First build is complete

[icedogs36]

So i just finished with my first build and was surprised at how simple everything was. I figured since it was my first time there would be some problems. the hardest part was figuring out were all the power cords went. heres my specs

550 watt PSU
ASRock Z68M
Gigabyte gtw 560 ti (overclocked)
8gb ram
i5 2500k (overclocked)

im extremely happy with the results considering how little i spent. overal its was a great learning experience and im already looking into upgrades.

my question is what are some things i should do to keep my rig running like new. i have a couple antivirus programs that i run every night. and im going to defrag once ever couple weeks. is there anything else that could either improve my performance or keep it running like new

 

[o1die]

Don't defrag any ssd's, if you get one in the future. It's a run rule to prevent damage to the drive. My best advice is to leave everything alone. Don't be tempted to touch or move stuff around without an esd strap. I also spray a cleaning solvent at least once a year to clear off the dust on all the fans, including the power supply. Don't rub anything with a cloth; the spray is safer.

 

[ComputerNovice]

Like the poster above said never defrag an SSD if you end up getting one. (Personally I think you should probably invest in one of those next)

Always make sure that when you install things that you are sure it's from a trusted source. Also whenever you decide to uninstall something always use a program like REVO-UNINSTALLER to uninstall the app so that way you aren't leaving behind tons of crap that the windows built in uninstaller misses and the uninstallers that are bundled with programs also leave behind. Because over time this will cause your system to run slowly. So a program that actually uninstalls something properly is a must.

The malware program I use most is malwarebytes it has always served me quite well, I also run avast for my anti-virus real time protection. Obviously though there is also several other types of programs that work just as well.

Another great program I use is advanced system care 5. Even the free version of this program is great the only thing you have watch out for is that if you have a SSD never let it defrag it. But it's registry fix's and overall system tune-up features work wonderfully. It's probably one of the best utility's out there. The fact it's made so anyone can use it is also extremely nice.

However even though I gave the advice above my main piece of advice is that once you have everything installed (meaning your OS all your paid apps etc.) First thing you need to do if you haven't already is go ahead and use either the windows 7 system image creator or some other means of creating a system image. Make sure to either burn it all to DVD/Blu-ray or an external disk or spare HD if you have one. The main reason I say this is because I generally always reinstall windows once every 6 months to a year. Because it just seems to be the most effective way of keeping things running perfect. Plus in the event something bad happens this will be seriously handy trust me.

I do realize though that this isn't always convenient for most people to do.