Please help TDG with building a new PC

The Dutch Ghost

Grouchy old man of NMA
Moderator
Dammit I have been postponing this message longer than I had intended but for these last two weeks I have been looking for someone who could help me with building a new PC, or in particular help me decide on what the best specifications/configuration for one would be.

I have been saving up for a PC in these last couple of years to replace my relic from 2009 (though in the following years it did get a faster video card).
I actually had intended to buy one last year but for reasons that are not even clear to myself anymore I postponed it.

So instead I had wanted to get a new PC this year and I had asked a friend of mine to help me with choosing components as I'm sadly rather ignorant when it comes to computer hardware.
Based on my budget and what I intend to use if for my friend made up a nice setup.

I contacted the helpdesk/store whom I want to build my PC for me and send them the list with specifications.
Unfortunately the damn virus crisis hit and as a result some components would be unavailable until further notice.

The store owner now has send me a list with alternative specifications but I as I know very little on this subject I don't know if it is as good.
I might as well start over completely with a new setup.

Are there any people here on the forum who would be willing to help me out on this matter?
I have a budget of around 1800 Euro available for this.

Other than a new computer itself I will also be needing a new monitor (currently using an old second hand one after my monitor of 2009 fizzled out), keyboard, and mouse. Speakers and such as still fine.
I might in the future also add a printer and drawing tablet but that is for another time.

I am looking to having something build that I can use for at least two or three years.

I may also consider having dual boot options on it, having both Windows 10 but also Windows 7 as some software doesn't want to run any more on the latest Windows.

Hope to hear from people
 
My advice would be to first read some recent PC building guides (https://googlethatforyou.com?q=pc building guide 2020). Sure you may have have built a PC in 2009, but some of the details for the connections and what is considered low-end, medium, and high-end may have changed even in just a few years. Even if you are planning on having a business build it for you, sometimes these building guides can help you figure out the trade-offs.

Decide what features you want, and what features you can't live without. If you are doing high-end gaming or streaming, then you may be trying to maximize your frames per second while matching it with a monitor that has an appropriate refresh rate. If you are ripping blu-rays or need a color-accurate monitor, then that might change your needs.

When I deciding on my current setup about two years ago, I spent a lot of time reading over comparisons (use CPU Benchmark and Videocard Benchmark), checking on what regular retailers were selling (Dell, Best Buy, Costco, Walmart, and custom PC builders - see this list) AND for how much, and then using PC Parts Picker to price out a build (this site ensures compatibilities between parts and has links to sites that sell those parts).

In the end, it seemed like a $200 discount on a $1,000 PC to build it myself, so that's what I did. It took about a month for all of the parts to arrive once they were ordered. My wife and I spent about 8 hours total getting it working (and while we are both technically minded, neither of us had extensive experience building PCs). Between the parts' installation guides, YouTube tutorials, and reasoning through things we were able to get it all working (with only a few issues temporarily stumping us).

I hope this helps.
 
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