Often the only thing I keep from a rebuild is the case, I tend to only rebuild on a board failure or a step up in chipsets. Sometimes but only rarely kept are, the power supply (if recent enough) and the storage drives (mostly only if M2 or SSD). The graphics card may also be kept if it is recent enough. Memory has often moved on to newer and better so it is almost invariably replaced.
I have been caught out not replacing Power supplies as they often fail shortly after the rebuild, so must only be a few months old to keep it, they become useful as standbys for other builds on older equipment. New drives are generally cheaper and bigger than those I am replacing so most often they are new rather than reuse in my new build. Old ones are kept for builds of those who can’t afford to buy a PC.
New MB chipsets often require new memory modules so every rebuild almost without fail needs new memory, next rebuild will be with DDR5, a move from DDR4. I try now to use NVMe drives over another drive type, except for bulk storage where nothing price wise can beat old style rotational drives for price per TB. Bulk storage means photos, archived docs, videos, and similar that don’t need speedy read and writes.
I prefer this approach. You get the customisation / choice of specification, but a real expert gets to verify compatibility of the pieces and assemble it.
I have built two floor-mounted “mini-tower” PCs, the most recent one, sadly, back in the 2000’s, so nothing recent, however I have carried out many modifications over the years. My advice is still valid today.
Don’t cut corners. Buy brand-named components from reputable vendors that will be around to service warranties and help with advice. Manufacturers of components like motherboards and video cards provide firmware updates that are important to ensure the hardware is maintained.
My most recent home-built PC started off with hard disk drives but now there is a solid state drive (SSD) in the mix.
If you buy components from markets, the risks include finding out, after you install the device you just bought, that it doesn’t work but you have nowhere to go to replace it.
Another thing. Work out what ports you need. How many USB ports, and what type (USB 3, USB C, etc). Do you need Thunderbolt ports?, Ethernet, HDMI, how many, etc
Buy proper tools. I have specialised screwdrivers from iFixit. Buy lots of spare screws
You will have to buy a fully licenced copy of Windows
But that leads to an alternative task: if you intend to run Linux then research to make sure that the components you choose are supported by Linux / work well / work acceptably.
Seriously, building a PC is like playing with a Mechano set. I use Mac now (which I pull apart the Imac for own upgrades). It is way cheaper and you get better performance out of a DIY PC. Reason: Years ago, when email and PC’s were a thing, I did some Uni tutoring. One day the PC I had died and it cost me an arm and leg to get it repaired to restore all the students submitted work. I then found out that what they did was really simple and the parts on the PC was so cheap and nasty (PC Chips-google them-mid 90’s), despite it costing a lot of money. So I decided to research building them (Toms Hardware and other sites really helpful). You just got to know what you want it for and it will be a desktop. I tended towards video and music recording, so I reviewed all the specs, looked for bargains (even OS parts) and off you go. Only hassle was a decent monitor. The money I saved (almost 2/3’s) went to a decent monitor. I use mac now as the kids use that platform for school. Just look for standalone compatible parts e.g. hi quality decent motherboard (not bundled with heaps of useless software and upgradable), avoid onboard hardware (video, audio) etc. Don’t buy a second hand motherboard!!!
Oh, for some things yes. if you’re only noodling around on the internet, YouTube, maybe a bit of streaming, no. Pre-built machines are good. Obvs if you want to, build. But for like, my mum, we got her a small form factor machine second hand. Works a treat. Probably 15cm by 15cm by 4high. Like it’s tiny!
It can be pricy if you go for top end parts. If you get the same bits she did it’d be half the cost.
E: I can build my own. Do I? No, it’s too expensive. I have built my own, it’s fun. But for most people, nah.
For non-gamers? No, probably not worth it. A laptop will probably get them by.
For gamers? Well, up until 16 months ago I would have said definitely, but then the price of graphics cards went totally out of control. We’re (nearly) all hoping for a BitCoin crash.
Two points I would like to make:
A custom-built PC is like a stereo cabinet (for Hi-Fi nuts); you can upgrade/add components without replacing the whole shebang. By the same analogy a laptop, or a pre-built small form-factor PC, or anything Apple is like a ghetto-blaster; when it can no longer do the job you have to throw the whole thing out.
Don’t skimp on your power supply. Cheap PSUs are a common cause of failure and at least one time in three they’ll take your motherboard with them when they go bye-byes. Bronze certification is the minimum acceptable.
Well, Intel seem to change their socket with every new chipset… which sucks. AMD much less so.
Depending on your usage needs, moving from a SATA SSD to a latest-gen M.2 equivalent can have huge benefits.
I played latest games on my previous PC for about eight years. In that time I added RAM, upgraded the graphics card, and went from HDD to SSD. (A couple of times because early SSDs kept bricking themselves.) My daughter has it now and plays CyberPunk at 1080 quite happily.
Changes in sockets generally add or subtract features, or allow more power to be delivered to the CPU or additional data lanes. New pins for new features, and you remove old pins for features you no longer want to support.
It all makes sense, but one major issue is that a chip manufacturer cannot simply replace an old feature with a new feature in the same pin location for the same motherboard design. Doing this would mean for example that some motherboards expect to see your CPU temperature reported through that pin, while others are expecting to deliver power.
Things were easy back in the early PC days. My 80286 would have had 68 pins, while my current CPU has 1,200. Be careful when inserting those into the slot - bent pins are A Bad Thing. (Of course, the manufacturers realise this and generally try to make CPU slots as idiot-proof as possible - but this results in a constant race between idiot-proofing and the ability of idiots to circumvent those controls.)
Not exactly a PC, but circa late 1990s a certain CPU had multiple chips per CPU, each 18mm square, each with 1600+ pinouts. Intel is catching up on packaging
Prior to that 16 pin dip through to 40 pin dip and … other choices allowed an endless variety of incompatible chips to be inserted. Inserting the correct package with the incorrect orientation was assured destruction.
Was it worth it?
Nothing today quite compares to the aroma of fresh rosin cored 60/40 solder (contains lead) and a hot iron late at night.
‘Building your own’ once had true meaning.
Today more an exercise in plug and go - the only genius being to know an Intel processor needs an Intel compatible MB.
Can you add pinouts per sq mm and the era for comparison? From memory IBM modules were pretty large so were those individual chips or ? AMD latest, 20+++ years on.
I have built two PCs. One was ‘back in the day’ - components from a computer fair after extensive research of compatibility of components. The other was for a server that at the time was expected to move off the grid, so designed to run off 12V DC and not use a lot of power. The server (which perhaps people would call a NAS) is still heavily used over 10 years later, mains powered by a 12V 5A power supply.
About 15 years I decided to try buying second hand machines. My last 4 desktops have been sourced this way. I recently wanted to dip my toe into Windows 10 so I bought an HP ProDesk 600 G3 Mini with monitor/keyboard/mouse and i7 processor for $600, still under manufacturer’s warranty, with a valid Windows 10 Pro license. The only upgrade was to spend $20 for a second hand 1Tb hard drive. Not strictly necessary as most data is stored on the server.
It seems there are people who replace their computer fairly frequently, and a bit of shopping around can get a respectable machine for much less than a new or built one. Some gamers want the latest, and prepared to pay for it, so high spec machines do appear on the second hand market. I am happy with a run of the mill machine.
So far, I haven’t been bitten. The HP and an older Dell are daily workhorses, the Dell graphics card failed and was easily replaced. It also has more and bigger disks than when bought. The only downside I have found is manufacturers have their own power supplies that fit their case. If it fails, the replacement can be expensive because a standard supply doesn’t fit.
So for me, building a computer just isn’t worth it in time, or to save money.
Size is not everything? Toms Hardware has a good run down and specs for the wafer sized MPU.
At 20/15kW power demand and no opportunity to overclock it’s going to need more than the average residential electricity connection to power up.
Is it a build your own? No!
I’ve checked the local PC parts supplier and ASUS do not offer a compatible MB, nor modular PSU to suit.
Can the average home enthusiast afford one? No!
Successful Bitcoin investors excepted. Although they may “for obvious reasons” find difficulty in obtaining one.
Cerebras can’t divulge several of its customers (for obvious reasons). It’s safe to assume they are the types with nearly unlimited budgets, so pricing isn’t a concern.
Is it worth it?
Not if all you have is an average Australian NBN home internet connection. Your hard earned might be better spent getting a subsidised fibre upgrade, or your own satellite if you are out of town.
I think if you have to ask that question then you should buy a pre-assembled PC. All the large parts suppliers will build you a PC to your specifications. And the cost is about $100. I have built all my PC’s and I think I would have at least 15 PC’s. If you enjoy building them then go ahead and build the next one.
As others have mentioned, the best PSU, the best cooling system, it doesn’t have to be fluid unless you are pushing your CPU and overclocking it to max. Only problem will be if you have a special top line case you may have to pay extra to get them to use that. I started with a VIC-20 in 1976. I am now 76 years old and still enjoy the thrill of cable routing, I do, I really do.
There are quite a few comments here that DIY builds save money. This is true if you compare the sticker price of a store bought model with the sum of the prices of its components - and stop right there. The same people also mention upgrading - sometimes continuously. It is a truism that there is almost no limit to what you can do with bigger, faster and more expensive components.
How often does the ability to substitute more powerful components (that cost more) lead to specification creep?
How often does the constant upgrade path lead to a bin full of old parts, still useful but not up to speed, that sit there gathering dust or that are sold cheaply or given away, or made up into a box for aunt Maude to type her opus on?
At the end of the life of the box, compared to the sticker price of the store-bought model used to compute ‘savings’ how much have you really saved after creep and upgrades are taken into account?
But but but, in choosing better components and in upgrading you extend its life! True. But in doing so you totally invalidate the comparison of like with like that suggested the saving in the first place. Unless you assess the value of the hours of fun spent researching and tinkering then it doesn’t matter one little bit.
