Tell me about building a PC
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The thought occurred to me that building a new PC to replace his cheap all-in-one might be a great learning experience for the boy.
How hard is it? I don't doubt my own ability to pull it off (I do have a EE degree and did my share of lab work - and I know all about YouTube). Rather is it too complicated for him to help enough to get a lot out of it? (other than a new PC)
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It is almost lego-like these days - as in extremely easy and close to fool proof. It's a bit of a hobby of mine.
Here's what you need to consider:
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Form factor: ATX is regular large sized cabinets, mini-ATX is one step smaller, ITX is super compact. The motherboard and computer case are the two main pieces that need to be size compatible
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CPU: Decide on what CPU you want - and this has to be compatible with your motherboard. I recommend the AMD Ryzen 3XXX series; very, very, VERY clearly leading the pack against Intel these days in terms of price / performance
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Video card: if you get a dedicated one that costs ~$150 these days, you're looking at something that'll be powerful enough to play the latest and greatest games (to a moderate level of performance) for years; also helps if you get into any sort of graphics work / hobbies
Other parts you need:
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SSD (can be SATA or NVMe which plugs straight into mother board)
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power supply: all of your parts have a power rating - just get something ~30-50% above all the max ratings combined
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RAM: 8-16GB of 3000MHz+ ram and you're good
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Fans: Cases usually come with these, but one in the front, one in the back to keep airflow going and the computer quiet
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Windows license: this one is a bit annoying. You can transfer the license, perhaps, from an older machine to a new one - but not a laptop
I'm a bit of a nerd about this - so if you want resources on sample builds, I'm happy to help.
The aesthetic side of PC projects can be very fun these days. My PC has a side window - I've very neatly routed all wires so you see almost none, I've got cool synchronized lights. Or you can close it all up if you think that's silly.
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Awesome Xenon, consider yourself with a part-time consulting gig for the next few weeks as I figure this out. lol
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If you want more challenge or more "learning experience," make it "dual boot" such that you can boot it into Windows or another operating system of your choice. If the Windows stuff is too "turn key," you can find challenge in the alternative OS space. You might even get to compile your own OS from scratch, think about the bragging rights that that confers your boy when he finally returns to school.
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@jon-nyc you bet!
These are both great resources. Very active community of builders - budget to ridiculous $5k+ builds.
EDIT: my quick return to the rabbit hole of buildapc suggests that parts are not particularly cheap right now. There's been an uptick in demand since lockdowns. So, you may not necessarily get a cheaper PC by building it - but it will be higher quality and it'll feel like it's "yours"
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Here's a pretty good build in terms of bang for buck. It is DEFINITELY overkill for minecraft - but is something I would recommend as a fairly future-proof machine (this CPU is extremely capable for digital editing / coding / encoding):
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2FbPDx
You can save $170 by going no graphics card (getting a CPU with built'in graphics like a laptop). Or about $100 by going with a very basic video card.
You could perhaps save another $100 or so by going one tier down on the rest of the parts. But after that you're starting to make some real compromises.
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Is 248w as huge as it sounds?
I might rather save there then on the price.
Also, if we upgraded individual parts over time as his needs outgrow them that would be cool too
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Not at all. That's maximum theoretical power draw if all things on the computer were going full bore at the same time.
Here's a comparison below of idle vs. maximum system draw. Unless you're doing a very intense video computation task - you're always going to be closer to idle than to max (web browsing is pretty much idle).
Also - you'll notice that the power supply is listed at 450W. That makes sense (still a little overkill) - a PC power supply will usually be most efficient at around 50%-of-max power draw. Most power supplies these days are 80% efficient above a 20% load.
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@xenon said in Tell me about building a PC:
Here's a pretty good build in terms of bang for buck. It is DEFINITELY overkill for minecraft - but is something I would recommend as a fairly future-proof machine (this CPU is extremely capable for digital editing / coding / encoding):
If I wanted the user ports on the front, or on the top, which model case would you suggest? Nothing too ghetto with lights and all, I'm a Mac guy at the end of the day.
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@jon-nyc said in Tell me about building a PC:
@xenon said in Tell me about building a PC:
If I wanted the user ports on the front, or on the top, which model case would you suggest? Nothing too ghetto with lights and all, I'm a
Mac guyracist at the end of the day.FIFY
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@jon-nyc said in Tell me about building a PC:
@xenon said in Tell me about building a PC:
Here's a pretty good build in terms of bang for buck. It is DEFINITELY overkill for minecraft - but is something I would recommend as a fairly future-proof machine (this CPU is extremely capable for digital editing / coding / encoding):
If I wanted the user ports on the front, or on the top, which model case would you suggest? Nothing too ghetto with lights and all, I'm a Mac guy at the end of the day.
I am building a PC as we chat.
This is the case that is at the top of my list. It's a full size tower because I'm building a monster! lol
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So - if you want a super clean look (no windows, no lights). Something like this is fantastic:
It’d be perfect if it had a usb-c port on the front (has regular USB ports and audio ports).
But you can still get a usb-c on the back of the pc from your motherboard.
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Hey Xenon!
If the power supply were to be over-taxed, would there be some sort of automatic reduction in processing power, or would the computer crash, warning come up, etc.?
I am amazed at how much processing power goes on with my DAW and large music files (dozens of tracks). It is a concern for many, though I've yet to have anything negative happen.
