Assembling a new PC can turn into a real challenge. If we want to achieve a well-balanced and finely tuned configuration we will have to carefully select the components according to our needs, our budget and also the market conditions at any given time.
Each component we choose will affect to a greater or lesser extent. the performance of other components, and will establish a relationship of dependency that must always be taken into account to avoid serious errors. For example, a high-end graphics card will need to be accompanied by a more powerful processor than a mid-range one, and a gaming PC will need less RAM than one focused on photo and video editing.
Balance is important, but at the same time it can sometimes be beneficial to introduce certain imbalances to prioritize components, because these will have a greater impact on the performance of our PC with certain applications. However, these imbalances must always be within reason, i.e., we can not fall into nonsense such as assembling, for example, a PC with a GeForce RTX 4090 and an Intel Pentium G.
Assembling a good PC is not easy, that’s for sure, but the enormous amount of information that exists today has had, strangely enough, a negative effect in this sense, because it has given rise to the emergence of many myths. which have only increased the number of mistakes that many users end up making when they decide to assemble their new equipment.
Most of these myths will lead you to make mistakes that will can cost you a lot of money. After publishing the guide dedicated to the assembly of my new PC I reconsidered this topic, and today I have decided to share with you a new guide in which I will explain the five most important mistakes we can make in this regard.
Five mistakes that will make you waste money when assembling your new PC
1.-Oversizing components too much
It is the mistake par excellence today. We tend to think that it is always better to spend more to buy something superior to what we had initially planned, but in reality the opposite is true, because there are components that when we oversize them in excess we will never really take advantage of themand in the end we will have made an investment that will not be profitable.
It goes without saying that this error is very broad and affects a large number of componentsbut it is not difficult to understand, and I am going to give you the most common examples so that you have a concrete script to serve as a reference and help you to solve any doubt:
- Buying a processor with more cores than you need. For example, if we are going to build a PC focused on games, it does not make sense to build a CPU with more than six cores and twelve threads.
- Choosing a power supply that far exceeds the needs of the equipment.. This may make sense for specific high-end models with 80 Plus Platinum or Titanium certifications that offer higher efficiency when operating at an average load of 50% or 60%, but not for lower models.
- Buying more RAM than we need. For example, for a gaming PC we will have enough with 16 GB configured in dual channel.
- Acquire very fast RAM with extremely tight latencies. This type of memory offers higher performance, but the difference it makes in most cases is minimal, yet it comes at a very high price, making it not worth the investment.
- A graphics card that is too powerful for the resolution we are going to play at.. So, for example, it would make no sense to buy a GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, a Radeon RX 7900 XTX or a GeForce RTX 4090 for 1080p gaming.
- Purchase a high-end motherboard with features and performance. that we don’t really need, and that we will never get to use.
- Buy cooling systems that far exceed the requirements. of the configuration we are going to use. I leave you another example, an Intel Core i5-12400F does not need an all-in-one liquid cooling kit with a 360mm radiator.
You may be wondering if it is never worth investing a little more in upgrading some components of your computer, but this question is different, because we’re talking about over-sizingand not about investing a little more. Yes there are cases where investing a little more in one or several components in particular may be a good idea, such as buying a 6-core 12-thread CPU instead of a 4-core 8-thread CPU to build a gaming PC, or buying a GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER instead of a 16GB GeForce RTX 4060 Ti to play at 1440p.
2.-Confusing performance with aesthetics.
Another important mistake that can cost us a lot of money, because aesthetics does not always go hand in hand with a good level of performance. Many manufacturers take advantage of this to launch components with high quality finishes, unique designs and a lot of RGB LED lighting that have a much higher price than other simpler components, yet offer virtually the same level of performance, or are only marginally more powerful.
Don’t fall for this trick, in the end aesthetics is one thing and performance is another. If you want to spend money on improving the aesthetics of your PC you have the right to do so, but be clear that the RGB LED lighting and all the paraphernalia that come with some components will in no way affect its performance.
I can give you many examples, but one that has come directly to mind are. SSDs with RGB LED lighting that arrived on the market some time ago, and also graphics cards with LCD displays and four-slot cooling systems accompanied by RGB LED lighting everywhere. These components typically perform no better than other models with similar specifications but much simpler designs.
PC aesthetics come at a cost, we all know that, but this is not what I am explaining to you at this point. I just want to make it clear that a component more “beautiful” than another is not going to be better or to perform much better just because it has a much more careful aesthetics. If you still want to pay more to enjoy that aesthetics perfect, but at least make the mistake with full knowledge of the facts.
3.-Choose the components thinking in the long term.
This point is closely related to that of oversizing the components, but has an important difference, and that is that in this case we do it being aware that right now we are not going to take advantage of the components.but in spite of it we incur in the extra expense that this represents thinking that we will take advantage of them in the future, and that thanks to them the PC is going to last us more time.
Over the years there have been cases in which this made some sense.. For example, those who mounted at the time a Core 2 Quad instead of a Core 2 Duo found themselves with longer lifetimes and enjoyed superior gaming performance, something that was especially evident when the transition in gaming to 2-core, 4-threaded configurations began.
Today, however, this approach has become almost meaningless. for four main reasons which need to be analyzed individually:
- The price of components drops sharply with the arrival of each new generation, which makes the investment we have made devalue very quickly.
- That rapid devaluation may cause the components we have chosen to lose almost all their value before we even get to take advantage of them.
- With each new generation, new components arrive on the market that can outperform the ones we have at a lower price point.
- Components that are maintained for several years tend to lose support, are not compatible with new technologies and in the end their actual lifetime is less than what we had imagined.
Ideally, components should be acquired with a long-term view but being reasonableand tuning carefully so that we don’t have to upgrade in a few months or a year, without obsessing about building a PC to last eight, nine or even ten years.
Let me give you an example, if we are going to play in 1080p and we mount a GeForce RTX 4090 thinking that with it we will be enough to play in the next 10 years we will be making a very serious mistake, because in those 10 years that graphics card will have been surpassed by between four and five generations of graphics, and will be far behind even the economic mid-range of the moment.
Continuing with the previous example, it would be better to opt for. for a mid-range model such as the GeForce RTX 4060, and in three or four years upgrade to the mid-range of the moment. In this case we would have invested only about 650 euros in eight years and we will have access to the new technologies that are coming to the industry, while in the previous case we would have invested only about 650 euros in eight years and we will have access to the new technologies that are coming to the industry, while in the previous case we would have invested only about 650 euros in eight years and we will have access to the new technologies that are coming to the industry.We would have spent almost 2,000 euros on a graphics card, and in the end we would be left without these new functions and we would no longer receive improvements and optimizations at driver level.
4.-Assimilate gaming with power and good performance.
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people tell me things like “I bought the gaming version” of such and such a component, and they do so assuming that by carrying the “gaming” label they offer good performance and are a wise purchase. Nothing could be further from the truth, I have seen graphics cards that could not even run a 3D minesweeper with the gaming label on the box.so no, this is not a guarantee of anything, it’s just a gimmick.
The word gaming has become a very burnt claim that curiously still remains very effective, and we must learn that a component that brings that label does not necessarily have to be able to offer a really good gaming experience, in fact it can be quite the opposite. To find out if a component offers good performance it is best to look for reviews from specialized and trusted media, no more.
It is important that they are trustworthy media because nowadays it is very easy to say that something has been thoroughly analyzed and that it is a good product when it has not been done. There are also cases of analysis that are not well focused because they do not take into account the reality of the market or of the range in which a component is included, or because it is simply because it is of a specific brand that it comes into play. media bias.
I give you an example, the Radeon RX 7600 XT that AMD recently launched is not a bad product in itself, but if we take into account its performance, its price and what we can find in the market within its range there are more interesting options for a little more money, like the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, for example. Not saying this in a review of this graphics card is bad for the reader.
5.-Avoid cheap graphics cards with reference designs.
A mistake that derives in part from point number two, and that is that it is also easy to think that reference designs of graphics cards and cheaper, more modest models are not worth it, that it is essential to spend more money on the top of the range models. It is true that some time ago there were many cases where this was indeed true.but today the reference models offer excellent value.
The performance difference between a high-end graphics card with premium design and build quality can be, vs. the reference model, of between 1% and 3% at best, and because the former usually comes with an overclock. If in return we have paid 100, 200 or even 300 euros more for it is clear that from a performance perspective that investment will not have compensated us.
If you are concerned about aesthetics and build quality you have as an alternative. the reference models from AMD and the Founders Edition from NVIDIAwhich usually take great care in both aspects and have a similar or identical price to the entry-level models of the main assemblers. However, keep in mind that their stock is usually limited, and sometimes it is not easy to find available units.
This is not to say that graphics cards with premium designs are not worth it. In the end they have an aesthetic that adds image value to any PCand often have more powerful and quieter cooling systems, which can result in lower temperatures. All this means that offer differential value compared to cheaper designs, but we should not make the mistake of thinking that they are much more powerful than those, or rejecting these more affordable versions out of hand, thinking that they are not worth it.
