The TBG DIY PC Build Guides

The Builds

DIY PC Builder's Update, August 3, 2020

Welcome to TBG's DIY PC Build Guides! This is where you'll find all the best PC builds on the 'net, from ultra-compact home office PCs to massive gaming towers. In total, we offer up 24 distinct DIY PC Build guides, updated with the latest and greatest components. And while we know our readers stumble upon a lot of other sites during their research, what we do is completely different: we professionally curate every build based on relationships we have with dozens of manufacturers and our constant testing of the latest products. That means our PC Builds are the most up-to-date builds you'll find anywhere.

The latest news in terms of product availability is both good and bad. We've finally seen decent supply of Intel's latest CPUs arrive over at Newegg, so that's where we are recommending enthusiasts get Core i3, i5, and i7 processors. Alas, the Core i9-10900K 10-core was paper launched, and we don't expect it to ever be stocked in legitimate quantities, as Intel likely can't actually manufacture it as specified. Rumor has it that new lower-clocked 10-core models are going to hit the market soon, but honestly, we're not going to recommend them to anyone. They aren't better for gaming, and they are way behind AMD in terms of productivity. The Intel CPUs we like best are the Core i7-10700K, which is last-gen's 9900K in disguise (at a much lower price!), and the mid-range Core i5-10400, which is a serious rival to our favorite CPU ever, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600! Right now, our builds are about evenly split between AMD- and Intel-based models, which goes to show how great this competition is for consumers. There really are good choices from both teams!

Now for the bad news: the Covid-19 pandemic is still putting pressure on the stock of power supplies, which continue to be hard to find depending on the day. The other odd stocking problem comes from Nvidia, and it's most definitely a self-inflicted wound: it has decided to EOL its range-topping RTX 2080 Ti months in advance of the release of the new Ampere-based models coming in September or October. Nvidia is losing out on a lot of top-end GPU sales right now, but will surely make up for it when the most expensive consumer GPU ever hits the market in the Fall! Luckily, as of our latest update, there are still a few remaining 2080 Super models available direct from EVGA, which also offers its awesome 90-day Step-Up program to trade in these cards when Ampere arrives!

The SFF Builds

Note that many of the PC builds we profile are Small Form Factor models, and while they are all listed below, you can learn more about SFF PCs by jumping over to our monthly guide to the Small Form Factor PC Market. Another quick note for long-time readers of TBG: all of our editorial content going forward will be available exclusively on our YouTube channel. That's also where you can get your PC assembly questions answered. We've rolled out videos for many of our builds at this point, as you'll see in each guide, but you can post any question in our channel trailer here and we'll answer it! And don't forget to subscribe while you're there to make sure you don't miss out! Moving forward, only our very popular build guides will continue to get the "written" treatment, and if you appreciate the work we do on these, don't forget to use our Amazon links to support continued publication of these guides.

Using the TBG PC Build Guides

Whether it's your first, tenth, or hundredth time building a PC, these guides will set you up with the best components you can buy. Our build guides fall into five price ranges:

  • The Low-Cost Builds ($500-$750): if this is your first build, or you have modest needs, these systems will be ideal for home office, home theater, or gaming.
  • The Mid-Range Builds ($1,000-$1,250): you want a PC that will be faster and quieter than just about any off-the-shelf system, but you still want it to be easy to build.
  • The High-End Builds ($1,500-$2,000): you're looking for serious gaming chops, or a very powerful office PC.
  • The Ultra-High-End Builds ($2,500-$5,000): you're looking for cutting-edge technology and extreme gaming performance.
  • The Supreme Dream Machine (~$10,000): you have a truly unlimited budget, or you just want to know what you could buy if you did!

To find the right PC for you, feel free to browse all of the options below, or alternatively choose specific criteria from our filter browser below, which will display just the builds that meet your needs. You can then click on the "View Specs" button to see a quick view of prices, parts, and dimensions, or click the "View Guide" button to jump straight to the full Build Guide for that build. Happy hunting, and good luck with whichever build you choose!

We'd like to express special thanks to SilverStone Technology Co., which sponsors the TBG PC Build Guides. Founded in 2003, SilverStone has made major contributions to PC case design, small form factor PC development, and power supply innovation!

 

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