Really how hard is it to build a PC?

[Deleted member 10795]

I think the two key things are just knowing what your parts are, what they do, and the most efficient order to place them - and also that your parts are more robust than you think. The actual physical process of building a PC isn't too difficult, but being sat infront of a pile of parts with wires and screws for the first time can be extremely daunting. There's also a degree of anxiety around just breaking shit for first time builders. Stuff like applying thermal paste, or the amount of pressure you place on the motherboard to screw the CPU fan in that feels like it's about to snap..

My first build took me about 8 hours. My latest about 30-40 minutes. Just take your time and, as much as you can, enjoy it.

 

[reKon]

My first PC build was in a SFF case...

Probably wasn't the best idea, lol... (there were a couple of portions that were VERY challenging to figure out - more related to working with limited space in the case and dealing with unclear directions).

Still running well til this day though (7 years).

 

[His Majesty]

also make sure to install your fans in the right direction, especially your CPU cooler

 

[DemiOrpheus]

I think the two key things are just knowing what your parts are, what they do, and the most efficient order to place them - and also that your parts are more robust than you think. The actual physical process of building a PC isn't too difficult, but being sat infront of a pile of parts with wires and screws for the first time can be extremely daunting. There's also a degree of anxiety around just breaking shit for first time builders. Stuff like applying thermal paste, or the amount of pressure you place on the motherboard to screw the CPU fan in that feels like it's about to snap..

My first build took me about 8 hours. My latest about 30-40 minutes. Just take your time and, as much as you can, enjoy it.

Click to shrink...

after recently doing my first build I can confirm the pressure worries lol

I thought my RAM was defective cuz it wouldn't fit in the slots but I just wasn't applying nearly enough force. It felt like I was gonna crack the board in half but it eventually clicked

 

[kami_sama]

My first PC build was in a SFF case...

Probably wasn't the best idea, lol... (there were a couple of portions that were VERY challenging to figure out - more related to working with limited space in the case and dealing with unclear directions).

Still running well til this day though (7 years).

Click to shrink...

I have built three computers by myself and I am considering getting a sff case for the next one and dread having to build it on such a small space lol
Kudos to you!

 

[Deleted member 46948]

It's very easy.
The worst part is fitting some CPU coolers and sometimes managing cabling to HDDs, but otherwise, it's very simple.

 

[DemiOrpheus]

OP your biggest hurdle at the moment would probably be stock shortages and price inflation due to the pandemic

I got all my parts at just the right time, had I waited just a few more days I think I might have been screwed on what I wanted

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

It's pretty easy and pretty rewarding. Be willing to take your time if you're not confident in any of the steps.

As long as you're reasonably careful with your handling of the components as the build comes together, you should be just fine.

 

[laxu]

I've built them

I feel like people on this thread are vastly understating how hard it is to build a PC if you've never done it before. There are so ways it can go south of you aren't careful. Messing up steps like paste or shield, scraping the board (hope you have a magnetic screwdriver OP), bending pins, dropping parts, causing static, installing incompatible parts, troubleshooting dud parts, the list goes on, and the quickest slip can mean you've lost hundreds of dollars and/or hours of your time. With Lego you can throw the pieces on the ground and it doesn't matter, it's not even comparable.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, computer parts are pretty durable. I've been building PCs for myself and friends for two decades or something now and I've made plenty of mistakes.

• Bent pins. Can be fixed with a mechanical pencil or small tweezers.
• Flooded the motherboard with a leaking watercooling setup. The motherboard was off, it was just during leak testing for the loop. Just dried it as best as I could and left it to dry for a few days. Worked for years.
• Broke some fan blades. Replacement fans are easy to get.
• Hit the motherboard with a screwdriver many many times by accident, no damage so far.
• Dropped my 2080 Ti just a few days ago as I was adjusting my system when I was too tired. Don't build computers when you are tired. The GPU suffered no damage and still works perfectly fine but granted, this was not from any significant height.
• Had a CPU overheat and shut down because I forgot to take off a piece of plastic tape from the bottom of the cooler. Again, take breaks when building.

Based on that list it might sound like I am the worst PC builder ever but that is not true. These are accidents that have happened over years of building. I haven't had a part die on me due to anything I have done while building. It's also normal to end up scratching your fingers and even drawing a bit of blood. Got to have that blood pact with the PC you know!

Troubleshooting software issues can be a far bigger headscratcher than putting together a system that works great in stock form.

 

[sweetmini]

Some motherboards can be very picky as to which ram modules can be installed to have them at maximum performance.
You need to study a little bit your compatibility list (usually found on the manufacturer's page about the motherboard) :)

people here will be a great help in identifying a good balance and potential issues (ram module clearance can be a hidden issue for example, which was highlighted to me when i asked about a setup i had in mind in the PC builder thread).

Back in time you needed a card for networking, at least one card for sound (2 sometimes if you wanted surround with Gravis Ultrasound max cards) , a card for CDRom if your sound card didn't have one, a card for an additional controller, the graphics card, the 3D accelerators (2 if you wanted SLI to reach 800x600 resolution with good speed), the MPEG2 decompressor card ... you had to make sure your IRQs and mem adresses were not crossing each other, most of the time you had to set up jumpers...

It soooo much faster nowadays , it's a bliss. It's always very fun to me building a PC ... and very exciting, since it's usually a leap forward in performance :)

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I've built them


Honestly, computer parts are pretty durable. I've been building PCs for myself and friends for two decades or something now and I've made plenty of mistakes.

• Bent pins. Can be fixed with a mechanical pencil or small tweezers.
• Flooded the motherboard with a leaking watercooling setup. The motherboard was off, it was just during leak testing for the loop. Just dried it as best as I could and left it to dry for a few days. Worked for years.
• Broke some fan blades. Replacement fans are easy to get.
• Hit the motherboard with a screwdriver many many times by accident, no damage so far.
• Dropped my 2080 Ti just a few days ago as I was adjusting my system when I was too tired. Don't build computers when you are tired. The GPU suffered no damage and still works perfectly fine but granted, this was not from any significant height.
• Had a CPU overheat and shut down because I forgot to take off a piece of plastic tape from the bottom of the cooler. Again, take breaks when building.

Based on that list it might sound like I am the worst PC builder ever but that is not true. These are accidents that have happened over years of building. I haven't had a part die on me due to anything I have done while building. It's also normal to end up scratching your fingers and even drawing a bit of blood. Got to have that blood pact with the PC you know!

Troubleshooting software issues can be a far bigger headscratcher than putting together a system that works great in stock form.

Click to shrink...

Yes, I think the biggest and best tip of all:

Don't be in a rush. Take your time. One cable attach at a time, and double check it. One stick of ram at a time, line it up properly and make sure you heard 2 clicks. Take your time screwing down the CPU cooler. Take your time attaching the power cables and various headers. Make sure all the motherboard screws are in place and accounted for. Fans connected.

take. your. time.

Better to spend 3 hours and know you did everything right than to fuck something up.

Which also means start fairly early in your day. Don't start at 8pm unless you don't mind still being up at 4am adjusting bios memory clocks and installing Windows, assuming everything was assembled correctly in the first place.

PC assembly is *not* difficult. But it can be time-consuming to make sure you did everything right before powering up. Do not build PCs in a hurry.

 

[Mars People]

I removed and replaced my motherboard, CPU and RAM not to long ago, having never done so before.
And had zero problems, everything worked just fine. Didn't even need to reinstall windows.
Honestly I'm shocked just how well it went.

 

[Dandy]

It's really not that bad. I've built my last two PCs, and I don't work in tech at all. There are a few scary parts(slotting the CPU into the motherboard), but I've never had issues. Just take your time.

 

[captainmal01]

Putting in the front panel connectors is pretty damn fiddly, wish adapters were bundled in more. It's pretty cathartic building it though. Just remember to build and test the components together before putting it into the case. You don't wanna be having to deal with rooting stuff out of the case if something is wrong.

 

[KeRaSh]

In general it's super easy with a few guides.
Things to be aware of:

• Make sure the CPU is facing the correct way. There should be a little triangle on it that shows you which way to face it. The manual tells you this as well.
• If you have the option (I'm guessing you do since you wanted to get an Alienware PC) go for a PSU with good cable management. It can be a little confusing to know what connects to where with a million cables sticking out of the PSU. You can't really connect anything the wrong way since the cables and the ports make it clear what goes where but it can be intimidating at first.
• Make sure everything on the Mainboard that needs power is connected. Nothing is more panic inducing than thinking you are done, trying to boot up the PC for the first time just to find out that you forgot to connect something.
• Fuck this shit:

This thing connects your Power button, Reset button and your LEDs. There's a guide in the Motherboard manual but I always forget to connect these. I think there are newer Cases/Motherboards that make this way easier but they've always frustrated me in the past.

 

[thenexus6]

I found my first time building okay. I was a little nervous that I was going to break something. But from the manuals and all the tutorials online its pretty easy to follow.

Only annoying bits were I/O shield, all the tiny power, reset etc cables at the bottom of the Motherboard.

 

[PlzUninstall]

You got this OP. Best thing to do besides Youtube videos is if you've got a friend or someone you can just pepper with questions or even use the PC Questions thread on here.

 

[Deleted member 46948]

[*]Fuck this shit:
[/LIST]

This thing connects your Power button, Reset button and your LEDs. There's a guide in the Motherboard manual but I always forget to connect these. I think there are newer Motherboards that make this way easier but they've always frustrated me in the past.

Click to shrink...

For real.
My last motherboard/case combo has all these wires in a single block, but in many models, it's still super frustrating to connect correctly. I don't understand why they do it this idiotic way.

 

[Madjoki]

In general it's super easy with a few guides.
Things to be aware of:

• Make sure the CPU is facing the correct way. There should be a little triangle on it that shows you which way to face it. The manual tells you this as well.
• If you have the option (I'm guessing you do since you wanted to get an Alienware PC) go for a PSU with good cable management. It can be a little confusing to know what connects to where with a million cables sticking out of the PSU. You can't really connect anything the wrong way since the cables and the ports make it clear what goes where but it can be intimidating at first.
• Make sure everything on the Mainboard that needs power is connected. Nothing is more panic inducing than thinking you are done, trying to boot up the PC for the first time just to find out that you forgot to connect something.
• Fuck this shit:

This thing connects your Power button, Reset button and your LEDs. There's a guide in the Motherboard manual but I always forget to connect these. I think there are newer Motherboards that make this way easier but they've always frustrated me in the past.

Click to shrink...

I wish all motherboards had this block:

 

[Bluforce]

This thing connects your Power button, Reset button and your LEDs. There's a guide in the Motherboard manual but I always forget to connect these. I think there are newer Motherboards that make this way easier but they've always frustrated me in the past.

Click to shrink...

This is one of the reasons why I recommended buying a decent case.

Recent good cases (NZXT for sure) have a single connector, and you can't go wrong.

 

[laxu]

Yes, I think the biggest and best tip of all:

Don't be in a rush. Take your time. One cable attach at a time, and double check it. One stick of ram at a time, line it up properly and make sure you heard 2 clicks. Take your time screwing down the CPU cooler. Take your time attaching the power cables and various headers. Make sure all the motherboard screws are in place and accounted for. Fans connected.

take. your. time.

Better to spend 3 hours and know you did everything right than to fuck something up.

Which also means start fairly early in your day. Don't start at 8pm unless you don't mind still being up at 4am adjusting bios memory clocks and installing Windows, assuming everything was assembled correctly in the first place.

PC assembly is *not* difficult. But it can be time-consuming to make sure you did everything right before powering up. Do not build PCs in a hurry.

Click to shrink...

Also it's a good idea to test that everything works before installing it in a case. You can generally hook it all up on a desk and turn it on to see it works, then disassemble and install in the case. You can use a flathead screwdriver on the power and reset pins to power it on or reset when the cables to the actual switches are not connected.

Spend time doing some cable management as well. This will make it easier to work on it if you need to and your computer will be nicely organized and have better airflow when a bunch of PSU cables are not in the way. Use zipties or velcro strips if your case or PSU does not come with these.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

Very easy. Use a website that ensures all your parts are compatible and slap it together. Every part is proprietary to its slot. You basically can't fuck it up.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

When a lot of people think about building a PC, they think about the physical process only.
Sure, once you have everything, and it's all compatible, putting it together is pretty damn easy.

I imagine that knowing what parts to get, and where to get them, and determining what parts are best for you is an extremely intimidating process for someone who has basically zero tech knowledge. Particularly when each part could cost a decent penny, not everything is compatible/universal, and you are gonna have the fear hanging over your head that if something goes wrong it could cost you. It's not hard, per say, in the way that people think about it, like you don't need to be particularly smart or anything.

But there are people out there that don't even know how to google things. For these people, a PC is a black box, it works though magic. What is Ram even? A meaningless word to them. Extremely basic skills tend to be taken for granted.
Thinking back, I remember I had slight trouble determining how PSUs work, like did I need a specific wattage or just a high one, and I had to do a bit of asking around to learn, because it's not something anything really talked about.

And yeah, anyone can learn all this stuff (Although people who can't even google are gonna need a good deal of help from a friend). But most people don't enjoy learning about things they aren't passionate about.
If they just don't care that much about tech or graphics, they are gonna decide that a PS4 is fine. They won't even consider learning how to build a PC.

 

[Menchin]

If you know how to put together a medium sized LEGO set, then you can build a computer in 2020

 

[Braag]

In my early days of building a PC the biggest mistake I made was buy incompatible components. So if you're new to this and don't know 100% what you're doing just make sure you buy components that are compatible. The building part itself is easy.
If you follow PC tech in anyway you will really quickly learn about CPU and GPU gens as well as which mobos are released with newer CPUs. It's all fairly simple in the end.

 

[Fatmanp]

For me, honestly the hardest part is connecting the case power and usb stuff to the mother board pins. Those pins are tiny and my fingers are not tiny...and my eyes aren't what they used to be so I need a lot of light to see what I'm doing.

Click to shrink...

Yep. This part is totally counter to everything else PC building related as it involves plugging female connectors into males pins.

 

[Midgarian]

I got my experienced friends to build my 2080ti 3900x based rig 2 months ago.

I'll be honest, I was lazy and didn't help or observe as much as I should have (I got lost in conversation with some of my other friends who had come round for the occasion).

They saved the GPU fitting for me, but I was too nervous I'd break something so I left that to them as well.

And that's my main concern. It all is easy and manageable following tutorials and basic logic of what goes where etc. But I'm worried I'll be clumsy when it comes to the delicate stuff of fitting in the modules and I'll be placing something wrong and think it needs more force and I'll overcompensate and break something. That's my worry.

I'll have to learn soon enough though as I want to add a Capture Card and Bluetooth to this thing and I'd prefer internal PCI based stuff rather than external USB based stuff.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

Took me maybe 12-15 hours over the course of a weekend. At one point o scratched my graphics card with a screwdriver but thankfully it didn't damage it. Didnt turn on initially because the power button wire thing wasn't connected to the motherboard in the correct spot. Had to send it to a shop for cable management after I fixed it.

Basically I wouldn't recommend you do it yourself, it's absolutely terrifying with all those expensive parts and it's nowhere near as simple as people make it out to be. Ideally you'd buy the parts and then just pay someone else to put it together for you.

 

[MazeHaze]

Did my first full build recently and it was significantly easier than I thought it would be. I was most nervous about the cpu and cooler, but both combined took about 5 minutes. The whole build took about an hour and a half. If I had to build the same PC tomorrow I think I could do it in 30-45 minutes or so.

 

[astro]

The lego analogy has always been a pretty poor one.

Yes, everything goes in a specific place. Yes, it is all mapped out and labelled and simple to figure out if you read instructions.

But the "lego" pieces are not chunks of plastic
, they are relatively fragile and often expensive pieces of electronics. They can require a certain amount of force to click into place that even an experience builder can feel uncomfortable applying. There are myriad reason why when you do click it all into place it might not work...

It is not like lego, but if you can methodically follow instructions and have patience while you figure out each step, it is very likely not beyond you.

 

[RazzMahTazz1319]

Most of it is plug and play. There are a couple of big nonos that gets me sweating. Wrong power cord on Graphics card and putting the CPU in

 

[Ganondolf]

really easy. use pcpartpicker to make sure everything works together and you have a high enough psu.

the only other tricking think is tidying the wires (especially in small itx cases)

 

[Fart Master]

Just make sure you aren't creating static energy. The first few times you try to boot you'll have issues so don't get too upset if it doesn't work, just keep troubleshooting.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Yes, I think the biggest and best tip of all:

Don't be in a rush. Take your time. One cable attach at a time, and double check it. One stick of ram at a time, line it up properly and make sure you heard 2 clicks. Take your time screwing down the CPU cooler. Take your time attaching the power cables and various headers. Make sure all the motherboard screws are in place and accounted for. Fans connected.

take. your. time.

Better to spend 3 hours and know you did everything right than to fuck something up.

Which also means start fairly early in your day. Don't start at 8pm unless you don't mind still being up at 4am adjusting bios memory clocks and installing Windows, assuming everything was assembled correctly in the first place.

PC assembly is *not* difficult. But it can be time-consuming to make sure you did everything right before powering up. Do not build PCs in a hurry.

Click to shrink...

No first time builder is ever going to do this.

Most builders aren't going to do this. They're going to turn on XMP like the tutorial video will probably tell them to and move on with their lives without doing anything else.

 

[c0Zm1c]

It's not quite as easy as people make out - for example, the first "LEGO" comment in this thread suggests looking up Youtube videos, you don't have to do that with LEGO! But then, it's also not hard. It's within anyone's reach who is prepared to study and learn: part compatibility, how they're assembled, how to troubleshoot etc.

 

[astro]

No first time builder is ever going to do this.

Most builders aren't going to do this. They're going to turn on XMP like the tutorial video will probably tell them to and move on with their lives without doing anything else.

Click to shrink...

It feels like you might have waited the wrong post or something... this is exactly what I did when I built my first couple of PCs...

 

[elenarie]

It's kind of like sex. You take a stick and put it in a hole that fits it.

 

[MeepMerp]

Incredibly easy. Even easier if you get a modular power supply. Makes managing cables a joke.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

No first time builder is ever going to do this.

Most builders aren't going to do this. They're going to turn on XMP like the tutorial video will probably tell them to and move on with their lives without doing anything else.

Click to shrink...

You...don't think people are going to attach a cable or piece of hardware at a time and double-check along the way? Then install Windows? lol

That's what most of us do.

 

[bobliefeld]

Putting a PC together is very, very easy. People say it's like "Lego" but frankly, it's simple compared to "grown up" Lego kits with 1,000s of pieces and working gearboxes..

But.. putting the bits together is only 1 part of building a PC. Researching and choosing the right parts is a challenge in itself. It's easier now as there's a lot of help available on line, but i'm sure there's a lot of first time builders who cheap out on eg the PSU to put the money into more exciting components. Or people who don't understand airflow...I knew a kid who was complaining about his PC stability and temperature "even though I have like 10 fans in there".

There's also the mental issue of handling some very expensive components and having to use some force to slot them in place, which is often accompanied by some quite terrifying creaking and grinding noises. With Lego you're putting together plastic blocks worth a few pence each, mentally that's very different to expensive PC components even if it is mechanically similar.

 

[TheMadTitan]

It feels like you might have waited the wrong post or something... this is exactly what I did when I built my first couple of PCs...

Click to shrink...

I didn't touch memory clocks until three builds in. And when I finally did, I didn't spend hours doing it. I toggled XMP, rebooted, saw that nothing broke and moved on with my life.

Most people aren't going to tinker like that when they're new to anything.

 

[Mendrox]

It's really easy as Lego. Only thing which sucks here and there is attaching the CPU fan but even this is made easier nowadays for most CPU fans. Everything else is just you taking step for step and do it in the right order so that you don't make things more difficult for you because cables and things are everywhere. Researching for your parts and which are the ones is also so easy nowadays. Tons of sites where you just look your budget up and have Intel/AMD and AMD/NVIDIA choices for both sites for your budget. If you are german just use Computerbase.de for their recommendations and you are fine.

It's not quite as easy as people make out - for example, the first "LEGO" comment in this thread suggests looking up Youtube videos, you don't have to do that with LEGO! But then, it's also not hard. It's within anyone's reach who is prepared to study and learn: part compatibility, how they're assembled, how to troubleshoot etc.

Click to shrink...

You are right (/j). Lego always has a big instruction manual...

 

[MBABuddha]

I'd say building a computer is somewhere between building ikea furniture, and building a model car from a kit like this:

Leaning more towards the "ikea furniture" side of things than the "model car" side. If you can follow directions step by step, and use basic tools, you should be fine.

Click to shrink...

I think the model analogy is a bit of a stretch. IKEA is more apt. Everything's designed to just fit together; most components these days offer a lot of pointers/ directions printed directly on them. And like people have said there's always YouTube and PCPartsPicker.

 

[astro]

I didn't touch memory clocks until three builds in. And when I finally did, I didn't spend hours doing it. I toggled XMP, rebooted, saw that nothing broke and moved on with my life.

Most people aren't going to tinker like that when they're new to anything.

Click to shrink...

That's not what that post is saying...

 

[Dreams-Visions]

It's kind of like sex. You take a stick and put it in a hole that fits it.

Click to shrink...

See this is how people end up with kids instead of

never mind

 

[snausages]

If you don't drop your screwdriver on the motherboard at some point I think it's considered bad luck.

 

[TheMadTitan]

That's not what that post is saying...

Click to shrink...

The portion of the post I bolded stated it.

 

[Deleted member 62078]

I built my first one recently - made a rookie mistake that ended up with me irreperably bending the pins on my CPU, but besides that it's fairly straightforward and not as intimidating as I initially thought. The most valuable resources that demystified the whole lot for me were:

- YouTube: there are tons of videos that will give you an insight into how you actually put them together, though your setup will most likely differ in terms of parts used.
- Pc Part Picker - really good starting point in terms of finding out what components go into a PC, users there post "builds" that give you a shopping list of parts to buy for different setups (i.e. pro/mid tier/entry level gaming setup, or whatever your needs are).
- /r/buildapc - really friendly subreddit, got answers to any questions I couldn't successfully google very quickly.

 

[Mendrox]

If you don't drop your screwdriver on the motherboard at some point I think it's considered bad luck.

Click to shrink...

Or some screws which suddenly dissappear inside your case

 

[astro]

The portion of the post I bolded stated it.

Click to shrink...

No it didn't.... that post is just about taking your time to make sure everything is put together properly.

Edit: ah, the confusion is the OP had used orange text to highlight so your bold did not stand out at all. My bad, but next time maybe just cut the quote (especially if a user has used colour to highlight).