Should I build a pc with my tech illiteracy?
Posted by Cabenshire@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 27 comments
My PC is very old, an Alienware Aurora R5, 1060 GPU and 16gb ram. With 225gb storage (C:) and windows 10
Its getting pretty hard to run it, and I do want a new one. However, I have bad tech literacy, and I dont know where to start in building one.
n7_trekkie@reddit
yes. this is r/ buildapc, we're gonna be biased.
Pragitya@reddit
And Trust me building it yourself is scary and there is always that fear of breaking things, but when you do it yourself you will care more about your pc.
I never had a PC in my life, My family has only ever used laptop, everyone including my parents, my friends, even the local store guy advised me to let them build it. But I built it myself and I am thankful that I did it myself.
It’s not the most top of the line, very likely mid range or even budget, but I just love it so much more, like it’s my baby.
Over-Shock303@reddit
Specs?
MajorMinceMeat@reddit
Alright, here are my opinions. Remember, opinions on this subreddit in particular are definitely like assholes everybody has one. The first question to ask is what is your budget? $1,000 can get you a decent rig but $2,000 can get you something truly nice.
You want to steer clear of graphics cards from the Nvidia 2000 series and above. Naming convention changed a few times over the years. A 3080 or 3090 or above would do okay for now and last a couple more years before a replacement.
Amd, I wouldn't buy a graphics card older than 6000 series lower than a 6700xt. Ray tracing for new games is almost a requirement. If you can't find a 9070 XT from AMD at market price, then a 6950 XT is one of your best options. Sure, it's a little older but it'll still run 99.7% of games when paired with a good CPU. If you want my opinion, get a 6950 XT, or a 9070 XT or when the 9090 XT comes out get that. $600 is not terrible for a GPU buying a 6950 XT now and using it until driver updates stop for the card would allow the price for the $9070 XT to drop. The only real advantage to buying brand new high-end hardware is that you get to play the newest games. If you're an early adopter of technology, that's absolutely great. As for the rest of us, I believe Glenn fricker from specter sound studios makes the best argument here. There's a proven track record for the hardware, the price has lowered, And they are far more easy to find. New is early adoption and last year's Tech should always be considered. Remember, there's a full spectrum of hardware out there. A 9070xt is only 14 on the most powerful cards and the 6950xt is number 19. Are you really telling me that the 9070 XT is really that much more capable than the 6950 XT?
For CPUs AMD is the way to go in the year of our Lord 2025. Am4 is dying but still wildly popular because of its price point. Don't rule out am4 and ddr4. It will still build you a perfectly suitable computer for Windows 11. If you must go. Am5 some of the best options for a computer that runs most everything would starting in the am4 range, 5600x 5600g, 5700g, 5700x, 5800x, 5900x 5950x 5700x3d, 5800x3d and the new 5500x3d coming out. Am5 You could go with the 7600x, 7600g, 7700x 7800x 7900x 7800x3d 8600g, 8700g 9600x3d 9700x3d 9800x3d 9900x3d and the 9950x3d. These are all of the current AMD powerhouses. Some are cheaper than others. Some have integrated graphics. There are some really good bang for the buck options if you can swing it. 5700 g is a good budget choice. Plenty of horsepower for dedicated graphics.
Get 32 GB ram. Just do it you'll thank me later. Ddr4 or ddr5 it doesn't matter as long as it matches your chipset in its generation.
The b850 motherboard is the best budget am5 option right now. At $170 on Amazon. You just can't beat it. It also comes with three m.2 SSD slots.
The gigabyte b550 udac is a good option for a decent am4 motherboard. Found mine used for 70 bucks.
For about 300 bucks you could have a gigabyte b850 with three 1 TB kingspec m.2 ssds in there and still have room for sata drives depending on the case.
Psu should probably be at least 850 w gold if you can swing it. The bigger the better here. Get something reliable and trusted.
Use your M.2 to SSD as your boot drive. You'll thank me later when you're not taking a long time to load up into a competitive game.
I wouldn't get rid of your old rig just yet though. It can still double as a Nas. Loaded up full of hard drives. You can use it for a media server if you still have DVDs or blu-rays. Rip them into your server and you can stream your own movies anytime you want. Linux can be particularly helpful here. It definitely helps extend hardware lifespan. They only just now lost support for the 486 processor with Linux. Your old rig will still be able to run on Linux for a long time. Find a friend who is tech literate and have them teach you how to boot load and install Linux mint or Linux Ubuntu. Both are totally free and don't cost anything. There will be a learning curve with it. But please don't dump your computer into a landfill when you could be watching movies on it still.
Klenkogi@reddit
Well, wouldnt this help against your bad tech literacy?
Reviews-From-Me@reddit
It depends. Do you want to build one yourself, or is building it more of a chore/risk in your view.
Absolutely nothing wrong with not having any desire to build a PC, and if that's the case, then I would suggest going with a pre-built that suits your needs.
There can be a bit of a cost advantage to building it yourself, though that's not always true; sometimes the market actually makes it more cost-effective to buy a pre-built. But the real advantage of a pre-built is that often there will be some sort of warranty on the whole build, and so long as you get it from a reputable company, it should be built and tested by professionals.
Most people here, including myself, enjoy the build itself. So that tips the scales.
Normal-Emotion9152@reddit
Ibam totally tech illiterate as well. I am getting up to speed with all the parameters for a decent PC. I will be taking the plug next month and building a small form factor PC. They are a lot harder to build from what I understand. But I am just going to do it. Like Nike says just do it. Just remember to use things to stop static electricity from damaging components and put your motherboard on cardboard. Make a budget you are comfortable with and then use a website like PC picker to help hide your choice for the optimal approach. Watch a lot of YouTube about PC everything from building to gaming to understand what parts and specs you want and what part to avoid. Also make sure everything is properly in place and with all the correct sockets. I just hear on YouTube to avoid some parts because they can be potentially dangerous although nice to the eyes.
Stars_Storm@reddit
We all have to start somewhere. You absolutely should build a PC.
There's many tutorials and guides but the important starting point is asking what you want your PC to do. Then you can start researching parts you'll need.
Thick_Carry7206@reddit
you definitely should. i'd approach it like this:
congratulations! you have learned to build a PC
ij70-17as@reddit
youtube is free.
adamant_onion@reddit
This was me during the pandemic. I had 0 knowledge in building PCs, I just used to play a lot of games with friends.
I then started watching tech youtubers like jayztwocents, gamersnexus, hardware unboxed, hardware canucks, and robeytech. About a week of binging videos I grasped a general idea about PC building.
I surfed through subreddits like this and stumbled upon PCpartpicker which helped a lot. Eventually I ordered my parts and low & behold I built my very first PC. Which didn’t run because i was missing a 6+2 pcie cable for my gpu lol. Ordered a new one and it finally ran.
Overall it’s a very fun and fulfilling experience. If you ever come up on any issues/problems don’t be afraid to ask people in this subreddit or search your problems on google (which in most cases other people have had and are probably solved in the comments)
Goodluck OP!
Zercomnexus@reddit
PSU is a very key thing to make sure you have the right cables that come with it
Also pcpartpicker is an amazing resource for the op
You can also check bottleneck websites, not for bottlenecking, but to get a sense of what GPU to pair with your CPU (or vice versa). Let's you save money while still using most of your performance you have available.
adamant_onion@reddit
I thought I had it in the box (I used my old psu from a prebuilt) but turns out the store I bought my prebuilt pc’s psu from (a bronze rated 650w gigabyte) forgot to include the pcie cable my psu SHOULD have came with.
Nek0maniac@reddit
It's not very difficult, if you can follow instructions by a guide.
I built my first PC back in 2016, it took me 7 hours because I knew nothing about it and just followed a guide. It took me a while, but I got it done and it was working from the get go. A reason for the long building process however was that I chose a bad case that had barely any space for cable management, and PCs had a lot more cables in them back in the day due to hard drives.
Since then I've built 5 PCs and my most recent one took me about an hour to build. Once you understand the concept, it's genuinely very easy and intuitive.
So if you have the spare time and are willing to challenge yourself, definitely build it yourself. It's a much more satisfying feeling when you turn on a PC you built yourself. Also, value for money is a lot better.
If you choose to build a PC, feel free to post your chosen system on this sub beforehand, so that people can look over it, if there is something to improve.
Confident-Ad8540@reddit
You can always buy premade or compare the price difference between premade and DIY .
If the price differential is not a lot- then just go for premade. There a few process especially the CPU or the cpu slow, when handled not correctly can bend a few pins and it's going to be super troublesome.
Jemie_Bridges@reddit
Well talk to us bro. First try and find the model number. We can then figure out what hardware you currently have.
Windows 10 should actually run like a beast on that machine, so it might just be time for a fresh reinstall. Have you already tried that?
Second we would see if there is an upgrade path with a better CPU and Ram. I mean is this 💨 my DDR3 or DDR4. IF 4 You probably can squeeze out a few more years by throwing $200 at it. A great new mother board for DDR5 ram is like $300 with no parts.
Oh and even before this, what is your "back up situation". Where are you gonna store your data while you upgrade or buy new? This is info you'll have to provide up to guide you.
clumsydope@reddit
Check if you have hdd or ssd. Upgrading to ssd and slapping a new graphic might increase the performance
SylverShadowWolve@reddit
Watch a build guide on youtube and see what you think
Admiral_peck@reddit
What CPU? you might be able to slap a 2080 or 2070 in and be perfectly happy
9okm@reddit
No you shouldn’t.
Andre2kReddit@reddit
Yes. I suggest you watch people build PCs on youtube and you'll learn a lot.
asa-monad@reddit
I did this back in 2020, it was extremely fun and I can’t recommend it enough.
Funwaa69fan@reddit
Well, for starters there are YouTube guides im currently watching LTT’s “How to build a pc, the last guide you’ll ever need (2024 update)
Now onto the parts. First thing you’ll need is a case, motherboard, ram, CPU, a cooler for said CPU, storage, PSU (power supply), GPU (if you have the budget for one). During your research make your motherboard FITS inside your case. Easiest way to do that is by looking for your desired motherboard and finding out what case it fits in. Each item I listed comes with their respective parts so you won’t need to order anything else (assuming you are buying them either NIB, or unopened). Some places to look for parts is eBay, you might come across a decent deal every once in a while. I managed to grab a ryzen 5600x for a pitiful $116, MRSP is $200. But with eBay make sure you have proof that it works. Don’t go off of someone’s word and if you are paying for it be 100% sure that the listed item works as intended
elaborateBlackjack@reddit
Added comment that people should watch the whole video FIRST, and then you can build while following along, a lot of questions that pop up while following along are answered later, so it's better to do it like that
Funwaa69fan@reddit
Or tinker around with old junk computers, it translates over to new builds as well
Brysger@reddit
I have a similar desktop PC, it shouldn't struggle with windows 10, maybe you need to format, I can play almost everything with my 1060, so unless you want to play new games I wouldn't do it, unless you want of course
Fedorable_557@reddit
You came to build a pc asking if we should help you build a pc. I guarentee we would love to assist you with that