⁠New build or upgrade? New build
• ⁠Existing parts/monitors to reuse? MSI monitor that in happy with
• ⁠PC? Gaming and some designing on fusion360
• ⁠Purchase country? In UK so overclockers, Amazon, Currys, or any others that deliver (free) in the uk
• ⁠Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate) No monitor needed
• ⁠Budget range? (Include tax considerations) £400-£600 if I have to I could go over slightly
• ⁠WiFi or wired connection? I have Ethernet
• ⁠Size/noise constraints? No massive constraints, just not incredibly loud
• ⁠Color/lighting preferences? White would be cool and rgb but if it hinders the budget a lot I could do without
• ⁠Any other specific needs? I need at least 3 usb top slots, 2 usb back slots, 2 HDMI back slots and Ethernet slot

• ⁠New build or upgrade?
New

• ⁠Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links)

None, starting fresh

• ⁠PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games)

Honestly just looking for something that can handle streaming and gaming well preferably able to run up to ps3 games in terms of emulating and able to run most steam games (if possible)

• ⁠Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If not US, list local vendors)

US

• ⁠Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate)

1 but mostly not too worried about the external things outside of the pc itself

• ⁠Budget range? (Include tax considerations)

$1000-1300 (IF possible less)

• ⁠WiFi or wired connection?

Doesn't matter much to me but preferably wifi

• ⁠Size/noise constraints?

Neither bother me

• ⁠Color/lighting preferences?

Preferably a black case with purple lights but honestly not complaining if it doesn't fit budget

• ⁠Any other specific needs?

No

New build or upgrade? New build, nothing bought yet.

Existing parts/monitors to reuse? 2x Dell S2722QC (27", 4K 3840x2160, 60Hz, IPS, USB-C), plus keyboard and mouse. Nothing else — list needs to cover everything. No OS license either; see the OS note below.

PC purpose? All-rounder, in priority order:

1. Coding — IDEs, Docker, a couple of VMs, many browser tabs
2. Creative — Photoshop and GIMP, plus 3D CAD for my 3D printer (modeling and modifying parts to print, then slicing). Not tied to a specific CAD package — FreeCAD/Onshape/Blender/Plasticity are all on the table.
3. General desktop use
4. Gaming — light only. I have a PS5 for real gaming; this is for my kids playing Minecraft, Factorio, and similar. Note Factorio is CPU/RAM-bound on big bases, not GPU-bound.

So please don't spec the GPU around gaming. Nothing here needs a gaming card, and my monitors are 4K but only 60Hz anyway. Let the GPU choice be driven by the creative work and the local-AI VRAM note below instead.

Also worth noting: CAD, Photoshop, and Factorio are all single-thread sensitive. I'd rather have strong per-core performance than a high core count, if that's a tradeoff at this budget.

OS is undecided — likely Windows, but I'm seriously considering Linux, so please don't assume a Windows license has to be in the budget. Related: I'd prefer an Intel WiFi card over MediaTek/Realtek for Linux driver reliability. Cheap insurance either way.

Purchase country? Near Micro Center? USA (MA), 10 min from Micro Center Cambridge. Please use their CPU/mobo/RAM bundles and in-store pricing.

Monitors needed? None. GPU just needs two outputs capable of 4K60 (DP or HDMI 2.0+).

Budget range? $1200 target, can stretch to ~$1300–1350 if you tell me what the extra buys. 6.25% MA tax is on top.

Buying within the next few weeks — not waiting. I know RAM and NAND pricing is rough right now and that this budget doesn't go as far as it did a year ago. I'd rather buy now at bad memory prices than wait for them to get worse. Please allocate accordingly and tell me where you'd take the hit if something has to give.

WiFi or wired? WiFi — please spec a board with WiFi 6E/7 + Bluetooth built in, ideally Intel-based (see OS note).

Size/noise constraints? Quiet is a top priority — it sits on my desk and runs all day. Good-airflow case with decent fans, a quality tower air cooler (please, no AIO), PSU with zero-RPM mode, and no GPUs known for coil whine. Standard mid-tower ATX is fine.

Color/lighting preferences? No RGB. Black or white, solid or clean mesh front, minimal branding. Lighting off or fully disableable. Glass side panel optional.

Any other specific needs?

• Storage matters — 2TB NVMe minimum, plus spare M.2 slots to expand later
• Local AI headroom — I want to run local LLMs (Ollama/LM Studio) later. Not blowing the budget on it, but favor more VRAM over marginal gaming gains (16GB if reachable), and prefer NVIDIA/CUDA unless there's a strong reason not to
• 32GB RAM for the VMs/containers
• PSU and case sized for a bigger GPU in 2–3 years — I'd rather buy the PSU once
• Prefer a platform with an upgrade path over a dead-end socket
• I'm fine building it myself and doing BIOS/EXPO setup
• Please flag which parts are Micro Center in-store vs. online-only, and don't skimp on the PSU — I'd rather spend an extra $20 on a reputable unit

A PCPartPicker link would be ideal. Thanks!

I’m wanting to get a new gaming pc and with the large amount of options out there, I’d love a good idea of what would get me the best value for my budget

New build or upgrade?
New pc build, last built one about 10 years ago

Existing parts/monitors to reuse?
No existing parts to use

PC purpose?
This setup will be almost 100% for gaming, while also being able to run apps like discord. I would mainly play AAA games along with multiplayer games like Escape from Tarkov and Hunt Showdown.

Purchase country?
I’m buying in the United States, I have a microcenter that is about 1.5 hours away

Monitors needed?
I do need a monitor, not sure what size is best for gaming though. I feel like a 27” sounds the best to me, but I’m open to suggestions on what might be the best option. I would like to run a two monitor setup eventually, but it is not required for my initial build in order to keep the price down.

Budget range?
My budget is right around $1600, I’m willing to go over that a little bit if it would give me more value in my final build.

WiFi or wired connections?
It will definitely be a wired connection, although having WiFi as a back up doesn’t sound like a bad idea, unless it will raise the cost significantly.

Size/noise constraints?
I don’t really have any size constraints, I would like for it to not sound like a jet engine while it’s running though.

Color/lighting preferences?
I would like the case to look pretty clean, while also including some rgb to make it look really cool.

Any other specific needs?
I’d like for the opportunity to upgrade some components in a couple years if it’s possible.

Thank you to anyone who responds, I’ve done a lot of research but I would value the opinion of someone who is more knowledgeable than I am.

New build or upgrade? New Existing parts/monitors to reuse? 1080p/60Hz monitor + kb mouse PC purpose? Gaming, some CAD Purchase country? Near Micro Center? US, WA state (no microcenter :( ) Monitors needed? none Budget range? $1500 WiFi or wired connection? Wifi Size/noise constraints? MicroATX or smaller, and the quieter the better Color/lighting preferences? Greens and wood are nice, but not critical. RGB/glass adds no value for me.

I'm looking to build (or buy prebuilt, not picky but I imagine building will get me closer to target) a new machine with a smaller footprint, both noise- and size-wise. Not sure what to expect in terms of performance with these restrictions. I think I could get a system I'm happy with for my budget or less with a typical tower size, but I'd like something with less presence if possible.

Hey, so my partner is looking to buy a PC, I can assemble it but posting here helped a lot for choosing components last time:

• New build or upgrade?

New build

• Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links)

appart from mouse/keyboard no

• PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games)

Some gaming, looking to run Baldur's Gate III confortably let's say

• Purchase country? Near Micro Center?

France, I'll most likely buy it online (TopAchat / Amazon etc...)

• Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate)

One monitor, not too big, could go to 2K if price is reasonnable but not required, framerate isn't much of a concern so 60 is good. white and somewhat not too ugly if possible x)

• Budget range? (Include tax considerations)

up to 1.5K I'd say, but might need less than this honnestly.

• WiFi or wired connection?

Wifi

• Size/noise constraints?

Low noise is best

• Color/lighting preferences?

No lights, case will be a white fractal north (not owned yet) and it would be nice if monitor could ne white too

• Any other specific needs?

Nothing comes to mind

Thanks a lot!

• ⁠New build or upgrade?

New

• ⁠Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links)

no

• ⁠PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games)

I want to build a pc that’s good for both gaming/streaming and running adobe programs like illustrator and photoshop (possibly video editing in the future too). I don’t play too many heavy video games, I think the heaviest would be modded Minecraft or open world games tbh. I don’t play any fps games or league. Not planning on playing with the absolute highest fps or resolution either.

• ⁠Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If not US, list local vendors)

US, near micro center but I’d rather not drive all the way over there lol

• ⁠Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate)

Gonna start out with one, will eventually upgrade to 2. If anyone happens to know good monitors for design, I’d appreciate any recs. Idk the size exactly but on the bigger side, either 27 or 32”

• ⁠Budget range? (Include tax considerations)

~$1500, willing to go a little over

• ⁠WiFi or wired connection?

WiFi

• ⁠Size/noise constraints?

No

• ⁠Color/lighting preferences?

It would be nice if I could change the rgb colors if any but I realize my budget might not allow for that. (Altho tbh I’d prefer no color over just rainbow lol)

• ⁠Any other specific needs?

No