How To Build A PC: From Component Selection To Installation

[Crashman]

Learn how to choose the right components for your first build, where to buy them, and the installation basics necessary to build a PC.

How To Build A PC: From Component Selection To Installation : Read more

 

[kasialorenc]

Archived comments are found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2191971/build-component-selection-installation.html

 

[AndrewJacksonZA]

"the power supply is actually one of the more important parts of a build"
Thank you!!

Or rather, let's do what the cool kids are doing and rather post a GIF:
https://giphy.com/gifs/the-office-thank-you-michael-scott-1Z02vuppxP1Pa

 

[Eggz]

Great piece for a lot of first-time builders. This should have a sticky somewhere on the site so it doesn't get buried

 

[jkhoward]

"the power supply is actually one of the more important parts of a build"
Thank you!!

Or rather, let's do what the cool kids are doing and rather post a GIF:
https://giphy.com/gifs/the-office-thank-you-michael-scott-1Z02vuppxP1Pa

Seriously, not enough people realize how import a good PSU is. I am working with someone is heavily overclocking an i7 and two 970 in SLI as well as 4 SSD and a few hard drives, a bunch of fans, with a 750W PSU.

 

[jkhoward]

Also... I am digging the age of some of these images.

 

[blackmagnum]

This article brings back embarrassing memories. https://giphy.com/gifs/the-office-thank-you-michael-scott-1Z02vuppxP1Pa

 

[alidan]

"the power supply is actually one of the more important parts of a build"
Thank you!!

Or rather, let's do what the cool kids are doing and rather post a GIF:
https://giphy.com/gifs/the-office-thank-you-michael-scott-1Z02vuppxP1Pa

Seriously, not enough people realize how import a good PSU is. I am working with someone is heavily overclocking an i7 and two 970 in SLI as well as 4 SSD and a few hard drives, a bunch of fans, with a 750W PSU.

unless i'm thinking wrong, isn't that within the power limits of a 750? im even assuming that each gpu is 300 watts and i know they shouldn't hit that even with the most aggressive of ocs

granted there is a distinction between a good psu and a bad one, but im just assuming its a good one.

 

[chimera201]

Motherboard slots haven't evolved much. Wished every slot was like a USB slot

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Seriously, not enough people realize how import a good PSU is. I am working with someone is heavily overclocking an i7 and two 970 in SLI as well as 4 SSD and a few hard drives, a bunch of fans, with a 750W PSU.

Your point being... ?

 

[renosablast]

Steps 1 and 3 should be combined, and step 2 comes after 1 and 3. You better worry about the CPU and motherboard combo compatibility before you worry about a graphics card.

 

[renosablast]

Sorry, meant steps 2 and 4 before 3.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I love when you see a $1500.00 build with top quality components and then they have a $40.00 PSU listed with it.

 

[Outlander_04]

IMO the very first component selection for a gaming build should always be the .... MONITOR.
Decisions on where and how to spend the rest of the budget can only be made once you know the resolution , and whether its 60 Hz, 144 Hz or whatever else is available

 

[MasterMace]

Gonna throw in my disagreement on the priority, mentioned nice and early in the article. The first thing you pick is never your case. There's 3 things you can decide to be your starting point when building a pc to make it a smooth ride; either, 1. Budget. 2. CPU 3. Graphics. By picking 1 of these 3 things as your starting point, you can have a very smooth build process. Does that mean you buy your case last? No, I've seen plenty of builds where the case arrives first as a way of storing the items, but when you want a solid build, your case is last priority, as it has no impact on your performance and restricts the size of your items.

Even if you wanted to build an odd form factor, like an itx, you would still pick the cpu or the budget before the case.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for explaining ESD correctly. I have been annoyed with articles over exaggerating about ESD a lot. So just touching something metal can help? Well, next time I think I'll set a PC on my wooden desk instead of the carpet.

 

[kunstderfugue]

I love when you see a $1500.00 build with top quality components and then they have a $40.00 PSU listed with it.

The XFX TS Bronze 550 comes down to $43 ish from time to time and that's a mighty fine PSU to power a single graphics card build.

 

[nitrium]

"the power supply is actually one of the more important parts of a build"
Thank you!!

While not unimportant, it gets far too much attention on the forum's here. PSU's are only relatively rarely the cause of issues, and I'll go out on a limb and say that virtually ANY modern 650W PSU (even ultra-cheap China garbage) will reliably power a single GPU and CPU, regardless of model or how much OCing you do to them.

 

[Crashman]

I am working with someone is heavily overclocking an i7 and two 970 in SLI as well as 4 SSD and a few hard drives, a bunch of fans, with a 750W PSU.

unless i'm thinking wrong, isn't that within the power limits of a 750? im even assuming that each gpu is 300 watts and i know they shouldn't hit that even with the most aggressive of ocs

granted there is a distinction between a good psu and a bad one, but im just assuming its a good one.

You're exactly right. We've been using high-quality power supplies in most of our System Builder Marathon machines, and dual 970s was in one of the builds. The super-high recommendations you see from other sites are a response to most builders using mediocre-quality units.

 

[Crashman]

Gonna throw in my disagreement on the priority, mentioned nice and early in the article. The first thing you pick is never your case. There's 3 things you can decide to be your starting point when building a pc to make it a smooth ride; either, 1. Budget. 2. CPU 3. Graphics. By picking 1 of these 3 things as your starting point, you can have a very smooth build process. Does that mean you buy your case last? No, I've seen plenty of builds where the case arrives first as a way of storing the items, but when you want a solid build, your case is last priority, as it has no impact on your performance and restricts the size of your items.

Even if you wanted to build an odd form factor, like an itx, you would still pick the cpu or the budget before the case.

Exactly wrong. The first thing people do is say "I want a LAN box" or "I want a media player" or "I want a big gorgeous office PC". They're picking a case SIZE when they make those FIRST statements, so size comes first in the discussion.

 

[beoza]

Gonna throw in my disagreement on the priority, mentioned nice and early in the article. The first thing you pick is never your case. There's 3 things you can decide to be your starting point when building a pc to make it a smooth ride; either, 1. Budget. 2. CPU 3. Graphics. By picking 1 of these 3 things as your starting point, you can have a very smooth build process. Does that mean you buy your case last? No, I've seen plenty of builds where the case arrives first as a way of storing the items, but when you want a solid build, your case is last priority, as it has no impact on your performance and restricts the size of your items.

Even if you wanted to build an odd form factor, like an itx, you would still pick the cpu or the budget before the case.

Exactly wrong. The first thing people do is say "I want a LAN box" or "I want a media player" or "I want a big gorgeous office PC". They're picking a case SIZE when they make those FIRST statements, so size comes first in the discussion.

I have to agree with you on this Crashman. Whenever I go to build a new system for friends or relatives I always ask what they're going for in terms of use. I like to go with the Form follows function principle which is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose.

 

[Libero]

Gonna throw in my disagreement on the priority, mentioned nice and early in the article. The first thing you pick is never your case. There's 3 things you can decide to be your starting point when building a pc to make it a smooth ride; either, 1. Budget. 2. CPU 3. Graphics. By picking 1 of these 3 things as your starting point, you can have a very smooth build process. Does that mean you buy your case last? No, I've seen plenty of builds where the case arrives first as a way of storing the items, but when you want a solid build, your case is last priority, as it has no impact on your performance and restricts the size of your items.

Even if you wanted to build an odd form factor, like an itx, you would still pick the cpu or the budget before the case.

Sorry, meant steps 2 and 4 before 3.

It is same meaning as define a purpose and choose a case. When you buy a computer you must know what the purpose for first example for home/office, web browsing, gaming or multi-tasking. Budget also is depend to each person. So it is not CPU or GPU before case.

 

[James Mason]

I wish the pictures of PSU weren't just all Corsairs. That leads people to believe that all Corsair PSUs are "good" PSUs, when we know a vast majority aren't, and the ones a new builder are most likely to be definitely aren't.

 

[Crashman]

I have to agree with you on this Crashman. Whenever I go to build a new system for friends or relatives I always ask what they're going for in terms of use. I like to go with the Form follows function principle which is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose.

It is same meaning as define a purpose and choose a case. When you buy a computer you must know what the purpose for first example for home/office, web browsing, gaming or multi-tasking. Budget also is depend to each person. So it is not CPU or GPU before case.[/quotemsg]
Yeh, I should have just kept his last statement and deleted the rest before responding:

Even if you wanted to build an odd form factor, like an itx, you would still pick the cpu or the budget before the case.

What he's saying is even if you choose a form factor first, you're still buying the other parts first. Which is a backwards way of saying that the order of the article, form factor first, makes sense...and he still wants to disagree...

The problem is that one needs keep a general concept of the case in mind when picking the actual components. One can often pick the exact case to fit that concept at the end, but the "Define a purpose" leads immediately to form factor, and chopping the article off there only to come back to case selection doesn't really make sense.

 

[Bjorn_2]

I miss one important piece of advice: do not install anyhting but your primary drive before installing Windows. I have recently gone through the nightmare of trying to aggregate Windows onto my primary drive when replacing my SSD for a bigger one. It seems that if you have multiple drives installed, windows will happily use all for various purposes. So feel free to install everything but please, before installing Windows, disconnect your secondary and other drives.