PC noob

I think a solid plan would be to first set a budget. If that's done people here will likely tell you if 32GB is even possible.

Set a budget and learn what you might be spending $1000-5000 on and why certain things matter and may cost more. Watching beginner PC videos on youtube is a great way to learn what kind of build you are expecting to have and if that kind of build fits into the budget you are working with.

I think the biggest thing I'd reccomend to you then would be to look for ddr4 options, in terms of ram/motherboard/cpu. Sure, ddr4 is slower than ddr5, but ddr4 is still fast, and having slightly slower ram but still enough is muuuuuch better than having ddr5 but running out(with 16gb, for example). Another big suggestion I would reccomend giving some thought to is going used for the graphics card. I got a 5070 Ti, as the budget allowed for a high end current gen card. But, back when I was wanting to buy a computer on a smaller budget, the choice was either a low end current card like a 5060, or a high end older card like a 3080ti for example. Between those, I would absolutely go for a better older card. I know you won't get a warranty, but not much point in a warrant if the card sucks, rather at least have it be decent performing. So yeah, ddr4 ram/motherboard/cpu, used high end 30 series graphics card, and absolutely go for an air cooler. Liquid cooling is far more and it's almost never necessary. The one part I would say you shouldn't try and save on is the power supply. Bite the bullet and get one rated at least a B+ rank on the PSU tier list. I payed about £100 for a Montech 1050w unit with an A+ rating on the list, for reference. Goodluck man! I hope it all works out:)

To be honest, you might be right. I think if op goes exclusively for new parts, you're right. 16GB ddr5, 50 series geforce or 90 series radeon. However, if he is willing to go used, I might reccomend 32. 32GB used DDR4, 3080 or 7800, depending or something of that level and age, depending on prices. It'll be an older computer with slightly slower memory and no warranties, but it should be much faster for games and more capable of running multiple things at once. You seem quite knowledgeable about this though, and as I said I only just built my first computer a few days ago. So I'd love to know your take on this

Honestly unless you're willing to go with the older AM4 platform, knowing that you'd need to replace the CPU, motherboard and RAM if you wanted to upgrade down the line, I'd put the idea of 32gb DDR5 out of your mind. For gaming, 16gb is enough for most games. If you are happy going with the older platform, you CAN just about fit a Ryzen 7 and 32gb DDR4 into your budget. I've also managed to get a slightly better graphics card in there https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/ZWW7Cw You'll probably also be able to pick some of these parts up cheaper second hand from people who've upgraded. Just to ease your mind on the 16gb vs 32gb RAM thing, here's a good comparison of what performance you can expect in a range of games https://www.techspot.com/review/3076-how-much-ram-2026/

I'm surprised you say you reccomend investing more in storage since it's hard to upgrade later. Given most motherboards having 2 m.2 slots, pcie to nvme adapters, and the abundance of sata connections usually available, isn't storage one of the easiest things to increase? For reference, I got a 2tb m.2, but plan to add another 2tb m.2, as well as a 4tb sata in the future. I know m.2 nvme is a lot faster, and that the 2nd m.2 slot futher away from the cpu is not as fast. But, aside from the OS drive, I don't think these make much difference. I'd love to learn more, and you seem to have an opinion on it so I would be interested in hearing more from you!

I just got a £2.2k computer a week and a half ago. So obviously not all my parts will be applicable to you. But I can tell you some things I would consider I paid £360 for 32GB of ram, which while annoying since it was way less not too long ago, should be doable with your budget. I paid £289 for a 2TB ssd, but it is a samsung 990 pro, so I paid a little premium for that as well. If you could manage with 1TB and go for a cheaper brand, you could probably manage to get 1 for like £140. So that leaves £700 for everything else. It's tight, but probably doable. I would probably try to split it like: £50 for case £30 for cooler £120 for motherboard £120 for CPU £380 for GPU This would get parts on the lower end though. If you could afford maybe £200 more, you'd have some room for significantly better gpu and/or cpu. Alternatively, if you go for ddr4 ram and a compatible motherboard and cpu, you would have more money to put to the video card. There's a lot to consider. I wanted to reply to your post because I just bought my first computer recently, and I saw the pound so knew you are likely in the uk like me. Message me if you have any questions!

With a budget of £1200, I'd never recommend spending 20% of it on RAM. You'll end up compensating too much on GPU with prices as they are. For the budget OP has, 16gb will do until prices (hopefully) come back down to a more sane level, it's simple enough to swap that down the line if they notice that they need it

If you haven't yet try using PC Part Picker. It's a website for selecting PC parts and will tell you if there are any compatibility issues, still check but it's handy to lay out your build and costs I got my PC for 1.2k about 3-4 years ago at that budget. After getting 32GB ram and some memory the budget you'll have for everything else is going to be quite small. I'd recommend investing in your storage/SSD above most parts as it can be a pain to upgrade later. You might have to skimp on the GPU compared to other parts for now due to how expensive cards can be and upgrade when you get more funds if you want to be playing current game releases like COD

Consider CEX for ssd, ram, cpu and gpu- decent prices compared to buying new + 5 year warranty

For this budget you're not going to get 32gb RAM at the moment, prices are mental, you need a budget of around £1500-1600 for that. For your budget of £1200 this is probably the most balanced build you can get https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BzqX2k A Ryzen 7 7700X will run you an extra £60, but for gaming the 7600 is absolutely fine, and anything above 1080p will be limited by your GPU 90% of the time. With this budget an RX 9060 XT is probably the best you can get new. Might be worth scouring Facebook Marketplace to see if you can pick up 2nd hand RAM or GPU and save yourself a few quid. If you go down that route, insist on seeing it working in a build in front of you. Don't just accept a video as proof.