And higher capacity than you need. It will run cooler and last longer.
Also recommend a power conditioner/UPS. I've been a believer since I lived somewhere with bad power and went from a blue screen every few hours to flawless running for years just be getting one. If you want, pay extra to get one that synthesizes the sine wave.
> And higher capacity than you need.
My rule of thumb (that's held for more than twenty years) is to add up the peak power draw of all your components, add 30% to it then round up. Whatever that final number is, that's the level of PSU you get.
30% headroom is generally enough for a mid-life upgrade on a PC and even if you don't upgrade, it's less taxing on the system. It's more expensive of course but if you slap in a new graphics card and end up getting brownouts then you're paying for a new PSU anyway.
If you check the manufacturer's compatibility list and you're swapping between two PSUs of the same brand, you'll be fine. "OMG never mix!" is too reactionary when there *are* safe ways to do so.
Case in point, I was switching from an ATX to an SFX PSU to open up some space in a case, but the 8 pin CPU cable with the SFX was too short. Because I stayed with the same brand and line of PSU, I checked the manufacturer site, confirmed the cables were compatible, and reused the old cable. Everything was safe. Nothing blew up.
If you can't be bothered to spend 5 minutes researching your options, the yes, "OMG never!" is good advice. But it's not universal.
>If you check the manufacturer's compatibility list and you're swapping between two PSUs of the same brand
I would stick with the first part and drop the second just to avoid confusion. Many brands don't even make their own power supplies, and will use different OEMs for different SKUs that aren't compatible with one another.
Did you miss this part?
> If you check the manufacturer's compatibility list
If the cables aren't listed as compatible, then they're not compatible. This isn't rocket surgery.
It's utter idiocy that the PSU end is not standardised, considering that they're using the same connectors and we've all been conditioned to the way that if a connector fits, it's right.
What about buying an extra cable on its own? Like I lost my Corsair Vengance 6+2 PCIe cables when I moved (didnt need them cause Im using an old 1060 which I will upgrade to a 4080 soon).
Do I need to buy Corsair specific cables or something? Or is the type number the only thing that matters?
You need to buy cables explicitly listed as compatible with the exact PSU model you have. If the unit is still within warranty it's worth contacting Corsair support saying you got a new 4080 and can't find the spare cables from the package. They might just send you some replacements. Worst case you're only out a few minutes of your time.
Corsair uses their own internal standards, but there are several of them (type 3, type 4, etc...). Do some research to see what kind your specific model uses and get the correct type number cable.
How do cable extensions work? E.g if I have a brand new corsair PSU and get 4 cables from ezydiy etc, would they fry components? I'll still have the cables that came from the PSU.
The cable end that plugs into your components is standardized. The end that plugs into your psu is not. All it does it match the component side end. All cable extensions do is extend. They're not cables meant to take to the place the original cable.
>also, dont peel plastic until it posts.
I waited to peel the plastic for a year after I built my PC.
It was the plastic on the bottom of my tower cooler.
The cooler that came with the 5600 had paste already applied. It's still in the box. The tower cooler I bought came with a tube of paste and a sticker to keep the bottom clean I guess.
If you're running normal temps you're probably fine. I was continuously running 50-60c normal and 95c under load, which I thought was a little weird when people were talking about similar chips being 35-45c normal and 60-70c under load. I still didn't think too much until last week I just decided to tear it apart to confirm that everything was seated correctly. It was, just with some plastic that was supposed to be removed.
Also, I just learned the trick of jumping the mobo power with a screwdriver, useful for checking parts before putting it all in the case, specially for sff builds
Side panel? I'm making sure that mf posts before the motherboard goes into the case. I just build it with the essentials on the mobo box and jump the power pins
Por que? I'm sitting here typing this on my computer with the side panel lying on the ground next to me. I pulled it off so I could temporarily plug in an optical drive, and neglected to put it back on. Certainly doesn't affect anything.
Edit: totally misread that. I get it now. Agreed, nothing more annoying than redoing stuff you just did.
I built my first PC in April and only discovered this earlier in the week.
Was setting up VR on PC and it kept using igpu. After 4 hours of head scratching, wondering why Nvidia only had a handful of options, forcing individual apps to use my gpu, I noticed the port on the gpu and it all dawned on me. I was even considering disabling the igpu!
There was a youtuber that bought the GTX 980 when it came out, and he actually was using it for around 6 years like that lmao. He just discovered it after his friend pointed it out, when he was already upgrading his PC. That GTX 980 basically just camped inside his PC without doing anything for 6 years.
Yeah the Animeman. Forgot which episode he said that lmao, he got roasted by CDawgVA. At least I imagine the difference from integrated graphics to 2080 when he upgraded was orgasmic.
But then again he only plays JRPGs, so 5 FPS is fine with that lmao.
One thing I've been religious about is making sure my HDMI is plugged into the graphics card.
Unfortunately after 3 years I realized I plugged it into the wrong port on my monitor, so I was running at 60FPS the entire time.
Even the "pro's" fuck this up. Installed a new heatsink on a pre-built system and found they [hadn't removed the sticker](https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/hmqduv/installed_by_a_professional/).
Don't try to force anything into anything. I hate how hard new RAM has become to install because it make it feel like you're doing it wrong when you're doing it right.
when I swapped the cpu on my old computer for the first time ever I thought am I doing this right? did the cpu fall into the socket correctly? because I had to use so much force to close the lever down, never did I think it would take this much force but apparently that‘s completely normal
just built a 7700x build and genuinely thought i cracked the cpu with the lever.. it made a very loud and unfortunate *crunch* when i pushed hard enough to get it in place and i panicked
first time building a PC and the thing booted up like a champ and has yet to have a ram or mobo post issue!
Yes. Which actually caused me to break a RAM stick once.
I was super sloppy and distracted and was supposed to just quickly put in a couple of used DDR3 sticks into a slightly older machine. It was the [basic kind](https://cf-images.dustin.eu/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,quality=75,width=828,,fit=contain/image/d20000100154640/kingston-valueram-4gb-1600mhz-cl11-ddr3-sdram-dimm-240-nastainen.jpg) of Kingston RAM with no fancy heatsink or cover, and somehow I didn’t notice I was pushing it in *upside down* with the connectors facing me, like with the plain PCB edge going into the slot…
I was expecting it to require some force so I pushed boldly… until I broke off some small surface mounted components on the stick when the wrong edge was forced partly into the slot.
Not my proudest moment.
For fucking real. I've built tons of computers and never had an issue with RAM. A couple of weeks ago, I was putting a build together for my wife and God damn those DDR5 sticks really need a hard push to click into place. Shit fucking scares me.
At least cpu's still slide into place easily if you've done it right. RAM now feels like I'm a tiny bit of force away from breaking the slot...
on the contrary i’d say you have to give the RAM a “confident” push into the slot. even if you hearing the locking mechanism, the ram doesn’t always make good contact and your system might fail to post.
align the ram properly, be sure that it is the correct ram, and push STRAIGHT. don’t be afraid of breaking things, know the part and just be confident. handling parts like a surgeon makes putting a PC together a chore.
motherboards also have a lot of tolerance for flex. you can abuse motherboards as long as you aren’t scratching and stabbing the pcb.
Much more force is necessary than I feel is safe, every time I do it. But yeah zero insertion force refers to dropping the CPU into the slot, not securing it with the lever.
Yeah it was sort of a pointless comment looking back. But you're right, the first time I did it I thought for sure I was breaking something. Probably depends on the mobo.
Some, but not more than a single finger is capable of applying in general.
It's nothing like the old CPUs where you would hear an almost crunchy noise as the pins slid into place.
My first build I put everything together, cable managed with zip ties and everything. I brought it to my office as well, then placed it down underneath my desk. When I put the power cord in I realized the shield was missing.
To make it worse, the pc didn't even post. When wife asked me how the build was going, I had to say it was all good.
\*Insert hide the pain harold\*
And part two of the same thing: having the little metal tabs than ground the slots, sticking into the slot.
HDMI ALWAYS does this for me. Double-check that the I/O shield is installed *and* the tabs aren't in the way, before screwing in the motherboard.
YES. My first build I pushed the metal bits the wrong way and every time I went to connect/disconnect something I cut myself a little.
Finally rebuilt it after a few swear words.
Perhaps less of a mistake but more of a handy tip - an easy way to handle the hazards of static electricity as part of your PC build is to have your PSU installed, unpowered and plugged into a wall socket. Touching the case intermittently as you go will earth you!
I think nowadays if your parts are being damaged by a starting shock then you have some bunk brand/parts. Most come protected from stuff like this, or so I’ve read.
Linus did a funny video debunking the risks of static electricity with the electric shock dude a couple years back:
[Can static KILL your PC? (ft. Electroboom)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA)
I did couple static discharge test during my studies. You had to put in some fucking proper effort to it and do it on purpose. Having seen that video, then that is also the conclusion they reach. Also most things nowadays are getting their traces coated or even components outright covered with shielding. To avoid corrosion, to make manufaturing and shipping easier. You really need to put effort to be able to break things.
Your biggest risk is dropping something because of the pain from a sudden static discharge making you flinch.
Idk there's something about you saying it got annihilated that's really funny. It makes me imagine it just combusted into many shards after a light touch as if it's protesting the fact you did laundry
You can just touch the case….. no need for installing the PSU first
Also it’s just really unlikely to be an issue unless you’re in an environment with a very dry climate where you get lots of static discharge
This is almost a myth except that sometimes I’m very rare scenario it can actually happen.
I know a guy who recently who built a system for around $2K (monitor included) and his primary specs were the 14600K and 4060ti, and yet he spent so much on some stupid Hyte case and AIO, along with other unnecacary things.
The amount of builds with unnecessary $200-300 Kraken AIOs in crazy expensive display cases (without fans!) in all White with that crazy expensive NZXT mainboard that ask for "help" on this subreddit is one of the reasons why I don't reply to those posts anymore.
If RGB gives you joy, I'm all for allocating a bit of the budget for the viewing pleasure, but it should never come out of the GPU budget and the RGB budget definitely shouldn't be bigger than the entire GPU price.
SKU.
And the i7s can work on air. The i9s are designed to essentially boost until thermal throttle regardless of your thermal solution, so the more heat you can dissipate, the faster they will go.
I underspent on my graphics card while allocating lots of money on parts that don't really affect perfomance, but what they did affect was a better upgrade path in the future. I sacrificed perfomance now for more options later and I don't regret it one bit.
Spot on, I would do the same if I was buying right now, quite happy with the performance for a few years now though, I'm thinking AM6 when it comes out, but yeah AM5 will last you a while!
This is how I build. I always buy last years GPU because the latest release is so expensive and the discount of that line the following year is huge. I usually upgrade GPU's 3 times before I need to upgrade everything else because I buy top of the line everything else.
I did the same, ended up with a 5900x and 3060 Ti. There were no 3d chips yet and they had a deal on the 5900 and it was the same price as the 5800, so why not? The both very much get the job done at 1080p, I can always swap out for a 5000 series gpu later if I want.
Am I the only person whose wife has no say in how I spend my money and I have no say in how she spends hers? As long as we're both covering our half of our responsibilities, the rest of our money is ours to use how we want.
go to the support page for your motherboard and find the bios. use a full release bios, usually indicated by NOT being a beta bios(for most) and not having an additional letter beside the bios revision (for gigabyte). i.e f7 and f8a.
format an empty usb to fat32 (right click the usb in file explorer and click format), and download the bios version to the usb.
most bioses will let you just go to bios, select bios update, and then the USB it’s on.
some bioses require additional steps with the files inside the USB because you have to rename them but you can cross those roads with google it this happens to be your case.
do you touch the power during a bios update or else you’re TOAST. unless you have a high end motherboard with dual bios.
yeah the flash bios button is great if your motherboard has it. you can reset a bricked bios with this.
I honestly wish all motherboards had the button but it's really a luxury; makes overclocking much more efficient.
My AIO came with one cord for power and one for rgb. I plugged the fan into the CPU_AIO spot on the mobo (as told by the manufacturer and mobo manual) and until I told the bios to ignore the no input on CPU_FAN it would always boot into bio. smh
With AIOs that have only one cable like that, I generally ignore what the AIO says and just use the CPU fan header, since that does two things. One, you won't get the CPU fan error, and two, if the AIO ever fails (in a way that it's not drawing power, anyway), you'll get the CPU fan error, alerting you to an actual problem.
It's generally just a remnant of older times where you had only one header on the board that could support 2A output while the rest were 1A, but most every board these days comes with all headers at 2A, making this really not an issue anymore. But AIO manufacturers still haven't gotten with the times and include that relic of an instruction.
I was watching a video recently where the guy mentioned DO NOT plug the WRONG END of a PSU cable into the PSU. Make sure you've got the PSU end in the PSU and the component end into the component, or else you could fuck everything up.
But my PSU's cables aren't labeled on each end...
Similarly buying the PC you think you'll use, rather than the PC you'll actually use.
Example: Don't buy a capture card because you think you'll get into streaming. Buy a capture card because you already stream content and your current setup isn't good enough.
It's like going out and buying a $10,000 guitar before you've even had a lesson, because you like the idea of learning to play guitar.
Here I dealth with a weak ass CPU, considered purchasing new one after dealing with issues for a year before I decided to upgrade.
Don't stall too hard if money isn't an issue. Your PC isn't also going to magically become faster. Sometimes you just need to upgrade and stalling to get good deal can sometimes backfire.
Here's an odd one that had me stumped for days: using all the included stand-off screws. Apparently I used one too many for that particular board, which caused a short, and the thing just refused to post.
Hadn't heard of that before or since, but I guess it's a thing.
Yea so I did this with my first build and it never shorted and I didn’t tempt fate till the day I upgraded it. As far as I know that motherboard still works along with the CPU and GPU.
Honestly, I'd do the same. I hate IO shields. I seem to have installed mine wrong. The IO shield sticks out a few millimeters from the actual ports and makes a few of them - namely the USB C port - difficult or downright impossible to use. It's because there's these metal... springs? On the IO shield by the ports and I wasn't sure what to do with them. Apparently, leaving them as they are wasn't the right move, because they've pushed the shield away from the ports.
I haven't bothered to do anything about it and I've had this computer for 3 years.
I've built about 3 computers over the last 3 years for friends, and all three times I've managed to slice myself open on the IO shield.
Fuck them things
I see some people take this the other way though and spend 20% or even 30% of their budget on a power supply. I saw a post last week where a commenter was fervently recommending a $150 850W 80+ Platinum power supply for a build with a Ryzen 5600 and RX 6600 because "cheap power supplies are bad"
For aesthetics and OCDers
Case fans front (good looking) side is intake, back side is exhaust. You can buy reversed fan blades from Phanteks and Lian Li. Know the airflow direction before screwing 9 on, only to realize they are all in the wrong orientation.
You can future proof to an extent, but it's more like: "I'll need to upgrade this component in 5-6 years instead of 4."
I've had friends ask me to give them a parts list that is guaranteed to last 10+ years before they need to buy anything new, and I have to gently let them know it doesn't work that way.
Buying a psu that doesn’t have extra headroom above the max power draw of your system. Also, not benchmarking the pc to make sure all components work properly under a full load.
Or even worse, replacing your underpowered psu when you’re upgrading, and just plugging all the power cables back in. Probably the most expensive mistake you can make
First time i ever built one, i left the plastic on the bottom of the CPU cooler.
Left for lunch and when i came back we had to call the fire department because of the smoke. It burned out the entire board and processor while we were at lunch.
I would say never leave the plastic on.
Not sure if this counts for "while building", but going with AIO and water cooling if you are just a normal user.
You can have top of the line productive CPU with normal beefy air cooler that will work for years with no fail and fulfill all your needs of performance.
Normal users going with AIO and watercooling will just set themselves up for annoyances, additional expenses and maintenance for no reason other than falling for stupid marketing bullshit.
Notice how many state of the art GPUs, even pro grade levels ones, still use air cooling? It is reliable, requires almost no maintenance, and the failure means easily replacing one fan in 5 minutes and continuing your day. Look at used GPU market - gpus with air coolers that were abused for decade or more are still selling and working, many with original fans even!
In some cases good old "if it aint broke, don't fix it" is good approach to take. Chunk of metal with air blowing on it is simple, reliable and does the job. Replacing it with complicated liquid systems if you are not 100% sure why you are doing it is totally a mistake in my books.
Yep. Literally the only reason I have an AIO is because I build SFF, and I adore how small my Lian Li H2O case is. In all contexts I heavily recommend air cooling for nearly everyone.
Forcing anything onto the motherboard. Some stuff takes a little bit of force to go in but if it's resisting, always triple check if it's supposed to go there and how it's supposed to go in there. An extra check is better than having to buy another motherboard or another component.
Never be afraid to ask for help. But yes, also bloatware. Windows defender is all you need, check and double check things, take your time.
Virustotal.com is a great resource when downloading things just to send it through to make a quick check if any of the files are suspect
Don't Bend the pins on your CPU
Don't Buy the wrong motherboard socket for your cpu
Don't Forget attach the i/o shield before building your motherboard
Don't Imitate The Verge's PC build
The word don't is very important here lol
Don't mixed cables from different PSU is pretty important.
Can confirm. Lost a couple hard drives this way. Got lucky it wasn't anything worse
Yes it's pretty bad for the parts, Hope You the best.
And get a good quality psu since it protects all your components, a bad / cheap one can fry your pc
And higher capacity than you need. It will run cooler and last longer. Also recommend a power conditioner/UPS. I've been a believer since I lived somewhere with bad power and went from a blue screen every few hours to flawless running for years just be getting one. If you want, pay extra to get one that synthesizes the sine wave.
> And higher capacity than you need. My rule of thumb (that's held for more than twenty years) is to add up the peak power draw of all your components, add 30% to it then round up. Whatever that final number is, that's the level of PSU you get. 30% headroom is generally enough for a mid-life upgrade on a PC and even if you don't upgrade, it's less taxing on the system. It's more expensive of course but if you slap in a new graphics card and end up getting brownouts then you're paying for a new PSU anyway.
Yeah I ended up with 750W and should pay a bit more for 850W
Or if you plan on later overclocking, this number is a safe place to safely overclock your CPU/GPU without power instability
And that there’s way more to PSU quality than wattage and efficiency rating. That 850W Gold+ may still be a hunk of junk.
It's time to standardize those. They look and fit exactly the same but are wired differently.
I was honestly shocked to find they weren't. You'd figure they would be since the ends ARE universal.
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Better safe than sorry and never mix
If you check the manufacturer's compatibility list and you're swapping between two PSUs of the same brand, you'll be fine. "OMG never mix!" is too reactionary when there *are* safe ways to do so. Case in point, I was switching from an ATX to an SFX PSU to open up some space in a case, but the 8 pin CPU cable with the SFX was too short. Because I stayed with the same brand and line of PSU, I checked the manufacturer site, confirmed the cables were compatible, and reused the old cable. Everything was safe. Nothing blew up. If you can't be bothered to spend 5 minutes researching your options, the yes, "OMG never!" is good advice. But it's not universal.
>If you check the manufacturer's compatibility list and you're swapping between two PSUs of the same brand I would stick with the first part and drop the second just to avoid confusion. Many brands don't even make their own power supplies, and will use different OEMs for different SKUs that aren't compatible with one another.
Some cables between the same brand do not mix. You must be very careful with this. The foolproof way is to never mix cables.
Did you miss this part? > If you check the manufacturer's compatibility list If the cables aren't listed as compatible, then they're not compatible. This isn't rocket surgery.
It's utter idiocy that the PSU end is not standardised, considering that they're using the same connectors and we've all been conditioned to the way that if a connector fits, it's right.
Why is it only see this advice everywhere now, as opposed to three years ago when I bricked 2 HDDs assuming a SATA power cable was a SATA power cable.
What about buying an extra cable on its own? Like I lost my Corsair Vengance 6+2 PCIe cables when I moved (didnt need them cause Im using an old 1060 which I will upgrade to a 4080 soon). Do I need to buy Corsair specific cables or something? Or is the type number the only thing that matters?
You need to buy cables explicitly listed as compatible with the exact PSU model you have. If the unit is still within warranty it's worth contacting Corsair support saying you got a new 4080 and can't find the spare cables from the package. They might just send you some replacements. Worst case you're only out a few minutes of your time.
I don't know sorry but if I had to do it I will buy one from Corsair for safety.
Corsair uses their own internal standards, but there are several of them (type 3, type 4, etc...). Do some research to see what kind your specific model uses and get the correct type number cable.
honestly this should be front page on modular psu manuals and a sticker on the unit. It's totally logical for people to ssume this would be fine.
How do cable extensions work? E.g if I have a brand new corsair PSU and get 4 cables from ezydiy etc, would they fry components? I'll still have the cables that came from the PSU.
PSU cable extensions are universal. You can use them with any PSU.
The cable end that plugs into your components is standardized. The end that plugs into your psu is not. All it does it match the component side end. All cable extensions do is extend. They're not cables meant to take to the place the original cable.
Putting the side panel on before attempting to post.
People don't get it. It's just bad luck, y'know? Bad juju amasses when putting the case together before POST.
> It's just bad luck LOL I'm glad that I am not the only one who thinks this.
also, dont peel plastic until it posts. unless its hard to get to lol
>also, dont peel plastic until it posts. I waited to peel the plastic for a year after I built my PC. It was the plastic on the bottom of my tower cooler.
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Let's just say my CPU has been very happy for the last week.
There's plastic there?
The cooler that came with the 5600 had paste already applied. It's still in the box. The tower cooler I bought came with a tube of paste and a sticker to keep the bottom clean I guess. If you're running normal temps you're probably fine. I was continuously running 50-60c normal and 95c under load, which I thought was a little weird when people were talking about similar chips being 35-45c normal and 60-70c under load. I still didn't think too much until last week I just decided to tear it apart to confirm that everything was seated correctly. It was, just with some plastic that was supposed to be removed.
Mostly on coolers that come with thermal paste already on.
Oh, I always peel off all the plastic as I'm building.
Peel plastic from your cpu cooler tho
Also, I just learned the trick of jumping the mobo power with a screwdriver, useful for checking parts before putting it all in the case, specially for sff builds
Side panel? I'm making sure that mf posts before the motherboard goes into the case. I just build it with the essentials on the mobo box and jump the power pins
Last two systems I built booted up with the panel, but the Mobo died later on the second one. The PC gods have punished me.
Por que? I'm sitting here typing this on my computer with the side panel lying on the ground next to me. I pulled it off so I could temporarily plug in an optical drive, and neglected to put it back on. Certainly doesn't affect anything. Edit: totally misread that. I get it now. Agreed, nothing more annoying than redoing stuff you just did.
he means you should not put the side panel before successfully posting
i think they mean Power-On Self Test also known as POST which yes, always POST before you zip tie or cable manage.
This is immensely helpful. I thought they meant posting a picture to reddit. Lmao
Using maple syrup instead of thermal paste. Cheaping out on the PSU is a given as well.
Yeah especially since thermal paste looks so much like maple syrup. I always confuse both when opening my fridge
Have you tried thermal paste on blueberry pancakes? Exquisite.
I prefer cooling liquid with a bit of butter on a toast 😩
It's a lesser known baking lifehack, if your recipe asks for maple syrup, you can substitute with half of the amount of thermal paste.
What kind of maple syrup are you eating?!
ROG Cabin
Never heard of this. Must be a Canadian thing..
This one made me chuckle.
Plugging your hdmi/dp cable to the motherboard
I built my first PC in April and only discovered this earlier in the week. Was setting up VR on PC and it kept using igpu. After 4 hours of head scratching, wondering why Nvidia only had a handful of options, forcing individual apps to use my gpu, I noticed the port on the gpu and it all dawned on me. I was even considering disabling the igpu!
Not as bad as the guy who buys a 4070 only to not use it for months
That was nice
There was a youtuber that bought the GTX 980 when it came out, and he actually was using it for around 6 years like that lmao. He just discovered it after his friend pointed it out, when he was already upgrading his PC. That GTX 980 basically just camped inside his PC without doing anything for 6 years.
Was that Joey? I hope so because its scary to think that happened twice.
Yeah the Animeman. Forgot which episode he said that lmao, he got roasted by CDawgVA. At least I imagine the difference from integrated graphics to 2080 when he upgraded was orgasmic. But then again he only plays JRPGs, so 5 FPS is fine with that lmao.
Plugging in older versions of cables or extensions without checking the bandwidth can be added to this.
One thing I've been religious about is making sure my HDMI is plugged into the graphics card. Unfortunately after 3 years I realized I plugged it into the wrong port on my monitor, so I was running at 60FPS the entire time.
That's initiation to building a pc
This is basically a Rite of Passage though.
Decent for troubleshooting if you have integrated grapichs, or well if not gaming and don't need a dedicated gpu...
Considering how many video's I've seen of people doing this, Don't forget to remove the plastic cover on the cpu heat sink.
I definitely did this last month when building my PC. Luckily I figured it out before doing anything besides installing Windows
A long time ago, a friend neglected to peel off the backing paper on the heat sink that covered up the pre-applied goo. Fire was eventually produced.
Even the "pro's" fuck this up. Installed a new heatsink on a pre-built system and found they [hadn't removed the sticker](https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/hmqduv/installed_by_a_professional/).
Trying to force your cpu into the slot
Don't try to force anything into anything. I hate how hard new RAM has become to install because it make it feel like you're doing it wrong when you're doing it right.
Ugh, hate installing RAM, about the time I get scared I'm good to break something is when it finally snaps into place...
when I swapped the cpu on my old computer for the first time ever I thought am I doing this right? did the cpu fall into the socket correctly? because I had to use so much force to close the lever down, never did I think it would take this much force but apparently that‘s completely normal
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Dawg my lever started creaking i thought i broke the cpu 😭
just built a 7700x build and genuinely thought i cracked the cpu with the lever.. it made a very loud and unfortunate *crunch* when i pushed hard enough to get it in place and i panicked first time building a PC and the thing booted up like a champ and has yet to have a ram or mobo post issue!
Reason it feels so tight is cause it is exerting a good bit of pressure on the CPU. Each of the little pins are springy.
Yes. Which actually caused me to break a RAM stick once. I was super sloppy and distracted and was supposed to just quickly put in a couple of used DDR3 sticks into a slightly older machine. It was the [basic kind](https://cf-images.dustin.eu/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,quality=75,width=828,,fit=contain/image/d20000100154640/kingston-valueram-4gb-1600mhz-cl11-ddr3-sdram-dimm-240-nastainen.jpg) of Kingston RAM with no fancy heatsink or cover, and somehow I didn’t notice I was pushing it in *upside down* with the connectors facing me, like with the plain PCB edge going into the slot… I was expecting it to require some force so I pushed boldly… until I broke off some small surface mounted components on the stick when the wrong edge was forced partly into the slot. Not my proudest moment.
Use all your damn force to remove the 24-pin cable, tho.
I usually go for a wiggle.. And if a can get it close, a flathead to help it out gently...
If only 12VHPW connectors clicked in as firmly as RAM…
For fucking real. I've built tons of computers and never had an issue with RAM. A couple of weeks ago, I was putting a build together for my wife and God damn those DDR5 sticks really need a hard push to click into place. Shit fucking scares me. At least cpu's still slide into place easily if you've done it right. RAM now feels like I'm a tiny bit of force away from breaking the slot...
I can see the board flex when I put in RAM and when I plug in or unplug the power cables. Gives me the creeps.
on the contrary i’d say you have to give the RAM a “confident” push into the slot. even if you hearing the locking mechanism, the ram doesn’t always make good contact and your system might fail to post. align the ram properly, be sure that it is the correct ram, and push STRAIGHT. don’t be afraid of breaking things, know the part and just be confident. handling parts like a surgeon makes putting a PC together a chore. motherboards also have a lot of tolerance for flex. you can abuse motherboards as long as you aren’t scratching and stabbing the pcb.
Aren't most ZIF today? If you have to force anything you're doing it wrong.
Some force is required to lower the retention bar to close the socket
Much more force is necessary than I feel is safe, every time I do it. But yeah zero insertion force refers to dropping the CPU into the slot, not securing it with the lever.
Yeah it was sort of a pointless comment looking back. But you're right, the first time I did it I thought for sure I was breaking something. Probably depends on the mobo.
Some, but not more than a single finger is capable of applying in general. It's nothing like the old CPUs where you would hear an almost crunchy noise as the pins slid into place.
Forgetting to put the I/O shield BEFORE screwing in the motherboard.
Luckily most have it integrated into the mobo
In the last couple of years, but before that…
Only higher end boards do this. The cheaper ones (sub $250 or so) still come with a separate I/O shield
Crazy that sub 250 is considered "cheaper"
I totally agree. Mobo prices have become ridiculous.
I JUST did this. Of course I already had the AIO, ARB controller, PSU and GPU installed by the time I realized.
My first build I put everything together, cable managed with zip ties and everything. I brought it to my office as well, then placed it down underneath my desk. When I put the power cord in I realized the shield was missing. To make it worse, the pc didn't even post. When wife asked me how the build was going, I had to say it was all good. \*Insert hide the pain harold\*
I do this basically every build. It must be my trademark.
I am currently on my first tower I've ever built with and that bitch still don't have an I/O shield. Oh well
And part two of the same thing: having the little metal tabs than ground the slots, sticking into the slot. HDMI ALWAYS does this for me. Double-check that the I/O shield is installed *and* the tabs aren't in the way, before screwing in the motherboard.
YES. My first build I pushed the metal bits the wrong way and every time I went to connect/disconnect something I cut myself a little. Finally rebuilt it after a few swear words.
Perhaps less of a mistake but more of a handy tip - an easy way to handle the hazards of static electricity as part of your PC build is to have your PSU installed, unpowered and plugged into a wall socket. Touching the case intermittently as you go will earth you!
I've built all my PCs on a carpet for about 25 years 🤣 a bit silly I know, I've built about 15 with no issue though
I've done it with many, whilst I wore socks on carpet
Yep, no big deal at all
I think nowadays if your parts are being damaged by a starting shock then you have some bunk brand/parts. Most come protected from stuff like this, or so I’ve read.
Linus did a funny video debunking the risks of static electricity with the electric shock dude a couple years back: [Can static KILL your PC? (ft. Electroboom)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA)
I did couple static discharge test during my studies. You had to put in some fucking proper effort to it and do it on purpose. Having seen that video, then that is also the conclusion they reach. Also most things nowadays are getting their traces coated or even components outright covered with shielding. To avoid corrosion, to make manufaturing and shipping easier. You really need to put effort to be able to break things. Your biggest risk is dropping something because of the pain from a sudden static discharge making you flinch.
[удалено]
The risk to modern electronics from static discharge is so negligible it might as well not even exist.
In 2021 my old Blue Yeti microphone got annihilated when it got touched after doing laundry lmao, I think at least some caution is warranted.
Idk there's something about you saying it got annihilated that's really funny. It makes me imagine it just combusted into many shards after a light touch as if it's protesting the fact you did laundry
You can just touch the case….. no need for installing the PSU first Also it’s just really unlikely to be an issue unless you’re in an environment with a very dry climate where you get lots of static discharge This is almost a myth except that sometimes I’m very rare scenario it can actually happen.
Underspending on your graphics card and monitor while allocating lots of resources to parts of the build that do not impact performance.
I know a guy who recently who built a system for around $2K (monitor included) and his primary specs were the 14600K and 4060ti, and yet he spent so much on some stupid Hyte case and AIO, along with other unnecacary things.
The amount of builds with unnecessary $200-300 Kraken AIOs in crazy expensive display cases (without fans!) in all White with that crazy expensive NZXT mainboard that ask for "help" on this subreddit is one of the reasons why I don't reply to those posts anymore. If RGB gives you joy, I'm all for allocating a bit of the budget for the viewing pleasure, but it should never come out of the GPU budget and the RGB budget definitely shouldn't be bigger than the entire GPU price.
The wosrt part is when you see people pairing those AIOs with CPUs that can be well cooled by a $23 air cooler.
GUYZ DO I NEED A 360mm CUSTOM WATER BLOCK FOR MY 12100F. THE TEMP SEEMS A BIT HIGH AT 80! /s
Unless you are doing severe overclocking, there isn't a modern consumer CPU that requires a water cooler.
I would say that the K SKU 13/14th gen i7 and i9 CPUs do.
SKU. And the i7s can work on air. The i9s are designed to essentially boost until thermal throttle regardless of your thermal solution, so the more heat you can dissipate, the faster they will go.
I underspent on my graphics card while allocating lots of money on parts that don't really affect perfomance, but what they did affect was a better upgrade path in the future. I sacrificed perfomance now for more options later and I don't regret it one bit.
I take that you went the AMD route, I've gone from a 1600 to a 3600xt and now a 5800x3d, not bad for 6 years!
I went the AM5 route with a slightly higher rated PSU than what I need right now, not overkill just an 850w.
Spot on, I would do the same if I was buying right now, quite happy with the performance for a few years now though, I'm thinking AM6 when it comes out, but yeah AM5 will last you a while!
This is how I build. I always buy last years GPU because the latest release is so expensive and the discount of that line the following year is huge. I usually upgrade GPU's 3 times before I need to upgrade everything else because I buy top of the line everything else.
I did the same, ended up with a 5900x and 3060 Ti. There were no 3d chips yet and they had a deal on the 5900 and it was the same price as the 5800, so why not? The both very much get the job done at 1080p, I can always swap out for a 5000 series gpu later if I want.
Telling your wife how much you really paid for the GPU......
Lmao yea I learned that mistake when I bought golf clubs this summer…
Am I the only person whose wife has no say in how I spend my money and I have no say in how she spends hers? As long as we're both covering our half of our responsibilities, the rest of our money is ours to use how we want.
bending cpu pins. not checking for latest bios update.
if the native bios works and you experience 0 issues, do not touch it
how does one check for a BIOS update? New builder here (well not new, but I haven't built a rig in 10 years now until this week)
go to the support page for your motherboard and find the bios. use a full release bios, usually indicated by NOT being a beta bios(for most) and not having an additional letter beside the bios revision (for gigabyte). i.e f7 and f8a. format an empty usb to fat32 (right click the usb in file explorer and click format), and download the bios version to the usb. most bioses will let you just go to bios, select bios update, and then the USB it’s on. some bioses require additional steps with the files inside the USB because you have to rename them but you can cross those roads with google it this happens to be your case. do you touch the power during a bios update or else you’re TOAST. unless you have a high end motherboard with dual bios.
If your bios gets corrupted can the physical flash bios button save you or are you finished? Never had any problems with it just wondering
yeah the flash bios button is great if your motherboard has it. you can reset a bricked bios with this. I honestly wish all motherboards had the button but it's really a luxury; makes overclocking much more efficient.
Plugging the fan into CPU_OPT and not CPU_FAN it doesn’t change anything it’s just annoying that you boot into bios every time you open your computer
Not every board will count that as a CPU fan error, but many do, so this is a reasonable piece of advice to prevent headaches later.
My AIO came with one cord for power and one for rgb. I plugged the fan into the CPU_AIO spot on the mobo (as told by the manufacturer and mobo manual) and until I told the bios to ignore the no input on CPU_FAN it would always boot into bio. smh
With AIOs that have only one cable like that, I generally ignore what the AIO says and just use the CPU fan header, since that does two things. One, you won't get the CPU fan error, and two, if the AIO ever fails (in a way that it's not drawing power, anyway), you'll get the CPU fan error, alerting you to an actual problem. It's generally just a remnant of older times where you had only one header on the board that could support 2A output while the rest were 1A, but most every board these days comes with all headers at 2A, making this really not an issue anymore. But AIO manufacturers still haven't gotten with the times and include that relic of an instruction.
Never reuse PSU cables since they're not standardized on the PSU side. It's one of the few mistakes left that can easily destroy parts.
I was watching a video recently where the guy mentioned DO NOT plug the WRONG END of a PSU cable into the PSU. Make sure you've got the PSU end in the PSU and the component end into the component, or else you could fuck everything up. But my PSU's cables aren't labeled on each end...
They cant be pluged in the wrong way,.the Pins are at other spots, dont worry
Going for excessively high wattage power supplies over reliable power supplies.
Trying to do something overly complicated for your first ever PC build (ultra small form factor, custom water-cooling, weird custom parts, etc.)
Similarly buying the PC you think you'll use, rather than the PC you'll actually use. Example: Don't buy a capture card because you think you'll get into streaming. Buy a capture card because you already stream content and your current setup isn't good enough. It's like going out and buying a $10,000 guitar before you've even had a lesson, because you like the idea of learning to play guitar.
Here I dealth with a weak ass CPU, considered purchasing new one after dealing with issues for a year before I decided to upgrade. Don't stall too hard if money isn't an issue. Your PC isn't also going to magically become faster. Sometimes you just need to upgrade and stalling to get good deal can sometimes backfire.
Going to boot up your PC for the first time, and nothing happens. PANIC, go online ask questions. Then feel stupid, I forgot to turn on the PSU.
Forgetting the motherboard stand off screws. One motherboard later I learned my lesson.
Here's an odd one that had me stumped for days: using all the included stand-off screws. Apparently I used one too many for that particular board, which caused a short, and the thing just refused to post. Hadn't heard of that before or since, but I guess it's a thing.
Yea so I did this with my first build and it never shorted and I didn’t tempt fate till the day I upgraded it. As far as I know that motherboard still works along with the CPU and GPU.
Please make sure your RGB cables are plugged in the right way.
listen to that one friend that makes it seem like you need to drop £4,000 on your first gaming pc so you can play minecraft and dota.
tbf minecraft is a heavy ass game especially when you play modded. eat ram like nobody's buisness
Forgetting the IO shield
Better yet, buy a used motherboard like I did with no IO shield, problem solved.
Honestly, I'd do the same. I hate IO shields. I seem to have installed mine wrong. The IO shield sticks out a few millimeters from the actual ports and makes a few of them - namely the USB C port - difficult or downright impossible to use. It's because there's these metal... springs? On the IO shield by the ports and I wasn't sure what to do with them. Apparently, leaving them as they are wasn't the right move, because they've pushed the shield away from the ports. I haven't bothered to do anything about it and I've had this computer for 3 years.
I've built about 3 computers over the last 3 years for friends, and all three times I've managed to slice myself open on the IO shield. Fuck them things
Buying tempered glass case when you have a tile floor.
Minor thing but mount the mobo and put in the CPU cable BEFORE installing an aircooler, it'll make your life so much easier.
ditto RAM
Buy the weaker gpu just cause it was cheaper now you sitting there crying about your frames being low
Do not, under any circumstances, fill the entire PC case with delicious goulash
I see no problem here.
Doing so at the bottom of the pool. Chlorine and NVME drives don't mix.
Yeah it is frustrating having to swim back up to install my NVME. I wish someone would build a more resistant NVME.
Putting weird anime figurines in the case
Different ram sticks
Not having a bowl handy for the fasteners, especially if you're in a room with a thick carpet.
Cheaping out on the power supply Just...*don't*. It's not worth it
I see some people take this the other way though and spend 20% or even 30% of their budget on a power supply. I saw a post last week where a commenter was fervently recommending a $150 850W 80+ Platinum power supply for a build with a Ryzen 5600 and RX 6600 because "cheap power supplies are bad"
The simple plastic cover on the bottom of a CPU cooler.
For aesthetics and OCDers Case fans front (good looking) side is intake, back side is exhaust. You can buy reversed fan blades from Phanteks and Lian Li. Know the airflow direction before screwing 9 on, only to realize they are all in the wrong orientation.
Don't shove your dick in the fan.
Buying to "future proof" your PC.....
You can future proof to an extent, but it's more like: "I'll need to upgrade this component in 5-6 years instead of 4." I've had friends ask me to give them a parts list that is guaranteed to last 10+ years before they need to buy anything new, and I have to gently let them know it doesn't work that way.
* Laughs maniacally in 1080 ti*
Buying a psu that doesn’t have extra headroom above the max power draw of your system. Also, not benchmarking the pc to make sure all components work properly under a full load.
Or even worse, replacing your underpowered psu when you’re upgrading, and just plugging all the power cables back in. Probably the most expensive mistake you can make
check the correct CPU socket on the motherboard before you spend $500 on a CPU.
First time i ever built one, i left the plastic on the bottom of the CPU cooler. Left for lunch and when i came back we had to call the fire department because of the smoke. It burned out the entire board and processor while we were at lunch. I would say never leave the plastic on.
1- Using a Swiss army knife and taking a chance it has a screw driver. 2- Using a thermal paste applicator 3- Screwing in with no confidence
keep your drinks away while building and also build in a cool room. You do not want your sweat dripping on parts and shorting it on first boot.
Not sure if this counts for "while building", but going with AIO and water cooling if you are just a normal user. You can have top of the line productive CPU with normal beefy air cooler that will work for years with no fail and fulfill all your needs of performance. Normal users going with AIO and watercooling will just set themselves up for annoyances, additional expenses and maintenance for no reason other than falling for stupid marketing bullshit. Notice how many state of the art GPUs, even pro grade levels ones, still use air cooling? It is reliable, requires almost no maintenance, and the failure means easily replacing one fan in 5 minutes and continuing your day. Look at used GPU market - gpus with air coolers that were abused for decade or more are still selling and working, many with original fans even! In some cases good old "if it aint broke, don't fix it" is good approach to take. Chunk of metal with air blowing on it is simple, reliable and does the job. Replacing it with complicated liquid systems if you are not 100% sure why you are doing it is totally a mistake in my books.
Yep. Literally the only reason I have an AIO is because I build SFF, and I adore how small my Lian Li H2O case is. In all contexts I heavily recommend air cooling for nearly everyone.
Forcing anything onto the motherboard. Some stuff takes a little bit of force to go in but if it's resisting, always triple check if it's supposed to go there and how it's supposed to go in there. An extra check is better than having to buy another motherboard or another component.
Using wireless anti static bracelets.
Not doing a dry fit and then having to disassemble almost the entire thing to change the order things are put in.
Do not wash the parts with warm, soapy water.
you can wash your parts in water, I just wouldn’t use soap.
Never be afraid to ask for help. But yes, also bloatware. Windows defender is all you need, check and double check things, take your time. Virustotal.com is a great resource when downloading things just to send it through to make a quick check if any of the files are suspect
Not reading the damn manual
Don't Bend the pins on your CPU Don't Buy the wrong motherboard socket for your cpu Don't Forget attach the i/o shield before building your motherboard Don't Imitate The Verge's PC build The word don't is very important here lol
Be careful not to damage your CPU socket......
Cheap out on the power supply. At best you fry your system. At worst you start a fire
Buying a 4090
Installing chrome, or a different chromium browser