Build your own computer guide

Installed windows, windows update, downloaded NVIDIA drivers, and currently downloading some games on battle net and steam to try things out .
...aaaaaannnd?
I admit the choice for me does come down to a choice between the 3700X/3800X (since they are the 8-core models). I am leaning toward the latter somewhat for its slightly higher boost but mostly for its higher TDP ceiling which means less throttling and better tolerance for higher temperatures when on air.
Nevermind. Gonna get the 3700X.

An odd thing from that review (and others like it): In AMD's pursuit for performance, they decided to cut the memory write channel for each "chiplet" from 32-bit to only 16-bit in width. Their rationale is allegedly that memory writes aren't usually a bottleneck, but that still gets results that look like this in benchmarks:
1566581920162.png


The CPUs with 2x chiplets (3900X, 3950X) don't have this problem because they have twice as many memory write channels (one for each chiplet), so they therefore have twice the performance of the single-chiplet models. However, since the other benchmarks (gaming, productivity, etc) seem to justify the sacrifice, it's probably not going to be an issue unless you have some kind of excruciatingly specific workload.

--Patrick
 
Last edited:
Okay I know this is an old thread but I have a question...

I have been doing so much research about PC’s and building my own. My question is, can I buy the parts I want and then have someone else actually build it?

So far I see one or the other: prebuilt ones (that don’t have the parts I want) or buy the parts yourself and build it yourself. I don’t trust myself to actually put it together. Is it a thing for me to outsource the building bit?
 
Yes. Nerds tend to line up to do nerdy stuff like that for pretty girls.
Alternatively, if you think it's just a little but wrong to take advantage of tech-interested acquaintances, some pc shops will build your build, usually runs around €100 or so.
 
Yes. Nerds tend to line up to do nerdy stuff like that for pretty girls.
Alternatively, if you think it's just a little but wrong to take advantage of tech-interested acquaintances, some pc shops will build your build, usually runs around €100 or so.
Haha, i mean I want to pay someone to do it! I'm not gonna take advantage of someone's skills like that. :) I just wasn't sure. I'll see if I have any places nearby that offer that.
 
There arte also websites that'll build it for you - but obviously that means buying most if not all pieces through them, which means you'll be overpaying for at least some parts.
 
Haha, i mean I want to pay someone to do it! I'm not gonna take advantage of someone's skills like that. :) I just wasn't sure. I'll see if I have any places nearby that offer that.
This is a good choice. There are many places/people/pezzles who might assemble a computer for you, but shipping a fully-assembled computer requires special care and packaging, especially regarding the strain generated in transit by beefy heatsinks and GPUs.

--Patrick
 
This is a good choice. There are many places/people/pezzles who might assemble a computer for you, but shipping a fully-assembled computer requires special care and packaging, especially regarding the strain generated in transit by beefy heatsinks and GPUs.

--Patrick
Oh most definitely! I’ll find someone local if I don’t end up building it myself. :) I don’t want to have to ship it.
There are people who build systems just for fun. They may want to pay YOU. :)
I would feel too bad!
 
Don't, if you happen to know someone like that!
There's a clear difference between taking advantage of someone, or giving someone the opportunity. Building a pc is a fun and stimulating puzzle for some.
If there's a college or uni near you with a CS department, there's a good chance there'll be students willing to do it for less than a website would charge, and with any pieces you like.
Back in my uni days, the CS fraternity had a service where you'd give them a budget and some pointers for intended use (gaming, design, whatever) and they'd order all pieces and assemble it for, I think, €50 back then.
 

Dave

Staff member
Find a nerdy friend. Ask them if they'd be willing to HELP YOU build a computer. Assemble the parts using PC Part Picker - you can order them directly from there and they will be compatible.

Then build it yourself. It's really not that hard and you'd have the piece of mind having the nerdy friend there to help. Then when you fire that bad boy up, you'll know in your heart of hearts, "This thing. I BUILT this mother fucker."
 
Last edited:
Most things only fit in one way - there are some things that are very sensitive (CPU pins being the biggest problem - do NOT bend these ever), but if someone who has done this more than a couple of times can assist, you should be fine to assemble it yourself.

I've assembled/upgraded servers before, so I may be a bit biased, but it used to be much tougher.
 
I talked about it with some friends last night and they mentioned having a friend who does this for a living, so I’ll probably hit him up and see if he can help. :)

Dave, you mentioned PC Part Picker but ive been using Newegg, any reason I should change that? Do this think PC Part Picker is better?
 
I talked about it with some friends last night and they mentioned having a friend who does this for a living, so I’ll probably hit him up and see if he can help. :)

Dave, you mentioned PC Part Picker but ive been using Newegg, any reason I should change that? Do this think PC Part Picker is better?
Newegg is a store, pc part picker is a site that searches other stores for you. You'll likely be cheaper off using part picker, but you may end up buying your stuff from 12 different stores across the nation. Newegg is one of the store stores PC part picker checks, and unless things have changed, usually one of the cheaper ones. It's a trade-off of hassle vs better price.
I'd say it's worth recreating your build on pc part picker, just to gauge the savings you're looking at. For 20 bucks, I'd say it isn't worth it. On the other hand, you might have to deal with just two or three stores, and save 200 dollars, who knows?
 
PC Part picker also will show you if things are compatible or not - so you don't run into the issue that something doesn't work together when you go to assemble it.

Plus they have some pre-built guides for ideas on comparing what you're putting together.
 
And if we start these recommendations, I personally have a soft spot for logicalincrements.com . Their guides are great, their price comparisons are fair, and, important for me but completely useless for you, they have a specific Belgian branch with local prices :cool:
 

Dave

Staff member
What they said.

www.pcpartpicker.com allows you to pick the parts you want, look at individual ratings for each item, and order the parts right from the site! Also as @ncts_dodge_man says, when you pick a part after that point it ONLY shows parts which are compatible. So you won't wind up with a case that won't fit the motherboard. It's amazing. It also shows bundle deals and you can track the price as you go so you know you'll always stay within your budget.

PC Part Picker is a fucking AMAZING site and all nerds I know recommend it highly.
 
PC Part Picker is a fucking AMAZING site and all nerds I know recommend it highly.
PcPP is usually good about researching dimensions so you don’t put a 10in GPU into a case where the HDD bracket limits its length to only 9.5in. It saves the time/tedium of looking up dimensions of all the components you want to use or having to return ones that don’t fit. It also has a good filter feature where you can limit to things like “only show me μATX boards with X470 chipset on board” or “only show me HSF (HeatSink & Fan) coolers that can handle 95W and higher CPUs but are still shorter than 160mm in height.”

I’m not saying you should always take their word as gospel, but it will definitely help narrow your candidate pool while you’re still in the planning stages.

--Patrick
 
They did USED to be more complicated. But that was a while ago.
Now there’s no more “Oops I plugged the floppy cable in upside-down” or “Did I set both drives to ’master’?”

Also @LittleKagsin don‘t forget to post your build so the rest of us can all argue over which parts you really should’ve used. :p

—-Patrick
 
They did USED to be more complicated. But that was a while ago.
Now there’s no more “Oops I plugged the floppy cable in upside-down” or “Did I set both drives to ’master’?”

Also @LittleKagsin don‘t forget to post your build so the rest of us can all argue over which parts you really should’ve used. :p

—-Patrick
I'll just post the damn list right now.

And I'll tell you guys right now that I don't give a shit what you think I should or should not get. :rofl:

AMD Ryzen 7 2700
Corsair H115i Pro cpu cooler
MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB (in red)
Caviar Blue 1 TB Internal Hard Drive
Corsair MP510 960 GB SSD
Raedon RX 5700 XT Red Devil
Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ gold cert.
Antec P120 Crystal case

And I'm offended you think this is an important step in a gamer's life when console gaming is as valid as PC, sounds pretty elitist. I'm also pretty put off by the idea that it's not 'that hard'. Ya'll are kinda rude. This is a lot of money, I don't want to accidentally break something or do something wrong. Like, I get where you guys are coming from, I get it, especially sine a lot of you have done this before and likely for a long time, which is great for you! And super cool that you have this skill set. But I'm not much inclined to ask anything else. I'll just figure it out on my own. :)
 
There is very little you can break in building a computer. I'm sorry if it came across in a condescending way. I am super jealous of that build, my pc is 6 years old.
It's okay. :) I'm sure you guys were just trying to make me feel better about it, when it actually made me feel worse.

I'm glad you approve! This is my dream build, but it'll definitely be a long process - my boyfriend and I need a new apartment first, so this is all a..way in advance plan. :/
 
I'll just post the damn list right now.

And I'll tell you guys right now that I don't give a shit what you think I should or should not get. :rofl:

AMD Ryzen 7 2700
Corsair H115i Pro cpu cooler
MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB (in red)
Caviar Blue 1 TB Internal Hard Drive
Corsair MP510 960 GB SSD
Raedon RX 5700 XT Red Devil
Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ gold cert.
Antec P120 Crystal case

And I'm offended you think this is an important step in a gamer's life when console gaming is as valid as PC, sounds pretty elitist. I'm also pretty put off by the idea that it's not 'that hard'. Ya'll are kinda rude. This is a lot of money, I don't want to accidentally break something or do something wrong. Like, I get where you guys are coming from, I get it, especially sine a lot of you have done this before and likely for a long time, which is great for you! And super cool that you have this skill set. But I'm not much inclined to ask anything else. I'll just figure it out on my own. :)
That's a very nice list of great components, but you know what I'm drooling over most right now? That case. That's a really pretty case.
 
We knew this, otherwise you would’ve asked already. :p

If you want to do it yourself, that’s fine. But the big question: when you assemble it, are you gonna stream that?

—Patrick
YOU KNOW. I thought about it, but?? I dunno. Would you guys wanna watch? I'll still probably ask my friends' friend to help me, so it would probably just be me and him, with me awkwardly running around in the background. Yay, nay?
Post automatically merged:

That's a very nice list of great components, but you know what I'm drooling over most right now? That case. That's a really pretty case.
SAME. It turns me on honestly.
 
Top