Should AI build your next PC for you?

Martin Brinkmann
Apr 5, 2023
Updated • Apr 5, 2023
Hardware
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Using Newegg's recently launched AI-powered PC Builder should make the PC building process a lot easier. That's at least Newegg's promise. Launched as a Beta, PC Builder with AI takes the user's instructions to find suitable components for building a PC.

All that is required is to feed it with instructions, say "PC for playing games, price $1400-$1700, AMD processor", and wait for the AI to come up with components that match the instructions. If it works, it would make the PC building process a lot easier for users who may not want to pick components manually after careful research.

The idea makes a lot of sense, but everything depends on the execution. Newegg uses ChatGPT to power the AI-based suggestions. To get started, head over to the main Newegg website and activate the PC Builder link at the top.

Type instructions into the search field and hit the "Build with AI" button afterwards. The AI analyzes the input and returns sample PC builds and components. In an ideal world, the PCs would match the user's instructions exactly.

In reality, Newegg's AI may already stumble here. While the PCs look good on first glance, users may notice that at least some of them may be over budget. The PC Builder did take other instructions into account most of the time, e.g., that AMD systems were suggested if the instructions requested that. Sometimes, though, PC builder would interpret the instructions differently. Some of these issues may be corrected by adding details to the instructions. Simply stating AMD may, for instance, return a PC with an Intel processor and an AMD graphics card. Rephrasing this to AMD CPU and graphics card, did return the desired components.

Some of the AI's suggestions were puzzling. Inexperienced users may not notice these issues. In one instance, PC Builder suggested DDR4 RAM for a DDR5 motherboard, in another, a CPU that was not current gen, even though instructions requested the system to have a current generation PC.

newegg ai pc builder suggestions

The PC builds that the AI suggested should all work technically, but the configuration was in several cases not optimized or ideal. The suboptimal components were not picked because of budget constraints either in most cases.

Lastly, users need to verify if the selected components fit inside the case; this is especially important for video cards, which may require lots of space, but also other components.

Closing Words

Newegg's PC Builder is labeled Beta, and there is certainly a reason for that. Users interested in building a PC may find the new AI-powered feature useful, but it is important to verify the suggestions and not blindly trust them.

With that said, PC Builder powered by AI could one day become a useful tool for PC builders. For now, it is not yet ready for the task.

Now You. do you build your own PCs?

Summary
Newegg's AI-powered PC Builder has significant flaws
Article Name
Newegg's AI-powered PC Builder has significant flaws
Description
A look at Newegg's new AI-powered PC Builder, which uses ChatGPT to suggest PC components based on user instructions.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Covarr said on April 5, 2023 at 4:39 pm
    Reply

    Gotta love a brand new top-of-the-line AI that’s considerably and obviously worse than PCPartPicker, which has been around for ages and doesn’t have these problems. The idea is solid, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired, especially from a company that absolutely should know better.

  2. Paul(us) said on April 5, 2023 at 12:28 pm
    Reply

    Looks and feels like a scam to sell you stuff that they have in stock.
    An independent is asked for here.

    1. Someone said on April 5, 2023 at 2:00 pm
      Reply

      like in win8 era.. companies tried to sell low end cpus, gpus, slow ram’s as gold..
      Even with AI, I trust myself for an new build.

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