Building a PC with my son..

[Yeti]

Could anyone give me some pointers in regards to building a “gaming pc” at all? Many moons ago,(20 years), I used to fettle with a base computer, upgrading memory and dvd re writers, hard drives etc..I’d really like to do something with my son where we could spend some quality time to “build” something from scratch..
Is it as easy as procuring a tower, hard drive, motherboard etc and just putting it together? I’m keen on getting him a couple monitor setup but don’t just want to buy it all pre made..
Any kits out there? From memory, Alien ware was the emerging market leader at the time.
Any help would be much appreciated!

[Rod]

That Raspberry kit would possibly for the bill.
https://www.google.com/url?q=https:/...MlwKmJ9TwCblq_

[hughtrimble]

PC building is just expensive LEGO now; it's designed to be easy for anyone to do. Compatibility can be a challenge for some components, but you get online checkers for that sort of thing. Actually assembling things can be done in a matter of hours at most if you have all the things you want, so it's not much of a project really. You could go down the water cooling route to give you more assembly time (i.e. not all in one [AIO]) but again, once that's done, it's done other than periodic flushing.

The Pi suggestion from Rod could be much more of a long term thing, which sounds like more what you're after?

[miguelh34]

Pc building is pretty easy these days some times get the odd problem but loads easier than 15/20 years ago.

[leo1790]

My lads recently done his first build, he made a list of what he needed. Case, motherboard, processor, graphics card, ram, monitor, mouse and keyboard.
He then hammered all the YouTube tutorials and reviews and got it down to a select few components (within his budget) and then kept his eyes open for any deals/discounts.
He got quite a few bits from awd-it, but also amazon and possibly scan?
I think he enjoyed the research more than the finished product as he's moved onto researching the hell out of cars now and deciding what he's going to buy and soup up. He's only 13 though so God only knows how he thinks he's going to drive it.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[xellos99]

Compatability is the main issue but if you buy it from a business like Scan you can chat with their staff and ask them if your build is compatable.

I can build a PC in 20 minutes because i have done it dozens of times.

Everything just screws or slots in.

I read a Motherboards manual though, the whole thing because knowing that part well is very important i think.

I would hold off though because new ram, cpu`s and graphics cards are being released in the near future.

The new RAM will be called DDR5 and it will be all the rage when it hits the shelves

[Skier]

I've built loads of PCs over the years and they're not difficult but you need to be patient and get it right first time in terms of tidy cable runs etc. as your intention to sort that out later will never materialise. I'm not a gamer but have built two machines for gaming friends; one was on a good budget, the other was of the opinion 'cost is of no importance, build me the fastest thing you can.' This turned out very expensive and the delays getting some very high-end components can be frustrating. Added to this, water cooling adds complexity and limits case choice. As other have stated, if you're building a true gaming PC you need to decide the following (in roughly this order):

- Do you want/need water cooling? If you do, it will add cost, time and complexity. For what follows I'll assume you decide against this.
- Determine which processor you want to use as the socket type will drive motherboard compatibility. Get the most powerful processor you can afford within reason. I'd be looking at an Intel Core i7 10700 as a minimum and ideally something like the Intel Core i9 10850. If you went for the latter this means you'll need a socket LGA 1200 motherboard.
- Select a motherboard and don't skimp but here you need one that has the features you feel you need and most will. Here, generally, you get what you pay for but no need to go mad.
- Select RAM; buy 32GB as two modules; this should be plenty. If the motherboard you select has 4 RAM slots you can expand later if required but it's unlikely you'd need to.
- Graphics Card - buy a good one. I'm not a gamer but have a powerful one to drive an ultra-wide 49" monitor.
- Monitors. Have a look at 49" Ultra-wide monitors that are they equivalent of 2 x 27" monitors and, IMHO, only consider 5120 x 1440 e.g. THIS (which is what I purchased). More expensive than 2 x 27" monitors but simply brilliant. you could obviously go 2 x 27" initially and upgrade later after your wallet has recovered.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes. If you have further questions I'm happy to assist if I can.

[thieuster]

I've built loads of PCs over the years and they're not difficult but you need to be patient and get it right first time in terms of tidy cable runs etc. as your intention to sort that out later will never materialise. I'm not a gamer but have built two machines for gaming friends; one was on a good budget, the other was of the opinion 'cost is of no importance, build me the fastest thing you can.' This turned out very expensive and the delays getting soe very high-end components can be frustrating. Added to this, water cooling adds complexity and limits case choice. As other have stated, if you're building a true gaming PC you need to decide the following (in roughly this order):

- Do you want/need water cooling? If you do, it will add cost, time and complexity. For what follows I'll assume you decide against this.
- Determine which processor you want to use as the socket type will drive motherboard compatibility. Get the most powerful processor you can afford within reason. I'd be looking at an Intel Core i7 10700 as a minimum and ideally something like the Intel Core i9 10850. If you went for the latter this means you'll need a socket LGA 1200 motherboard.
- Select a motherboard and don't skimp but here you need one that has the features you feel you need and most will. Here, generally, you get what you pay for but no need to go mad.
- Select RAM; buy 32GB as two modules; this should be plenty. If the motherboard you select has 4 RAM slots you can expand later if required but it's unlikely you'd need to.
- Graphics Card - buy a good one. I'm not a gamer but have a powerful one to drive an ultra-wide 49" monitor.
- Monitors. Have a look at 49" Ultra-wide monitors that are they equivalent of 2 x 27" monitors and, IMHO, only consider 5120 x 1440 e.g. THIS (which is what I purchased). More expensive than 2 x 27" monitors but simply brilliant. you could obviously go 2 x 27" initially and upgrade later after your wallet has recovered.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes. If you have further questions I'm happy to assist if I can.

I sent this list to my son and he took his hat of for that list as in 'impressed!' But added that it's an extremely expensive list, hitting 2500 euros or even more. His comment: "From your watch website, I think? Expensive taste!"

His alternative:

• don't go for water cooling. A really big fan will do (as said, he upped the fan last month)
• get a good CPU, but i7 or i9 are really the high end of the range; really expensive because relatively new.
• indeed get the best motherboard you can afford
• 32 GB is for video editing or really 'heavy' games - but that's only a small list
• videocard: don't skimp. Prices vary <200 euro up to > 2000 euros. Halfway up 3 - 400 euros will get you a proper one; watch for sales etc
• that super resolution is really awesome, but in real life a 1080p will do. Make sure that it's a 144 hz.

With a little luck and looking for online sales etc on various sites, it must be possible to finish it all under 1000 euros.

[Yeti]

Superb responses, many thanks. Will digest and report back!

[thieuster]

My lads recently done his first build, he made a list of what he needed. Case, motherboard, processor, graphics card, ram, monitor, mouse and keyboard.
He then hammered all the YouTube tutorials and reviews and got it down to a select few components (within his budget) and then kept his eyes open for any deals/discounts.
He got quite a few bits from awd-it, but also amazon and possibly scan?
I think he enjoyed the research more than the finished product as he's moved onto researching the hell out of cars now and deciding what he's going to buy and soup up. He's only 13 though so God only knows how he thinks he's going to drive it.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Same here. He enjoyed all the way about a year ago when he'd saved enough money to build a computer that wouldn't look bad at NASA. Last month he took the machine apart and cleaned it thoroughly. He also installed a second hard disk (behemoth-style storage capacity) for all his games. He also upped the cooling.

And, your story about the cars: mine is busy looking at... café racers! I wish he would be looking at cars, like your son.

[gerrudd]

I'm on the other end of the scale. My son got a Raspberry Pi kit for his birthday. After struggling with monitor compatibility issues (and then supply during lockdown), broken SDCards and a few other minor issues we are finally up and running. Next project may be a RetroPie gaming setup