You see... even though I'm big gamer with lots of video game consoles and handhelds, I'm often very nervous when it comes to handling technology. Unless I'm just pressing a button to turn it on, I often worry that I'll break it. This means I do minimal to zero tweaking of any sort. For example, my PS4 still has the original 500 GB hard drive.
So for me to build a PC from the ground up, putting all the parts together, and have it running -- I'm still amazed that I was able to do it ^___^
This blog will cover my whole "PC Building Journey", from how I decided which parts to get, to all my joys and frustrations while building the PC, to making sure it worked.
I'll try to be as informative as possible, but please keep in mind that newer, better computer parts come out quite frequently (like every year or so). Any specs or info I give now could be outdated years from now. So please, please keep that in mind!
PREFACE: WHY I DECIDED TO BUILD A PC
Around early March of this year, my old PC was experiencing an issue: when I pressed the Power button, the PC wouldn't turn on right away. It would take maybe 3-7 presses for it to finally turn on. A couple weeks later, it would take maybe 5-10 presses to turn on. I freaked out.All I kept thinking about were all the files on my old PC -- I didn't have them backed up anywhere, and many of the files I couldn't bear the thought of losing. I quickly ordered an external hard drive online and transferred as many files as I could. But I knew this wouldn't solve the Power button issue. I figured the only way to solve that... was to get a new PC.
I've had my old PC for slightly over 7 years now (it was bought pre-built), so I thought a newer PC with more up-to-date specs would be better in the long run than trying to make any adjustments to the old PC.
So I went online to shops like Best Buy and Newegg, and searched for pre-built gaming PCs. Only problem was: I didn't know what all the specs meant, so I had no idea what gaming PC was worth its price! So I watched a video on YouTube that explained various parts of a PC. But I was still lost on what the specs meant. So I watched another YouTube video about PC parts (a better one -- the video will be in the next section), and I saw that the pre-built gaming PCs within my budget only had some parts I wanted, but not all. For example, one pre-built gaming PC might list a high-end graphics card, but not a lot of RAM and not that much storage space (well, not as much as I'd like). After seeing so many different listings that didn't have all the parts I wanted, I decided that I had to the unthinkable: I had to build the PC myself.
STEP 1: RESEARCHING / CHOOSING THE PARTS
I lucked out and found a fairly comprehensive 3-part video series on YouTube. That video series became my main source of... learning and prepping myself for the whole scary process of PC building!
"How to Build a Gaming PC in 2019! Part 1 - Hardware Basics" by Paul's Hardware.
The video briefly went over each main part for a PC, some things to consider for each part, and then some recommendations. The video also introduced me to PCPartPicker. It's a great site that lists various PC parts, user ratings and reviews, price comparisons for some of the major online electronic shops, and a feature where you could create mock-ups of your own PC build. Users can also share their builds and get feedback / comments from other users.
From there, with some notes jotted down, I went on PCPartPicker and started putting together my... "ideal" PC build. For my "ideal", I didn't think about price and just marked what I really wanted. For things I didn't understand (like "core count" and "thread count" on a CPU), I'd Google search for Reddit postings about it. Then the next day, I reviewed my "ideal" build, saw the ridiculously expensive final price (around $3270 CAD after tax! Tooooo pricey for me), and thoroughly went through each PC part, comparing different versions of the same part (like the difference between AMD Ryzen 2600 vs AMD Ryzen 2700 vs AMD Ryzen 2700x), and if I could do with an older, less costly part.
Even before starting, this was the kind of PC I wanted for myself: one that could handle current video games okay (i.e. a fairly competent graphics card) with lots of storage space (i.e. a hard drive / SSD with lots of space) and one that could possibly handle graphic-editing / game-making / music production / video editing software (i.e. lots and lots of RAM. This is in case I ever wanted to veer in that direction). I also wanted a PC that could play CD / DVDs (I still have a lot of CD / DVDs at home!), so I had to make sure the PC case I got would have a slot for a 5.25" Bay (for the CD / DVD optical drive part).
Between Intel and AMD, I went with an AMD build. For my build that's already pretty pricey, I had to opt for the less costly route.
So here is my final build (excluding Microsoft Office because I got that from a shop that wasn't listed on their site). I'll also list the parts below with my thoughts, if any, on why I went with each of them. Often if I was undecided, I'd choose the part with higher user ratings (and higher amount of user ratings), and then whichever one costed less. The final cost including tax was roughly $2670 CAD. Still very costly, but at least not as crazy expensive as my first attempt!
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 -- I did not want to settle for less than 8 cores.
Motherboard: MSI B450 Tomahawk -- I mainly chose this because of high user ratings and I thought it'd be super helpful to follow Part 2 of Paul's Hardware PC-building video using the same motherboard he was going to use.
Memory (RAM): G. Skill Ripjaws V series DDR-3200 (8 GB x4) -- As mentioned earlier, I wanted to get more RAM in case I wanted to veer into using more creative / editing software.
Storage (SSD): Samsung 970 Evo 1TB M.2 NVMe -- This was my splurge part for myself. I wanted my primary drive to start up ridiculously fast. I originally wanted the 2 TB version, but couldn't justify paying around $250 more just for that, hahaha...
Storage (HDD): Seagate Barracuda 4TB internal -- Nothing much to say here. I just wanted a lot of storage space. If you don't consider 4TB to be a lot of space... well... to put things into perspective my old PC had a max storage space of 640 GB...
Graphics / Video card (GPU): MSI Radeon RX 580 8GB Armor OC -- Sadly I cheaped out on the graphics card. I went with a model that I thought was good enough for the gaming I wanted to do (some high-end games that are older [i.e. my backlogs]).
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G Mid Tower -- I had to have a case that had a slot for a CD / DVD drive. I initially thought of getting a full-sized tower, but then read on Reddit that a full-sized tower was often unnecessary. I decided to get a case with a clear side in case parts started falling or going on fire after putting things together.
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750 W 80+ Gold -- I made sure to get a fully modular power supply. I also made sure it had a gold rating.
Optical Drive (optional): Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD / CD Writer -- I needed this to play my CDs / DVDs. This was the cheapest part to buy.
Operating System (optional): Windows 10 -- According to Paul's Hardware Part 3 video, buying Windows 10 isn't really necessary, but I bought it anyway.
Software (optional): Microsoft Office (one-time purchase) -- I gotta have my Excel! Ahhh, my second love... <3
Monitor (optional): AOC-G2460PF 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz -- I originally wanted a cheaper, different monitor, but the one I was considering was locked to Amazon Prime members only.
After finalizing my build, I proceeded to buy the parts. I purchased from online sites I trusted, even if the part was listed for less elsewhere. My reasoning was this: I had to get all my parts to start building the PC. My old PC was dying so I couldn't really afford to chance waiting for one part for too long.
One thing to note is that PCPartPicker's prices aren't always updated. Most of the time the prices are up-to-date, but please be mindful of it. I noticed this when buying the Ryzen 7 2700. It was listed on PCPartPicker for less than the price on the actual online shop.
Within a week, I received every part except for my monitor. Thinking that maybe I'd be able to hook up the new PC to my old monitor, I set aside the earliest weekend I could to do the next step.
This is random, but I just have to mention this. This was an amusing product I found while looking up RAM. Do NOT buy this unless you like RBG lighting and you have money to spare (psst -- it's not real RAM!):
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Accessories-%7C-Parts/PC-Components/Memory/CORSAIR-VENGEANCE-RGB-PRO-Light-Enhancement-Kit/p/CMWLEKIT2
STEP 1.5: GETTING THE TOOLS / PREPPING WINDOWS INSTALLER /
SAYING GOOD-BYE TO MY OLD PC
Before starting Step 2, I had to do a few things:1. Getting the tools: Paul's Hardware video mentioned only needing a standard Phillips Head screwdriver, so I borrowed a friend's screwdriver sets. I'm sure I have my own screwdriver set somewhere, but not really sure where it is right now. I was glad I borrowed both screwdriver sets because I also needed to use a smaller Phillips Head screwdriver for the NVMe part. I was also reading that having an anti-static wrist strap would be good to have, but not 100% needed.
2. Prepping Windows 10 installer: I'm glad I watched ahead on Paul's Hardware's video series and realized I needed to download Windows 10 installer onto an empty 8 GB USB before starting to build the new PC. In order for me to build the new PC, I have to unplug and put away the old PC. But to download Windows 10 installer, I have to download that using a working PC, so... I'm just really glad I caught that, hahahaha.
3. Saying "Good-Bye" to my old PC: Before unplugging my old PC, I did something really silly: I deleted all my files. I was thinking, since the old PC was dying, I was going to lose access to those files... so I better delete them all while I have the chance. My plan was to throw away my old PC and I didn't want any of my files to still be on that hard drive. After some thought, I could have saved that hard drive and treated it like another backup.
It was a little depressing, deleting all those files. It felt like I was deleting a part of myself, hahaha. I'm such a dork.
STEP 2: PUTTING THE PARTS TOGETHER
This part was nerve-wracking. I followed Paul's Hardware Part 2 video very closely, and took my time at every step. I woke up around 6:30 AM and set aside the whole day. Whenever I came across a part I wasn't entirely comfortable installing, I looked for more videos demonstrating how to install it. I had to do this specifically for installing the CD / DVD optical drive, the HDD, the NVMe (I forgot Paul's Hardware's first video briefly demonstrated how to install that), and the graphics card (I had to look up a video on my specific graphic card). I also looked up a video on power supply units for an explanation of all the different cables. It was Round 2 of intense research. Since my old PC was unplugged by this time, I did all this research on my phone. And of course, I looked at the parts' manuals as well.
"How to Build a Gaming PC in 2019! Part 2 - THE BUILD" by Paul's Hardware.
"Guide to PC Power Supply (PSU) Cables" by Dans Tech.
"Corsair AX760 Power Supply Installation Guide" by Jamie Wagner.
My working area.
So some aspects of the PC building were fairly straightforward, like removing the sides of the case and installing the CPU and memory. Everything else, though... *sad face*
Throughout the building process I had to constantly remind myself that I was physically weak, so whenever it'd be recommended to put a little force on the part, it'd usually mean I should put a lot of force into it. Below were some of my frustrations / mistakes while putting together the new PC (unless you are familiar with PC parts, it's suggested to watch Paul's Hardware's Part 2 video first to understand what parts I'm referencing):
1. I don't know why, but installing the CPU cooler took the longest time! I followed Paul's Hardware's instruction of screwing a little bit on each corner, but whenever I screwed in a certain distance on one corner, the opposite corner would come undone and stick up, making it pretty much impossible to screw down. And then when I'd loosen all screws and try again, the same thing would happen but for another screw at another corner. I spent probably about a good hour of screwing / unscrewing until I finally couldn't take it anymore and "She-Hulked" the CPU cooler down and screwed each corner down tightly.
2. While trying to place a screw into the right spot, I lost grip and the screw fell onto the motherboard and rolled into a hard-to-reach spot. I had to tilt the motherboard in various angles to get it out.
3. I screwed the motherboard screws into the standoffs to check they screwed in okay, but then I left them screwed in like that, when I should have screwed the standoffs into the case, put the motherboard over the standoffs, and then screwed the screws in.
4. When placing the motherboard into the case, I miscalculated where my left fingers would be and they were against the sharp edges of the I/O shield. When I realized what was going on, I quickly got my left fingers out of that area, while trying not to drop the motherboard. One of my left fingers got lightly cut :(
5. For some reason, the graphics card wasn't fitting into the slot on the motherboard. I didn't put any force but noticed it just wasn't lining up. I looked up a video to watch a demonstration on installing my specific graphic card. The video said to remove the cover that's over the pins. Oh... OTL
6. I gave up on proper cable management. The cables were so thick and durable, I was scared that bending them in sharp, 360 degree angles just so they could be plugged into the motherboard could damage them.
That CPU cooler gave me the most trouble...
After putting all the parts together in the case, I proceeded to hook up the old monitor to the graphics card when I realized something... the old monitor's cables didn't plug in! Noooooooooooo!!!!!
I had to wait another week for my new monitor to arrive. When it did arrive, I was confused by all the different cables and had to look up another video.
"HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, and DVI as Fast as Possible" by Techquickie.
After watching that video, I Google searched Reddit threads comparing DisplayPort and HDMI, leaning more towards connecting the DisplayPort until I read this thread, warning against using DisplayPort cables provided with monitors. In the end, I connected the HDMI cable.
Out of the PC parts I used, I would probably get a better: power supply, case, and maybe a better graphics card. The power supply case didn't come with one of the SATA cables that I needed (I don't remember which type of SATA cable, but I was freaking out!). Thankfully the motherboard came with a couple of those SATA cables. The case had the internal bay for the hard drive kinda close to where the power supply would go, which made it kinda difficult to place the power supply with all those thick, durable cables sticking out of it. I'd like a better graphics card just because, hahaha. :)
The whole PC building process took 14 hours and 18 minutes. Anybody else would probably take less time, hahaha.
STEP 3: INSTALLING WINDOWS, MICROSOFT OFFICE
This section will be pretty short -- it's the homestretch! Just like with the earlier steps, I followed closely to Paul's Hardware's video, but my experience when it came installing Windows 10 was a little different from his.
"How to Build a Gaming PC in 2019! Part 3 - System Setup" by Paul's Hardware.
When I pressed the Power button, and it turned on, and I saw the fans moving inside, I got so excited! After that it was following the video almost step-by-step until installing Windows. It could be because I inputted an actual product key that the setup process went a little differently. One difference was that Windows connected automatically to the internet -- I didn't have any choice to connect later.
Once Windows 10 was successfully installed and working, I veered off the video and went about downloading programs I wanted and transferring some of the files from my external hard drive.
I would go on to install Microsoft Office the next day and was re-united with my beloved Excel! Hahaha <3
My new PC is alive!!!!! XD
Forgive me for the messy cable management.
Birthday: April 23rd, 2019
For anybody curious, these were the specs for my old PC.
Thank you for your long service! *bows*
Overall, PC building was a really long, time-consuming, and money-consuming venture... but it was a really, really rewarding experience! I know months from now I will likely forget about the little details, but some things I will always remember (like CPU coolers are hard to install! Hahaha). I am glad I took the scary route and was lucky to come out of it without any issues.
That's it for this blog!
Thank you very much for reading! If you have any questions / comments about my PC building experience, feel free. If you have a general or specific question about PC building, I'd strongly suggest Googling for Reddit threads about it or asking on PCPartPicker. I can try to help, but chances are I may not know or not remember.
Woot! The main blogs I wanted to blog about are done! Next week (May 25-26th weekend), I may take a break from blogging or I'll blog about something really light, so I can get in some relaxation time for myself.
Thanks again for reading. Take care and till next time! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment