the other person's.
There's a number of configurators online where you can painstakingly choose each component and make sure they work well together.
It can be very rewarding. My daily driver has been a homebuilt PC, built by me, for many years. 10/10 would recommend.
the build is easy, but it will take a full day. it is also a bit nerve racking, but mostly that’s just inexperience. parts are all sturdy and snap together. i will be building every nvidia generation from now on.
i used to code on laptops, then game on a pc. now i have two ssds, one windows one linux. bios boot option is unborkable. it’s a great setup.
it’s nice to be able to play fortnite, compile the linux kernel[1], and do gamedev[2] all in a single session.
be aware ddr5 amd boards boot kind of slow. i’ve heard intel is faster.
if you can afford it, go god spec. otherwise spec down into your price range. letsbld and originpc have good configurators to choose parts. newegg prices will be 30% less.
check out fractal torrent cases and dh15 coolers! 4090 fe fits in the nano and 4090 pny fits in the compact.
1. https://github.com/nathants/mighty-snitch/tree/master/kernel...
2. https://r2.nathants.workers.dev/jetpack_hand_animations.mp4
I put together a machine learning build with an RTX 4090, and it's just sitting in a corner of my office running inference/training 24/7.
These days I typically view that move as pretty irresponsible unless it seriously decreases your time spent doing something or you're practically shitting money.
Might be an option to look into if you have around two grand to spend. I ended up with an i5-12400F and RTX 3060 for around $1200 (that's including the new motherboard).
Starting with an existing PC and swapping out components is a way to start with something that works so you won't build something from scratch out of 20 different pieces and then try to debug why it just won't work for some weird reason.
Stuff like "this CPU isn't compatible with this motherboard until you use an older CPU to flash the new BIOS update" will take you out easily if you're not careful. It's all over the place!
So I recommend starting with a prebuilt if it's your first. :)
P.S. HP Omen offers AMD processors as well, so check em out!
E.g. I just built a PC ("Fractal Define R5" case + 3 low-RPM Noctua fans + MSI X570S motherboard + 128MiB RAM Kingston + 5 2TB NV2 Kingston NVMe + 1 AMD Ryzen 9 5950X + the only PCIe x1 GPU I could find which turned out to be nVidia) to run a Postgresql DB server.
In my case I specifically ended up selecting for example MSI's X570S motherboard because it doesn't have an active fan for its chipset, the Ryzen 9 5950X because it has so many CPU cores that it would be able to manage my workload even when its "boost"-feature is disabled (in my case -15% less work done without CPU "boost" but at the same time with as well -33% watts used), all this because of wanting to have as less heat and noise as possible because I host this in my flat (trying to save $ by replacing a server which I used to host with "hetzner.com" for 100$/month).
In your case your usecase will probably be different.
In my case the whole experience hasn't been as smooth/mindless as multiple posts here mentioned: the RAM type/clock/whatever compatibility with the CPU&motherboard was the most scary one followed by the capability of PCIe x16 split to 4x4 (to have a single NVMe-card able to handle 4 NVMe at high speed). As well basic things like the pins of e.g. HDD-LED & Power & Reset & etc... of the case can get tricky (to be fair in both cases, "MSI" motherboard & "Fractal" case, they were described quite well).
I'd say that this is not the right place where you'd post such a question - I'd recommend you to clearly define what you want to do with that desktop and if you still want to create a custom solution to then potentially ask detailed questions in more focused forums :)
Based on what I've seen recently, pre-built PCs (especially simple "desktop" PCs, but as well mid-tower PCs for gamers) can be A LOT cheaper than self-assembled ones.
I deal with choosing (the enjoyable part) and they guarantee the configuration works and assemble ot. IMO it is good value for the money.
I've been thinking of doing the same for my next machine, for similar reasons, but I also see a lot of horror stories about messed up builds, poor shipping, etc.
I am on a market for a new high performance PC right now, but I can't find any vendors with onsite warranty outside of Lenovo and Dell, which don't really sell anything that would meet my requirements.
Even if I consider myself well versed into hardware, it was great to see peoples feedback on specific motherboards and ram combinations for example (in my recent experience this is usually the biggest pain point).
I hadn't done anything like this in years but it went together with no problems and I'm very happy with the machine, so I say go for it.
We made it a little harder with liquid cooling and lots of led lighting that appeals to an 11 year old aspring gamer!
Biggest issues were a clearance issue relating to the radiator and a motherboard flashing and configuration issue. I ended up needing to order an alternate fan.
If you're picking an entirely novel combination of components, there's a higher chance of a compatibility problem. My 2018 machine browned out a lot until I tweaked some PCI-E power management thing in the motherboard's BIOS. There's some benefit in buying a bunch of parts that 100s of people are already using together.
If Youtube videos of building machines seem interesting and fun to you, go for it.
If you’re asking us whether you should build one, I can guarantee you’re going to build the PC you spent a month or two planning and then let it rust on a desk while you resume using your Macbook Pro or whatever like I did.
Use LogicalIncrements to build your PC on PCPartPicker. Enjoy that process because it’s fun. And then when that’s done ask yourself if you really need the thing. Or if you should just spend the $1000+ on a vacation with your sweetie.
Or you could skip buying a MacBook Pro, take some of that money to build a nice desktop, and then take the remaining $1000+ and go on a vacation.
I really like https://www.youtube.com/@PCBuilderChannel for the pragmatic and clear explanations. It's a very good place to start and he has videos on all the important subject.
But while i have your attention :
Step 1 : Decide your budget
It's easy to go overboard or to try to skim on important things. You probably want to reflect on your use cases and decide what is important for you. If gaming is the main focus, then most of your budget sink should be for the GPU. Find the best GPU you can afford, and then design/build the rest of the system as to not bottleneck your GPU.
Step 2 : Select your Platform
Probably the hardest when i come to part selection for someone new. Platform generally refers to the combination of motherboard + cpu + ram. Things are bit complicate to navigate here because they all need to be compatible, and the fan boy-ism is at its peak here.
Good news though, there is virtually no bad choices here, the CPU/motherboard/ram prices have come down and it's never been better to be buying.
On the CPU side you have first AMD vs Intel, then which generation (zen 3 vs zen 4 or 12th vs 13th gen intel), then you which performance tier (3 vs 5 vs 7).
On the motherboard side, you can group motherboard per "chipset" usually the tradeoff between price and peripheral support (things like usb4/thundebolt,pci5 vs pci4 etc...)
Step 3 : Select your form factor.
For someone new, i would recommend to get as big a case than you can fit in your environment. A big case maximizes component compatibility and really really make the building process easier. I would straight avoid ITX and focus on mid-towers or compact cases.
Step 4 : Post your proto build on a reputable forum, read the comment, ignore the crazies and iterate.
Finally, you want to keep things are simple as possible. PC building is a hobby and a rabbit hole in self. A lot of the example, advice online come from very passionate people who are okay sinking tons of hours in the process. So general recommendations :
-- For a first build, i would avoid anything to do with water cooling, cpu overclocking and low timing ram kits. Nothing wrong with any of it per say, but those tend to be the area of most problem and debugging a non functional build really really sucks.
-- Stick with reputable brands name when doing part selection. The Asus taxes is real, corsair PSU are over-priced and fractal cases can be boring. But in return you get (most of the time, all brands are capable or producing turds) some piece of mind and somewhat better return/support.
-- PC parts in general have a pretty aggressive diminishing return on the price/performance curve. Don't spend too much on any single component before making sure you actually need/want the extra oompphh
-- Electronics and PC parts in particular are depreciating assets. If you are patient, you can really really save a good buck on your build.