Hi everyone, 
Im looking at a pc upgrade and was considering a pre-built machine, but I’m now kind of looking at attempting to build it myself, more so for the fun factor as well as self satisfaction.

I have a few questions:
1) will be a first time build, I’m a little nervous, is this something I should even attempt? My skills are ok, I can change graphics cards, ram etc but never tried a complete build yet.

2) I priced a pre-built, then priced out individual components to the pre-built systems, seems there is no real cost advantage to building myself, or am I misunderstanding something? I thought building myself would save some money but It doesn’t seem to be the case.

Cheers! 

I used to buy 3 "custom PC" from different companies, in the end, I found different issues that I didn't like and asked, "why did they do it in this way?

I had a few issues related to their warranties and had to wait for them to get back to me, to get approvals for returns, etc.

 

I would strongly suggest Micro center for parts and even guidance, my experience with them is very positive. To be noted, I'm not affiliated with them!

 

If you go for other company, please read the return policy carefully and check their forums.

 

Don't be afraid, there are many tutorials on youtube that are very detailed and helpful, plus different forums.

 

Besides fun and personal satisfaction, your final product will be exactly as you wish.

I did this a few months ago...  here's my thread, you may have already seen it.  I documented a few tricky parts of the build.  You may not encounter these at all and it's likely everything will go smooth.  I often take things very slowly and overthink some things LOL!

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/615454-my-2022-build-with-pics/

A few things I can think of:  I generally try to avoid areas where a lot of static electricity is built up, like building on carpet hehe.  I periodically ground myself by touching the center screw on an outlet a few times during the build.  Some people use the ESP wrist things - where you just ground yourself constantly - that drives me nuts so I don't do that.

Set aside a nice table where you have ample space to build.  Also, someone told me to NOT set the motherboard on the ESP bag like I did in my post above...  I didn't have any ill will come from that but I'd avoid that for next time.

Don't rush the build and you may need to allocate a few hours over the course of a few days to do it.  

Read through the case and motherboard manual or look at them online.  Also, if not using a optical drive, have a usb stick prepared with network drivers especially!  Once you install those you can either use your ethernet or wifi to download the rest of your drivers.  Oh, and you might need to create a USB bootable Windows media to load Windows (I recommend 11 even though some parts of it still annoy me lol) - Win11 creation:  https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

Update the BIOS right away (usually called flashing the BIOS - instructions in your mobo manual).

Don't force anything into the mobo - it shouldn't be hard to "plug" things in - you may have to be firm with some items like RAM and ATX power cable.  And watch the polarity on the front panel headers...the tiny annoying single prong wires that connect the front/top case buttons/usb/power to your motherboard.

Most importantly, have fun!

 

Oh forgot to answer question 2:  I think the real difference is YOU decide what quality parts you're putting in your system.  Some of the pre-builts have lower grade power supplies, or crappier cases, medium-lower end mobos.

 

Yes, perhaps the two scariest words in a DIY build: Static Electricity...

I was scared with my first build, but when my Windows 95 computer died and I did not have the money to buy another pre-built, I took the plunge.  It seemed intimidating, but with Windows 98 and "plug-and-play" technology, it turned out to be easier than I had imagined.  My second build was with Windows XP and it was pretty easy.  Make sure you ground yourself with a grounding strap.  If you don't have one, you can make one by taking a length of wire, stripping enough insulation from one end that you can tie it around your wrist and attach the other end to the computer case.  Select quality components and take your time.

10 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

A few things I can think of:  I generally try to avoid areas where a lot of static electricity is built up, like building on carpet hehe.  I periodically ground myself by touching the center screw on an outlet a few times during the build.  Some people use the ESP wrist things - where you just ground yourself constantly - that drives me nuts so I don't do that.

Yes, I remember a few years ago when you related having serious issues with static electricity “zapping” your FS computer. As I recall, it was a combination of the carpet on the floor where the computer sat, combined with the extremely dry air of a Minnesota winter.

Whenever I work on the internals of a PC, I take my shoes and socks off - (i.e. barefoot), and wear only cotton clothing - no polyester or wool. That goes a long way to prevent any static charges building up on my body that might damage anything.

21 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

I did this a few months ago...  here's my thread, you may have already seen it.  I documented a few tricky parts of the build.  You may not encounter these at all and it's likely everything will go smooth.  I often take things very slowly and overthink some things LOL!

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/615454-my-2022-build-with-pics/

A few things I can think of:  I generally try to avoid areas where a lot of static electricity is built up, like building on carpet hehe.  I periodically ground myself by touching the center screw on an outlet a few times during the build.  Some people use the ESP wrist things - where you just ground yourself constantly - that drives me nuts so I don't do that.

Set aside a nice table where you have ample space to build.  Also, someone told me to NOT set the motherboard on the ESP bag like I did in my post above...  I didn't have any ill will come from that but I'd avoid that for next time.

Don't rush the build and you may need to allocate a few hours over the course of a few days to do it.  

Read through the case and motherboard manual or look at them online.  Also, if not using a optical drive, have a usb stick prepared with network drivers especially!  Once you install those you can either use your ethernet or wifi to download the rest of your drivers.  Oh, and you might need to create a USB bootable Windows media to load Windows (I recommend 11 even though some parts of it still annoy me lol) - Win11 creation:  https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

Update the BIOS right away (usually called flashing the BIOS - instructions in your mobo manual).

Don't force anything into the mobo - it shouldn't be hard to "plug" things in - you may have to be firm with some items like RAM and ATX power cable.  And watch the polarity on the front panel headers...the tiny annoying single prong wires that connect the front/top case buttons/usb/power to your motherboard.

Most importantly, have fun!

 

Oh forgot to answer question 2:  I think the real difference is YOU decide what quality parts you're putting in your system.  Some of the pre-builts have lower grade power supplies, or crappier cases, medium-lower end mobos.

 

Thank you for the detailed post and reference, may I ask

are you happy with your build and performance?

Did you notice a difference in performance even though you didn’t change the gpu?

Thanks again 

 

I'm very satisfied with the build and performance.  SU9 dropped my fps a bit but it's still very good at mostly ultra settings, and 1440P resolution.  I did momentarily drop into the teens on approach to FlyTampa BOS in the CJ4, with heavy weather.

It was a brand new build and cost just under 2100 USD (excluding monitor and GPU).

Oh and yes - in all areas I doubled my fps, and I'm heavy scenery like big cities with photogrammetry enabled sometimes I almost tripled my fps.

Edited May 29, 20224 yr by ryanbatc

21 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

I'm very satisfied with the build and performance.  SU9 dropped my fps a bit but it's still very good at mostly ultra settings, and 1440P resolution.  I did momentarily drop into the teens on approach to FlyTampa BOS in the CJ4, with heavy weather.

It was a brand new build and cost just under 2100 USD (excluding monitor and GPU).

Oh and yes - in all areas I doubled my fps, and I'm heavy scenery like big cities with photogrammetry enabled sometimes I almost tripled my fps.

Thank you for your insight, I appreciate it!

1 hour ago, flyinpilot212121 said:

Thank you for your insight, I appreciate it!

Forgot to say I came from a 4790K at 4.4 GHz and run the 12700K at 4.7 GHz.  It could go higher.

52 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

Forgot to say I came from a 4790K at 4.4 GHz and run the 12700K at 4.7 GHz.  It could go higher.

Thank you, I have a build put together, now just need to press the dreaded buy now button lol!

9 minutes ago, flyinpilot212121 said:

Thank you, I have a build put together, now just need to press the dreaded buy now button lol!

Specs?

18 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

Specs?

Similar to what you built..

CPU: I7 12700KF

Mobo: Z690-p dr4 Mobo for an lga 1700 which by my understanding fits the cpu

Ram: 2x16gb gskill ripjaws Vseries ddr4 3600

Storage: 1TB SSD, planning to go with a pci-e 3.0 instead of 4.0 (not sure if there is a major benefit in going 4.0)

PSU: EVGA 850W, planning to go semi modular

GPU: no upgrade at the moment, will use my GTX1060 6gb card for now, I know I should upgrade this, but not sure I want to fit it in the budget at this time unfortunately.

I’m going to fit this in a new case as well, planning to go with a mid tower compatible with ATX format.

All this fits very very nicely in my planned and available budget. 

Will be coming from an I7 7700 non k model.

Computer will be used for nothing else other than flight sim, I don’t play any other games 
 

Edited May 29, 20224 yr by flyinpilot212121

On 5/28/2022 at 11:41 PM, flyinpilot212121 said:

Similar to what you built..

CPU: I7 12700KF

Mobo: Z690-p dr4 Mobo for an lga 1700 which by my understanding fits the cpu

Ram: 2x16gb gskill ripjaws Vseries ddr4 3600

Storage: 1TB SSD, planning to go with a pci-e 3.0 instead of 4.0 (not sure if there is a major benefit in going 4.0)

PSU: EVGA 850W, planning to go semi modular

GPU: no upgrade at the moment, will use my GTX1060 6gb card for now, I know I should upgrade this, but not sure I want to fit it in the budget at this time unfortunately.

I’m going to fit this in a new case as well, planning to go with a mid tower compatible with ATX format.

All this fits very very nicely in my planned and available budget. 

Will be coming from an I7 7700 non k model.

Computer will be used for nothing else other than flight sim, I don’t play any other games 
 

I may be a bit late to the party but if you are anywhere near Toronto I can help. I built a new PC 2 weeks ago

Richard 

Edited July 14, 20223 yr by RJC68

On 5/29/2022 at 4:41 AM, flyinpilot212121 said:

 

 

On 5/29/2022 at 4:41 AM, flyinpilot212121 said:

GPU: no upgrade at the moment, will use my GTX1060 6gb card for now, I know I should upgrade this, but not sure I want to fit it in the budget at this time unfortunately.

Unfortunately, this will be/is by now a very effective bottleneck.