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One PC Store

The decisions that make a build good are the ones nobody photographs

Component lists are easy. What separates a machine that stays fast from one that quietly slows down is cooling, power headroom and clearance — the parts of a specification that never appear on a comparison table. This is where we work those out.

By what the machine is for

Each of these prioritises the budget differently

The same components, ranked in a different order. Getting that order right matters more than the brand on any one of them.

Custom gaming PCs

Feed the card, then cool it, then power it

CAD workstations

Memory first, then per-core speed

Engineering workstations

Cores, and cooling that lasts the run

Creator PCs

Storage layout decides the waiting

Business PCs

Specified for the days nothing happens

Entry-level custom PCs

A modest build done properly

The invisible half

Where builds actually go wrong

Not in the component list. In the three constraints that only show themselves once the machine is under sustained load.

Cooling and thermal planning

Throttling is silent. It looks like the machine getting old.

Power-supply planning

Shutdowns under load that look exactly like a software fault.

PC components

What each part governs, and how it constrains the others.

Performance upgrades

Every machine has one thing holding it back. Only one.

How it works

From the work to the parts list

  1. The work

    What the machine must do, and what it must not — loud, hot, immovable.

  2. The constraint

    Which component governs your particular bottleneck.

  3. The specification

    A parts list with a reason attached to every significant choice.

  4. Built and serviced here

    Assembled in the DeLand workshop that will also repair it.

You may not need a new machine at all

Every computer has exactly one thing holding it back at any moment. Upgrading anything else produces a faster component waiting on the same bottleneck.

Identifying which one costs least of anything you can do, and is the step most often skipped.

Find the constraint

Memory upgrades

Fine until several things are open, then not

Storage upgrades

The change felt most, for the least money

Graphics card upgrades

Usually blocked by clearance or power, not the card

Upgrade, repair or replace

Three questions asked as one

Tell us the work, not the parts

"Video editing" spans a phone clip and a multi-camera timeline. "CAD" spans a bracket and a ten-thousand-part assembly. The detail is what makes the advice worth having — and what lets us tell you when something cheaper is enough.

Building since
2003
Workshops
One
On new parts
1-year warranty
Benchmark claims
None

Before you ask

Why are there no benchmark or frame-rate figures here?

Any number published on a page like this depends on settings, drivers and software versions, and would be wrong for most people reading it. It would make the page look more useful and leave you less well informed. Tell us your software and display and we will be specific to you.

Do you build machines certified for professional software?

We build to published vendor requirements. We are not an authorised reseller for any manufacturer and we do not issue certification — that is the software vendor's to grant for specific hardware and driver combinations.

Will you tell me if I do not need a new machine?

Yes. If an upgrade to your current computer would fix the problem, or an off-the-shelf machine covers what you have described, that is what we will recommend. It is a shorter conversation and a better answer.