Should AI build your next PC for you?

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.

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.