I'm thinking of building a PC - any advice?

Some build advice:

• Be safe - don't wear socks, stand on a hard floor if possible, ground yourself if you have a wrist strap for that, and discharge any static by touching metal and/or the case before touching any components. And no matter what, DO NOT open the power supply, and definitely don't touch anything in it!
• The huge motherboard connector probably requires more force than comfortable.
• Watch through at least one build guide before starting. That way you know the process.

Hope that helps, and don't let it scare you away - it's really fun to do and if you're careful, chances are nothing major will go wrong.

cpu wise both amd and intel are decent.

gpu wise stick with amd.

I've used Logical Increments in the past and found it very useful to meet a budget. Now I aim for "price to performance" sweet spots (since GPU prices have been crazy I'm now well overdue for a new GPU).

Both CPU manufactures are changing their naming schemes (to make it difficult to know what it is, I wish this was hyperbole). GPU manufactures also make some weird choice on naming GPUs (same-name GPU with different VRAM). Reading/watching reviews of specific parts will likely be the best way to know what you aught to buy.

If you're confident in your technical knowledge or want to then narrow down your choices then I would recommend watching videos from:

• (GPU, CPU, Case) Gamers Nexus
• (GPU, CPU, Case, Monitor) Hardware Unboxed and Monitors Unboxed.

For a casual overview of CPUs/GPUs video review I'd recommend something like Linus Tech Tips (even with the prior controversy).

You only mention your laptop is running out of space so you need to get a new computer? does your laptop have a soldered SSD? If that's not the case, I think the reflex should first be to see what storage you can get your laptop so that you can keep using it rather than discarding it :(

The latest beginner guide from LTT is really good. So good that I was somewhat baffled. Whoever did the script for that episode deserves a raise. It is information packed but beginner friendly and has plenty of infographic detailing stuff.

I built my current PC using one of those PCPartPicker guides, and I'm very happy with it.

The only issue I had was the video driver. I use the Linux Mint Long Term Support version, and the kernel didn't have a recent enough driver for my card. I just needed to switch to the latest kernel and it was good to go. I actually had no idea how to troubleshoot it, and went to the LM forum to ask for help. I was reading through the guide on what info to supply with help requests and realised that the example fault and solution were the exact ones I was facing!

I've noticed that when I am specking out a new computer I typically fall into the trap of wanting the absolute best computer I can get for the money.

I've always been on the cheaper side, so I have found myself spending days or weeks researching various parts at various quality levels at various prices.

It becomes a huge drag.

Set the budget that you're comfortable with, find the motherboard that has the features that you want, then get a CPU that fits in that price range, a case that fits your use cases, and then if you're going to splurge on anything splurge on the power supply as a good power supply can last you through multiple computers.

If you have to save money somewhere, save money on RAM as you can always order more or upgrade the rim that you have relatively inexpensively. Maybe if you're going intel, purchase an i5 CPU and then consider upgrading if you max out its abilities or you find yourself frequently running at 100% utilization.

And don't overlook pre-builts. There are lots of refurbished computers that you can purchase for far less than the cost of the individual parts that have all of the minimum specs that you want in exchange for little things like only having a single stick of ram or having a low quality SSD.

There's nothing that stops you from upgrading later should your use case change.

My first question is about your laptop; is the SSD removable, because if so, even a pretty large SSD is cheap these days.

Also, the GPU question is complicated. For most use cases, AMD is better on Linux. However, since you’re doing Resolve and Blender, that gets a bit murky. It depends on if ROCm support is less dismal on later AMD cards - I have an RX 580, which AMD quickly dropped support for and I am bitter about.

This is not to say I like NVidia, but for fast video encoding and rendering, as far as I know, it’s the easier option. Someone correct me if I am wrong, please.

As for actually building the thing, you’d start by look for what CPU you want, then find a compatible motherboard, then read the board’s compatibility list for RAM. They usually have compatibility lists for storage - those don’t matter, as it’s pretty universal. Then choose a graphics card, a case with the right form factor, a PSU, and a cooler. I tend to go with liquid cooling, as it’s not that expensive anymore.

Like others have said, check kernel support for your hardware, but also, it’s generally much easier on desktop. The main things to look out for are ethernet and WiFi controllers. By the way, what distro do you prefer, because that’s definitely a factor.

GPU go with AMD, I don't think I need to give much explanations here.

CPU you can do either, BUT AMD is usually better for multi-threaded applications (like video editing, modeling or animation), also an AM5 slot should last you years to come, AMD stayed with AM4 for a long time (I had most of the same PC for almost a decade thanks to that, it's still the same AM4, but I had to replace the MOBO since the old one broke). So I would also choose AMD here, although Intel is not bad either, and if you get it in a sale it might come out cheaper.

pcpartpicker.com is a good place to start and can help you know if specific parts are compatible but it's just a place to start and is often still missing important info.

So you still need to do due diligence and do things like check measurements to make sure, for example, your video card will actually fit inside your case, etc.

Also, since its your first time, you want to avoid any motherboards that require you to do a BIOS update to handle a newer processor, because that's just complicated stuff that you're going to want to skip as a beginner.

It's more expensive but go for a newer motherboard that is compatible with your processor out-of-the-box. BIOS updates are a pain and scary even for advanced users.

For DaVinci Resolve, you will need an nvidia gpu, even their amd support is half-ar3ed, and intel doesn't work at all (they don't support it under linux, while they do on windows). So you need to decide if you're going to use resolve, or kdenlive (that works with everything, since it's not really accelerated -- it's slower (their acceleration is buggy)). However, if you're going with nvidia, you will probably experience problems on the everyday desktop. So I'd suggest an amd gpu and cpu possibly.

Alternatively, just get a refurbished Dell laptop, or an older Zenbook. These usually work great with Linux.

Don't go with Intel. Anyone recommending intel should be ashamed and should have kept up with the tech news about Intel's CPUs basically burning up and Intel ignoring the issue, including all the warranty claims. NO INTEL. AMD Cpu and Gpu, because AMD develops more for Linux than Nvidia does. But you could still go for Nvidia (if you want raytracing on in games).

ebay, ebay, ebay (and also pcpartpicker).

Unless you want to frag people at 4k@140Hz in the latest AAA game, you probably don't need the latest generation components (and I'd say your requirement are quite low here, consider how the only thing you complain about is storage space).

Unless you really want to assemble everything by yourself, consider buying one of the second-hand, previous-gen gaming rigs on ebay (but watch out for scams!). Even if you do want to assemble the PC yourself, consider buying used parts on ebay (or buying a full PC to cannibalize reselling the excess).

What are the specs of your current rig? Except for storage, are you satisfied with how it runs? How much storage do you need for the projects you are working on? How much to archive things? Do you want to do anything about backups? Is a full size tower ok? How good a video do you want? What is your budget?

you are getting advice that will make a good gaming pc but not a good workstation for what you said you're gonna do.

do the opposite of what most everyone in this thread is saying:

intel over amd (this could actually go either way depending on the price point), nvidia over amd, start at 32gb of ram and go up from there. prioritize cores over threads, sneak a rotational hard disk in, spend more on your power supply than you planned to.

plan on not using wayland.

Do it

Older generation hardware usually has better support on Linux. So don’t buy the lastest chipsets. Otherwise you might have to live with an unstable driver and compiling your own kernel for up to a year.

I'd avoid a 13th or 14th gen Intel processor right now because they've had a lot of problems with their manufacturing process. Otherwise, there's not really much difference between AMD and Intel in terms of like, OS compatibility or anything.

I've done some basic work with Davinci Resolve on linux and I haven't really had any issues with my Radeon 7800XT. I can't really speak for using the proprietary drivers for AMD, but with the open source drivers, as long as you install rocm-opencl through your package manager, Davinci Resolve should be fine. Overall, I'd recommend an AMD GPU. Edit: You mentioned blender in a comment. For AMD's open source drivers you'd need to install rocm-hip for Cycles to work

Edit 2: I hadn't tried blender in a bit and I realized apparently at least on Fedora 40, you also need rocm-hip-devel at least as of 09/24/24 for supported AMD GPUs to show up in Blender. Idk how that would translate to other distros

PC Part Picker is good cuz when you start a new build, you start with the CPU and then it'll only show you parts compatible with that CPU. As someone else mentioned tho, its not perfect and you still may want to check clearances between parts, like that your CPU cooler isnt too tall for your case, or that your Power Supply isnt too long (been there, lmao)

From my own personal experience with buying brand new RAM and it being bad a few times, I'd probably run memtest86+ for a few hours once the computer is together to make sure that the RAM actually works. You can download the linux ISO w/ GRUB option and make a bootable flash drive out of that and let it run. Afterwards, I usually install my OS. Might save you a few headaches down the road if you get into your new OS and things behave strangely, but its up to you.

Other than that, the setup shouldn't be too hard.

Blender and DaVinci Resolve work better on Nvidia. AMD might work, but it will be a hassle and you'll likely need the proprietary AMD drivers anyway.

With Nvidia supporting Wayland and the open-source NVK continuing to get better, you could even switch to open source drivers for gaming at some point, if you prefer.

Edit: I've had enough issues with AMD GPU's clocking down while gaming, leading to micro stuttering. So don't buy AMD just because everyone tells you they work flawlessly.

For CPU and mainboard, everything works well — just don't buy a random unknown SSD from Amazon, then you're asking for data loss and random issues.

If you're using davinci resolve then you'll need an Nvidia GPU for nvenc to work. Otherwise, I'd say go all AMD like I did with my current and first PC, too. Fuck Nvidia even though a lot of people say it's better now, but I have Nvidia PTSD and will never buy their shit. I have a Ryzen 7 5700G that comes with a built in GPU and a friend of mine gave me an old ass RX580 GPU that has been doing just fine for two 4k monitors. If you can give up davinci resolve or work with it halfassed, then all AMD is amazing. It's basically plug N play.

As you have in your post, Logical Increments is a good place to start.

As others have said, AMD is your best bet currently, mostly because of raw performance compared to recent Intel offerings. If you have no limited budget or power requirements, here are my recommendations:

If you have the paid version of Davinci Resolve, AMD does not have the best selection of hardware encode/decode options, but people have reported that Intel Arc GPUs work, so I would get and Intel A310 as a secondary GPU if that is something that you need.

If you want the best of the best GPU, without going Nvidia, the AMD RX 7900XTX is it. Also, AMD has stated publicly that they are moving away from high-end GPUs, so there probably won't be a better one coming out anytime soon.

If you want to plan for more gaming than you stated in your post, the Ryzen 7800X3D is the best gaming CPU on the market, so I would get that. If you plan to focus on video editing, the 9950X is the best, but probably not worth the cost compared to cheaper 9000 or 7000 chips.

If you go with a Ryzen 7000 or 9000 CPU, get DDR5-6000 CL30 memory.

If you're getting an air cooler for your CPU, don't pay more than $50. There are a ton of great, cheap options these days.

Get either the new Antec Flux Pro case (when it's available, probably this month) or the Fractal Torrent if you care about best thermals and quiet operation. Everything else is a compromise.

If you need HDMI 2.1, you'll need a DP -> HDMI adapter on an AMD GPU because of a licensing squabble.

Those are things I could think of off the top of my head. I don't think I missed anything big.

• Stay clear from nvidia. AMD if you buy a graphics card, if you just use integrated graphics both AMD and Intel are fine
• When picking a motherboard, look what wifi chipset is used and check Linux compatibility. Some wifi chipsets require to manually install drivers, and some just don't work at all

Get a old workstation class machine

It is way more fun

Not sure if this would help, but I found this channel helpful for understanding the basics and mostly avoiding wrong parts. Also he has some videos were he explains why you should choose one part over another.

Scatter volt channel

Go AM5. The 7600x3d is 300 bucks and nice

Here's a video with some good builds at different price points. That should be a decent starting point.

https://youtu.be/8tUM-miOzBA?si=BNjOJeY3Qi_HbdyV