Things you wished you would have known before building your first pc?

[VicRik]

Title explains itself, about to build my first PC so I thought it would be useful to hear what you guys have to say about this!

[Guest]

I wish I had built it...

[Spec2jeti]

Knowing to have an anti-static strap. It wasn't pretty what happened. 

[VicRik]

2 minutes ago, Spec2jeti said:

Knowing to have an anti-static strap. It wasn't pretty what happened. 

I have one of those, do you happen to know what the best place to connect it is?

[Spec2jeti]

1 minute ago, VicRik said:

I have one of those, do you happen to know what the best place to connect it is?

Yeah. I would recommend either the power supply or a metal part of your case. Those are usually the best place for them. 

[LabRat]

educate yourself. there's more to computers than building for some low requirement game you like.

don't let somebody build you one who's trying to get rid of their old stuff.

bigger isn't always better. ($$ 10k HD's ) money could be better spent elsewhere. ( small SSD's suck )

picking a better monitor. ( here big is better ) ( if the resolution follows ).

finding more than one place to shop for parts.

don't get stuck in the name game.

don't be a fanboy.

pretty memory only costs more.

don't buy a power supply by watts listed.

don't buy the newest stuff right away....... physx cards...YUP!....LOL..... but the effects were nice back then. and I'd probably buy one if it were made specifically for physx calculations again./I never learn.

stock HS&F's aren't very good.

cases need good ventilation. I had quite a few enclosed "bread boxes" with little inlet and outlet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VicRik]

4 minutes ago, LabRat said:

educate yourself. there's more to computers than building for some low requirement game you like.

don't let somebody build you one who's trying to get rid of their old stuff.

bigger isn't always better. ($$ 10k HD's ) money could be better spent elsewhere. ( small SSD's suck )

picking a better monitor. ( here big is better ) ( if the resolution follows ).

finding more than one place to shop for parts.

don't get stuck in the name game.

don't be a fanboy.

pretty memory only costs more.

don't buy a power supply by watts listed.

don't buy the newest stuff right away....... physx cards...YUP!....LOL..... but the effects were nice back then. and I'd probably buy one if it were made specifically for physx calculations again./I never learn.

stock HS&F's aren't very good.

cases need good ventilation. I had quite a few enclosed "bread boxes" with little inlet and outlet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow thanks a lot for all this information. I had one question though, for the build I currently have in mind I have a 120GB SSD for the OS. Why do you think small SSD's suck?

[LabRat]

it'll fill up before you know it............ and a main drive is more important, and it will be more apparent as time goes on............ than a storage drive.

I now have 2 - 240's that I need to replace. it's amazing.

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, VicRik said:

Wow thanks a lot for all this information. I had one question though, for the build I currently have in mind I have a 120GB SSD for the OS. Why do you think small SSD's suck?

It's just lots of programs tend to put it in the main C drive (where SSD is) and it gets filled up quickily

[Ekst4zy]

I wish I knew that good case and good PSU are a worth while investments. If you have a good quality PSU, it will last you years.

 

Good case... Just makes building it it sooo much easier. Recently I was building a rig for my brother, Phanteks p400. Geez, it was a pleasure to work with. 

 

IMHO 240 ssd is a minimum this days. 

[VicRik]

3 minutes ago, Ekst4zy said:

I wish I knew that good case and good PSU are a worth while investments. If you have a good quality PSU, it will last you years.

 

Good case... Just makes building it it sooo much easier. Recently I was building a rig for my brother, Phanteks p400. Geez, it was a pleasure to work with. 

The case I'm planning to use actually got Linus' Stuff that doesn't suck' award

[Ekst4zy]

3 minutes ago, VicRik said:

The case I'm planning to use actually got Linus' Stuff that doesn't suck' award

which is?  Just curious.

[VicRik]

2 minutes ago, Ekst4zy said:

which is?  Just curious.

NZXT S340 Black/Red. Its a pretty commonly used case but I like its looks and it has everything I need

[Ekst4zy]

1 minute ago, VicRik said:

NZXT S340 Black/Red. Its a pretty commonly used case but I like its looks and it has everything I need

That was my original choice! But then Phankteks p400 showed up. Yup, it's a good case. Maybe consider Elite version? Acrylic panels are magnets for dust. It will never be clean.

[VicRik]

3 minutes ago, Ekst4zy said:

That was my original choice! But then Phankteks p400 showed up. Yup, it's a good case. Maybe consider Elite version? Acrylic panels are magnets for dust. It will never be clean.

mmh, thanks I'll look into it!

 

[Mr.Meerkat]

That Asus's customer Support (in the UK) is non existent 

That my Z77 sabertooth motherboard would fail only after 2 years and how it was likely the cause of the deaths of my 2 290Xs  

 

Funny how my Asus motherboard failed which made me not like them very much but my current Motherboard, GPU and laptop are Asus Branded  

[Bxboy420]

I wish when I started watercooling 3 years ago I got the right pump to handle a AMD FC-8350 overclocked to 4.9 Ghz and 2 R9 290x's.

flow rate wasn't pretty lol but made a good space heater.

[VicRik]

1 hour ago, Ekst4zy said:

That was my original choice! But then Phankteks p400 showed up. Yup, it's a good case. Maybe consider Elite version? Acrylic panels are magnets for dust. It will never be clean.

I've looked at the Elite, thanks for your suggestion, the elite it will be!

[Ekst4zy]

8 minutes ago, VicRik said:

I've looked at the Elite, thanks for your suggestion, the elite it will be!

I'm glad you like it

[Bleedingyamato]

3 hours ago, VicRik said:

Wow thanks a lot for all this information. I had one question though, for the build I currently have in mind I have a 120GB SSD for the OS. Why do you think small SSD's suck?

You'll fill up a tiny drive faster than larger one.  

 

If you can afford it I'd suggest at least a 250GB for an OS drive.  Preferably Samsung (850 pro if possible since it'll last a very long time but 850 EVO is still good too and will last plenty long too.)

 

Also, make sure you have needed tools: a 3/16 inch nut driver for the motherboard standoff screws and a #2 head Phillips screwdriver and some short zip ties for helping with cable management.  

 

It took me 3 whole days to upgrade my first computer (bought as a prebuilt) because I was missing needed things like those tools and had to stop for the day twice because somehow I kept realizing what I needed but didn't have AFTER stores were closed.  ?

[YamiYukiSenpai]

I have no regrets with mine, but my advice is this: make sure that whatever you end up getting won't give you any regrets

[YamiYukiSenpai]

1 minute ago, Bleedingyamato said:

You'll fill up a tiny drive faster than larger one.  

 

If you can afford it I'd suggest at least a 250GB for an OS drive.  Preferably Samsung (850 pro if possible since it'll last a very long time but 850 EVO is still good too and will last plenty long too.)

LOL I got an 850 Pro in Newegg for about CAD150-175 (almost same price as the 850 EVO) right after I got an 850 EVO.  Ended up buying that one, and put the 850 EVO in my laptop.

[PCGuy_5960]

That in X99 boards one side is upside down

[Guest]

How obnoxious the majority of PC gamers are. 

 

 

[Bxboy420]

Pc/console has its fair share of trolls as the internet should know this by now.