Building a gaming PC isn’t like grabbing one off a shelf at a big-box store. At LithGeek, every custom build starts with a proper conversation, not a sales pitch, so you walk out with a machine that actually fits your games, your budget and your desk. Whether you’re in Lithgow, Bathurst, Katoomba, Leura, Oberon, Blackheath or anywhere in between, here’s exactly how our consultation process works, what it costs, and what to think about before you come in.
Why We Start With a Consultation (And Why It’s Basically Free)
Every custom gaming PC we build starts with a sit-down consultation, in person or over the phone, where we talk through what you actually play, how you want the machine to look, and what your budget looks like. That consultation costs $50. Here’s the part people love: if you go ahead and book a build with us, that $50 gets applied straight to the labour cost of your PC. So the consultation itself ends up costing you nothing, you’re just paying for the build you were always going to pay for anyway.
We’d rather spend twenty minutes getting your build right than sell you the wrong PC and have you back in a month unhappy. If you want to see why that approach beats ordering a mystery box online, have a read of our guide to custom gaming PC vs prebuilt: the true cost comparison.
Why Your Quote Only Lasts Seven Days
Once we’ve worked out your build, we’ll give you a proper written quote. That quote is only good for seven days. It’s not us being difficult, RAM, GPU and SSD prices have been moving fast, and a quote we wrote a fortnight ago can genuinely be out of date by the time you’re ready to pull the trigger. If more than seven days pass, we’ll need to run the numbers again before we order parts.
We’ve written more about what’s driving those price swings, and what it means for anyone due for an upgrade, in why your gaming rig might just need a tune-up.
Four Things Worth Thinking About Before Your Consultation
You don’t need to arrive with a spec sheet, that’s our job. But turning up with rough answers to these four questions will make your consultation faster and get you a more accurate quote.
1. An Idea of Your Budget
You don’t need an exact number, just a ballpark of what you’re comfortable spending. With RAM prices where they currently sit, we’re recommending a budget of around $2,000 for a solid gaming build. That’s not a hard floor, we can build below or above it, but it’s a realistic starting point for a machine that will actually keep up with modern games rather than needing an upgrade within the year.
2. Three Games You Want to Play
Tell us three games you’re actually planning to play, not what you think sounds impressive. That short list does more to determine your build’s minimum specs than almost anything else. A PC built for older titles looks very different to one built for the latest AAA releases at high settings, and there’s no point paying for power you’ll never use.
3. RGB, Simple, or Fully Custom?
Some people want their PC to light up like a Christmas tree, some want it tucked under the desk and forgotten about, and some want us to get genuinely creative. All three are on the table. If you like the idea of a build that’s as much a piece of art as it is a computer, take a look at our custom PC case mods and themed builds, or our water cooled gaming PC builds that runs quieter and looks like nothing off a store shelf.
4. Windows or Linux?
This one’s a whole topic on its own, and honestly worth thinking about before you sit down with us. Most people default to Windows without a second thought, but Linux has come a long way for gaming and can genuinely stretch your budget further. If that’s new territory for you, our plain-English look at ditching Windows for a Linux gaming PC is worth a read before your consultation.
The Advantage of Building Local: You Never Have to Ship It Anywhere
Buy a gaming PC from an online retailer and something goes wrong, you’re boxing it up, paying for shipping, and waiting weeks for it to come back, if it comes back at all. Build with us and if there’s ever an issue, you just bring it in. No shipping, no waiting on hold with a call centre interstate, just a local shop that already knows your build inside and out. It’s one of the biggest reasons gamers from Lithgow, Bathurst, Katoomba, Leura, Oberon and Blackheath choose to build local rather than order online.
Why a Build Takes a Few Weeks (And Why We Wouldn’t Do It Any Other Way)
Most custom builds take a few weeks from consultation to pickup. That’s not us being slow, it’s because we order your parts fresh once your build is confirmed, rather than pulling components that have been sitting on a shelf. Parts that sit around too long tend to get marked up to cover the cost of storing them, and we’d rather you pay a fair price for fresh stock than an inflated one for something that’s been gathering dust. A few weeks’ wait for a fair price and the exact parts you agreed to is a trade-off almost everyone’s happy to make.
A Few More Tips Before You Buy
Our four questions above will get your consultation off to a fast start, but here are a few extra things our team always mentions to customers, whether they’re in Lithgow, Bathurst, Katoomba, Leura, Oberon or Blackheath.
Don’t Skimp on the Power Supply
It’s tempting to put every spare dollar into the GPU, but the power supply is what keeps everything else safe. A cheap, underrated PSU is one of the most common causes of instability and, in rare cases, damage to other components. We spec a quality PSU with realistic headroom on every build.
Don’t Forget Your Monitor and Peripherals
A powerful PC paired with an old, low refresh-rate monitor won’t feel as fast as it should. If your monitor, keyboard or mouse are a few years old, it’s worth mentioning at your consultation, sometimes the best upgrade for your money isn’t inside the case at all.
Airflow Matters as Much as Looks
RGB and tempered glass panels look fantastic, but a case with poor airflow can hold your PC back no matter how good the parts inside are. We help you strike that balance during your consultation — take a look at our custom PC case mods and themed builds for inspiration, so your rig looks great and stays cool under load.
Leave Room to Grow
Think about where your gaming might be in a couple of years, not just today. A case with spare drive bays, a motherboard with a free RAM slot or two, and a PSU with a bit of headroom all make a future upgrade simpler and cheaper than starting from scratch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a consultation cost?
$50, and if you go ahead with a build, that $50 comes straight off the labour cost. Most customers end up paying nothing extra for the consultation itself.
Why does my quote expire after seven days?
RAM, GPU and SSD prices have been rising quickly, so a quote older than a week may no longer reflect what parts actually cost. We’ll happily requote you, it just means running the numbers again.
What budget should I bring to a consultation?
We’re currently recommending around $2,000 for a solid, future-proof gaming build, though we can work with less or more depending on what you play and what matters most to you.
Should I choose Windows or Linux for my gaming PC?
Both are valid options, and it really depends on what you play and how comfortable you are trying something new. It’s worth a conversation at your consultation, and our Linux gaming PC guide is a good starting point if you want to read up beforehand.
What happens if something goes wrong with my PC after I buy it?
You bring it in. There’s no shipping it off and waiting weeks for a replacement, you deal with the same local shop that built it in the first place.
Book Your Consultation
If you’re in Lithgow, Bathurst, Katoomba, Leura, Oberon, Blackheath or anywhere in the Central West or Blue Mountains and you’re ready to talk through a custom gaming PC, drop by the shop at 85 Main Street, Lithgow, book a consultation online, or get in touch here. We’d rather build you the right PC once than sell you the wrong one twice.