New Hobby, Looking for tips/ideas on building a new personal computer?

Hello,

My name is Louie. I am preparing myself to build my very first computer. Of course it would be easier to just purchase one, which I did recently, an HP laptop, but I believe taking on this challenge would be fun and rewarding.

I plan on taking my time to research whats good out there … hardware, Peripherals etc, and build one to my own specifications. Though it’s my first, I do have a bit of common knowledge on the ins & outs. Since I’m on a tight budget, I am reaching out and starting this forum to welcome anyone who’s interested and can share feedback and tips on putting this together it would be appreciated. Also, if you know of any good sites that have reasonable prices on parts, please share as well.

Right now I am at the starting line. I am looking at motherboards, CPU’s, GPU’s and their compatibility … keeping in mind that one doesn’t bottleneck with the other.

As I take on this new hobby/project, I will continue this post to share my progress.

Who knows, maybe someone will follow and do the same.

Thanks for now and hope to hear from you all,

Louie_Jr

Edited by hamluis, 02 April 2018 - 09:01 PM.
Moved from Gen Chat to Building/Upgrading - Hamluis.

Welcome to BC!

I need more information before being able to help you.

What is your exact budget and what will you be doing on the PC?

Tight budget but want good performance, the Ryzen APU is the best.

If you are looking into building a good gaming rig on a budget best to wait, right now GPU prices are high thanks to cryptomining (Bitcoin).

Memory is also quite high thanks to memory shortages thanks to smart phones, unlike the GPU's this one may not come down for another year.

Its hard to say if GPU's will ever come down soon and unless you get used it will not be reasonable.

PC Part Picker is a good site to get an idea of what things are going to cost.  If you're looking for less expensive that usually means AMD.  As MadmanRB said crypto currencies have driven up the cost of video cards and phones and SSDs have driven up RAM.

The first thing you need to determine is the use of the machine, that normally tells you the direction you need to go.  Next pick out your CPU.  Then you find a motherboard that supports your CPU and has the features you want/need.  Then RAM that will work with your motherboard.  Next you pick your video card.  Now you find a case and power supply that will hold all of your parts.  Order and assemble.

Edited by Kilroy, 26 April 2018 - 02:32 PM.

Thanks guys for the advice. Beings this is going to be my first build, I will be looking to build something I can upgrade as time goes by. This is not going to be a gaming. Maybe later if or when GPU prices level off?? For the time being I am going to do my homework and take my time to gather all the tips and advice I can to save money ... and at the same time,  put something together I can keep around a while. 

Edited by Louie_Jr, 26 April 2018 - 04:30 PM.

Well a good start is choosing your processor, my suggestion is to go for a AMD ryzen processor due to their incredible value for dollar.

If you need something with onboard graphics you may want to look into the Ryzen 3 2200G or the Ryzen 5 2400G as both have been called saviors for those who want to game now without busting the bank.

Finding a compatible motherboard though is a bit tricky, I mean you can flash the bios but you may need to contact AMD to see if they are willing to send you a blank chip to flash the BIOS with.

Edited by MadmanRB, 26 April 2018 - 04:53 PM.

Finding a compatible motherboard though is a bit tricky, I mean you can flash the bios but you may need to contact AMD to see if they are willing to send you a blank chip to flash the BIOS with.