Advice for 1st time builders

[Thready]

1 hour ago, Drak3 said:

Yes. 

 

After a long time, yes.

Dang. Well I'd have to see numbers and benchmarks to be fully convinced but I've always had bad luck when I tried to stretch out my tech. 

[Zando_]

My best bits of advice: 

Ask people who know more than you about it, it'll save you from being me and buying a 1050 Ti when you could have gotten an RX 470 for the same price but much better perf (everything else I got for my first rig was solid). 

Plug in the damn CPU power. 

And from my opinion on the hobby: don't feel forced to only buy the best value. If you're passionate about something and can afford to do it, go ahead. This is a hobby, it's fueled by passion. I have Vega cards even though they're not the best value or performance, because just... like them, IDK why. It makes me happy to tinker with them, same reason I overspend on old Intel HEDT systems instead of new stuff that offers better performance. Do what makes you happy, basically. Run a full RGB build (I've done that) or one with the least RGB possible (my current PC, status LEDs on the mobo/PCIe cards are the only lights in the rig itself). Go with old hardware or the bleeding edge, whatever gives you the most joy. I know people who love hardware just for the sake of pushing it as hard as possible, some people just want to slap it all in a box and then play games, others chase an aesthetic. 

[Thready]

23 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

My best bits of advice: 

Ask people who know more than you about it, it'll save you from being me and buying a 1050 Ti when you could have gotten an RX 470 for the same price but much better perf (everything else I got for my first rig was solid). 

Plug in the damn CPU power. 

And from my opinion on the hobby: don't feel forced to only buy the best value. If you're passionate about something and can afford to do it, go ahead. This is a hobby, it's fueled by passion. I have Vega cards even though they're not the best value or performance, because just... like them, IDK why. It makes me happy to tinker with them, same reason I overspend on old Intel HEDT systems instead of new stuff that offers better performance. Do what makes you happy, basically. Run a full RGB build (I've done that) or one with the least RGB possible (my current PC, status LEDs on the mobo/PCIe cards are the only lights in the rig itself). Go with old hardware or the bleeding edge, whatever gives you the most joy. I know people who love hardware just for the sake of pushing it as hard as possible, some people just want to slap it all in a box and then play games, others chase an aesthetic. 

Yeah this is great advice. It reminds me of Bob Ross saying "If it doesn't make you happy, you're in the wrong business." 

 

This is supposed to be a happy endeavor. We're supposed to have fun doing it. 

 

Awesome post.

[Jae Tee]

I'll tell you this. If you're not going absolutely broke, then just go for it. It may not be perfect, you may make mistakes, but that's all part of the process. That's basically how I did my first pc and despite the fact that it didn't come out perfectly, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

 

Aside from that do as much research as possible, like a crap lot. And also drivers, don't forget drivers. 

[Antistatic12]

1) Used hardware isn't your enemy. Once it's in your system it's a used product, doesn't matter if it was in somebody else's rig before yours.
2) Some may argue otherwise but always go for a PSU that is better than what you need currently.
3) Mistakes happen, learn from them.
4) Build in a short time frame, a week or two. Anything longer and your just going to be disappointed because better hardware comes out, prices drops/sales and you start to overthink or change your build.

[Thready]

8 hours ago, Antistatic12 said:

1) Used hardware isn't your enemy. Once it's in your system it's a used product, doesn't matter if it was in somebody else's rig before yours.
2) Some may argue otherwise but always go for a PSU that is better than what you need currently.
3) Mistakes happen, learn from them.
4) Build in a short time frame, a week or two. Anything longer and your just going to be disappointed because better hardware comes out, prices drops/sales and you start to overthink or change your build.

Yeah used parts can be a great way to save money. I bought my last gpu used on Ebay for $50 less.

 

I'm still iffy on buying an expensive psu though. I'm not saying cheap out, but if you're only running 1 gpu then you don't really need more than 650W and you can get a nice gold one for less than $100

[Anoraked]

On 9/16/2019 at 3:39 AM, Thready said:

What new advice would you give first time builders?

 

1. Watch and read build guides. Don’t watch half of it and then start building the pc with no idea of what to do.

 

2. If you’re planning your own build, www.pcpartpicker.con is your best friend.