Planning Your PC Build Budget

Now you have some idea of all the major hardware components that make up a new PC build, and you’ve identified exactly the type of user you are. Before we move on to actually choosing those components, you need to set your build budget.

It’s possible to build different computers for different users with a wide range of budgets. You can put together a gaming PC for $500 or $5000. The performance of the $5000 machine will obviously beat the $500 one. So because there’s such a diversity of components available, it’s a good idea to plan a build from your available budget.

Come up with your headline figure. Exactly how much do you have available and want to spend?

Here are a few things to think about when you’re outlining your budget figure.

Future Proofing and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The more you spend, the better performance you’ll get. That will soon become obvious when you choose components. But what people rarely think about is that purchasing a better performing machine at the outset will mean less of a need for upgrades in the future. This can mean a lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) in the long run.

I’ve happily maintained and used desktop PCs with 10-year-old processors and motherboards that still had great performance levels and could happily do everything their users asked of them. All those PCs needed to keep their speeds comparable to current generations were incremental upgrades to certain components as they became available. Things like the internal storage and GPU were all that needed to change. A good CPU / Memory and Motherboard combination can last for years and years.

As we go through later articles in this series and cover how to pick each type of component, we’ll cover the recent changes to the market and how quickly you can expect these technologies to become obsolete and need an upgrade. That should give you some good ideas on where you should spend any extra budget you can find.

Resale Values

More highly priced computer parts will last longer and should you want to upgrade and sell those parts or even your whole build in the future. Budget and cheap components will have some resale value, but often this will be very little in comparison as they’ll reach obsolescence sooner.

When I say ‘last longer’, that means several things.

Let’s consider components that comprise other components, such as power supplies, motherboards and GPUs. More highly priced versions will usually be of a better build quality that will ultimately last longer before failing. A good example is Power Supplies (PSUs). A higher priced 80 Plus Titanium power supply will be a higher quality unit that is guaranteed to supply power for more years than a cheaper un-certified unit.

More highly priced components will also have higher specifications and performance ratings, and these will last longer before requiring an upgrade. A budget GPU today will become obsolete in a few years and unable to play the latest games. Yet a flagship GPU will survive many years of gaming use before it becomes unable to run the latest games with the highest graphical fidelity and need replacing. But even then, a flagship GPU will have some resale value to those looking to build a budget PC.

Build Budget Spreadsheet

Here’s a link to a budget planning Google sheet for you to use when planning your build. Open it, and make a copy (you won’t be able to see it or alter it until you’ve made a copy and saved it within your own Google drive).

Enter your budget into the ‘available budget‘ cell.

As you work through the later sections of this course, you’ll be able to fill in the components you’ve chosen and the sheet will add up the total costs and let you know how much you have left to spend.

The spreadsheet has rows for everything you may need to purchase to complete new PC build. Remove any rows for things you don’t need to buy, like if you already have a mouse and keyboard, and also add further rows for things your specific build may need. Like extra storage drives for a media server.