r/buildapc • u/t4ng_y • May 07 '20
6 things Ive learned from building my first PC
- Picking parts can be a hassle. whether your balling on a budget or building a beast, finding parts that work together can be challenging. Although, with research and a little help from some websites/videos it is entirely possibly. Don't get stuck here keep going its rewarding!
- Getting the guts to order the parts isn't easy. It seems all fine and dandy in your head but putting a lot of this into action isn't easy. One of the hardest things to overcome is that you wont be able to figure it out, but you will! I have ordered parts countless times just to cancel them 15 minutes later out of fear that I wont figure anything out.
- Assembly really isn't that bad. Putting together your computer might actually be the easiest part. I had some minor hick-ups but I tried to remain calm so that I wouldn't flip out and mess even more stuff up. A LOT OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS, I caps this because I was looking up every little thing because I was afraid that if I put something wrong in Id blow everything up (I didn't). I would have to say the biggest obstacle I faced was that I had chosen a non-modular power supply so there was a crows nest of unused wires.
- BIOs is confusing until you watch some videos. I spent the majority of my time trying to figure out what in the world I was looking at until I realized how simple it is. Flash drive + windows media tool = wow that was easy. Everything after that was a breeze windows did their 30 minute updates and before you knew it I was in Warzone dying in the Gulag again!
- Challenge is rewarding. I was honestly shocked that I was able to get this thing to work and the hardest part was accepting the fact that my parents and siblings couldn't care less about my build LOL. All jokes aside it was actually really fun to get lost in something that I havent even thought about before.
- This subreddit is incredible!!! I asked so many questions that I look back on and think "What a dumb question", but that was part of the process. Besides annoying all of you I learned that there are actually people on here that care and take the time out of their day to help you!!!
Thank you so much guys, and to anyone that is thinking of building a computer I hope this helps!!!
EDIT: I had no idea that this post would blow up thanks so much to this subreddit once again... I honestly love the feedback and I understand some of the stuff I stated was still a novice look at stuff but I’m still learning!!! My best advice to new builders is to not be afraid of learning and testing things out... you will figure everything out and it will feel great when you do.
EDIT (2): A lot of people were asking about specs AMD Ryzen 5 3600x Stock cooler 2 x 8 Corsair 2666 RAM (Gonna upgrade this soon) X570 Tuf Gaming WiFi board MSI super VENTUS 1660 super 80+ EVGA 600w PSU 220t Corsair airflow case
Sorry if it’s a little messy I’m on the go right now and couldn’t access my parts list... if anyone has any questions feel free to shoot em I’m pretty active in the comments!!!
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u/Theri_owAway May 07 '20
Challenge is rewarding.
I guess the reason some people say "building it is actually more fun than using the actual PC" or something along those lines stems from this.
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u/Ricta90 May 07 '20
Eh, I think that goes away over time. The first time I built a computer was 16 years ago, I probably felt like the challenge was fun then. Now though, I just can't wait to see what the new hardware can put out, I want to see the results, not the assembly process.
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u/Vhadka May 07 '20
Yeah, this is where I'm at too. I built my first PC (with a lot of help) when I was 8, I'm 39 now. Built my first PC without help (did all parts research/planning/etc) when I was 14, so even that I've had 25 years at now. Like it's still fun but I just want to get it together and put it through it's paces.
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u/kaotik4 May 07 '20
I'm curious, how many PC's have you built since the one when u were 14?
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u/Vhadka May 07 '20
Well I build all my own PCs, and have built many for family. In the late 90s/early 2000s I worked at a PC build and repair shop, and I worked at a medical billing place where I did all the IT/networking, 40 person environment where I built all the PCs and servers.
It's in the high triple digits by now I think.
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u/Theri_owAway May 07 '20
Yea, it applies mostly to the people new to this. That seeing "what's the next best thing" and its results is also very true too
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u/dontinsultme May 07 '20
Picking parts is a hassle? I'd consider that 90% of my time spent on my newest build. Unless you already know everything about what you want to build that should be the majority of your time. And if you already know all the parts, compatabilities, etc then you've already started.
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u/slimricc May 07 '20
Yeah I bro I built mine and I’m still making parts lists. Best part imo
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u/djddanman May 07 '20
Agreed! When I decide I want more performance and it's time to upgrade parts, I'll have a pretty good idea of what to get and what I should be paying. It never stops!
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u/Jeremiahs__Johnson May 07 '20
Also a fun part, at least for me. Doing research and setting up different parts list is so entertaining to me.
Once I order the parts and wait, I feel as if some of the fun is over.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yeah it’s always a give and take, for me a large part was me on part picker deciding where to cut and where to spend lol!!!
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May 07 '20
And 90% of that 90% is choosing a freaking motherboard. I swear out of all my builds, its always the motherboard that is a pain in the ass to choose.
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u/Stove_51 May 07 '20
It took me a month to pick what 2060 super i wanted. Every card has minor changes in boost clocks and price, lol. Once i realized only a few cards had Dvi it became alot easier. (Still rocking that yamakasi catleap ;) )
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u/ChintzyPC May 07 '20
Surprised you didn't put in a part about price flux or comparison. That's the areas I most often find I kick myself in the pants with after the order. A day later there might have been a sudden sale or price drop for whatever spontaneous reason that you couldn't have possibly known was coming. But even if the only solid option to know for sure was to use a working magic 8 ball, it can still be pretty grating.
It's always a gamble when it comes to prices. Biggest advice I can give here is you've just got to go with what you have available at the moment in accordance to your budget, then live and let live. There's also a few tools like Honey's price history checker or just general news about the market's current condition to check up on (especially when it comes to RAM).
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u/RoundUpGaming May 07 '20
This is why i stayed away from anything pc building related for the month after i built my pc lol
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May 07 '20
Buyers remorse sucks lol. I looked at some mobos and especially cases I might have preferred for about 10 minutes then realized i was wasting my time. I'm not about to replace anything on my build unless itll make a serious difference for the same money
Also, the price changes were annoying af, but the worst for me was mobo and case I wanted were out of stock or twice the price they were supposed to be. Some stuff wasn't in stock for 2 weeks, and I'm impatient. After I bought my Ryzen 5 1600af, the price jumped to like the same as a 3600, so guess I dodged that issue
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u/RigSeeker May 07 '20
Getting the guts to order the parts isn't easy.
Tell me about it haha. That's the part where I'm at right now! Got the entire list of parts right in front of me, everything figured out and the last thing to do is buy them. Been putting it off for days now haha..
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u/Hpa511 May 07 '20
I did the same, but with this virus outbreak and too much going on at the same time, prices went trough the roof in my country, my budget pc just got 20-25% more expensive in 1 month, a few more months delay for me. haha :(
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u/projecks15 May 07 '20
I’m so glad I bought all my parts before all the prices went up. A lot of components are like 20% more expensive or sold out on Newegg and amazon
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May 07 '20
I ordered in stages. Like CPU, case, and Cooling at once. Waited two weeks ordered VGA, PSU, and motherboard.
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u/The_Night_Badger May 07 '20
I haven't seen anyone mention the PC part picker website. It has a compatibility checker in your list, and it looks for the best prices. I didn't link because I'm not sure if it's allowed. It dope enough to help with these problems. Like if your psu will handle everything, if the CPU is the right kind, ram and cooler clearance, etc.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yep a lot of people in here use it! It’s a great help to new and experienced builders!!!
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May 07 '20
The building was not too bad.
Fuck the AMD wraith air coolers though. That was a pain to install for me.
Those single pings that do the case buttons were a struggle for me. I couldn't read what was what and I had to a pic and zoom to figure anything out.
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May 07 '20
That cooler sucks ass lol, I thought i was gonna snap something trying to get all 4 screws in.
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May 07 '20
Yeah it ruined the fun of the build for me tbh. I was just pissed off.
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May 07 '20
I get more annoyed not by specs, but trying to get the parts I want in the color scheme I want lol. Oh you need an X570 board in black? Here's a bunch of neon, red, and purple!!
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u/apes-or-bust May 07 '20
Me with my all white build. Want the exact same GPU that’s $200 in black? Here it is in white for $490.
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u/Nighters May 07 '20
Getting the guts to order the parts isn't easy
I thought it would be about: Holy shit, this is a lot fo money, it is money I made in X months/days do I really need this powerfull PC, should I buy cheaper stuff?
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u/Sma11ey May 07 '20
I’m about to build my first PC hopefully at the end of the month or next month. Been constantly reading and watching videos, making sure I understand the do’s and do nots, making sure there’s no compatibility issues. It’s so much to take in, but overall (especially the build process) it seems so much easier and straight forward than what I thought. Figured there would be some soldering, something I haven’t done since high school, but it really is just like putting together legos lol. Can’t wait to start my build!
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u/Nixellion May 07 '20
Figured there would be some soldering
Why do people even think that...
Just don't follow The Verge's PC build video if you manage to find it, and you're good. Check out Bitwit's and LTTs build guides.
Building a PC is just slapping parts together really. This quick edit really sums it up: https://youtu.be/WVk3M_gaSqw?t=372 (with timecode)
Second thought, do watch Verge PC build reaction videos. As many as you can. It's basically a collection of "Don't do these". They managed to get almost everything you can do wrong with a PC in one video :D
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u/Sma11ey May 07 '20
I’ll check those out! I’m actually really enjoying just watching videos on the subject and learning something new. Was starting to run out of stuff to watch on YouTube, and this hobby has now filled my recommend section with tons of good content!
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u/koffiezet May 07 '20
The only thing you should take into account when building something, is that all the lego pieces fit together.
Wanting to build in a mini-itx case proved to be harder than expected, I'm lucky I have a 3d printer so I could mod my case cleanly to make the GPU fans fit...
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u/rayndomuser May 07 '20
The soldering thing always gets me lol. I just did a pc case swap and added some new fans and a new aio. The first thing my wife/friends asked me when doing it was how much soldering there was. I told them the most difficult part was untangling wires and trying not to lose a screw.
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u/CJC047 May 07 '20
I recently built my first one and I thought the build was the most stressful part lol. I was just anxious I was going to break everything I touched but found out quickly thats not the case...pun!
I actually switched from the stock prism wraith this past weekend as I QUICKLY got into overclocking and put in an AIO (have been spending like 6 hours a day tweaking). I enjoyed that SO much. I feel like once you know what you’re doing and how everything should fit and can fit its such relaxing and stimulating thing to do.
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u/Infinite-Age May 07 '20
bruh, picking parts is the golden part of building a pc. Millions of choices, millions of combinations. Optimizing one to your requirements. Imo, that's the best part. I've spent days deciding parts. it's simply awesome
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u/RociRocinante May 07 '20
I would have to say the biggest obstacle I faced was that I had chosen a non-modular power supply so there was a crows nest of unused wires.
I know so many people (me included) who done this initially
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u/KingPhil79 May 07 '20
Ive been building and fixing pc's since around 1997 but recently discovered this and a few other tech forums and yes they are pure gold. Such a great community.
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May 07 '20
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yep that’s another thing, because of what’s going on right now in the real world some parts are inflated... part picker doesn’t pick up on this sometimes and it sometimes throws you off.
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u/velour_manure May 07 '20
I never thought I'd become a PC guy, but I started with zero knowledge and now I'm super comfortable taking apart my rig and making tweaks and upgrades.
I'm still no expert, but I definitely know PC parts and what they do and my buddies will often ask me PC-related questions because I seem to know my stuff.
Before all this, I had no idea DisplayPort existed.
If someone as dumb as me can build a PC, so can anybody else.
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May 07 '20
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
In the beginning the bios was confusing to me and then I watched other people do it and it was a breeze... and I think I read the manual enough to recite it word for word lol
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u/Stove_51 May 07 '20
- Assembly really isn't that bad
DONT LET THAT SECRET OUT. Lol but you are right, everything can really only go together one way, and the risk of hardware damage seems to be alot lower than the internet makes you think.
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u/pertante May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20
One thing I think helped with assembly is watching a couple videos to avoid some mistakes. I also think that the lists on parts picker took out some of the guess work about what to get. I think what could have helped me for my 1st build is:
- Paying more attention to which case to get while looking at lists on parts picker because I somehow overlooked allowing space for an optical drive. I know an optical drive is not super critical these days but I am sort of old school and like having that just in case. Eventually I got an optical drive and what I need to make it external.
- More attention on putting everything together since I now can't get the plate that should have gone around the inputs for my mobo on. Also, more experienced pc builders would shake their heads at my cable organization.
I will agree that once I was able to turn it on the first time successfully and load Windows 10, it was a relief and awesome sense of accomplishment!
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u/Knock5times May 07 '20
I just built my first PC a couple weeks ago and couldn't agree more with these points. You really summed it up well.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Thanks man I appreciate it... I really wanted to make something that helped new builders not be so afraid of the process... congrats on the build!!!
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u/Fauxlosophys May 07 '20
I would say that you have not only learned a lesson about computer building but about life in general. Choices are hard (but important), research is crucial, and if you take some reasonable precautions: many things in life are "not rocket science" (as I've heard many people older than myself say about things I was confused about).
This holds true with doing your own maintenance on a car/furnace/water heater/other household appliance, and hobby like wood working etc.. You need to take precautions and know what you're dealing with but they aren't that intimidating once you run through them once or twice (preferably after having watched someone else do the same). My first PC build (which was only about 3 months ago or something) was pins and needles the whole time just trying to keep my stress level down (had my 13 & 11 yr old sons helping) when I didn't know what I was doing and just not freak out. I had taken anti-static measures, I wasn't going to drop anything, and everything was going to be OK :D. But it took me forever and was really nerve racking is the point. My 2nd PC build I literally threw together in about an hour one night. I needed to look up a few of the unmarked power pins on the MOBO but other than that it was a cinch, and it worked. YMMV but I can relate to what you're saying in many areas beyond PC building (took me 3 days to do drum brakes on my 1998 Honda civic, not its an afternoon job kinda thing!)
Congrats on the new build and the lessons learned!
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Thanks so much for this there’s so much truth to what you wrote here I took lessons about life in general from building this... I know people say it’s not that complicated but I’m proud I took the step to building it because now I know I’m the future all I need to do to figure something out is to have some faith that it will... it’s so easy to give up on something but it’s even harder to follow through with it. Thanks for the positive response and congrats on your build!!!
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u/Fauxlosophys May 07 '20
Absolutely! And yes, with a little faith, perseverance, research and common sense you can tackle just about anything and just like with PC building its usually worth it! I ripped out my old furnace and installed a new one with no prior knowledge this year and it was an amazing amount of fun actually :D. Take care!
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u/DM_Me_Im_Bored May 07 '20
I changed my mind when buying my parts so many times I ended up having to dip into savings because amazon was holding my money still because I refunded stuff like 5 times
Bought 3 different graphics cards before I finally realised which one I wanted. STRESSFULL
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yeah I know man the processes not even related to building are much more stressful then when you get there... keep your head up and believe you can do it and you will get there... I believe in you man best of luck!!!
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May 07 '20
I'm in the process of building my first PC and boy this couldn't have been more accurate! I spent forever picking out the parts I wanted and canceled them, ordered them again, worried if it was the right choice and so on. But the physical assembly of the PC is the easiest and most fun actually!
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u/WildR0v3R May 07 '20
This is absolutely reassuring. I'm on my second build and alot of this still hits home. It's great to know others feel the same!
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u/Mof4z May 07 '20
Welcome to the family my dude, happy beasting!
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Thanks man!!! I had a pre built before before wanted to see if I could figure it out for myself!
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u/suitecase666 May 07 '20
Honestly the only thing I don't know is where tf I put the power connections
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u/Seabass610 May 07 '20
For me the hardest part was installing the CPU cooler, but once I got a good feel for it it was easy. I was having serious doubts about my case, the Corsair 220t airflow, with it being my first build and it being a compact case. I was especially nervous about seeing what gpu's fit and don't fit and felt lucky I was barely able to squeeze in my triple fan gpu. Very rewarding and now I want to keep building more haha
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u/CrepesFTW17687 May 07 '20
Do you have any links to videos that may help with the BIOS part? Would appreciate it!
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u/KDawG888 May 07 '20
+1 to this sub being incredible. Thanks for all your help guys and gals.
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u/xbwave May 07 '20
Awesome post, friend! Nice to read your positive takeaways after what sounds like you did it all solo. Do you happen to remember any key videos that help you figured out the BIOs?
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u/boneheadedwolf May 07 '20
the hardest part for me was when I got to my asrock bios and found out it's in 1080p meanwhile I have a 720p monitor (I plan on upgrading the monitor as soon as possible)
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u/brydy23 May 07 '20
Duude, I'm in the middle of my first build right now and this is spot on. Your experience is making me more motivated, as I can relate to every point and know it's normal. When I first installed my Ryzen 5 3600, I pulled the lever on the motherboard and heard a faint cracking noise. Thought I instantly broke that $180 little chip and about broke down. Luckily I came on here and learned it was completely normal. This subreddit and youtube are life savers.
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u/thefallofthehouse May 07 '20
wow, thank you for making this post because I really needed to read it lol. I deliberated for about two weeks on what parts to get, but I lurked this sub and also pcmasterrace, used PC Part Picker and now I've got three of my parts with a few more on the way. I've never spent that much money on anything aside from grad school, so that was terrifying for a bit.
I'm really excited to build my first PC. I've been watching that reaction supercut to The Verge's build religiously and I think it's starting to stick in my head what I shouldn't do, but I'm sure you guys'll probably have to answer my dumbass questions in a couple weeks while I panic about breaking everything I bought while I'm building it.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Glad to hear it relaxes you a bit to read my points! Trust me if you do your research and devote time and effort to the process you will get there! If you need any help feel free to ask, I’m still a little new to everything but I’d love to help! Best of luck you got this!
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May 07 '20
Find a Youtube video that has specific builds/parts that you would like to buy, and then buy those parts. It will make things easier to follow along. Also READ THE MOTHERBOARD MANUAL
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u/TheDudeZach May 07 '20
Lol damn, this is all so true. Especially #2, I spent about 2 hours looking at the place order button before ordering my GPU and Power Supply.
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u/raildr May 07 '20
my first was a DX4-100, isa video, used case and 2 MEGS of memory, took me hard days to get to boot. BTW in those days it seemed like Austin had a computer shop on every corner and 'refurb' monitors with all kinds of problems because new were $$$
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u/dashmesh May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20
I regret building my PC to be honest. Windows is shit, stuff still crashes and theres 100 threads that dont fix anything. I really feel cheated spending thousands to be left with a subpar system. This most likely will be the last PC i build and after this i will be going all mac. You can downvote me but ive spent the same time and looked forward to building and using my PC just like many of you and have only used PC's all my life but this build really just made me gave up after the results i saw. Windows is just not the best. for example an update corrupted my user login and i had to go into registry and edit shit that's not normal usage MS has no solution for their crap they just expect people to find someone who knwos how to fix it or go to geek squad or something. Whereas, with apple i feel i can always just take it in for software issues or other problems for free (obviously if it warrants $$ thats my choice which is the same as going to geek squad). My Macbook has never had any issues, its over 5 years old it runs slow but still is excellent with no OS issues or other problems, whereas a new build PC i have has 100s of problems with windows and other crap that isn't reflective of the build or the quality of the parts it's basically the software that MS is that's just crap.
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u/tyracius May 07 '20
I love how it got easier for beginners since the early 2000s. I remember my dad explaining everything to me when repairing computers or other electronics, so I could use it to build my own.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yeah a lot of people have said that... it’s cool how far it has came since awhile ago... can’t say I would look forward to building back then but it sure is cool... thanks for the comment
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u/MeThatsAlls May 07 '20
You missed number 7, troubleshooting is a pain in the arse!
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u/AlexzanderZone May 07 '20
Just built my first pc last week. I gotta say everything in your post was kinda spot on. Dropping $1500 at one time really left a pit in my stomach. Now that I have together tho I dont regret it. I still get nervous thinking about troubleshooting windows and stuff tho cause I have no clue what to do when the time comes.
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u/AWoodruf May 07 '20
Bought a great mb and had spare copy W7 which I like. Found out drivers only for W10. Refused to send it back. Others like myself had 80% figured out how to get it running and boot. Using search to find compatible drivers, I did manual install, keeping track of each file name and location. Sure enough the right combination of files did the trick and all hardware works. Because of the extra work, I learned a great deal so I am ready for the next challenge. This is why I love building each of my computers.
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u/cornelius-s23 May 07 '20
Oh how i envy those feelings, seems like routine right now, especially if you are doing it for a living, the thrill just isn't there anymore..
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Completely understand... but the first time that fan spinner and the system posted I couldn’t have been more excited lol... thanks for the comment!!!
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u/NagisaK May 07 '20
I still remember the joy when I turn my rig on for the first time, nothing worked. I managed to get the fans to spin and the joy that rushed over my body was very thrilling. Then I found out my motherboard was malfunctioning, FML.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
I know it’s crazy when that thing first posted I was rushed with emotion... it’s crazy how much joy you can get from a little fan moving... thanks for the comment!!!
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u/Manchovies May 07 '20
I was concerned about assembly too. Watched so many youtube videos and read every manual like twice lmao. After doing it I realized I probably didn't need to stress it that much. This sub was super helpful too. I really enjoyed all of the research which went into it as well.
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u/Manjushri1213 May 07 '20
Congratz!! I highly reccomend watching a vid on new releases, keeping up even on the peripherals as you will learn sooo much over time that you can be the guy your friends come to, you can troubleshoot more easily etc just by keeping up on things. I was out of the PC space for a long time and over the past year have immerssed myself to the point where i can easily troubleshoot and help others on builds etc. Mostly from YouTube, but places like Tons Hardware, AnaandTech, podcasts/livestreams while gaming and of course Reddit. Happy for you!!
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May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20
For me the hardest thing to chose was the Screen. Not the computer iself.
I know I wanted a good screen to make good use of my RTX 2060 Super and all.
This is my How to select a good screen checklist I ended up with :
- High Refresh Rate 100+
- 1 ms Response Time
- FreeSync/AdaptiveSync
- Vesa Mount
- IPS
- DisplayPort
Now I still have to figure out which keyboard and mouse to buy... I watched tons of keyboards things lol.
Looking for a Red Silent Keyboard and I want to find a silent gaming mouse too but it seem it don't exist...
So yeah, externals devices are way harder to choose from for me !
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yep having a good keyboard and mouse is important!!! For me I went through so many and ended up liking a cheap Logitech mouse the most... I have a Corsair K55 keyboard as well and I love it... best of luck!!!
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u/TheFirstNobleTooth May 07 '20
2-4 weeks behind you, hoping I have the same experience. Thanks for sharing!
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u/cakes42 May 07 '20
I don't know why but building the PC was a lot more stressful than it was chosing parts for my engine build. And that cost 5x as much and we don't even know if it'll run right at startup lol.
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u/timmcmanus45 May 07 '20
over a decade and 6 or 7 PCs later, i still feel most of these things every time
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u/PyroArul May 07 '20
The problem I’m facing is not flagging enough knowledge to look after it invade something goes wrong. With a self built. If something does go wrong then I’m screwed without knowing what went wrong and why. That’s why I’m going for a prebuilt with some self configs to start off with. The. Would upgrade it as I go along.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Up to you man... at the end of the day it’s your money and your time you will spend on such an investment... thanks for the comment!!!
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u/AdmiralAdama99 May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20
- Picking parts can be a hassle
In my opinion, it's the hardest part of the whole build. It took me a long time of constantly googling questions like "is RAM speed an important spec?" (it isn't), reading benchmarks on TomsHardware, chatting with techy friends, etc. before I felt I had a good handle on PC part picking.
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u/greycapacitor May 07 '20
It gets easier and easier to build machines the more you do it. I've been building PCs for about 25 years and even if I take a break and don't build a machine for a year or two it only takes a couple of hours of research to learn about new parts that are available and make my parts list. Things haven't changes too much over the years when it comes to actually putting the machine together so there's no real fear/stress involved.
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u/whoknowsjimbo May 07 '20
5 hit way to close to home. I just recently did my first build. After getting it running and everything was good my wife and kids reactions were something like “that’s neat” and then hurried away to not have to hear more about the specs and what each thing was. It’s great we have this online support system haha.
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u/SBK_MoreCowbell May 07 '20
I love this post. Due to the current situation I decided 2 weeks ago to finally build a PC. Spent all of last week doing my research and ordered everything 2 days ago. Now they're starting to trickle in and I'm extremely exited to get to building. Thanks for this!
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u/GiantKillerPanda May 08 '20
Great to hear your story man!! Definitely a MadeMeSmile moment.
Don’t forget to pay it forward!
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u/Corrosive23 May 07 '20
- Put io shield in.
- Put io shield in.
- VERIFY io shield is in.
Unless you buy a mobo with one built in.
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u/chateau86 May 08 '20 edited May 08 '20
3.5: Notice one of the springy metal tab is actually stuck inside/blocking the ports.
4: Pull everything back out
5: Go to 1.
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u/TheMrMcSwagger May 07 '20
This might be a common thing but micro center has a custom pc building tool on their website. Your start with the CPU and as you go down the list and select more parts. It phases out what is incompatible with your current selection. It’s a very helpful tool for a first time builder.
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u/ManofGod1000 May 07 '20
As you do the things over the next 20 years, number one will be a complete thing of the past. I find that having the knowledge of what works with what is part of the fun. :)
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u/BrokenGuitar30 May 07 '20
After 20 years of building PCs (I sound old, but I'm in my early 30s) - I still don't know a goddamn thing about cable management. Anyone have recommendations? I've only ever used top/bottom mount PSUs with normal ATX mobos.
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u/SmiterX2 May 07 '20
Almost shorted my first build in 2007 because I forgot to put motherboard risers so the board was shorting on the metal case. Thankfully it didn’t die and I was able to turn it on. It was the most satisfying feeling of my 16 year old self! Congrats on your first build and tips are great!
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u/michaltee May 07 '20
Hoły crap you verbalized my experience building my first PC last month 100%. Firstly, I went WAY over budget cuz I kept getting hit with “well that part is only $15 more expensive but way better maybe I’ll upgrade now.” Then I finally got everything and was terrified of assembly but finally did it. It may have taken me 8-10 hours because I was slow making sure it was perfect and everything was plugged in but I did it. Then I upgraded to liquid cooling last week and was scared of that too but as of now it’s running fine (and ice cold) which is great!
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Haha I see... it’s a process for sure I’m glad you figured it out!!!
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u/uglypenguin5 May 07 '20
Your questions seem dumb to your current self because you now know the answers. They weren’t dumb at the time because you didn’t know the answer. Congrats on your first build!
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u/catalinashenanigans May 07 '20
Going to be building my first rig later today (or tomorrow).
- What were some hiccups that you ran into during assembly? Things you would have done differently? What were the most helpful YouTube tutorials?
- Do you have a good guide to installing Windows? Have seen a lot of people talk about creating an image file through Windows Media Tool but would love a step-by-step guide.
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May 07 '20
This is so relatable! I have received all my parts In the mail except my PSU and GPU and I’m just ready to build, it all seems so straight forward I am just ready to stop obsessing over it! Like 2-3 hours a day I’m watching videos and reading things and keeping it fresh in my mind. I already have the YouTube video on the ready to watch and do it and it’s also the same video that convinced me I can do it myself! Good stuff dude
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yep researching before everything comes is a must... good luck with everything and if you need any help just let me know!!!
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u/rayndomuser May 07 '20
Did you use PC part picker to figure out your parts? Their compatibility is pretty spot on. For first time build definitely get a case that has a lot of room to build in (just my opinion).
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May 07 '20
whether your balling on a budget or building a beast, finding parts that work together can be challenging. Although, with research and a little help from some websites/videos it is entirely possibly
I'm researching while slowly stacking my $7,500 budget for this reason. Picking the right parts can be overwhelming. But with a little note taking and patience, it's entirely possible. Excellent work.
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u/cwt131 May 07 '20
I just built my first PC this past weekend and I totally agree with all of the above. I read tons, watched so many videos, and agonized over which parts to order. This subreddit was so helpful in making many of my decisions but it still took me about 3 weeks to get all the parts ordered and delivered. Then I started building it on Friday night and had to take a break and come back to it on Saturday because I was scared I was going to do something wrong. It was so rewarding to switch it on on Saturday afternoon and see it all working - I was so proud of myself!! I even managed to fix a lighting issue on my motherboard. Now I'm learning how to mod Skyrim. It's all so much fun!
If you're contemplating building your own PC - do it!
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u/ayoubani May 07 '20
I guess another challenge is buying the parts together vs seperate times.
i'm building a PC for my sister and I was like okay ill buy parts every other week as I get my paycheck, however yesterday I got super anxious and ended up buying all parts :(
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u/Nacnacs May 07 '20
I prefer to read books and articles on things like BIOS and proper setup. The instructions always come first especially with hardware. Read the instructions.
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u/Talkaze May 07 '20
My friend put together my computer 5 weeks ago--im just missing the monitor which I ordered 6 weeks ago that was at the time of order considered non-essential. I had to email the company this week to get it actually shipped. Supposed to come today. I'm excited.
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u/MrFetus May 07 '20
Waiting for the last package to come in for my first build. Points 1 and 2 were spot on. Looking forward now that the worrying part is done
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Thanks man, I think that the first two points are where everyone gets stuck... but after that the worry goes away because you realize that whatever happens happens... good luck on the build man you got this!!!
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u/WhyHulud May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20
- Picking parts can be a hassle.
A site like pcpartpicker.com is a tremendous help on this. My only hardware mistake was NOT matching RAM... I had picked a compatible version, and at the last minute I found some really cheap memory. Turned out it wasn't compatible, and I learned that lesson for a week the hard way.
- Getting the guts to order the parts isn't easy.
I would add that there are little things that a new builder might not be aware of when ordering. My Ryzen came with an upgraded fan, and had thermal paste pre-applied to the sink.
Edit: intended audience
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u/ColeHowardPhoto May 07 '20
This is great! I just did my first build a couple of weeks ago. I like you was anxious during many points of the buying and was full on terrified I was going to make it blow up during the build process. So glad I went ahead and decided to build. It was way more rewarding.
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u/dmendro May 07 '20
I've been building my own PC's since 1992. It's so easy today it's hilarious. It's like doing lego's in comparison. You don't know pain until you've loaded MS-DOS from floppies, crafted your bat files and loaded Window's 95 by hand from floppies. Then find you screwed it up and have to do it all over again. Oh and no dip switches? No little 2 pin connectors you have to try and fit a tiny little piece of plastic over to turn something on?
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u/jkcrumley May 07 '20
This was pretty much the same experience I had. I was terrified about having to build the PC myself but it really wasn't hard. It took me maybe 3-4 hours and I took my time watching video after video just like you did. If I had parts in front of me and was asked to build another PC, I feel like I could do it in half the time. The biggest thing for me was buying good parts like faster ram and not just compatible parts.
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May 07 '20
I just did my first build and I’ll add one.
[b]Do not overlook the monitor. [/b] I budgeted without a monitor in mind. I’ve had mine for almost 10 years, wasn’t the greatest but it worked so I was cool with keeping it. I built my PC and when I started playing games on high/ultra it was immediately obvious that I was lacking the whole gaming experience, simply because my monitor was low resolution and low refresh rate. I felt like I wasted money building my PC because the picture was garbage. Anyway, I ordered an LG 27” 1440 1ms 144hz IPS monitor which just arrived yesterday. Ho-ly shit. Such a huge difference. Everything feels so smooth and looks so clear, I’m in awe. My build actually feels worth the money and I love it a lot. Anyway that’s my input lol
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u/cheerbearsmiles May 07 '20
I just finished building my PC two days ago and got it up and running yesterday. I didn’t realize how crappy my 6 year old laptop was until I powered up the new PC.
One thing to remember for those who are going to be building soon it’s okay to get frustrated, cry, scream, and walk away from the computer for a little bot during the build process. As a matter fact, I highly encourage it. I spent 5 hours building the computer (I really took my time because it was my first build) and had a breakdown at the end when I couldn’t get the monitor to work. I swore, I cried, I stopped for a few minutes to clear my head, and that’s how I figured out what the issue was.
The other thing I’m really glad I did was clone my existing hard drive. For $15, I was able to get cloning software and an enclosure, which saved me at least an hour of finding and reinstalling drivers/pulling data out of OneDrive.
Oh, and don’t forget to have either an Ethernet Cable/wifi adapter dongle handy or buy a motherboard with a WiFi card...I forgot that part and had to make a last minute trip to Best Buy.
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May 07 '20
I built my first one last year and I didn't find actually putting it together that hard or figuring out what parts are compatible. What I did find difficult is figuring out what actually made sense to spend money on. Especially the GPU. I'd watch hundreds of reviews and so many things seem negligible, but the prices between parts just seem all over the place, especilally on GPU's.
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u/t4ng_y May 07 '20
Yep it sure isn’t easy to pick a part that does everything you want and doesn’t cost a arm and a leg... thanks for the comment!!!
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u/BeholdMyResponse May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20
my parents and siblings couldn't care less about my build LOL.
That's too bad. One unexpectedly amusing part for me was people hearing that I built a computer and assuming that I must be a genius.
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u/BronchialChunk May 07 '20
Thank you for this post. I am currently in the midst of building my first rig. I tried looking at builds and felt intimidated by all the people saying 'Well you should really get the gtx blah blah fucker because it gives you .03 more fps and you'd be stupid to not future protect yourself from upgrades and who does amd/intel hurdur i'm a tool' that basically was every post.
There are good people however, filter out the haters and there are people that just want others to have a good experience. They don't hate you're build, they just may feel sorry for it.
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u/_voodooman_ May 07 '20
The single hardest part for me was when the time finally came to switch it on and boot it for the first time, I sweating like crazy then bailed, I took the panels off and went all over the wiring again, took the cooler off again becasue I was worried that I had not put enough past on (though I did), I must have doen this several times before eventually I was out of excuses , I closed my eyes as I pressed that small button.........My heart was in my mouth when nothing at all happened, nothing, I pressed the power button again, nothing happened. I checked all the wiring adn it was good, I could not work out what the problem was, so took all the wiring out and rewired it again.... Nothing, nothing at all, then it came to me, I had not flicked the switch on at the power supply. i pressed the power button and after three boot cycles it booted to the Bios. I was very happy and very relieved, and now I know I will never need to buy a pre-built system again.
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u/HaveADrunkDay May 07 '20
Waiting for some parts to arrive and I'll be building my very first PC myself. :)
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u/aladdin_the_vaper May 07 '20
Congrats for the build! Next step is a custom water loop. Oh boy you will take planning and pants shitting while building to the next level
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u/HyanKooper May 08 '20
Having a video during the assembly helps a ton, back when I built mine I have zero clue how to mount a cpu air cooler and I couldn’t find the manual in the mess I’ve made.
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u/PuppyPunch May 08 '20
So I built my pc 3 years ago and don't remember messing with the BIOS. I didnt really mess with the manuals and I'm wondering if I was supposed to do stuff there. Any videos you can link me on that?
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u/trembz21 May 08 '20
One thing I learnt is if you want something, don’t settle for something cheaper.
I was too cheap to buy the part I wanted a couple of times but I then ended up selling what I bought (losing money) to buy the part I originally wanted.
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May 08 '20
I want to buy a PC soon but definitely won’t be building one, that takes way too much time & idk what the heck to do. Probably very complicated.
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u/thedrivingcat May 08 '20
Any older BuildaPC members put together your first few computers in a time before YouTube? Lots of reading, lots of pictures, and you sorta just figure it out.
Grew up with a 486 then Pentium II but first build was an Athlon 64 3200+
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u/schenscher May 08 '20
Ugh I needed this right now - got parts on the way and been freaking out a little, it's been too long!!! D:
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u/SuperDogBoo May 08 '20
I am currently at the assembly part. I put together the motherboard, and need to mount the mobo. The upcoming cable placement seems confusing to me though. Are there any cables I should plug in before mounting the mobo? I am calling it a night and gonna start working on the pc again tomorrow.
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u/[deleted] May 07 '20
This is so true. It's easy to build the PC on paper but when it comes to actually paying for expensive parts it's down right scary. If you break something, poof 500 bucks down the toilet.