Building a Gaming Computer

Technology Technology: Chat / Discussions
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My son would like to build a gaming computer from scratch and if he does feel as if he wants to go ahead with this somewhat daunting project the I’d very much like to support him although my skills in IT are zero …at best!

In the first instance, is it realistic for the average person to methodically put one together. The prices for decent computer can be astronomical, maybe a homebuild is an option?

I know that there are those of you out there who are well versed in things technical. … I’m not, in other words please kindly bear with me.

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I asked my oldest son who has been building his own PCs since he was twelve

He said yes, it’s quite easy to put it together and there are lots of YouTube videos for guidance so your son should be able to manage fine

The only snag, he said, is if for any reason he builds it and it doesn’t work, it can be hard to find out what’s wrong, especially if you haven’t got another working computer to test the parts in

He said it’s much cheaper and you can design it to be exactly what you want so well worth giving it a go👍

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Thanks Maree … very much appreciated!
That’s encouraging…I do know someone who would be able to fine tune it should the need arise :+1:

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when my son built mine, end of last year, Frst of all is setting a budget to work to. It is all too easy to get carried away building with expensive parts and run out of money to complete.

One important thing is the case and consider airflow . the cooler a computer runs the better. So I would suggest getting one with fans at the front and back. Some cases have side vents and this slows down air flow considerably. there are so many parts and if you mess up with the processor with wrong amount of paste for example, when putting it on the motherboard !!! also the PU (power unit) needs to be big enough handle the load and a graphics card up to the job

A for componants my advise would be to ring contact the suppliers we use “Scan computers” who are verfy helpful. tele no [ 01204-474747 ] https://www.scan.co.uk

You can give them the budget to select the components for a gaming computer.

However if you go on their site you may well find what your already built which is what I would recommend.
Price wise to get anything half decent with a windows based computer as self built your starting budget I would have thought anywhere between £1000 to £1500 upwards

the build on mine
Apart from canniblising the 750w PU and graphics card plus a few other bits and pieces

This is first look at components for a self build.

1= [be quiet! Pure Base 600, Black, Mid Tower Computer Chassis, 140/120mm Fans, USB 3.0, ATX/Micro-ATX/Mini-ITX]

2_Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 Ultra-Quiet Slim CPU Cooler, 1x 120mm NF-F12 PWM Fan, Copper Base/Heatsink, Aluminium Fins, AM4

3= 32GB (2x16GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black, PC4-28800 (3600), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 18-22-22-42, 1.35V

4=[Windows 11 Home Edition, 64-bit, English International, USB

5=ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WI-FI II, AMD B550, AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0, SATA3, Dual M.2, 2.5GbE, 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E/BT5.2, ATX

6 =AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800X, AM4, Zen 3, 8 Core, 16 Thread, 3.8GHz, 4.7GHz Turbo, 36MB Cache, PCIe 4.0, 105W, CPU

7=1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus, M.2 (2280) PCIe 3.0 (x4), NVMe SSD, MLC V-NAND, 3500MB/s Read, 3300MB/s Write, 600k/550k IOPS]

hitting just over the £1000 target, if that is any help, remember the PU and graphics card I already had.
Then there is the question of a monitor to produce the best and can handle 4K or higher

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Thanks realspeed, that’s food for thought, plenty to digest there :+1:

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What i would say is this is the second computer he has built for me and some for others. It is not a rush job by any means and constant reference to the mother board instruction /layout is neceessary.
When up and running if the programs on the old computer are not saved to an extrnal disk drive putting them back onto the new is time consuming not forgetting writing down any passwords used first. Some like adobe editing suites need to be closed down correctly or won’t go over onto the new computer.

for example with Adobe

Uninstall from Windows 10 and 11

  1. Type ‘Apps & features’ in the search bar adjacent to the Start menu and choose ‘Apps & features’ from the search results that pop up.

  2. Type Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements in the search bar under ‘Apps & features’.

  3. Select Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Premiere Elements.

  4. Click Uninstall and follow the onscreen instructions to remove the application.

  5. (Optional) If you don’t want to keep the application preferences, select Remove Preferences.

other sites may also have similar instructions

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I’d suggest that he rushes out and buys a copy of the 24May-6June copy of Computer Active magazine

They have 10 pages saying “Build Your Own PC” ranging fro what to buy, how to get the right bits for various options, and what to pay for all the parts, plus full instructions of how to put it together.

This is not an advert but, they really cover every trick, in their build up to and including gaming PCs…

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Thanks Tedc…all things considered so far I think buying a ready built PC is going to be the way forward…this time anyway…less frustration and heartache.

My son is on the autistic spectrum, it wouldn’t be appropriate to elaborate, suffice to say choices aren’t always clear cut as they might be.

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@Chilliboot For gaming, a good RAM capacity is required and this link will explain.
How much RAM do I need? Here’s how to know | Tom’s Guide (tomsguide.com)

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Thanks!

The PC we’re looking at has 16GB of RAM and appears to be easily upgraded in other respects too. From what I gather CyberpowerPC have a good reputation.

I think an executive decision will be made shortly :slightly_smiling_face:

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I am typing this from a 16Gb RAM laptop and although it’s lightning fast for general use and forums etc, I think if I were gaming, then I would buy an uprated RAM card for 32Gb, but that’s just my personal choice for speed over everything else.

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That’s something we could do in due course :+1:

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Excellent idea, but if buying a ready made computer, make sure the RAM can be uprated. I have a friend who bought an 8Gb Lenovo, but that has an all-in-one board and cannot be uprated without major works.

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scan gaming computers are around £1300 for a decent one

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/custom/gaming/pages/pcs-for-computer-games

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Unfortunately that’s rather over our budget realspeed…who knows, perhaps one day :wink:

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you really should have a look at the scan web site then. they even do daily offers sometimes

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/custom/gaming/pages/minecraft-gaming-pcs

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/custom/pc/pc#anc

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Thanks…will do.

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Yes I would think so - I used to build all my PCs until I moved over to Mac. However as Maree pointed out it can be tricky if something isn’t working.

If your budget can accommodate it an alternative might be to get a Mac Mini and a PS5 - PS5’s are pretty amazing and the good thing is they can always be sold at a later date (as could the Mac) whereas PCs lose their value much more quickly.

You can get the latest Mac mini for about £550 from Amazon (or in John Lewis sales) and a PS5 for £389 (or £479 for the version with disc/blu ray) :023:

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The deed has been done!
One gaming PC arriving by Wednesday.
Thanks for all your posts and advice people :+1:

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