Just went trough the same'ish thing, spent 7 hours hyperfixated on a new cpu / motherboard / memory combo for my Server which uses a very specific processor.

My wife got a bit annoyed when i told her that i had already decided on a cpu which i ordered yesterday, but the 7 hours was spent over obsessing if I'd made the right choice and looking at new options.

There are plenty of nerds here on Lemmy to help, but some advice first.

• What is the system intended for? (Gaming, CAD, editing, programming, Facebook machine?) This isnt just so we can advise better, but also to get you to state what you need this tool for. Its a tool at the end of the day.

• Will it need to be moved? This is where your going to have to weigh the factors in your life, because if you need to move the device, a laptop may be a better, but the entire device is not moduler (usually, Framework laptops and a few other manufacturers like to do stuff like that).

• Lastly, care to share what you planned/built? There are plenty of nerds on Lemmy who would love discussing stuff like that. (Shameless plug, one of those nerds is me)

I've been there, as well. Luckily (or something like that), I'm sufficiently poor to be noticably anxious about spending more than 200 EUR in one go, and with that managed to convince myself that now that I know the parts and their price, I can hold off until I have accumulated half the extra funds by saving (drew up a saving plan and everything as the last step of obsession, and then re-focused on saving).

That was in January. I have stopped tracking my money and actively saving for this by April, and now the new PC build is again just something I wanna do some day, but not right now.

Negotiating with myself to first work towards possible and reasonable, but ultimately unlikely financial circumstances, and then predictably running out of steam, is my go-to strategy for expensive stuff I really want right now, but don't actually require to fulfill a need. Works surprisingly well!

I've been there. Ended up getting a gaming laptop instead. Try make some good choices 🤞

This was me just recently. Decided to build the pc for a friend who only had a laptop.

I hyper fixated on getting the stream deck plus because it's cool (I don't even stream) and it ordered it this morning. It be like that tho :P

Building something from scratch is really overwhelming, and you often pay a lot

been there, done that. Now I'm basically addicted lol

I pause when I get like this and ask if I really truly need the thing. I feel we always need the reigns, but at the end of the day - life is changing. I believe all of humanity needs to be more responsible with their purchases. So I don't care how much I put in to figuring out the "perfect" build. There will always be another one when it gets time that I actually need it. But equally, I too move a lot and if I can't fit it in a backpack or suitcase I don't think it's worth an ounce of my personal time (pending I can't give it away or sell it). And most things you have, they don't sell for beans worth compared to what you've put in.

But a hobby is a hobby and joy is joy. So it's all up to you, but it's just my opinion on the matter.

A handy thing for this situation is a second hand machine. It is a whole lot cheaper, still very much an upgrade, but reselling for a reasonable price is possible.

The option I would actually recommend is to reinstall your OS. A fresh install if Windows or Linux is like a new computer in many ways. Add a few changes, like maybe changing theme and trying new software, can also make it better.

If you wanted to satisfy that ADHD itch with Linux I would recommend trying something like ElementaryOS if you come from Mac world or EndeavourOS with KDE if you are from Windows world. Great operating systems with sane defaults and an easy install but well put together appearance and utility.

Also, if you know where you are going maybe consider researching local options from there? Like calculate the postage, find the local stores, look for local second hand computer stores, etc.