Your monitor will determine "what performance level" your parts need to be. In order to hit that resolution and stable hertz rate or fps. Note that game variance will be drastic levels of needed performance to hit those targets.

Resolution: This is 1 of 2 factor in what GPU you should get. This determines how stable the content is on the screen. The higher the resolution, the more pixel density is present. More pixel density means clearer image, but now you need more graphical performance.

Common Resolutions or 16:9 Aspect Ratio:

Note that these are the more common resolution sizes and have the more common "Aspect Ratio of 16:9". This means that your viewing content will always fill the entire screen. These resolution are fully supported by all games and video entertainment purposes.

• "HD" 1080p or 1920x1080 (Low tier GPU performance needed) (Most budget friendly)

• "2k/QHD" 1440p or 2560x1440 (Mid Tier GPU performance needed) (Best bang for buck and image quality, if you can find sales)

• "4k/UHD" 2160p or 3840x2160. (Highest GPU performance needed) (Most expensive resolution, with no GPU able to maintain high hertz yet)

• 5k, 8k resolutions are still not worth mentioning as the cost is extreme and hardware to run them with stability is not released yet. As of 2024.

Ultrawide Resolutions or 21:9 Aspect Ratio:

Resolutions that display a wider screen viewing angle.
Note these have a 21:9 "Aspect Ratio", which means content in 16:9 will not fully cover the entire screen at your 21:9 ratio and you will have black lines/bars shown on fullscreen games or videos. In order to fully enjoy 21:9 aspect ratio, you need the game or video entertainment source have support for your monitors ultrawide resolution.

Since they are wider resolutions, they will give you an increased viewing field in games. This means that you get a slight advantage since you can see more of the gaming field.

For entertainment purposes, it will stay the same if supported or have black bars/lines if unsupported.

Desktop tasks will always fill the entire screen. Such as browsers and other desktop tasks, giving you a bigger view of productivity tasks and apps.

• 1080p UW or 2560x1080 (29.5" size)

• 2k UW, 1440p UW or 3440x1440 (34" size)

Monitor Size: This is the screen size that we view our content on. Generally ranging from these size dimensions, paired with resolutions:

• 24" - 1920x1080

• 27" - 2560x1440 (I think this is too small for 4k)

• 29.5" Ultrawide - 2560x1080

• 30" - 2560x1440 or 3840x2160

• 32" - 2560x1440 or 3840x2160

• 34" Ultrawide - 3440x1440

• There are larger sizes but they are more niche and uncommon.

Hertz: 60hz, 75hz, 120hz, 144hz, 165hz, 180hz, 220hz, 240hz are the most common hertz rates... This is also called refresh rate at which the monitor will increase in its response times. If a fast-moving scene is on the screen, the higher hertz your monitor is, the more clearly you can see that fast-moving scene. This also increases the demand on your GPU or graphics card performance. General rule for clear text and scene viewing is having a minimum Hertz of 120. Luckily most monitors will come standard at 144hz or 165-180hz. If on a seriously lower budget, 60hz is always there for you and is a downgrade but will allow you to at least have usage.
Panel Type: TN, VA, IPS, OLED. TN is the oldest tech and worst of them all, not recommended. VA and IPS is the most sought after, with IPS probably most sought after. VA has better blacks and may cause ghosting, IPS has better vibrant colors but has IPS glow which is terrible for blacks. OLED has perfect blacks and vibrant colors, making it the best tech on the market now.
Nits Count: 250, 300, 350, 400, 600+. The higher the Nits count, the better your content will pop or be vibrant on the screen. I would recommend 400 nits or higher, although if your on a budget 350 is okay. Lower than 350 is not recommended because your content just doesn't pop out at such low brightness levels.
Price: The more Hertz and Nits count you go, the higher the price will be. Thankfully for OLED coming into the market, it has started to lower the price of VA and IPS monitors even more. OLED itself is still too expensive for the general public to purchase. The general price of a TN, VA, IPS monitor should range from $100-$400. The price of an OLED monitor is $800-$1500+, still not worth it at that price point unless you have cash to throw around.

Custom Build: In order to build your PC, you will need to plan out the parts you will be assembling together. This is what you do if you also want to save a lot of money, or in other words is the most cost effective. This also leads to you being responsible to buy each part. The way that this can save a lot of money is if you happen to buy all the parts on a sale or discount.
Pre-Build: There are companies that will put together the work for you, so that you don't have to deal with buying parts and assembly. This then comes into the question of quality of parts and price you paid for those parts will be much higher than if you paid for them. Let's say you have a part that is retail priced at $200. The pre-built will charge you for the price and the assembly so you may be paying $250 for that part. To where if you buy it yourself, it could be on sale for less than $200 and assemble it yourself. Potentially saving you hundreds/thousands of dollars.

The reason you have to choose AMD or Intel is because they are the only CPU manufacturers. The CPU of either needs to go on a compatible motherboard, which holds all the parts together. Choosing AMD will need an AMD motherboard and vice-versa for Intel.

AMD: Ryzen CPU platform (Red Team/Logo) - AM4 5000 Final Series, AM5 7000 Series Newest
Intel: Intel CPU platform (Blue Team/Logo) - LGA1700 13000 Series Newest
Other CPU information can be found at CPU-Socket.com here

For example, AM4 CPU would need to be paired with an AM4 Motherboard. Find the CPU socket type and simply get a motherboard to match the socket type.