Introducing XDB Builder, a new way to build PCs

Published Oct 30, 2026, 8:45 AM EDT Rich is the Content Director of XDA, MakeUseOf, and How-To Geek, and I've been reporting on all things consumer tech since 2013. More recently, I've had more of a focus on Windows, and I've reviewed pretty much every mainstream laptop under the sun. If you see me somewhere, come say hello and let me ask you awkward questions about why you use the tech that you use. Today, we're finally taking the wraps off of a project that we've been working really hard on. It's called XDB Builder, and it's designed to redefine how you plan your PC builds. When I started on XDA over half a decade ago, my role was to expand the site into the computing space. I've been thinking about a project like this the whole time. I think you're going to love it. Helping you build in unprecedented times We've got you covered Let's face it, building a PC in this market is a challenge. You might be thinking about putting things off until prices come down, you might be trying to cram a whole new machine into the same budget you used five years ago, or you might just be forced to upgrade now because a component failed. XDB aims to solve all of these problems. If you really don't want to build a new computer right now, plug in your list of parts, tell us what you need to be able to do, and we'll help you to upgrade. Not sure if you can get away with an upgrade over a whole new workstation? We'll help you decide that too. That's not all, of course. You can start with a budget, an intent, or nothing at all. Building a $1,000 PC might seem impossible right now, but if that's your budget, we're going to help you make that work. You can build a machine for gaming, a media server, for local LLMs, or anything else (I don't want to overpromise here, because I know you're all going to try to build a $1,000 box for local LLMs now, and it's not going to go well). Once you've made your choices, you can start on your own, or we can suggest a build. If you've selected all of your parts except for, say, a CPU cooler or a PSU, there's a button next to each part to ask for assistance. Once you're done, you can save it, you can share it, or you can buy your parts. It's your build. But why is it called XDB? I'm glad you asked The short, boring answer for why it's called XDB is because we made a massive database of PC parts for this project. The better answer is just that it's fun. It's like a sequel to XDA, and in a sense, it is. It's a completely new platform for us, that's going to continue to expand as we go. There's a reason that we didn't call it just XDB, and we didn't call it XDB PC Builder. It's XDB Builder because the goal is to provide a platform where you can build anything you want. And that's right at the heart of XDA. You guys are builders, and makers, and tinkerers. You always have been. PC building is just the starting point. Tell us what you think When we started planning XDB Builder, we set out to create the best platform that was possible. I absolutely think you're going to love what we made. I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't. But we're not perfect. Not even close. Tell us what we messed up, or tell us what we got right. Tell us what you wish XDB did that it doesn't do. I want to know, and I want to continue to make this better. You can leave a comment right here, submit feedback through XDB, or even email me directly. Believe me, I'm going to be looking everywhere for comments. So check it out. Play around in there. Try to break it! Consider this an early access period. Right now, it's live for everyone at xdb.xda-developers.com, but the product database and purchase links are for the U.S. We'll be looking to expand that moving forward. As always, thank you for being the best readers on the internet. No one can match the XDA community, and as long as you're hanging around, I'll be hanging around with you.