Hi,
I am going to build a computer for the first time in several years. Total amateur here - will be my third build. I started looking through guides and reading up to remind myself how to build it. The high level summary is shown below (liberally stolen from several sources - I just want to get it right so I don't screw it up later). Hoping this is about right but let me know if you think otherwise. Trying to have concise and very prescriptive instructions to make it easier for myself. May be a bit of overkill with the antistatic part but I want to be safe.
Am I missing steps with respect to powering up and making sure things work before further component installations? Seems like I remember doing this in steps several years ago to make sure each component was working. Thanks for your help.
Computer part (thanks, hellfire13):
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($399.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($207.65 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($141.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($233.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.39 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($749.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT - Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.89 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell - S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($406.30 @ Amazon)
I'll have to buy Windows 10 Home as well.
I am going to build a computer for the first time in several years. Total amateur here - will be my third build. I started looking through guides and reading up to remind myself how to build it. The high level summary is shown below (liberally stolen from several sources - I just want to get it right so I don't screw it up later). Hoping this is about right but let me know if you think otherwise. Trying to have concise and very prescriptive instructions to make it easier for myself. May be a bit of overkill with the antistatic part but I want to be safe.
Am I missing steps with respect to powering up and making sure things work before further component installations? Seems like I remember doing this in steps several years ago to make sure each component was working. Thanks for your help.
1. Work off a wood table, wood floor, wear rubber soled shoes.
2. Have the case and motherboard separately next to each other. Put the mobo on top of the box it came in (or on the wood table) – seems some people think using the antistatic bag it comes with is a BAD idea. Apparently the outside of it is conductive.
3. Screw in the power supply to mount it to the case and make sure the power supply is turned off.
4. Plug in the power supply to the wall outlet to ground it.
5. Put on antistatic wrist band and clip it to a screw on the power supply or hook it to the fan grill of the power supply.
6. Touch the side of the power supply or something non painted metal on the case itself.
7. Begin working outside of the case on the motherboard separate from the case. Avoid touching ICs. Put in memory, cpu, cooler, etc. Only touch the CPU sides. Only a 'pea' sized dab of thermal paste. RAM to match mobo required slots - 1/2, 1/3, 2/4. Place standoffs on corresponding mobo holes.
8. Put the motherboard into the case (do not overtighten), put the primary hard drive in, GPU, and anything else except the secondary hard drive (to avoid confusion with windows install).
9. Hook up all cables.
10. Unplug power supply from wall, plug into a surge protector and turn on surge protector.
10.5 Connect monitor and start computer. Connect mouse, keyboard, speakers.
11. [strike]Flash bios from thumb drive[/strike] BIOS-> keep all defaults usually, and select "XMP" (Intel) for memory. Disable CSM (Compatibility Support Module). Set up secure boot. Need to read up on these.
11.1 Run memtest86 off of flash drive.
12. Install windows from thumb drive. Update it.
12.5 update drivers (especially GPU)
12.6 Download software to test stability (memtest86 with full pass). Test temperatures.
12.7 Flash bios.
12.8 Antivirus. CPU fan profile. Backup software (have Crashplan but it's ending its service so will switch to something like Acronis True Image as suggested.)
13. Install secondary hard drive. Setup windows backup to secondary hard drive.
13.5 Wait two weeks to ensure stability.
14. Download OC software (? will read up on this later cause I forgot exactly how and it's changed).
15. OC.
16. Transfer old files and install other software.
Computer part (thanks, hellfire13):
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($399.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($207.65 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($141.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($233.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.39 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($749.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT - Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.89 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell - S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($406.30 @ Amazon)
I'll have to buy Windows 10 Home as well.