With all the new Gfx cards coming out, and my Fiancee liking the idea of using a pc to do our gaming together with, i figured it was a good time to make a new rig, all i have ever done and install a new gfx card for crossfire before and a new ssd, so i have no real making a pc fresh out of the box experience.

This http://www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-guide-high-end-gaming-pc/ was the build i was going to start from (feel free to critic their build since i have no solid experience with every component and what works well overall.) and i am going to try and put it all together myself since it seems a tad cheaper and possibly fun in the process.

Now i do have a few questions though.

• Do i need to buy extra things like special cables and connects?
• Cable management, is that a thing? Is there a right and a wrong way to do it?
• Any do or die tips and tricks that i should know before i go ahead and slap all this shit together?
• Is putting all these components together pretty simple nowadays?

I'm sure we've all seen a post like this before, but any help and advice is appreciated!

The only cables you'll have in your case are those running from the PSU and a SATA 3.0 running from the hard drive to the motherboard (EDIT - And the optical drive, if you're using one). Sometimes HDs include SATA cables, sometimes not, but they're dirt cheap and it's handy keeping a few in reserve in case you want to upgrade your storage options.

Cable management - It's really only a thing if your case has a side window and you want things looking neat when you're showing it off to your friends.

The case in the link has a window so you might want to have a go at cable management - What I do is route all cables behind the motherboard first then bring the ones you need back around to connect to your GPU, motherboard etc. A bag of 50 plastic zip ties should sort out the mess behind the mobo.

Honestly its not that hard just follow the instructions for your parts and you should be fine. Make sure your parts are compatible as well (right cpu and ram for motherboard etc) and make sure you have a good and large ebough power supply for everything you get. Most stressful thing for me is always the cpu, it can only go one way so it shouldn't need to be forced down at all. I would get a third party cooler for it as usually they suck especially of you go amd. All i can think of right now, good luck and have fun!

• As long as you own a Phillips head screwdriver and you're buying brand new retail parts (not OEM/open box/refurbished) then you should have everything you need.
• Yes, it is a thing. You can't really do it wrong, only sub-optimally. Make sure to route cables away from the motherboard and it's connected components, usually around the side and behind, then secure them with Velcro ties (you can use zip ties, but I don't recommend them because they're not reusable) and you'll be good to go.
• One of the easiest things to overlook is electrostatic discharge (ESD), which is essentially where your body builds up a static charge and then transfers it into something else. Computer components are designed to function at very low voltages, and such an event can potentially cause serious damage. The easiest way to avoid a discharge is to get an anti static wrist strap like this and attach it to something that is permanently grounded. You can also just ground yourself manually every so often, although obviously this relies you remembering to do it so be prepared.
  
  Also, be careful with the components. While they're built with a resistance to wear and tear, many of them are still very fragile, particularly anything with a circuit board (PCB) like the motherboard. Always hold them with two hands and distribute the weight evenly (e.g. don't hold the motherboard on only one side).
• Yes. Most of the time it's just a case of matching the correct plug/interface with the correct socket. You'll probably be able to identify many of them by sight alone, but I recommend reading the manual or looking online first time round to make sure you've got the right idea. Also, like I stated in the previous point, these components are delicate so be careful when plugging bits in. If something doesn't want to connect, don't force it.

Your motherboard and power supply should come with all of the cables you need.

Good cable management is important ao you don't choke out the airflow in the case. Most cases made within the last 6 years or so are designed with cable management in mind and usually allow you to route them to the back of the case behind the motherboard.

Not all aftermarket cpu coolers have thermal paste pre-installed, so it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up some just in case. Arctic Silver is the gold standard.

When applying thermal paste a little goes a long way. You won't need more than a pea sized drop. If you need to clean off thermal paste, use 91% isopropyl alcohol and something like a cofee filter to wipe it off. Nothing that would leave any lint or residue.

It'll probably be easier to install the cpu and cpu cooler before you put the motherboard in the case.

Once you get everything working, run memtest86 to check for any RAM errors, a stress test on the GPU like Unigine or 3dmark, run a hard drive utility or chdsk to check for drive faulures, and run Prime95 to stress test the CPU. If something fails or a part is defective, those tests will show it rught away before you really start using the machine. That might save you a few headaches if something goes wrong.

Once everything is good and windows is installed with all the drivers and updates, use the backup utility in windows and create and image backup of the drive and save it to external storage, that way if something trahses the system you can just restore from that image rather than installing windows and whatever else all over again.

For that build specifically, I'd probably get a regular HDD as a storage drive instead of just having two SSDs.

Unless you really just want to be able to say that you use liquid cooling you can replace the CPU cooler with a be quiet Pure Rock which is an air cooler but still dead silent.

Get a non-reference GTX 1080 instead of the Founder's Edition. They have higher stock clocks so you get better performance out of them out of the box and they're usually cheaper than the Founder's Edition.

850W is a lot for a power supply and unless you're planning to do SLI you don't need anywhere near that with a 1080.

Probably don't need an optical drive unless you really want it.

The MasterCase is cool because it's modular but also a little bit overkill unless you just really like the look of it.

Those are just the things I might do so I'm just throwing my two cents in. It really comes down to personal preference because when you build a PC you're the only one who can make those decisions. Usually the motherboard is the one that comes with SATA cables.

I recommend searching out some build tutorial videos on YouTube to get a general sense of the process, it'll help put things into perspective. Same with cable management.

@dave_tacitus: @oursin_360: @chumley_marchbanks: @stonyman65: @mike: @musclerider: Thanks for all the advice, its the few little things that i wouldn't even think about that i really wanted to know, you've all helped a bunch.

I will change a few things about that build, i will prob buy the parts towards the end of the year, so hopefully the other 1080s will be out and about by then. I will definitely come back here when i need to reference this advice, since it will be awhile off yet till i build.

Its really not that hard. Finally did a full build on my current PC. It looks like you are buying all new parts. Really its just screwing the mother board in place, as well as the PSU. Getting the hard drive, and GPU in can be a pain with the cables if there isnt a lot of space in the case, and you have more then one hard drive. Cable management is nice, but its not a big deal. People get way too worked up about cable management, air flow, and temps. Ive always used stock parts in my old PCs which were usually a brand name of some sort, had an old CPU run at actually kinda scary temps. NEVER had a CPU/GPU burn out. It just doesnt happen unless the card is faulty. Stock coolers are GARBAGE, but a 20-30$ will work fine. I just prefer to keep the temps below 90C, which most people would say OMG thats insanely hot! Worst case temps break high 90s, and the card may throttle to lower its temps so you dont get max performance. Which could happen with a stock cooler, but shouldnt if you buy a half decent one.

Everything comes with its own cables. Supposed to ground yourself so you dont get static in your system FYI, so touch the case, put a foot on the side that comes off. Honestly again, I wouldnt buy a high end cooler. Get a 20-30$ one. You are just wasting money on a 98$ one. Id also go with a lower PSU maybe 700 watts unless you are doing more then two GPUs. New GTX 1000 series only uses 180 watts and recommends a 500 watt PSU. I also wouldnt get 32gigs of ram. Prob go with 16. You could always upgrade later to 24 or something. 32 is for people who do high end graphic rendering as a job.

@john1912: I may or may not eventually get a second 1080, although in my experience using crossfire on my current rig, allot of the time the games don't support them or can be buggy and they didn't end up getting used anyway, so your probably correct in using a lower watt psu.

I will be getting a new monitor along with this too, i hear allot about the G sync monitors, but not having used one i'm not all too knowledgeable on if they work well and are worth the buck, if they are worth it i will certainly get one, I'm not too bovered about 4k, but ill get a screen at 2560x1440 at least.

I just bought http://www.microcenter.com/product/437546/B286HK_28_4K_UHD_Monitor I like it quite a bit. Got a GTX 1080 shipping soon for it. It has one of the best stands Ive seen. Spring loaded or what ever for easy up down slide adjustment, high tilt range, and rotates a full 90 degress. FYI make sure you use the display port, or it doesnt get 60 hertz in 4k, which is normal for monitors that dont have HDMI 1.2/2.0 or w/e I think which is still pretty new.

Ive have never really had too many issues with screen tearing. That or just not bad enough where I typically cared. I dont think paying more for Gsync is likely worth the money. Typically if it happens it seems to be on the software side where their graphics engine is just not optimised properly/or game just doesnt like your hardware which happens. If it does happen you can try lowering the setting, or making sure the game is running at the same hertz as your monitor which is typically 60. Or even lowering it to match the frame rate you are getting if its below 60. All games come with V-sync built in which should remove any issue. Your GPU just takes a marginal performance hit. Gsync does the same thing for free. With a 1080 it shouldnt be a problem.

Screen tearing happens in basically everything all the time unless you specifically have a display device or a software solution(which pretty much everything in the world has and if not you can force it in other settings/third party programs).

I was about to start a similar thread. I'm planning on building a bad ass 'gaming' PC as well, but I also want to record and edit music stuff with it. So I'll drop my question in this one.

Most games I probably don't want to play sitting in front of a desk, but rather in front of a TV so I can sit on the couch with a controller. I know Steam has some streaming device that let's you bring the output from the PC wireless to the TV (desk and TV are in the same room). Is this a viable option? Or will you introduce a lot of lag or even loss of image quality (compression)?

Ive been gaming for 30 years, and just cant even think of a specific game off hand where it was just awful, I know they are out there, and It happens from time to time, in almost all games. But typically I feel like that game was just not optimised property, or hates your hardware set up. Generally its ignorable. I think it depends on if you are one of those people that gets really hung up on the issue.

Ive never used them, but they would have to add some lag. Probably not noticeable? I would think at 1080p it prob does not ruin the image. Id be kinda surprised if you could game at 4k over wireless, but like I said never used one. You need the newest HDMI ports just to run 4k, or the display port just to have the bandwidth needed far as I know. I would assume that would be a compressed image, and might add additional lag.

When installing your motherboard, you're going to get metal standoffs that you put in your case. Do not fill every hole in your case with a standoff, or you'll short your board out. Take a look at your motherboard, see where the standoffs need to go, and screw them into your case.

I like heatsinks with metal plates that you sandwich between the motherboard and the heatsink. After twenty years of doing this stuff, I'll never mess with plastic push pins or lever style mounts again.

If you can't go for a big SSD, at least get one for your OS and most commonly used applications. Then, get a WD Black for storage/steam.

Don't do water cooling for your first build. You're already putting a bunch of new stuff on your plate, why add plumbing to it?

Use velcro for your cable management. You will be changing out components eventually, and nothing sucks more than trying to cut zip ties when someone thinks its clever to cinch them down so hard, it digs into the cables.

Familiarize yourself with the different beep codes for POST errors.

Avoid SLI/Crossfire for your first build. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't work? It's a nightmare. It's a money sink, both in hardware and power consumed.

When I build, I mount the CPU on the board, then ram, then heatsink, then shove it in the case, then put in the PSU. The last thing you want to do is weeny ram modules into a dark, cramped case with sharp metal edges waiting to slice you open.

The best place to plan a build is PC Parts Picker. They have a nice tool that is useful for planning a build, which is 99% reliable, likely even better than that. PC Parts Picker will alert you to some common problems at the very least and allows you to figure out pricing and simple “will it probably fit” questions.

But, I always recommend getting some outside opinions from people who put together system as well. All the folks I have listed below will show off budget, medium and high end builds. They will also explain some of the logic behind picking certain parts. Watch some people build system similar to what you plan. It is amazing how informative a good build video can be about how to put parts together, so watch some videos.

There are some YouTuber who are industry people who talk about PC parts and build system all the time. These are nice, understandable, and knowledgeable people.

• · Paul's Hardware

• · Awesomesauce Network

• · JayzTwoCents

• · NCIXEsther

• · HardwareCanucks

• · Linus Tech Tips

- There are some websites that just review parts

• · PCper [ PC Perspective]

• · TechQuicky

• · PCPartsPicker

• · Tek Syndicate Hardware

Just a note.

The next iteration of Intel CPUs are gonna release around fall/winter time (Kabylake). It will include a new motherboard chipset as well.

Good thing is same socket, 1151.

I built my PC little over a year ago and I chose all my parts by looking at the price range I was prepared for and picking stuff with good user reviews. Everything comes with easy-to-understand instructions and there's no real way of putting things in the wrong place, besides a few superfluous cables like LED lighting. I did fuck up a little by not fitting the I/O shield, but that's no big deal. One of my parts came with some cable ties, otherwise the only extra thing I bought was some cooling paste since I wasn't sure if it was included with the CPU (which is was). Putting it all together was super easy and quite fun actually. I've heard some horror stories about static electricity and computer parts, so keep that in mind. I wore sneakers and ground myself on the metal table leg between every part. That might be overkill but I wanted to be sure.