Son wants to build a PC

From:	Dr Nick (FOZZA)	9 Apr 18:35
To:	ALL	1 of 7

43126.1
So my son will be taking Computer Science as a GCSC and has managed to semi convince me that him building his own mid range gaming PC from scratch will really help him get a good start in the subject.... As I say I'm semi convinced and semi impressed with the level of sly that goes into this angle and ends up with him getting a gaming PC ! ^.^ He has a birthday coming up and some savings to put into it, but the budget is likely to be about £450 (Not enough for a Switch 2 :o ) Things have moved on a lot since @Milko and I built PC's many many moons ago. I have no idea what is even reasonable these days . Has anybody got any good learning resources they can suggest on building PCs these days? Has anybody got any decent parts they want to move on? (Would rather buy from trusted people here than explore the darkness that is FB marketplace :-D ) Is this a good idea or should I buy something 2nd hand, take all the parts out and then present it to him like a big jigsaw puzzle, with a new SSD and copy of Windows 11! ?? All advise appreciated.... Thanks

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From:	milko	9 Apr 22:05
To:	Dr Nick (FOZZA)	2 of 7

43126.2 In reply to 43126.1
fucking hell, how has time passed far enough that you can be asking these questions!? GCSEs!?! There's loads of Youtube tutorials about building PCs and they're easier than they ever were nowadays. Almost like doing Lego except for when something doesn't quite work and it's all upsettingly expensive. PCpartpicker is an excellent website for making sure everything you want should work together, as well as getting prices on it all (albeit only for new stuff on the price of course). I've just got a new GPU, so I have a Nvidia 3080FE and a 650W PSU that are kinda waiting for me to get around to selling them... that's not a graphics card that fits well into a £450 budget though, wouldn't be much left for anything else. In your shoes I typically would look at it as an excuse to upgrade my own kit and pass on the old as a hand-me-down :)

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From:	CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)	10 Apr 13:19
To:	Dr Nick (FOZZA)	3 of 7

43126.3 In reply to 43126.1
Let him own the process of selecting parts (on his budget), doing research they are compatible, and putting it all together. He'll get a lot more out of it. Don't use used parts, except maybe hardrives/ssds and case. There are a lot of great tutorials on youtube. Also he may be able to get win 11 at a v. steep discount from one of those dodgy web sites. A big-ass case is easier to work in, keep cool, and keep on stuffing with cards, drives etc. “I Won Big in Las Vegas by Sitting Through a Timeshare Presentation”

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From:	Peter (BOUGHTONP)	10 Apr 15:06
To:	Dr Nick (FOZZA) CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)	4 of 7

43126.4 In reply to 43126.3

> Don't use used parts, except maybe hardrives/ssds and case.

Huh!? :? Do you mean re-use current drives? Otherwise, a hard drive is the one thing I would always want fresh, whether solid or spinning.

As for cases, big ones are great, but if in two years they'll be going to uni half way across the country, then transportability may want to be a consideration too.

Giving as a puzzle is a cool idea, but maybe doing it as a father/son project to research and build together would also be good?

Also, perfect opportunity to install a better OS even if only as a secondary dual-boot. (Valve are doing a lot to advance gaming for Linux-based OSes.)

3.1415P265E589T932E846R64338

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From:	william (WILLIAMA)	10 Apr 17:09
To:	Dr Nick (FOZZA)	5 of 7

43126.5 In reply to 43126.1
A lot depends on what you/he aim for. If you want the best possible gaming experience then you may choose to spend a high proportion of the budget on GPU and CPU. On the other hand, you might think that it's worth going for a decent CPU with good graphics on board. Things like the Ryzen 7 5700G or i7 11700K (or better) may be fine and give plenty of saving time until Christmas and graphics card season. Worth keeping an eye out for companies (like Amazon) that have open-box offers, usually stuff that's good as new but returned because of buyer's remorse, or whatever. I got my last mobo for half price (although that saving is rare, and also I did discover that the original purchaser had obviously tried to force the USB 3 cable from his case in backwards as the pins were mangled. Probably explains the return, but I managed to straighten them). I like your "jigsaw puzzle" idea, particularly as you'll usually get a far better deal on a used full computer than on buying used parts individually. A quick check on ebay showed a dealer selling PCs open-box but never used between £400 and £450 including a 27 inch screen. That said, I do agree with what the others say about keeping your son involved and making it a father/son project. He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar

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From:	CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)	11 Apr 13:06
To:	Peter (BOUGHTONP)	6 of 7

43126.6 In reply to 43126.4
I've built all my PCs from new and used parts since 1999. I also partied, but that's another story. IMO, picking out components on a budget is the hardest part. It's a bit amazing how many pc components are mutually incompatible. Assembling the thing is second hardest. Almost all of my hard drive problems (not many) have come from brand new, untested (by me) drives, usually within weeks/months after formatting (I don't formally 'burn in' drives, I just bung 'em in and, after a quick SMART test, run 'em). Used drives are the cheapest, and most easily replaced component inside a pc, unless you're using some whack job custom OS build that takes hours to reinstall and set up, because you failed to keep a config backup. Yeah, I used to do that. Anyhoo, having to reinstall software is a good thing to learn about as something to avoid. YMMV. “I Won Big in Las Vegas by Sitting Through a Timeshare Presentation”

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From:	CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)	14 Apr 16:22
To:	ALL	7 of 7

43126.7
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-build-a-pc/ “I Won Big in Las Vegas by Sitting Through a Timeshare Presentation”

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He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar