Four PC builds for spring 2023 from the system guide

A strange moment to construct a Computer. That’s partially because fewer people are doing so; industry-wide sales of parts and prebuilt PCs are down as consumers continue to make due with the items they purchased before the epidemic began. Moreover, GPU costs remain historically high despite being more “normal” than they have been over the last two years.

That said, it is still not a bad time to construct a Computer. You can purchase a lot of CPU power for not a lot of money (especially if what you’re used to is an older quad-core processor you picked up five or six years ago), and storage and memory are often inexpensive. Since our last system guide update in July, AMD and Intel have both released new CPUs, and after years of delays and false starts, Intel has finally entered the GPU market.

A word about component choice

Making a Computer appear the way you want is entertaining in and of itself when building one. We’ve chosen cases we believe will be good artistic fits for each system, as well as cases that will physically accommodate the motherboards and other parts we’re recommending. Yet, there are a lot other situations out there, so our choices won’t be your only one.

We’ve had good luck with EVGA power supply in our projects and builds we’ve put together for friends or acquaintances, therefore we’re recommending largely EVGA units with some type of 80 Plus efficiency certification. Nonetheless, if you have a favourite brand, by all means stick to it. The same is true for RAM; while we provide sizes, speeds, and brands of kits that have previously satisfied us, it doesn’t always follow that they are superior to the many other RAM kits with comparable specifications.

Finally, we will not factor the price of a Windows license into our cost projections. Windows can be purchased for many various costs, ranging from $15 to $40 for a product key from shady gray market product key resale sites to $139 for an official retail license from Microsoft or $120 for a “OEM”license for system manufacturers. As Microsoft never prohibited that option beyond Windows 10’s free upgrade time, you might be able to install and activate Windows 10 or 11 if you have a product key for Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7. Linux could even be set up! We’ll let you and your deity decide on this.

Also, we haven’t factored in the majority of peripherals like webcams, monitors, keyboards, or mice because we believe the majority of consumers will utilize what they already own or purchase those parts separately. You may even create your own DIY keyboard if you’re feeling particularly daring! The thorough and instructive Wirecutter keyboard instructions by Kimber Streams are available if you require more help.