How difficult is it to build a PC

veetwin

My 13 yr old son has a bundle of confirmation/birthday cash burning a hole in his pocket and is obsessed with the idea of building a gaming PC. He already has a good monitor, keyboard and mouse.

He appears to have done his research and seems to know what he wants. My fear is neither of us have any experience of building anything like this. Is taking on a build remotely feasible for someone with no experience?

Samuel T. Cogley

If you can build Ikea flat pack furniture, you can build a PC.

For reasons best known to the ATX standard Gods, there are a few very fiddly cables to plug into a header (pins coming out of the motherboard) that is the bane of most PC builds, but that's the most complicated part. People here will be happy to give you a spec and I'm happy to build for people in D5 if you get stuck.

Giblet

Patience is the key, it's straight forward. Just have the correct tools, have some containers to put the various screws in. It's LEGO!

Yes and headers are the most difficult part, only because you need good eyesight and a steady hand It's just plugging in tiny wires into awkward pins on the motherboard. I do it before even placing the Motherboard into the case! Keep the static bags to place any cards, motherboards, RAM onto.

Deagol

My advise it to read the manual that comes with the motherboard very carefully as you go. Most have great diagrams and such that help. And if in doubt - stop and ask for help - I've seen one or two very expensive 'bangs' from people doing stupid things (turning on the system without the CPU cooler 'just to see if it all started' was my favourite.

Like poster above, except I'm Co.Clare - happy to help you if needed / correct area.

taytobreath

thousands of utube tutorials there too if u come unstuck

EoinHef

If stuck theres usually someone from here close enough geographically to help or even if you can just post pics and ask questions here,people will be happy to help.

A bit of patience and you should be fine. A long magnetic phillips head screwdriver is also handy to have;)

spurious

Just like Lego. Get a motherboard with the processor already installed. That will cut out the most complicated bit. The rest is just click click click.

dreamers75

spurious wrote: »

Just like Lego. Get a motherboard with the processor already installed. That will cut out the most complicated bit. The rest is just click click click.

Nah

If you have to reseat a CPU better off knowing you did it 1st.

Aodhan5000

EoinHef wrote: »

If stuck theres usually someone from here close enough geographically to help or even if you can just post pics and ask questions here,people will be happy to help.

A bit of patience and you should be fine. A long magnetic phillips head screwdriver is also handy to have;)

This. Magnetic screwdriver is genuinely a lifesaver. Smaller ones are better IMO because the can reach the more awkward spots but each to their own. My case might just be bit awkward

scamalert

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

If you can build Ikea flat pack furniture, you can build a PC.

For reasons best known to the ATX standard Gods, there are a few very fiddly cables to plug into a header (pins coming out of the motherboard) that is the bane of most PC builds, but that's the most complicated part. People here will be happy to give you a spec and I'm happy to build for people in D5 if you get stuck.

id say ikea is like lvl 10 where pc would be about 5 :rolleyes: aside those few fan power pins theres f all to mess up to result in any damage, let him sit through couple hours of builds on youtube and he will be gtg in no time.
MB manual covers mostly everything one needs to know and its way easier then trying to read ikea instructions

bobbyy gee

there's some good YouTube videos to watch
pcpartspicker will compare parts. amd ryzen is probably better budget machine intel still does better in gaming as NVidia is bringing out faster cheaper gpu cards older card prices should drop
the gpu card is the most expensive thing I'm a build.with ryzen memory problem occers so with intel and amd look at motherboard maker memory recommended.here's a good pc expert video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IhX0fOUYd8Q

kingtiger

veetwin wrote: »

He appears to have done his research and seems to know what he wants.

I would be very proud my 13 year old son went out and researched his build

but is there any chance of his wishlist? I am intrigued with regards to his chosen components

veetwin

Thanks all for the helpful replies. The following is his spec:

Any feedback/thoughts appreciated.

AMD Ryzen 5 3400G Processor (4C/8T, 6 MB cache, 4.2 GHz Max Boost) with Radeon RX Vega 11 Graphics
£128.97

Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub with Individual LED Power Switches (HB-UM43)
£10.99

MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX Motherboard ATX, AM4, DDR4, LAN, USB 3.2 Gen2, TYPE-C, M.2, RGB Mystic Light Sync, HDMI, DVI-D, AMD RYZEN 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen Ready
£106.98

Vaorwne Usb Streaming Podcast Pc Microphone Professional Studio Cardioid Condenser Mic Kit with Sound Card Boom Arm Shock Mount Filter, for Skype Youtuber Karaoke Gaming Recording,
£22.73

Western Digital WDS500G2B0B WD Blue 3D NAND Internal SSD M.2 SATA, 500 GB - Black,
£51.48

Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Airflow, Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Smart Gaming Case, White,
£84.05

Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit, Black,
£54.99

Corsair VS450 450 W Active PFC 80 PLUS Certified Power Supply Unit - Black,
£39.99

Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse, HERO Sensor, 12,000 DPI,
£40.98

MSI NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER VENTUS XS OC Graphics Card '6GB GDDR6, 1815MHz, 3x DisplayPort, HDMI, Dual Fan Cooling System
£208

Total on Amazon £748

Samuel T. Cogley

Thats a bit of an odd config as the 3400G is an APU with graphics cores included. Other than that it's not a bad build. I'd go with a B550 Motherboard and a Ryzen 5 3600 if the budget allows. Alternatively just fire a 2600 or 2600X into the above build, which ever is cheaper.

Would he go micro-ATX do you know? It's a smaller type of PC. Example of a case here.

Edit: You are missing a wifi card also but they're not expensive and included on some motherboards.

Edit: This is also a great value option with a few changes but he wouldn't get the benefit of building it himself and it's a useful skill to have.

Edit: This SSD might be better as its a faster type of drive. It wont make a huge difference but there is only a tenner in it.

Hyzepher

Just a note - something with integrated graphics is not a bad idea for someone starting out as it allows for more troubleshooting. Having said that, if performance is a concern then I would go with a Ryzen 3300 at minimum

BloodBath

If he's interested in streaming you want a 6 core 12 thread processor.

Better off with a 2600 or 3600.

I wouldn't trust that PSU long term either.

Threw an alternate build together with some better parts and a similar price, just add your mouse and mic.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£186.02 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£87.66 @ AWD-IT)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£58.48 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial P2 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£53.19 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC Video Card (£204.97 @ AWD-IT)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £700.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-18 10:21 BST+0100

Samuel T. Cogley

Just to note though that there will be an annoucment on the 8th October re the new Ryzen processors. So if you're not in a rush you may want to wait and see - however given this is a teenager... :pac:

Also the I would suggest the MSI B550M Pro-VDH Wifi as it has wifi built in and got a good review.

Dcully

Its handy to build a pc, not so handy to diagnose any unforseen issues however.
I got scan to build my current one and it was actually €40 cheaper for them to build,test and ship than for me to ship all to components from them and build myself, no brainer for an ould like like me who simply doesnt need any added stress

Their cable management is a 10x better than anything ive ever done too.

deckie27

Just to note the Corsair led fan are not compatable with Mystic Light Sync

circadian

Just don't do this and you'll be good

https://youtu.be/2lmfF0k2UcU

veetwin

Thanks again everyone for the extremely helpful and knowledgeable advice.

My son is impressed with this;

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-mb520-argb-ryzen-7-2700x-nvidia-gtx-1660-super-16gb-ram-desktop-gaming-pc.html?wgu=13527_54264_16002888833106_99ce5647b3&wgexpiry=1608064883&source=webgains&siteid=54264&wgu=13527_54264_16004170011889_c2a3d474dd&wgexpiry=1608193001&source=webgains&siteid=54264&wgu=13527_54264_16004176596079_e1d5febcf5&wgexpiry=1608193659&source=webgains&siteid=54264

It offers some peace of mind for me in that I won't have a 13 year old bawling over €800 worth of gear that neither of us have a clue to assemble.

Any thoughts welcome. Would this be able to run Microsoft Flight Simulator?

Samuel T. Cogley

The GPU might be a bit weak so you might consider an upgrade there. It defo needs a bigger SSD. Don't forget a wifi card.

Other than that it's bloody brilliant value - 8 core 16 thread CPU is amazing at that price.

As regards MSFS2020 I take it he wants to run just the Sim and not the things like VATSIM (live Air traffic control) and Navigraph (Actual avaiation charts)? If he wants to run all the add ons then you might consider 32GB RAM. It's not really needed though.

veetwin

Thanks Samuel.

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-mb520-argb-ryzen-7-2700x-nvidia-gtx-1660-super-16gb-ram-desktop-gaming-pc.html?wgu=13527_54264_16002888833106_99ce5647b3&wgexpiry=1608064883&source=webgains&siteid=54264&wgu=13527_54264_16004170011889_c2a3d474dd&wgexpiry=1608193001&source=webgains&siteid=54264&wgu=13527_54264_16004176596079_e1d5febcf5&wgexpiry=1608193659&source=webgains&siteid=54264

How does that look?

Homelander

Just for clarity, the issue there is Flight Sim being heavily demanding, not the PC being weak. That PC would generally be good for all the latest games at 1080p ultra settings.

Samuel T. Cogley

I only ever see the default, I don't see your changes. The SSD I'd upgrade to 1GB SX6000. 500GB will work but MSFS2020 is huge and will take up 20-25% on it's own. Wifi Card I'd go for the Dual band internal @ £20.99. GPU maybe the 2060 depending on feedback from others like Homelander.

kingtiger

@veetwin

thanks for posting his wishlist, I among others would disagree with the CPU choice, but pretty nice choices other than that

I would say (and I know its hard to put off a 13 year old who wants a gaming rig right now)

is wait for the new amd cpus to be released next month and you will pick up a bargain 3600 with decent b450 board for 50% ( on adverts ) of what you are paying for it now

and put what you saved into a better GPU

Homelander

But you aren't really going to save anything, that PC on AWD is actually decently cheaper than it costs to buy all the parts separately, obviously they are clearing stock.

The 2700X is a fine CPU and 4th gen aren't going to drop by 50% in value either.

3rd gen had no effect on the price of 2nd gen for example, there are 2600's still selling for 100-110 2nd hand.

If you were building yourself you probably might as well wait, but when there's a pre-built bargain to be had, I don't think there's any need to avoid it and it's not going to hurt longevity of the PC.

Infini

This is just my honest opinion but it might be better off waiting for a month or 2 to build a new rig, we got amd announcing new cpus early october, new gpus late october, nvidia rolling out the 3070 and possibly 3060 etc.

Personally I'd build a small ITX as well theyre very cost effective. Also I'll be likely upgrading my rigs as well as well as others so you could possibly save a few quid by aquiring 2nd hand parts though make sure to check the seller first.

Andrew76

Homelander wrote: »

But you aren't really going to save anything, that PC on AWD is actually decently cheaper than it costs to buy all the parts separately, obviously they are clearing stock.

The 2700X is a fine CPU and 4th gen aren't going to drop by 50% in value either.

3rd gen had no effect on the price of 2nd gen for example, there are 2600's still selling for 100-110 2nd hand.

If you were building yourself you probably might as well wait, but when there's a pre-built bargain to be had, I don't think there's any need to avoid it and it's not going to hurt longevity of the PC.

Don't want to hijack the OP's thread but can I ask which would be considered the better CPU between the 2700X and the 3600X? I'm thinking of building an ITX PC for 1080p gaming and have a 3600X on my list. But I'm confused with the model numbering, Ryzen 7 sounds better/newer than 5 but then 3600X sounds better/newer than 2700X? Is 8 cores always better than 6 or does it depend on whether applications take full advantage etc?

I'll put up a separate thread with a list to get feedback but was just curious. Out of the loop a long time now with this kind of stuff.

AllForIt

Once you have all the parts putting it together is easy. It's not like you have to even read instructions except maybe for the way the heat sink is attached to the CPU as that can vary by model. In fact that prolly is the hardest part if you could call it hard at all. You just need to make sure it's attached properly as if it's not seated exactly right the cpu could overheat and cause shutdowns.

Samuel T. Cogley

Ryzen 2000 Series is the Zen+ architecture
Ryzen 3000 Series is the newer Zen 2 architecture

Ryzen 5 are typically 6 core CPUs
Ryzen 7 are typically 8 core CPUs

The Ryzen 2700X is an older CPU but with more cores. It's not as fast as the 3600 in games (at 1080p) if that's all you're doing but if you're streaming it may be better. Both CPUs will give good frame rates in gaming and the reason for the 2700X in this build is it's just really good value for money.

A 3600 can be added to the above build for a tenner so it might be worth it if raw FPS is whats wanted.