My first computer job was swapping 5MB disks out of an IBM machine and loading punch cards.
5 years later built my first computer around an Intel 80286 CPU.
Last 30 plus years I built hundreds of systems BUT mostly bought premade systems the last 10 years
Things just getting faster. Same basics but devil in the details.
Graphics today IMHO are the first area to look how a system will perform.
Today I have teenagers wanting to build gaming computers.
So I have a budget of 2 to 2.5 grand US dollars to build their first system.
I tried PC builder BUT ...
Did a build bought a power supply and come to find out needed a 20+4 pin for better performance. So return it to scrambled egg store.
Also bought a Phanteks Enthoo Series Primo Aluminum ATX Ultimate Full Tower Case and figure the thing will last a while for ATX motherboard builds. I do have an old HD server rack in the garage but not gonna use it.
My endgame is to have a upper middle of the road build and upgrade every couple of years. Probably AMD i7 , low end ETX2080 or high end 2070 , monitor 144 MHz refresh rate. Its been my experience to go lower than state of the art or end up a BETA tester.
I am trying to figure out the nomenclature … modular non modular ... effeciency bronze gold etc.
How the heck do you pick a power supply?
BTW gonna post similar question about graphic cards so if there is a place to like general forum and then branch off to specific forums (graphics , Power supply, cooling etc.) I'd like to know.