Donned in your white shirt and streetwear shorts, you are planning to spend some time at home building your first PC today, perhaps for gaming purposes. You have just bought the parts needed to build your battlestation, as well as just a few tools to put them together.
Now hold your horses, boyo. If this is really the first time that you are building your PC, then you should already be aware that it can take hours to finish building because you best follow the exact steps so your PC won’t be toasted or simply never work upon completion.
Furthermore, if anybody ever says that building your PC is like building a set of Legos, ignore those people. It doesn’t work that way, and chances are that they themselves only seen a few PC building videos and think that they are suddenly experts in the subject.
Moving on, the following tips here won’t exactly show you how to build a PC. Instead, when you follow these tips, you will have at least a better chance or confidence that you won’t fail your first PC. With that being said, dive in and mind the corals.
What are you doing?
Before you even buy your PC’s components in the first place, ask yourself. Why do you need them? Do you really want to build a high end PC just for show? Do you really often play games that require demanding specifications due to their high quality polygons, effects and so on?
Or do you only play games that are not very demanding, or at least require you to have a decent yet not too fancy computer to run? Maybe you are only playing those that are less demanding because you will be working most of the time.
Whatever your reasons, make sure that you know well enough that you are not going to overspend your budget on components that you do not need. If you only need a decent PC to run certain games that are your all time favorites, then you don’t have to buy the more expensive stuff.
Speaking of budget, you should also do some research so you don’t waste on the wrong parts or more than you need. Depending on your savings, you can look up specifications that you can afford to buy yet pay off in the long run. If you are still looking to buy more advanced specs in the future, you can upgrade when you are actually moving on to playing more graphically demanding games.
Also, when doing research, you must see that the parts you are going to buy are compatible with each other. This saves your money and time from getting the wrong pieces.
A pro tip you can take here is that when you have your own computer and you are wondering if this game can run well, and assuming that it is single player and you have to purchase, pirate it first then give it a try. Mess with the settings by lowering them until it does the job well.
Get backup
The first time you are building your PC, it can be stressful for you to know where to fit the components on the correct sides. You want to be absolutely sure that your PC isn’t going to ruin your session in its maiden voyage.
Now relying on video tutorials can help, but an even better solution is to just grab your friends that know the magic of PC building. Put up a call or livestream and let your friends work with you as you go on. Show them the process too so they can see whether you messed something up there.
Your friends can also be your translators when you are hearing PC jargons and you do not understand them in the midst of following the steps.
Cable management
No matter what sort of PC you are building, cable management is an important aspect. You don’t want your cables to tangle with each other, obstruct your fans and make contact with a coolant or similar too. Worse, you do not want to feel like you are looking at tangled barbed wire in a trench, where within them are nothing but black.
Use zip ties to group your cables together, and also carefully untangle and add them to the build as you go on. Keep them tidy so they do not take up much space in your PC, so you can see your components as clear as day.
Don’t jam them in
You may be excited to try out your newly purchased game soon, but it doesn’t give you an excuse and rush everything by haphazardly jamming your components into your PC like a maniac. They tend to be fragile so care is always advised.
Slowly fit them in, and before you even do so, make sure that you are going to fix them in the correct location on the correct sides. Slow and steady wins the race, and this is a rule in PC building. Take your time so you may also be able to catch on if you are screwing in the wrong part or so.
Also, carefully but firmly apply the parts until you hear clicks. Many would produce the sound when you are correctly fitting them in place.
Plan your setup
This is something you had probably done before you began building your PC. Where is the ideal spot to place your table and station? Are there sockets that you can plug in? If you are using a multi socket, is there at least a singular one on the wall nearby? Does this setup block your path?
Generally, you would set up your PC against the wall or so, but there is nothing wrong with doing so in open space too. It is fine it doesn’t obstruct your way and you can manage the cables, plugs and other electrical appliances so they look tidy and be able to reach the sockets properly.
YouTube feedback
If you ever watch a certain, notorious PC building tutorial blind and you never check the comments and dislikes (which you can view with a few browser plugins that are designed to make them visible again), you will assume that everything the guy said and did was correct and you took it to heart.
The result you will get is a non-working or smoking PC because he turned out to be wrong yet he went along with it anyway. When you are looking up or referencing tutorials on YouTube, check the feedback. If there are more negatives than positives, steer clear away.
It doesn’t mean that you will automatically trust the opposite too. Look for any criticisms and use your judgement. Drag in your PC geek friends too if you need “professional” opinions.
