Tips on buying PC parts

Associate
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12 Jun 2021
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UK
Also if i should buy the parts separately does the order i buy them in matter?
Hi, i recently went through building my gaming pc. i did my research and saved up to buy all within 2 months of each other. i see nothing wrong with spreading buying them out as long as it's not too long so new tech comes out that changes your plan.

also just keep an eye out for offers/deals and buy when you find one a part you want!

just remembered i bought my mobo and case early then the rest 2 months later!
 
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Soldato
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Graphics card is the hardest to get part, if you're buying PC in parts instead of buying assembly.
Or at least you'll have to pay for some premium priced model, because any cards at better prices will run out of stock very fast.
(Radeon 5700 XT is one of the rare ones with more than marginal stock availability)

So that would be one of the first parts to order.
While availability situation is hard to guess, even if electricity waste coin miners stop buying lots of cards there's plenty of gamers without cards.
So don't see any excess stocks and major price drops appearing in any near future.

And in case of building yourself, case and PSU are parts wihhc can be safely bought when having good price.
 
Man of Honour
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You should set yourself a budget and save up, buying parts and leaving them in a cupboard looses warranty and the right to be returned before 28 days.

Aa mentioned gpu is thd biggest struggle so a pre built pc May be another way to go.
 
Permabanned
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Unless there is a good offer I would wait and get it all at once, new things come out all the time and in general prices go down as they get older and newer tech appears. They usually go down anyway, there are exceptions these days with shortages and crazy demand of some stuff.
 
Soldato
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Either try and get a GPU first or save up and buy a prebuilt as that way you don't have to mess about trying to hunt for out of stock cards.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Rapier - AMD Ryzen 5600X, GeForce RTX 3070Ti Gaming PC = £1,509.01
    • Security Software:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Unwanted
    • Case:*Build Stock* Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower DRGB Case - Black
    • Processor:AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - MPK
    • 2.5" SATA Solid State Drive 1:Unwanted
    • Storage Drive:Unwanted
    • Memory:Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey
    • 2.5" SATA Solid State Drive 2:Unwanted
    • M.2 Solid State Drive 1 (Primary Drive if Selected):WD Blue SN550 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)
Total: £1,523.11 (includes shipping: £14.10)​
 
Associate
OP
Joined
11 Jun 2021
Posts
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UK
Either try and get a GPU first or save up and buy a prebuilt as that way you don't have to mess about trying to hunt for out of stock cards.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Rapier - AMD Ryzen 5600X, GeForce RTX 3070Ti Gaming PC = £1,509.01
    • Security Software:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Unwanted
    • Case:*Build Stock* Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower DRGB Case - Black
    • Processor:AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - MPK
    • 2.5" SATA Solid State Drive 1:Unwanted
    • Storage Drive:Unwanted
    • Memory:Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey
    • 2.5" SATA Solid State Drive 2:Unwanted
    • M.2 Solid State Drive 1 (Primary Drive if Selected):WD Blue SN550 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)
Total: £1,523.11 (includes shipping: £14.10)
Trying to get a GPU seems impossible at the minute so i might have to go prebuilt! i just really wanted the satisfaction of doing it myself
 
Soldato
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Sunny Fife
There is the satisfaction but there is also a fair bit of risk/hassle involved.

When you get a pre-built pc it comes, or should come, working and guaranteed.

When you build yourself each part may be guaranteed but if one part doesn't work you then have the hassle of finding out which part is broken, sending that back and hoping you did indeed pick the correct part to exchange.

I'll pretty much always build myself because I like doing a custom loop in mine (I'm a silence freak) but there have been times when I have had a dodgy stick of RAM or a PSU which seemed to be half blown that I really wished I had just gone the easy route.

Whichever you choose you have picked the right forum for help and the right shop for parts.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
11 Jun 2021
Posts
38
Location
UK
There is the satisfaction but there is also a fair bit of risk/hassle involved.

When you get a pre-built pc it comes, or should come, working and guaranteed.

When you build yourself each part may be guaranteed but if one part doesn't work you then have the hassle of finding out which part is broken, sending that back and hoping you did indeed pick the correct part to exchange.

I'll pretty much always build myself because I like doing a custom loop in mine (I'm a silence freak) but there have been times when I have had a dodgy stick of RAM or a PSU which seemed to be half blown that I really wished I had just gone the easy route.

Whichever you choose you have picked the right forum for help and the right shop for parts.

I think i am going to try and build it myself especially now i have found this platform that is full of helpful people like yourself!

Having done a build before do you have any tips for someone starting out?
 
Soldato
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Sunny Fife
Honestly nothing too "magic" just take your time and think things through, read as much as you really can, youtube is also handy if you get stuck but also worth watching a few even before your stuff arrives.

Most of it is simple, hard to get wrong, CPU sockets are easy just align them the right way, RAM has a small notch that stops it going in the wrong way, GPU pretty much the same. Honestly it's like rather expensive lego lol.

Probably the hardest part is connecting the case to the Mobo.....I only say that as I have sausage fingers and find the little connectors tricky. ASUS Q connect saved my life on that one a few times lol.

Try to keep your wiring tidy, plan it as much as you can before fully plugging everything in.

Try to get a nice space to build in and a table with plenty of light. I like to plug in the RAM before fitting the Mobo into the case, I find it easier as the mobo will flex less when pushing the module into place.

You will be rattling builds together in no time soon....Biggest tip ever, dont tell anyone you can build PC's.
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2013
Posts
12,310
Simple logic suggests that you should save up and buy everything at once, from the same shop... for the simple reason that it will keep the cost of postage much lower than buying parts gradually.

The only person who built something one piece at a time was Johnny Cash... and it didn't work out too well for him either!
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Oct 2019
Posts
11,694
Location
Uk
Simple logic suggests that you should save up and buy everything at once, from the same shop... for the simple reason that it will keep the cost of postage much lower than buying parts gradually.

The only person who built something one piece at a time was Johnny Cash... and it didn't work out too well for him either!
Yeah buy the GPU first then once you have that then order the rest in one go.
 
Associate
Joined
12 Jun 2021
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Location
UK
As an additional note what Mhz ram would be best to go for before it becomes not worth the price for gaming?
I would go with 3200mhz - its the sweet spot. Much higher and you start to get limitations elsewhere. There shouldn’t be a game that demands more than 3200mhz
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Jun 2008
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11,618
Location
Finland
Having done a build before do you have any tips for someone starting out?
Think at least twice and double check and do it once.
And don't close side of the case until you know everything works.

If you rush chanches for something not worknig or breaking increases dramatically.
Also even experienced hobbyer can forget to attach some cable.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
11 Jun 2021
Posts
38
Location
UK
Honestly nothing too "magic" just take your time and think things through, read as much as you really can, youtube is also handy if you get stuck but also worth watching a few even before your stuff arrives.

Most of it is simple, hard to get wrong, CPU sockets are easy just align them the right way, RAM has a small notch that stops it going in the wrong way, GPU pretty much the same. Honestly it's like rather expensive lego lol.

Probably the hardest part is connecting the case to the Mobo.....I only say that as I have sausage fingers and find the little connectors tricky. ASUS Q connect saved my life on that one a few times lol.

Try to keep your wiring tidy, plan it as much as you can before fully plugging everything in.

Try to get a nice space to build in and a table with plenty of light. I like to plug in the RAM before fitting the Mobo into the case, I find it easier as the mobo will flex less when pushing the module into place.

You will be rattling builds together in no time soon....Biggest tip ever, dont tell anyone you can build PC's.

I just have to take my time i guess and not overthink it and put pressure on myself!

Would you recommend getting a anti static bracelet as i have seen people saying you need them and others saying you dont?

I'll remember to keep it a secret then if i work out how to build them!

Thanks for all of your help man!
 
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