Deleted member 110222
D
Obviously, I consider thermal paste first.
I built my entire PC around thermal paste.
[yesnod]
I built my entire PC around thermal paste.
[yesnod]
Hardware & Technical What is the first thing you consider when you build a new PC?
Lol, same here, after compiling my parts list the very first thing I actually purchased was the cheapest part, a £13.99 syringe pack of Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.. clearly the key part to the entire pc!
"What do I want from it and how can I make that happen with less than 500€?"
The thermal paste problem usually solves itself because Noctua are shipping their coolers with a syringe that lasts a long time
The thermal paste problem usually solves itself because Noctua are shipping their coolers with a syringe that lasts a long time
I try to do the best to have enough performance for 8 years on average (even if I have to change one or two components during this period)
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Quiet. The thing has to be quiet, virtually inaudible, in everyday use. It's on all the time, in use about 10 hours a day, in a small quiet office.
It is allowed to purr quietly when doing something graphically intensive.
So case, CPU cooler, PSU and GFX are the things I design around.
It is allowed to purr quietly when doing something graphically intensive.
So case, CPU cooler, PSU and GFX are the things I design around.
Ah, I knew it was you that built this!
To be honest this days everything is so standardised that it's hard not to pick it all at once. Unless your budget literally doesn't allow for the low end "common" setups, or you think you're clever picking trash that you "are certain is as reliable as Intel at a fraction of the price", you may as well relegate desktop planning to picking how much you want to pay for each component; the only variables you're going to find are chipset and whether you're going for DDR4 memory.
So basically budget first, CPU second, mobo that fits said CPU..and even then there's probably just two different chipsets you'll have to filter through mobos for. Everything after that sorta slots into place (excuse the pun). I sheepishly admit I simply bought a bundle with mobo/memory/cpu/cpu water cooler; it was basically everything I wanted anyway but cheaper than if I'd bought the parts separately.
To be honest, building one's own desktop for mid-range/low-end-of-l337 setups is dying. You always used to be able to build a better computer than a purchased one once you're talking about more than a few hundred quid, but nowdays you can spend a couple of grand on a damn gaming laptop with similar specs to something you could build. Okay it'll never outright perform as well, but if we're talking about laptops squaring off with handbuilt PCs...
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In all honesty, the first thing I consider is what I want to do with the PC now ( and hopefully in the near future ).
I also consider how long I want to wait before upgrading again ( would prefer to delay purchasing an upgrade for a few years, after just building a PC ).
I also try at this point to keep needs and wants, separate as I'm more willing to fudge on those things I simply 'want' vs. what I think I 'need' to achieve my goals.
After that I look at budget. I am fairly patient and will spend up to 2 years getting something nice., vs something that will just do, tomorrow.
I then look at the specs of both MB's, GPU's and CPU's for compatibility with each other - usually just gather a list of a bunch of different CPU's, GPU's, and MB's that meet my basic requirements for the stuff above, and then start cross referencing their specs with each other, weeding through them ( but not totally ruling them out as going through the details may show that my top selections, in each, might not workout to be what I want ( such as a given rating being only on a specific port which might be incompatible with something else or with something I would just as soon not deal with ).
Then I start buying things that really are not going to change in use, between now and when I finally pull the trigger on the most expensive parts ( i.e. case, fans, led strips, then things like drives and finally MB, CPU, and GPU ).
Once my budget is set, I don't have a problem replacing something on the list with something newer ( at the same approximate price ) as new products come out, if I still haven't bought it.
I also consider how long I want to wait before upgrading again ( would prefer to delay purchasing an upgrade for a few years, after just building a PC ).
I also try at this point to keep needs and wants, separate as I'm more willing to fudge on those things I simply 'want' vs. what I think I 'need' to achieve my goals.
After that I look at budget. I am fairly patient and will spend up to 2 years getting something nice., vs something that will just do, tomorrow.
I then look at the specs of both MB's, GPU's and CPU's for compatibility with each other - usually just gather a list of a bunch of different CPU's, GPU's, and MB's that meet my basic requirements for the stuff above, and then start cross referencing their specs with each other, weeding through them ( but not totally ruling them out as going through the details may show that my top selections, in each, might not workout to be what I want ( such as a given rating being only on a specific port which might be incompatible with something else or with something I would just as soon not deal with ).
Then I start buying things that really are not going to change in use, between now and when I finally pull the trigger on the most expensive parts ( i.e. case, fans, led strips, then things like drives and finally MB, CPU, and GPU ).
Once my budget is set, I don't have a problem replacing something on the list with something newer ( at the same approximate price ) as new products come out, if I still haven't bought it.
"Do I need it?"
Usually the answer is "no" but I do it anyway.
I get where you are coming from.Do I need a 50TB HD? No.
vs.
Do I need a 10TB HD? Yes. As a hobby I collect PDF copies of Project Guttenberg technical books that date from the mid to late 1800's ( many of which have been scanned in very high definition, making for some rather large files ), but I may splurge to a 20 TB HD ( even if it would be nice to have a to have a 50TB drive ).
Since I'm going to be gaming on the big family TV, and it's a 52" 4K, I don't think that I have a lot of leeway with the GPU, it's going to need to be a 1080Ti if it's not going to be looking like crap.
I'm not doing video editing or live streaming, so I don't need an 18+ core processor, but I will have a few side apps open at the same time I'm gaming and I also think with the release of Intel's Gen 8 chips, games that will use more than 4 cores will become more common so I need a 6-8 core processor. So while I may want an I9 cpu, I don't need it but I will likely need a Gen 8 I7 - my eye is currently on an 8700.
I have fat fingers, so I need a full size keyboard and I need the keys to be backlit ( I'm so fricking tired of rubbing the letters off the keys ), RGB would be a plus, but not necessary if it's going to jump the price of the keyboard another $100 - I would rather put that $100 into CPU, GPU, MB or RAM.
Do I need the power of a 1500W PSU? No. But I'm going for a quiet build so I do need my PSU to power my computer without running the fan - so that means a 1200-1500W unit.
Raw, barbaric strength and blistering, embarrassingly fast computational speed. That is all I ask for in my computer. Her name is Bessy.
Not Red Sonja?
Does that mean that if you have more smoke, you get a faster computer?
If I was building from scratch for myself, budget.
If I was building for others, budget.
If budget wasn't an issue, it'd be based on its purpose.
For me, gaming, so GPU would be the first choice to make.
For a non gamer, it'd be best performance for the lowest price.
Lol
But these days I have a solid base, so I just upgrade a bit at a time.
Best on my list is RAM. I only have 8Gb, I'd like 16gb. But I can't add 2 more sticks of ram, because my silly CPU cooler is blocking one of the slots. Lol
If I was building for others, budget.
If budget wasn't an issue, it'd be based on its purpose.
For me, gaming, so GPU would be the first choice to make.
For a non gamer, it'd be best performance for the lowest price.
Lol
But these days I have a solid base, so I just upgrade a bit at a time.
Best on my list is RAM. I only have 8Gb, I'd like 16gb. But I can't add 2 more sticks of ram, because my silly CPU cooler is blocking one of the slots. Lol