Building Your Own PC A Bad Idea?

[Judge]

A humorous video on the subject. Which you can choose not to take seriously...or take it as gospel. Though perhaps what amused me the most was how this video was edited, making the person appear more successful in getting their computer to boot than was likely the case.

Though it does give some of you out there just a hint of what this involves.

From my own perspective, building your own PC is somewhat like making your own movie. Where you have to determine every component working in harmony with every other component to make it all come together. Requiring a lot of research on the specifications of well...pretty much everything. If not, even a minor omission may result in a major problem. Something that clearly did not occur in this "tongue-in-cheek" video.

Unfortunately with the fast pace of technology, this isn't getting any easier. Though the process if worth it in terms of being master over your own computer if despite all the blood, sweat and tears you get it to run properly. And with patience, determination and attention to details it can be done.

Where a little OCD can go a long way at times.

 

[Raggamuffin]

There's sites out there which help ensure what you buy is compatible:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/

I'd say the real struggle is when you buy a game and it doesn't run how it should. Then you have to do research and lots of trial and error to get it running properly. It's the main frustration when it comes to PC gaming. I know some find it endearing - but I genuinely loathe it.

Ed

 

[Judge]

I'd say the real struggle is when you buy a game and it doesn't run how it should. Then you have to do research and lots of trial and error to get it running properly. It's the main frustration when it comes to PC gaming. I know some find it endearing - but I genuinely loathe it.

Ed

Having been on the inside of a Silicon Valley software game publisher/developer, such concerns soured me more often than not. Sad, but true in my case. Issues that likely haven't changed much over the years.

Where unless you had a top-end PC, odds are that you may never be satisfied with how a game runs or can be configured on your computer. Keeping in mind the corporation cares more about shareholders' equity than any feedback from their customers or how fast- or not a game patch would be made available.

I'm guessing that by the time I get a new computer up and running, whatever I have in terms of a "robust" system will probably prove to be nominal relative to the time passed in terms of hardware requirements. Always behind instead of in front of the curve. Computer karma.

Though I still find myself deeply immersed into things like determining a case fan's amperage relative to a particular motherboard and possibly using a splitter on a single fan header...that sort of thing. And possibly opting instead to use a third-party fan header. Where thermodynamics have never been more critical given hot-running GPUs and to a lesser extent, the CPU as well.

All those details...to avoid from burning the house down.

Meanwhile mainstream computer manufacturers like Dell continue to sell higher-end desktop systems with pathetically weak proprietary CPU heatsinks. Go figure.

 

[Misery]

There's sites out there which help ensure what you buy is compatible:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/

I'd say the real struggle is when you buy a game and it doesn't run how it should. Then you have to do research and lots of trial and error to get it running properly. It's the main frustration when it comes to PC gaming. I know some find it endearing - but I genuinely loathe it.

Ed

Nah, nobody finds it endearing.

Generally though it does depend on the nature of the game to a degree. It’s one of the many reasons I almost always go indie: They tend to not be buggy and rushed. Regardless of their graphical capabilities. If I touch something AAA though… I *expect* problems even though I’m running a monster rig of a PC. After all, even a truly amazing PC can’t do much if it’s trying to run the equivalent of rancid dog turds.

As @Judge says, the big corporations aren’t trying to please you or make you happy: Their REAL customer is the shareholder, and that’s the only thing they care about. That’s part of why big-name games often run so badly… it sure as bloody heck ain’t just your computer. Often those games start out running really bad on *any* PC… no matter how high-end it may be. There’s a reason why there are entire user communities around things like Bethesda games that are just there to fix bugs that the freaking devs wont/can’t. Bloody pathetic, that. The consumers shouldn’t have to be the ones to do that… but that’s another rant.

So yeah, it ain’t necessarily at all about your PC and its specs/parts when that crap happens. Sometimes… a game is just garbage.



Now as for the main topic here…. Haha yeah I don’t build these things myself. It’d be a disaster. It’s be a freaking comedy reel. Full of crunching noises and shouted lines like “YOU STUPID LUMP, JUST GET IN THERE ALREADY”.

As I always tell friends and family: I am good with and can fix SOFTWARE issues. But I don’t do hardware whatsoever… period.

 

[Judge]

It’s one of the many reasons I almost always go indie: They tend to not be buggy and rushed.

Huge point. How a publisher can bully developers who must kowtow to them because of contractual obligations. The kind where the publisher's lawyers can out-leverage anything and everything legally speaking against an otherwise formerly independent developer who sold their soul to a corporation.

Yeah- the ones who avoid corporate publishers are bound to have better quality control over their product.

I'd love to name names along such lines, but then I could be legally exposed in what legally amounts to a "hard-ball" environment.

So at times I think I may be crazy to even think about building a gaming system at this time. May be just too unrealistic given inflation, supply chain issues and greed on the part of Nvidia. While I might go ahead with the build, I'll likely settle to use an integrated GPU temporarily, in the questionable event the video card market truly comes down some time in the future. Spending $1500 to $2500 just for a gaming video card is ridiculous. But then for me gaming was never an obsession or addiction either. Something the industry is counting on.

 

[Nemesis_2k7]

A humorous video on the subject. Which you can choose not to take seriously...or take it as gospel. Though perhaps what amused me the most was how this video was edited, making the person appear more successful in getting their computer to boot than was likely the case.

Though it does give some of you out there just a hint of what this involves.

From my own perspective, building your own PC is somewhat like making your own movie. Where you have to determine every component working in harmony with every other component to make it all come together. Requiring a lot of research on the specifications of well...pretty much everything. If not, even a minor omission may result in a major problem. Something that clearly did not occur in this "tongue-in-cheek" video.

Unfortunately with the fast pace of technology, this isn't getting any easier. Though the process if worth it in terms of being master over your own computer if despite all the blood, sweat and tears you get it to run properly. And with patience, determination and attention to details it can be done.

Where a little OCD can go a long way at times.

I would take what Linus says with a grain of salt. personally i think he has gone down hill and has just become a raving idiot. but that is my 2 cents. That, and his consistent need for advertising revenue, and "sponsored" content, has really made his channel slide.

 

[Misery]

Huge point. How a publisher can bully developers who must kowtow to them because of contractual obligations. The kind where the publisher's lawyers can out-leverage anything and everything legally speaking against an otherwise formerly independent developer who sold their soul to a corporation.

Yeah- the ones who avoid corporate publishers are bound to have better quality control over their product.

I'd love to name names along such lines, but then I could be legally exposed in what legally amounts to a "hard-ball" environment.

So at times I think I may be crazy to even think about building a gaming system at this time. May be just too unrealistic given inflation, supply chain issues and greed on the part of Nvidia. While I might go ahead with the build, I'll likely settle to use an integrated GPU temporarily, in the questionable event the video card market truly comes down some time in the future. Spending $1500 to $2500 just for a gaming video card is ridiculous. But then for me gaming was never an obsession or addiction either. Something the industry is counting on.

No need to name any names… chances are I already know most of them. Much to my dismay and non-stop irritation.

And yeah, the contracts are absolutely the downside. And I think it is something a lot of new developers don’t ACTUALLY think about when jumping into the industry. They think they’re going out there to make exciting things… they wont be like “those guys”, the ones that make the bad predatory stuff… no, they’re gonna make the next Witcher 3 or something because they’re so PASSIONATE and CREATIVE! LOL no. They’ll do whatever bloody idiotic thing some old fart in a suit tells them to do, and it’s probably going to suck hard. And a lot of them will be VERY abused during the process… as has been proven more than a few times recently.

A cousin of mine recently went off to jump into the industry, be a professional dev at some big company, and he was so darned excited, and I remember just thinking “oh you poor child…”. Something tells me, by now, he’s lost some of that enthusiasm… call it a hunch.

Whereas my own game-dev experience was basically “Well I think I’ll add THIS today, because I freaking feel like it, but maybe I’ll go for a walk first” over and over again.

What always baffles me is that people keep buying from those big companies at all. It’s all loot boxes and gambling tricks and $60 buggy games with very low content. Whereas I could spend $10 and get something that’ll keep me busy for like 200 hours of great fun.

Also yes that kind of money for a video card is too much. Even I wouldn’t go for that.

 

[Nemesis_2k7]

No need to name any names… chances are I already know most of them. Much to my dismay and non-stop irritation.

And yeah, the contracts are absolutely the downside. And I think it is something a lot of new developers don’t ACTUALLY think about when jumping into the industry. They think they’re going out there to make exciting things… they wont be like “those guys”, the ones that make the bad predatory stuff… no, they’re gonna make the next Witcher 3 or something because they’re so PASSIONATE and CREATIVE! LOL no. They’ll do whatever bloody idiotic thing some old fart in a suit tells them to do, and it’s probably going to suck hard. And a lot of them will be VERY abused during the process… as has been proven more than a few times recently.

A cousin of mine recently went off to jump into the industry, be a professional dev at some big company, and he was so darned excited, and I remember just thinking “oh you poor child…”. Something tells me, by now, he’s lost some of that enthusiasm… call it a hunch.

Whereas my own game-dev experience was basically “Well I think I’ll add THIS today, because I freaking feel like it, but maybe I’ll go for a walk first” over and over again.

What always baffles me is that people keep buying from those big companies at all. It’s all loot boxes and gambling tricks and $60 buggy games with very low content. Whereas I could spend $10 and get something that’ll keep me busy for like 200 hours of great fun.

Also yes that kind of money for a video card is too much. Even I wouldn’t go for that.

Well put. The newest games are all loot boxes / pay 2 win nonsense. I felt sorry for EA games. Purchased BF 2042. WHAT A MESS. i don't even know where to begin. but their micro transactions, work fine. go figure. Todays gaming is..dead. I play the older games now, with MODS, like High Def textures..things like that. And yea. paying THAT much for a gpu. NO. This is why i no longer support Nvidia. I am an AMD man for GPU. Granted, i paid a high price for my Recent RX 6600. Because i simply had to. It was the only gpu available on the market, thanks to the current pandemic and also, price gouging. However, i am happy. 1440p @ 80-120fps (capped) in every game.

 

[Nemesis_2k7]

The pc i recently built, yea , bit of a flex here. but here are the specs.
Core i3 10th gen 1015f @ 4.4ghz 1.15volts (undervolted) (maxed out in bios)
16gb Drr4 2666mhz ram, @ 3200mhz CAS 17 @ 1.48volts
RX 6600 8gb GPU @ 2700mhz core 1.090volts (undervolted)
128gb SSD boot drive
2x 500gb usb 3.1 SSD gaming drives.
1tb HDD for older games / movies / download backup.
B560 chipset motherboard (intel)
27inch LED Viewsonic 1440p monitor @144hz
Basic Logitech 2.1 speakers, running through DFX sound enhancer.
Custom NTlited Windows 10 21h1 Gaming OS.

The whole upgrade cost me just over 1 grand. Would have been cheaper, if not for scalpers.
Got me an xbox series S as well, but lent that to my brother, as he had nothing to play on.
And then i have a Nintendo Switch lite.
And my Android phone, Motorola 20 fusion AMOLED.

And who says i am a nerd / gamer? Nah. Couldn't be.

DPC latency is perfect. and i found no bottleneck as of yet. happy with it.

 

[Lemon Zing]

I have an Android TV box and couldn't be happier. They are so cheap, and I think they can be used just like any other computer. So if all you want it for is YouTube, and Netflix, or for visiting forums and whatnot, it's all you'll be needing.

Of course, I know about the Raspberry Pi mini PC kits.

 

[Storm Hess]

I enjoy the process of building computers and seeing the end result boot up.

 

[WildCat]

If you can grasp the concept pretty well, I'll have to disagree and say it's not a bad idea. It's not for everyone and not everyone wants to get their hands dirty. I understand that, it's naught but a computer to some people and they just want it to run hassle-free, but when you get a custom build up and running it's pretty satisfying.

The hardware portion of it is almost foolproof - everything has a place, everything goes in its place and you usually won't be putting something where it doesn't belong because you really can't do so (a power supply cord in a fan socket for example, or an Intel CPU in an AMD socket). The software side can be trickier though as you have to install your favorite OS of choice (I find Windows the easiest), gather all the drivers for the hardware, the software needed to run the damn thing and troubleshoot any problems that pop up.

I did my first build over a decade ago and haven't looked back since. One of the perks of doing it all yourself is saving some money by buying all the parts directly from a retailer and being able to customize your PC exactly to your liking instead of going with a pre-built mess of OEM parts and software you don't need. I'd say it's worth it to have the skill if you can pull it off.

 

[Judge]

If you can grasp the concept pretty well, I'll have to disagree and say it's not a bad idea.

Keep in mind the creator of this video did so in a bit of a "tongue-in-cheek" manner. Not entirely serious.

But I think their humorous manner gets a similar message across. That it's not so simple as a matter of mechanics, and not for everyone. Though it's true that if one has the drive and the ability, they can not only do it themselves, but do so at a lower cost and potentially with far better components. Though if you're not a "detail-oriented person", this indeed may be a very bad idea.

Of course in the present environment, the absurd scalper cost of a high-end video card is making the whole process prohibitive. Hopefully this might change in the second quarter of this year. Otherwise that robust computer I can build coming in around $1200 doesn't count for much when you throw in a $1500 to $2000 video card that should go for half those amounts.

The computers I've built for the later 30 years have never had a component failure. The only reason I eventually discarded them was based purely on technical obsolescence. Yet I admit, when I first started out there were any number of considerations I did not make that I should have at the time. I was lucky.