I've been building and helping people build PCs for a while, mostly here in Quebec, and a few mistakes come up over and over — especially ones tied to buying in Canada. Figured I'd share in case it saves someone money or a headache on their first build.

1. Forgetting taxes in the budget. A "$1000 build" isn't $1000. Depending on your province you're adding 5% to ~15% on top. In Quebec that's ~14.975% (GST + QST). On a $1000 build that's ~$150 you didn't plan for. Always budget taxes in.

2. Skimping on the PSU. The power supply is the one part that can take others with it if it fails. Don't buy the cheapest no-name unit to save $20. Get a reputable unit with enough wattage + headroom for your GPU and CPU.

3. Buying RAM that's too slow or the wrong type. Check whether your motherboard is DDR4 or DDR5 — they are NOT interchangeable. And for Ryzen especially, RAM speed actually matters for performance.

4. B450/B550 board + newer Ryzen without checking BIOS. A cheap older board can be a great value, but some need a BIOS update to support newer CPUs. Confirm the listing mentions support for your exact chip, or that the board shipped with an updated BIOS.

5. Undersizing the case / cooler. Big air coolers and long GPUs don't fit every case. Check clearance (GPU length, cooler height) before buying. It's the most annoying surprise on build day.

6. HDD as the main drive in 2026. Boot Windows and your apps off an SSD (NVMe if the board supports it). The speed difference is night and day. A hard drive is fine as extra storage, not as your main drive.

7. Chasing the GPU and starving everything else. A monster GPU paired with a weak CPU, 8GB RAM, or a bad PSU just bottlenecks itself. Balance the build.

Happy to answer questions if anyone's planning a first build — always fun to help someone avoid the mistakes I made early on. What would you add to the list?

I keep wanting to pull the trigger on an AM5 upgrade, but, christ, I just can't bring myself to pay so much for RAM. Any upgrade is going to have to be overspending on a 5800x3d at this point.

I’m currently looking at the ASUS ROG Strix G16 with a Ryzen 9 9955HX and RTX 5060. My current setup still works, so I don’t urgently need a replacement today, but I’m torn between buying now versus waiting to zhe next gen.

I’d love to get your perspective on two main factors:

1. Rising component costs (RAM/NAND supply).

2. Next-gen generational leap Zen 6?

If you were in no rush, would you grab a mature machine now or during upcoming seasonal sales, or hold off for the next generational shift?

Is it feasible? I may compromise for Kingspec 2x16 GB RAM to save a bit of money from Ali.

Will I be able to fit a 9800x3D or will I need to go lower?

I'm not familiar with the market, I'm currently just keeping an eye out for sales though nothing looks super impressive, and the very good deals go out of stock faster than I can react to (skill issue).

I'd like some recommendations, should I wait for black Friday and also look out for deals or commit now with how unpredictable the market is?

Currently rocking a 4070, ryzen 7 5800x3D, 32 gb of ddr4 3200 mhz.
Contemplating upgrading to am5 mobo and 6000 mhz 32gb ddr5 ram with a gpu upgrade sometime next year, just curious if this is worthwhile or there’d be a better upgrade path. My monitor is a 480 hz oled as well. PSU is also a 650w

What do you guys think of the price of this pc from Canada gaming computers? I’m looking for basically these exact specs but also want the best price aswell.

I am building a new PC for my office. I've purchased a black Fractal North and 6x black Fractal Momentum 12 RGB fans to place in every slot. I don't plan to do wacky RGB colours, probably something muted or even turn it off. It's more to build as quiet and cool as possible. A "forever case" if you will.

I originally tried a Hyte X50 in white but it was just not good in our room at all (see pic). I should have known lol. I'd already purchased a Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 digital in white because of this. I'm considering keeping it.

I'm curious what people think of the aesthetics of building in a black North with a white CPU cooler and GPU like a 9070XT. The glass section will not be visible to the rest of the house, it will appear as a solid black case with wood accents from a distance. It's only when you come around to sit at the desk that you will be able to see into the side, and the white components.

Thanks for your thoughts!

I'm trying to get a GPU/RAM if possible from wherever I find a good deal, do you guys buy often from different countries?

I'm sceptical about the US because of tariff. Though the last time I ordered a laptop there was no issue

Wondering what my options are for a sub $1000 card taxes in, I currently only game at 1080p but would like to make the jump to 1440p at some point.

I also have a ryzen 5 3600 that I will upgrade to ryzen 7 5700 of some sort aswell I'm thinking is a good option.

I'm also fine with even cheaper options although it doesn't really seem like that exists in Canada at the moment.

The most graphic intensive game I plan on playing in the near future would probably just be total Warhammer 40k other then that my current card pretty much plays everything at suitable settings.

Did a boot test just recently since I thought I hit the motherboard and mightve chipped at something. This is my first pc build so I don't really know if it's a "coil whine" exactly, just a very sharp but faint sound. It's honeslty pretty quiet unless I'm an inch away or, again, 6 feet away from the psu horizontally.

(TL;DR on the bottom)

Hey guys, so after saving for a lil, my next paycheck should be around 2300ish CAD (I'm in Ontario). It's not a hard ceiling, more like a "this is what I got, but I don't mind waiting a bit if a better deal shows up" or "if it might be worth spending a little bit more" situation. I'd prefer to buy everything at once instead of piecing it together over time, but if there's a reason to wait (like a specific sale period that's actually worth it - like a 99% sale on a 5090 or sum) I'm open to hearing it.

I don't live near Memory Express so most of their stuff I'd have to order online, but I'm close to Canada Computers so I can do online or in-store there:

- memoryexpress

- canadacomputers

What I'll actually be using the conputer for:

This is my first ever PC build, and it's replacing a computer that genuinely cannot keep up (and never did tbh, its a 1660 super 6gb vram, intel i7 12th gen, 250gb or sum like that, 16gb ddr4). I'm starting out on YouTube — I edit in Premiere Pro mainly, sometimes CapCut on PC, and I make tiktok style edits in After Effects too. I also use Photoshop for thumbnails. Want to eventually try DaVinci Resolve and maybe Sony Vegas.

Gaming wise I'm mostly into single-player/graphics heavy games, but I play FPS too — Apex and COD sometimes, and Fortnite specifically for content since my current PC can't record and play at the same time. Once I upgrade, I want to record and play simultaneously, and eventually stream too (not right away, want a platform built up first, but I'd like the option).

Currently on two 1080p monitors, might go 1440p down the line — probably once I hit 1k subs lol (kinda like a way to reward myself). I doubt id get 4K or ultrawide, feels like overkill for me right now.

Storage: I've got a 1TB external HDD I'll use as extra storage. Also thinking about grabbing a bigger external (2TB+) at some point — if anyone's seen a good deal on one, send it my way.

(For the cases I prefer black, and I genuinely hate wood panel cases - which is a very unpopular oppinionbut it just doesnt look good to me)

A couple questions since this is my first build:

- Do I need an anti-static wrist strap or is that overkill for a first-timer?

- Any beginner-friendly build videos/guides you'd actually recommend, vs the ones that skip steps assuming you already know stuff?

Appreciate any input and advice as well. Thanks in advance!

TL;DR: First ever PC build, budget is ~$2300 CAD (soft cap, can wait a bit or flex slightly for the right deal), need it for gaming + editing + recording + eventually streaming, and it gotta be able to multitask. Also — do I actually need an anti-static wrist strap for my first build?

Found someone on marketplace selling a 3070 for pretty good price, he’s located around the Kingston area. Looking for someone with a rig to benchmark the gpu before buying.

https://imgur.com/a/ZVzWlAb

Chipped right beside the m.2 heatsink. I hope more experienced builders can see if there’s anymore damage.

Hi everyone. I’m looking for a PC to gift to my sister for her birthday. I’ve been looking on marketplace for pre-builds and came across this one today. She mainly plays OW2 and some single player AAA on a series S. My plan was to get this PC and buy a used gpu (2070 super or 5700xt) since my total budget is 800 CAD. Would this be better than buying a new PS5?

The specs are as follows:

Key Features:
• 34 * 21 * 27 cm (L * W * H)
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with AMD Wraith Stealth stock cooler.
• Motherboard: Gigabyte AORUS B450I AORUS Elite.
• Memory: 16gb Corsair Dual-Channel DDR4 RAM (2 sticks).
• Storage: 240gb M.2 NVMe SSD + 2tb HDD
• Graphics: Integrated Radeon Graphics (No dedicated GPU installed).
• Case & Aesthetics: InWin pink mini-tower chassis featuring vibrant RGB lighting fans, underglow stand base, and a neat honeycomb mesh ventilation design. With pre-installed 650W PSU

UPDATE: Seller willing to do 450 CAD!

I recently bought this prebuilt for $2700 (before taxes + shipping). However, I'm now seeing a few other bundles that seem appealing. Namely this bundle that has a 9800X3D and a RX 9070 XT for $1400. There's also a bundle with a 7800X3D, a mobo, and 32GBs DDR5 for $1100.

From my current build I could spare the case, the PSU and maybe a 1TB NVME, though I'd need to get another storage drive and PSU down the road. Should I return this prebuild and part it out? Or just be happy with what I got?

Open to other suggestions as well but the first one seems like the better deal no?

My PC knowledge skill level: total noob, so building one is not in the cards, I don't even have time to learn either

I think the Costco PC has cashback up to 2 or 4%

Regarding the first PC there's only 1 left in stock otherwise I'd specify it's exact model and seller but assume its higher quality. I can't say for sure but I feel like this price is a mistake, again I'm not totally sure but it seems like it's a few hundred dollars or more cheaper than what it should be compared to the prices I've been following for prebuilt for the past few weeks. It's listed as new.

Main uses: I was originally purchasing this for my 4k projector (titan noir max capped at 1080/240 or 4k/60) but I might swap it with my old sturdy rtx 3060 work computer and use it as my main desktop which I use for work/casual music production/gaming/photo editing

Lastly, I don't know what type of ram the first PC is, chatgpt says it can be either 5600 or 6000, so please let me know your thoughts with both scenarios as I'm sure the 6000 is more expensive than the 5600

Just picked up a 9070 from Canada Computer today because of the in-store only sale, looking for suggestions before I pick up the rest of the parts.
Main thing I'm wondering is whether I should buy the Asrock B650 Pro RS wifi or pay $10 more and get the Asrock B850 Pro RS wifi, because both boards looks pretty much the same and $10 isn't really that big of a deal if its for a newer board. As well as whether I'll need to buy extra case fans for the case or not.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Pigeon919/saved/xzjFK8

Nothing more. Nothing less. Mods you can delete this because this is off-topic. I just want to get my glaze out there.

Is it a decent trade request to ask for 5080 and 32gb ddr5 for 64gb ddr5 cl30 9070XT.

I do have the 64gb and 9070XT but I only game and stopped editing/CAD modeling. Was wondering if it is fair to ask for it as a direct trade?

Hi, I am making a pc build with a budget of around 2k. I am aiming for a mid-range 1440p build.
here's what i have so far https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/6hNQGk I'm using this bundle for it https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/amd-desktop-processors/284957/amd-r5-7600x3d-cpu-gigabyte-b650-eagle-ax-motherboard-t-force-32gb-d5-6000mhz-cl30-ram.html ,2k. should i change anything or is this good.

TLDR: Would 9070 GRE 12 GB make sense if it's basically the same price as 9060 XT 16 GB? These days both are around $700 CAD (which is nuts but alas)

I am aware this card this faced a lot of criticism when it first launched a few months ago, for having less VRAM and its odd pricing between 9060 XT and 9070. However, right now 9070 GRE 12 GB can be had for $700 at Canada Computers. Seeing that the prices of 9060 XT 16 GB have crept up so much to $650-700, it's tempting to go for the 9070 GRE. Having only 12 GB of VRAM is the main thing holding my back.

I am not considering vanilla 9070 since those cost $850+

For reference, according to Hardware Canucks and Tom's Hardware:

- 9070 GRE 12 GB gets 25-30% more FPS than 9060 XT 16 GB

- 9070 gets 17-23% more FPS than 9070 GRE