Avoiding Common PC Building Traps - Episode 1

What are some common pitfalls of building your own PC, and how do you avoid them?

Buy a Gaming PC

Buy a Gaming Laptop

[CrackedDylMil]

Don't wear a long sleeved shirt when you build your computer. I got my sleeve caught in the socket, and ripped out a bunch of pins

[cinderblockstudios]

A little notice about the force needed to close the arm on the CPU. For a good 10 minutes I was pretty sure I was going to break it.

[lophilip]

Check the length of the GPU and your computer case.

[thegreatmilkguitar]

INSTALL YOUR CPU AND COOLER BEFORE PUTTING THE MOTHERBOARD IN! I just started doing this after 4 years of building and it’s so much easier

[ZeroBNG]

i read too often that people plug their Monitor into the Mainboard instead of the graphics card and run on Intel HD graphics for months or even years before understanding why the PC is so slow... or even think the shitty performance is normal. DON'T DO THAT!

[mattw]

When you are freaking out wondering why the system won't post for the first time, double check your power supply is on

[Thanatosdan]

Lol when I was younger I forgot to screw in my gpu it has been hanging for 6 years before I noticed

[dylanlangston]

Always have a tutorial going on in the background even if you’re an experienced builder to ensure you don’t forget anything

[Bkaz]

Definitely make sure that your motherboard actually supports overclocking if you purchase a "K" series CPU...

[mitori]

DON'T FORGET THE THERMAL PASTE... i did... once...

[wulfone]

My first time building my own gaming rig was 2016. I was so stressed out that it took me like 3 days. I would stop and take breaks. To me it was like disarming a bomb. But after you do it once it seems really easy. Now I just install and uninstall parts like it's nothing.

[Cloveis]

4 years ago: “has there ever been a better time to build a PC”

He never would have anticipated 2020

[daleykun]

If we're taking rookie errors, making sure all your components are compatible is probably #1

[drewcipher]

If your computer doesn't turn on, make sure it's plugged in.

[NoName-rqec]

Before gathering the parts and building pc:

- *Get a job*

[ptkbsq]

I was 8 when I got my first computer. I remember how I saved up for a year to upgrade the graphics card because I can’t play GTA Vice City (don’t blame my parents I got it from a friend) only to buy the same graphics card and realise that I couldn’t run GTA because I connected the monitor to the board’s VGA port instead of the one in the card.

[flagpoleeip]

Make sure you have all the cables you need. eg don't assume that your drives will come with cables.

[FantasticallyFred]

And noob builder recommendation:
go to a build your pc for you site, build the pc you want using their selectors, then take the parts list to newegg or amazon. The software does the compatibility checking for you.

[TonkarzOfSolSystem]

When you realize Linus is still gesturing even after the camera cuts away... and no one will ever see those gestures.

[vrapbrap]

The magic of re-seating parts should never be overlooked. And my god MAKE SURE you press the ram sticks in there hard enough so they actually click into place (also make sure they are in the right slots). In two builds I had loose RAM. I thought I put it in there all tight, but nope. It was loose and computer wouldn't boot.
Also when I upgraded to GTX1070 to better compliment the i76700k, The GPU fans would spin at 100% whenever I booted a game and got stuck there. I thought my card was broken until I just took the card out, blowed in a bit of canned air just to be sure into the PCI-e slot, put the card back in and boom, no problems whatsoever.
So don't be afraid to just re-seat gpu's if you get bizarre issues.