My brother plans to build a pc next year (and I’m paying 1/2 of it) What should I know.
Posted by Sad-Spread2272@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 11 comments
My brother is planning to build a pc and he warned me that prices can get around 4k~ (AUD) for what he wanted to build. He’s taking point in this but is there any resources that I can use to develop a better understanding?
The only thing I wanna use it for is the sims, baldurs gate and Skyrim lol so as long as they work I’m more than happy, but I still want to know what I’m paying for and if it’s gonna last yk?
Also, assume I know less about computers than the average person. Like if there was a “how to build a pc for idiots” that included reviews of the different parts and stuff ig? That would be helpful.
He has a better idea of what he’s doing because his high school basically explained the entire process in his computer programming classes, I am unfortunately the weak link here.
Bust3r14@reddit
You don't need half a AU$4K build to play those games, I wouldn't go half in on it. Sounds like he's trying to subsidize a bigger build for himself.
Sad-Spread2272@reddit (OP)
Yeah it’s mostly for him. He’s graduating highschool next year and he’s my baby brother. Plus his predicted scores for high school is crazy high. He’s planning on working in tech or whatever idk about that stuff. so yes, the computer is for him. I just earn way more money than he does currently. So if I can get the computer for a cheaper price then yes that would be great.
Shaunosaurus@reddit
Your brother is bs-ing you, programming class don't teach you how to build computers.
Putting together a computer is something anyone can do.
In fact, I don't know what the prices for electronics is in AUS but $4k in the U.S. is way overkill.
Especially with the games you're playing, I would keep the $2k and just build your own PC. If you don't want to do that, there are decent prebuilts in your price range as well.
Sad-Spread2272@reddit (OP)
I’ll be honest I also did the class for a week before I switched and it was actually about building a pc. I just didn’t think the stuff would be something I would become interested in. My brother’s the one into tech stuff. And I have been known to splurge a bit so while 2k is a hefty chunk I don’t really have qualms spending that much if necessary. (Obviously If it’s not necessary then thats definitely great.)
Sad-Spread2272@reddit (OP)
4k is about 2600 in the us
Katarn_retcon@reddit
It's currently \~$2,600 USD. Source: google search.
One-Adhesiveness-643@reddit
When you say $4000 do you mean for computer box + accessories and monitor or do you mean computer box only. If you are frugal and go with used stuff you can get a pretty bad ass computer build for under $1000 without accessories that will run the games you listed fairly well at 1080p and 1440p. Or you can go new and get the newest graphics card spend $2500 on that one component and 3 months from now there's a new one that's 50% faster for the same price.
Sad-Spread2272@reddit (OP)
Yeah all of it monitors accessories etc. I don’t think he’s looked into used stuff but if it gets a good deal that sounds good
JoezBK@reddit
Looking up some gaming builds and take off 10-20% for building it yourself, you don’t need 4k
Icy_Calendar_7267@reddit
Toasty Bros build a pc on twitch every morning at 9 AM EST.
abattlescar@reddit
I'm really not sure about the price of components over there in Aussieland, but $4000 is on the beastly side. I'd expect a great build to be 1800-2800 AUD for the tower itself, plus like $400 for accessories. Oh well, if it's fit for two that's lovely.
Linus Tech Tips has a video on How to Build a PC. This is the most comprehensive beginners guide being 2 hours long. It explicitly doesn't have any reviews for specific parts, but they have plenty of resources for that as well.
You can pretty much do no wrong just putting together a system on pcpartpicker. The two biggest components are the graphics card (GPU) and processor (CPU). All the detail you need is higher number better + more letters better. As far as CPUs go, AMD is the dominant recommendation, especially the X3D series, but overspending on CPU is kind of a trap. As far as GPUs go, AMD is the high value recommendation, but NVIDIA makes outright more powerful cards and has better ray tracing.