I'm looking to buy a new desktop for work and gaming, but I'm not sure where to begin or what current parts cost. I'd like plenty of storage and strong graphics performance, and I'm open to buying the components and building it myself. RAM prices seem to have increased recently, so I'm unsure what kind of budget makes sense. I don't want an unnecessarily expensive build costing thousands of dollars, but I'm willing to spend well for quality rather than cut corners. What information should I figure out first, and what budget range would be reasonable?
1 Answer
The first things you need to provide are your country or region, your approximate budget, the kinds of work you do, the games and resolution you want to play at, and whether you need peripherals or an operating system included. Without those details, it’s impossible to recommend specific parts. A good starting point is to decide on a maximum budget rather than simply saying you’re willing to spend a lot; that will help balance the graphics card, processor, memory, and storage without overspending.

That makes sense. I don’t have a firm budget yet, but I’d like to avoid anything around $7,000 while still getting a high-quality build. I’m willing to pay a fairly large amount if the parts are worth it.