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Common PC Building Mistakes that Beginners Make!
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- Published on Jan 21, 2021 veröffentlicht
- Here are the most common PC Building mistakes I see when people are building their first PCs! Don't let these happen to you!
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Science & Technology
IF YOU LOSE A SCREW OR OTHER SMALL METAL OBJECT, DO NOT TURN ON YOU COMPUTER UNTIL YOU FIND IT. I cannot tell how easy it is to fry a board that way.
@Scott James lol. Try installing win 95 from the upgrade cd coz you bought that one because cheaper. Lol. We use to get around that with a stuffy loaded with two system files to trick the upgrade thinking an older version was installed.
Nah
@fr0zeneye100 yah these days you can have a hamster living in your pc and it won’t hurt a thing. Miss the old days. First comp I ever built was a 486. Had some commodores back in 5-6th grade use to mess with. Old windows 95. Most people that think there savvy probably could not even install 95 or Linux.
Lol, try the old days with isa cards and 40 pin ide cables. Now the things are idiot proof. There is no way to muck it up. Back in the day it was not uncommon to smell smoke as a kid trying to put together a 486. Things are way easier and way better documented and all plugs and stuff just go where they need. It is physically impossible to slot things wrong way now.
I shocked the hell out of myself, I lost like three screws in there is that why😂😅
Great video, I've made a few milestones because I had to watch more than once
1:00 motherboard assembling suggestions (processor, m2 ssd)
3:56 dram installation (best usage of channels)
6:20 cpu cooler
9:14 air flow, fans
12:20 water cooler radiators air flow
14:29 graphics card, sizes, dimensions
17:18 power cables
Ty much appreciated
9:47 Here's a tip. For case fans of all sizes, the cages usually appear in an "X" form. "X" for exhaust. Easy to remember 🙂
Another tip, *but i'd like to be corrected by a professional*
Small PC case = Air pressure. and i believe that makes impact to your temperature.
@r0ckygandaIfam I'm something of a case fan myself :)
@Shawn H Corey Yeah that's how I've always been able to tell. I look at the blade and think "If that scoops and pushes air one way, what way is that?" and there's my answer.
That's a good one!
Or as TechSource says, "Faces suck."
Number one tip that I learned is to watch a ton of videos before even buying a single piece of hardware, that way we don't have to send it back and wait even longer for the right parts.
Was under the impression that gt 1030 was a decent gpu to buy at a cheap price while I save up for a better one. Only to find that it was ddr4 piece of plastic waste.
Pro tip number 2: start building PC only once you have the money to BUILD a pc. Can't build a house piece by piece once every few months. That's just ridiculous.
That’s good to do but just read like if you got a psu that’s 160mm max make sure your case supports a 160mm psu it’ll always say it
*I've been watching PC builds since 2021*
I've been researching on how to build and what the parts of the components do for a p.c and I say your 100 percent right I've never played p.c or anything I've always been xbox player, and after a solid 6 to 8 months of watching videos and learning I'm just now buying parts for a p.c and I can say I've learned alot already and have never once touched a p.c component yet
my pc is 10 years old besides the ram. just upgraded my gpu for a game to meet min requirements and now it runs even worse. can barely run games on lowest graphic settings
HVAC engineer here with 15 years experience in the aerospace industry. All ventilation tips here are very accurate! Well done!
Pro Tip: If upgrading your PSU do not be lazy and reuse your old wires. You will fry your motherboard and/or hard drives. Take the old power cords out and put in the new ones that came with your new PSU. Each PSU manufacturer and even models are wired differently on the PSU side.
My Tip:
You don't have to build your whole PC in one go! Don't keep building if you're getting really tired or you will have less fun and be more prone to mistakes and frustration.
Took me 15 hours and the water cooler still doesnt work :|
My tip; buy a case of beer and start early in the day, then buckle in for the whole ride
Gahhh these "took me 3 hours, 6 hours" comments just made me more terrified. I keep procrastinating starting my motherboard swap
@Jesse Lusky nah. Cable management is pristine. The only thing that went wrong was I broke the cable on one of my fans. There's nothing shitty about it. PC building is easy, it's just like putting Lego pieces together and screwing a few things in.
@Reposter 3 hours your first time? must have been basic or shitty, takes me 4 hours and im a veteran.
It would be helpful to have a short video of what to expect after you finish the physical build. For example installing the new OS, downloading new drivers, and common errors that arise (setting motherboard to Windows 11 settings, etc).
@Lite Knight Yeah I saw that video the very next day after posting this comment.
Jayztwocents already has an older, but still very helpful video on that titled: "Guide: What to do AFTER building your computer..." Just do a quick Clip-Share search to find it. Cheers
Troubleshooting is the fun part though
My tip on coolers: My deepcool assassin III left barely 2mm of space between the cooler and the side panel. I had to replace one of the 140mm fans with a nicer more powerful 120mm to make up the difference because it hit the ram and the IO on the other side. So if you are going with a really large air cooler you not only have to think about the case but also low profile ram. Also don't bother with RGB you won't see it under the cooler and fan.
Yo, what's good my homie? You know I always gotta keep my coolers on lock, so I feel you on that. But remember, when you're living the Snoop Dogg lifestyle, you gotta roll with the punches and make it work no matter what. So if you gotta swap out a fan or two, that's just part of the game. And as for the RGB, ain't nothing wrong with a little bling bling in your setup. You just gotta find the right spot to show it off, ya feel me?
I completely disconnect my rig from power, because the leds on motherboard were lit all the time and creating a halo effect on a wall, which was disturbing my going to sleep time 😑
Tip: try not to lose the screws. Get a layout and try to place them where they should be on a place you know they can't fall or get lost. Remember to get all the screws back in the mobo/components.
Many anti-static mats include numerous compartments for holding screws and small tools. It is advisable to employ an anti-static mat, and nice ones are available for under $20 US.
Good advice. Nothing more frustrating than scraping parts all over the floor or table, even worse, loosing them inside the case. A baking pan from the dollar store and even a magnet included prevents this hair-pulling experience..
Bend radius: don't stress cables just to be sure you can hide them.
Also be sure you don't have loose wiring passing in front of the fan. Especially on top of horizontal fans.
Thanks for this! Building my first relatively high spec pc at the moment, and really put me at ease about certain thing, radiator fan directions, gpu power. Never realised that about the dual channel ram either, a couple of earlier budget builds probably suffered a bit for it! Many thanks
Build Tip:
Lay your case on its side when assembling. Stop trying to fight gravity. Don't be Linus.
I've wondered why Linus always puts his fingers all over all the componentry on a board or a DIMM or a card... He must carry his STATIC-FREE certification card in his wallet...
Linus just sticks stuff in I swear to god
@John Fizzelo ERMG! That's the one I want for my first build! how is it? reviewers complain the caddy's for drives are fragile.
THANK YOU!!! if or when I do build my first PC? just getting a horizontal (on the side) layout. the HAF from coolmaster, Cyrgonic Taiku(?), or even Thermaltakes reduclous unit of of case: the Level 20 XT. all keep the parts on the side(horizontal). so you aren't fighting gravity. Like that fancy 40k, or 3080, or 3090RTX billion so many gamers want? big honken parts? doesn't make sense to have them on the side in your case! Having started to upgrade the computer I have, it is also a GD nightmare to fit my fingers in (for replacement hardives). I would hope, with a lying down/horizontal thing going on. that would be less of a issue.
I don't know why we only have updown/vertial thing going on. it doesn't make sense.
I've built my share of modern PCs and I STILL enjoy coming back to this video as a refresh/review. So clear and informative! A MUST-SEE for anyone who is building a PC.
One tip I can also think of for new builders is to make sure the orientation of the motherboard suits the case because sometimes the graphics pci express card is on the left and others on the right and the cases are not universal and if you choose the wrong one the expansion slots will be on the wrong side and you can not install them.
My tip is making sure you update your bios after a build. I didn’t realize how much bugginess I was subjecting myself too because of issues that had since been resolved with a bios update.
I got everything installed, programs, windows update, set my wallpaper even. Decided to flash bios last. Had to CMOS reset. Decided to never flash bios again lol
True, also drivers, and use only manufacturer website. Even the included CD will be outdated before the box is sealed.
UEFI*
What type of bugs?
One thing that I notice is when a component is upgraded or moved around - the CMOS needs to be reset if bios doesn't POST.
When switching power supply, say maybe you upgraded a GPU, don't mix and match the cables. Although cables look the same, each manufacturer has a different spec.
Some learnings from a recent build for a friend :)
Did my first complete build over the weekend. Have swapped parts out before, but never a total build. A lot of extremely useful advice in the video and comments. Thanks everyone.
Exceeding the budget is my most common mistake
I feel like I kept the PC in budget but I bought a desk and other assorted shit for it 😂
I've had the exact same issue for my first build late 90's. Did not account for everything i needed.
- Thermal paste note included with the cooler (did not verify)
- The most basic of basics, the Operating System -_-
- Had also to buy an ethernet card (got tricked it was RJ-11 port not RJ-45 :S)
- Speakers... well yes don't mock me hehe
- DVI to VGA cable (did not think about the fact that my monitor was VGA but my GPU was DVI only)
That sums about all !
I went from $700 budget build, to $1000 and ended up ending at $1600 🤦♂️
Still better than wanting something cheaper and better than a PS5 only to play every game in low settings beating the whole purpose of it :(, my budget was $750 but it was a nightmare and i ended up with $3300😂
😂😂😂you are not alone
2 little tips from me, 1. Remember to plug the 4/6 Pin in for your CPU, i forget it more times than i like to admit and 2. Never close up all panels on your case before doing a test boot to see if it posts, its a pain in the ass to have to unscrew everything to find out what might be wrong if it doesnt post xD Great video ^^
Cooler note for newer CPUs: make sure your cooler can pull away enough heat from your CPU. Made that mistake recently. I’m using a AIO on a 12700K that surprisingly doesn’t cool enough
1. While considering the Graphics Card height also consider the PCI-e Power Cable overhang, especially with the new 40-series GPUs so that you don't pinch or bend the wires in any damaging way....
2. If possible test a fully built system before putting it in the Case to save the trouble of disassembling everything in case something goes wrong "pun intended ;)"
3. Same as 2, test the fans and RGB before mounting....
I would briefly cover XMP/DOCP along with your dual-channel SDRAM bit (and how to check the operating frequency). Many people probably have their SDRAM kits installed improperly and therefore aren't getting the speeds they expect.
I've built a couple gaming pc's now and still find this video helpful as a reminder before starting or during. In fact yesterday i made the mistake of the radiator being to large for my case and my massive gpu. I was less than a half inch from it fitting inside the case. Could not fit the radiator on the top either due to ram clearance. my plan is to get a smaller radiator and see what happens. Fingers crossed!
Tip: Just do it. Don't be scared. There are plenty of resources online if you get stuck or something isn't working. After you complete your first build, you'll never want to go back to store bought.
@Damian Willard "equal parts valuable and absolutely useless." lol too true. Love it when a BSOD gives you mixed signals or different faults every few times while troubleshooting just to throw you on a loop.
I've never understood the antipathy towards store-bought... well at least in the case of buying from a PC specialized store and getting the parts you want and having them simply install it OR buying a pre-built rig that consists of... well, great parts.
(These days it's luckily fairly easy to do reading about the parts, do comparisons, read reviews... definitely worth doing)
Though yes, buying from some store that sells everything else too will be a likely ripoff in terms of price and not the best choice of parts intended to be sold to those who don't really know what they're looking at or who don't "look under the hood".
That's good to avoid.
With that said, I'm going to finally install my first motherboard+processor today (+SSD and 32gb RAM but those are ez).. on my originally-bought-as-a-package gaming rig that has been serving me for 9.5 years. (Well, did install a powersupply at one point and a 3060 Ti... now changing to a motherboard+processor that won't bottleneck the GPU's performance.
Yes, I'm very nervous. My already existing anxiety disorder isn't helping :D
But thank you for the encouragement.
I'm good at following instructions, but what I fear the most is getting stumped about attaching all the wires in the right places I guess.
When I changed the PSU, I took pictures so I knew where they go for sure, but now that it will be a different motherboard... it gets me unsure. But I'm sure it can't be that hard........ right? :S
Lets just hope tonight I won't be like "instructions unclear, processor stuck on power-fan"
Tip: get a friend who’s got experience before building one, there’s just so many rooms for super simple mistake that could cost you thousands, getting a pre built that has some components that you want and upgrading is the better option for beginners
@Futuza Who ever said buying a computer or a car was an investment? Most things you buy don't increase in value over time. You build/buy it because you need it.
@Thomas B I actually managed to figure out the issue about 6 months back or so. Unfortunately drivers aren't as stable as you might think, especially when those same drivers have to interface a virtually limitless amount of hardware configurations that don't always like to play nice with each other
Like what my issue ended up being. Shortly after my last post I had the same issues. BSODs, especially hardware and memory corruption ones. Even when my system worked it was still pretty slow for what the hardware I actually have was. My issue was running 4 sticks of RAM. All the headaches and problems I had was literally that. I still haven't nailed down the exact source of the issue even after upgrading my CPU a couple weeks back. I'm 99% sure it's my mobo though especially with the XMP issues I have with it and even just keeping my bios settings saved on there. Turns out my particular mobo is somewhat notorious for these issues and I just didn't do my research as well as I thought I did when I first bought all my parts.
My tip for the build Im on right now: Don't skip that first step of dismantaling your case to the minimum before putting things in. I would have saved so much headache if I just took out a couple of panels and the shroud in my case before even trying to manage cables.
My biggest tip would be to be delicate with handling your CPU cooler. Aluminum fins can be pretty sharp depending on the brand and I have had more than one slice my finger because my hand slipped or I shifted while gripping it. Could just be a me thing but wanted to throw it out there anyways.
Sounds like you handle cutting edge technology.
* ba-dum - tshh *
Make sure to consider air flow, do not place front fans blowing in and back fans blowing in. You want 1 direction of air flow for best cooling.
I made 2 of these mistakes on my current (first) build. Ram placement and fan orientation (which i tried to find an arrow on my corsair ql120). I also haven't plugged in the any power supply yet, so I appreciate the advice on power to the video card. Great video for me to learn, thanks
TIP: pay attention to where the notch is when installing memory modules. Make sure the notch aligns with the slots on the MB. If they don’t align pushing them in will damage the memory slots or modules themselves.
Yea, I fried 3 memory slots and 1 memory stick by placing them backwards. I am not sure how I did it, but it did click.
Pro Tip: Don't lose the ' M.2 drive' screws.
cups and containers keep the screw monster away ;)
@RedSquadMike Cracks me up!!🤣🤣🤣
My prebuilt came without them, so i had to order extra screws when i went to add an extra SSD to my motherboard smh
I just ordered a bag of them off Amazon. Way overpriced, but they included a little screwdriver too!
this
My tip:
0. Check the manual first always before you start/buy any parts.
1. Similar to the previous, check if the RAM you are gonna buy is tested by the MB company.
The MB company will put the part number they have tested on its web.
2. Don't forget to consider the static. So using an anti-static mat can help.
3. Keep the CPU socket protector, and put it back when you don't have a CPU on it.
4. When installing AIO, make sure the fan side pipe is hight than the CPU side pipe because it may contain some air inside the pipe.
5. Imaging how heat flow in your PC can help you to avoid some silly mistakes.
Awesome video! Doing stuff on the motherboard before installing it inside the case hit me very hard in the face!! The airflow was also a really great one, I also learned it the hard way! :D As a beginner what I would be also interested in is some cable management best practices, as I was struggling a lot with that when I started building PCs so maybe that can be also interesting. This is the 2nd video I'm watching from you and you got a new subscriber! ^^
I am an older generation builder who has not built a gaming computer in probably 15 years or better. So thank you for this video. With today's modern components I may have just relied on my past knowledge of "OLDer" builds and messed something up. I am planning a build to upgrade my 1050Ti card and everything that goes along with it.
Great tips. I built my first computer in 1992 and never looked back. I have built over 200 systems by this point and I learned a few things watching this video. Great job. I think it was much easier early on to build them in the case but I almost never build them in the case if I can avoid it now. My only recommendation is to put in a modular PSU that is overpowered so if you modify it later on you have enough power to support new components. Learned this when I upgraded my son's gaming rig and added a new GPU and some larger fans. He noticed that the GPU was not performing to the specs and I finally pulled the bottom cover to find that his PSU was about 200 watts short of the minimum needed to power everything we added that was new. In retrospect, I could have added a more powerful PSU on the original build and saved some steps. Great video.
I would also like to add check how many fans they’re planning to use. Maybe get a Corsair commander and some fan splitters. Check the fan company (I always go with Corsair sp 120) because though they’re static pressure I know that they still provide adequate air flow.
That tip at the end for increased frame rates is amazing! I went from displaying 59hz to 60hz in an instant 😎
@Dean kozelka i made your comment go from 159 to 160.
@Matt Smith Oh gee whiz, where's your sense of adventure?!
@Crystal_Clear _ I don't want to see anyone electrocute themselves!
@Matt Smith that's the nature of being a channel dedicated to a specific thing. Don't be disappointed with repeat topics. Might learn something you didn't know or missed before. Perhaps you'll get to watch Jay electrocute himself, you never know 🤷♀️
@g fox Monitor prices have really gone down too. I recently purchased a 34-inch for $430 which I'm mostly liking.
My tip: when using the screwdriver always twist counter Clockwise till you hear a click then continue to twist clockwise to tighten the screw, also use a holder for a heavy graphic card to prevent it from sagging or mount it vertically, I've desoldered many A1 and A0 mem banks already to know that
17:18 I didn't know this was an issue until I watched this, and of course for my two PC builds I had gone and done the one-cable jump-over thing to the second connector of my GPUs (RTX3070Ti). But I couldn't rest knowing that the power config for each GPU wasn't optimal, so last night, in the wee small hours -- and entirely on the strength of this video nagging me at the back of my mind -- I had to add the other cable to each of my PC builds. So thanks to JayzTwoCents I'll now be able to sleep at night🙂
I've just checked the wattage for the RTX3070Ti, and it draws 290W, so that's 65W more than the 225W supplied by the single cable (when within its max supply rating) plus the PCIe. So I'm sure I did the right thing, even though it probably isn't something a lot of folks would worry about. Better to be safe and max out the lifespan of my PC's components.
@John Carlyle if you ever worked on the wiring of a car, you would not be worried about a daisy chained power supply cable to the gpu, 16gage is plenty to handle the 300W draw and still be in the safety margin of the wire
So what I am wondering here on my first build is... my PSU has these cables labelled VGA that have a 2x6 pin connector going into the PSU while there's two separate 2x4 pin GPU connectors with their own cable(both of equal length) going into that 2x6 head. Is this the same as those "pig tail" connectors? Purely by visual appearance, I would assume not, but considering that I am looking to plug a 3080 Ti in, I'd rather be sure.
😊
It's worth nothing however that despite the 150W 'spec', many PSU manufacturers allow for more power. Take a look at the Corsair 12VHPWR cable, it uses only 2x PCIe sockets, yet it can provide up to 600W to a 4090.
Obviously, this is assuming your power supply is modular, but "If" the daisy-chain is a bit of an eye-sore for you then you can flip the cable around so there isn't a cable dangling in your case. You still only plug one cable into each slot of course, but the chain will be close to your power supply instead of right where your GPU is. That way your GPU will look like it has a single cable connection and it's much cleaner/easier to manage.
I did have an older PSU where the cables weren't the same but nowadays pretty much every modular PSU I own I just flip them for the nice clean look.
Pro tip: If you wanna build a new pc make sure that the company you choose your parts from has a base in your country, this is important if you wanna take advantage of your warranty. This happened to me when I bought a corsair mouse and it wasn't working properly so I talked to corsair and they told me to send them my mouse, now the problem is that I live in Malaysia and I had to send it to Taiwan when the shipment price was more expensive than buying a new mouse.
To avoid GPU sag, get cube cases that orient the GPU vertically, or towers that rotate the motherboard so that the GPU hangs down from the top of the case, like Silverstone Raven and Temjin TJ-11.
PCI-e riser cables are a lame workaround for a problem that case manufacturers already solved - then dumb consumers ignored that and settled for workarounds.
I'm in the middle of building my first PC after decades of second hands and hand me downs and I'm so glad I saw this before all the parts got here and I sat down to build it. I was absolutely going to put my cpu cooler fan on the wrong way round, I assumed pull was better than push (pulling hot air away from the heatsink) but it makes so much sense the other way (pushing cold air onto the heatsink).
Pro tip: On modular PSUs never ever use spare power cables from different brands of PSU, these are not standardised and each manufacturer uses different specs for the cables, the connectors may be identical but the cables aren't.
So of its a no no to use other psu cables how do people get away with using those rgb sleeved cables you always see. I see more 3rd party offer those..???
THIS SHOULD BE LESSON 1A
@Michael back in the days , we mod the original cables and put sleeved on them directly. So we not using 3rd party cables. But to sleeve all the cables and to remove the cable from socket and put them back in is an annoying job to do.
what if you are using 3rd party cables? i.e cablemod? can you use some of them and some of the original?
Might be worth a mention about the RAM clearance and the push fan config on the tower being in conflict. Either buy low profile RAM i.e. no RGB or you may be forced to fit the fan in a pull config.
The GPU fitting in a case problem was a REAL problem back when the GTX 700 - 800 / HD 6900 series cards came out. This was still in the era where 5.25” bays were a huge stack at the front of the case, resulting in the GPU not fitting because of those bays. Not too long after though, SSDs became common place and those bays were removed from case designs. That transition was a killer though! I remember getting my HIS ICE-Q 6970 and it not fitting in my Antec case. Ah, the days.
Once you peel off the plastic from your CPU cooler don’t touch the bottom, and don’t set it back down on the bottom. Lots of them have the paste already applied. You will loose the thermal paste and it will get everywhere.
Make sure your standoffs match the holes on your motherboard. I've seen people just fill all the holes (which are for different form factors) leaving extra ones to short out the board
Well said, it’s often the simple mistakes, that could you so much.
Curious because I give some gamers advice about the dual channel single channel thing from time to time. I also warn against mismatching ram speeds and capacities is that something that needs to be done as well or is it ok if you run mismatch sticks in the same channels?
pro tip: don’t forget to plug in the cable for the power button
edit: yes, i made this mistake & spent 6 hours trying to diagnose something that wasn’t broken until i actually read the manual and realized what was missing.
Man, I had the same problem once! Luckily took me just 10min to figure it out, but the 10 mins were scary enough - especially because I built the PC for my gf.
This is exactly what happened to me
I plugged the power/reset switch jumpers in incorrectly when I built my husband's computer. Figured it out while testing the pins on the board without the jumpers. Felt like the world's biggest idiot, as I was literally looking at the mobo manual at the time and just kept doing it wrong, contacting the incorrect pins, even while testing. Realized the error, tested on the correct set of pins, it came right up. Absolutely brilliant. Thankfully, that was the only error I made with his build! And it makes me feel a little better to realize this is a fairly common error.
On my own computer years before I'd messed up the cpu seating while installing the cooler. No damage done (AMD sockets are thankfully a little forgiving), but was definitely getting nervous as I came closer and closer to the realization of the problem. Was terrified I might have damaged the cpu. Pulled it all out, cleaned, reseated, repasted, reinstalled the cooler (more sure of what I was doing this time), and the next time I attempted to turn it on it came right up and it was just a *huge* relief. It was my first self-build and this baby firing up was an absolutely elating moment, lol. I'm hoping to replace it in the next year or so (it's 6 years old now), but I've been so happy with this rig, and the fact that I picked the parts and built it myself felt great. So satisfying to build your own.
Lmao I didn't have this problem exactly but I was so excited from finishing my 1st build back in the day, my power button didn't start up the system. I tried diagnosing for like an hour and a half until I got so frustrated and decided to cool off by taking a shower and coming back to it later.
I was so mad at myself in the shower that I fckd something up even though i spent so much time making sure I'm building correctly.
As I was showering it finally hit me..my eyes widened and I finished showering, went back to the pc, looked at the back, and flipped the God damn psu switch...
Everything lit up and spinned and I just stood there uttering to myself how much of a fcking idiot I was but was so happy seeing it turn on lmao
Well here is my tip. Get extra thermal paste and rubbing alcohol before you start. If you make a mistake you are likely to want to remove the heat sink to access things when you are fault finding or correcting things. Or you might want to completely build the PC outside the case first and test it there and only once you are happy move it into the case.
Tip: Start off by installing cables on the PSU (if the PSU is in a tight space) before installing the PSU in the PC case and do cable management for all the cables (including fans, LEDs etc.) so that everything is neat and clean when you install the motherboard. Cable management after motherboard and PSU (without cables) is installed can be a pain.
To a pc build nubie like me finding this channel is like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, thanks JayzTwoCents your work is much appreciated, love to all.
The way you explain things is really good! I don't build my rigs myself anymore but it's still fun and interesting to watch your show! :)
Jayz commented on removing the protective cover of the bottom of your air cooler, what he never mentioned, is that you should clean the surface with ethanol as you do with the surface of your cpu before putting your thermal paste on (small pea is best and paste from the Artic 4 circle), also push & pull is also an option, l do😊
Thx for commenting on this video
A good tip I have is to open the boxes for the parts as you go, don't open everything all at once especially if its your first time building a pc, start with the motherboard, then open cpu and work on installing it as soon as you take it out of the box, parts are less likely to get damaged when they are in the box and you are far less likely to misplace components under a mess of packaging. Also once you take your motherboard out of its box, put all of the warranty cards and manuals for the other parts into your motherboard box when you are done and keep the box. That one about the motherboard box has saved me on more than one occasion. It can also be a good idea to keep all of the boxes for all the components for at least a few months until you are sure they are all working correctly and none of them need to be returned as a malfunctioning part.
And as a side note, don't forget a usb with the windows install tool if you are going with Windows OS, and have a spare device with internet on hand just incase you get stuck with a step and need to go and do some googling to work out what you are meant to do next if your user manuals aren't helping with that. The motherboard manuals can sometimes be poorly worded so it's good to be able to watch a Clip-Share video where someone explains it as they show it visually.
I find that the anti static bag the MB comes in quite usefull. While actualy building I usualy place the MB on the bag. During a break I will depending on how much extra clearance the bag has either put the MB back in the bag or just cover the MB with the bag.
LTT you mean 😂
Very good point. I myself have been doing it like this all the time and it helps a lot - both organising the parts during the installation, and keeping the boxes. Especially keeping all the boxes - not just the papers for possible future reference. I just recently assembled a new rig for myself from scratch after two decades of working with laptops only (just building a computer for someone else every now and then), and managed to stack all the boxes inside the one big box from the case, so they all together only take as much space in my basement as a single computer case.
Moreover, many components come with surplus parts intended for different types of installation/pairing component so you end up not using them, but it is good to keep them anyway, and here's where the original box comes handy. And, in case of replacing one or two components in the future, the boxes are also useful when selling the original components second hand - every second hand buyer will appreciate the original package with all the paperwork and spare/unused parts included :)
I just started getting into pc and you are 100 percent right. While working on vehicles or your house it's a lot easier and sometimes faster to just clean the mess afterwards. PC is a beast of its own. I didn't stay organized and it cost me like 3-4 hours of build time.
I want to give this all my thumbs up. Organization is KEY. 1st time or 100th time. 1st time organization means you can do it right. 100th time organization makes it faster.
I just helped with a PC build and did some steps multiple times because parts were dumped on the table and I would find stuff and go "ooooh that's what we needed" or "what is this screw even for?" Not a good idea when it's your first time.
I know this is a little old but I'd like to see a video where you show how to start from scratch with picking components to build a system within a certain budget. I've done this with my two PCs and I think an unexperienced but enthusiastic PC person would love it.
this was nostalgic. you helped so much when I first started building years ago. Now I've gotten my brother into it an we're in the middle of his build. I've never seen his so excited lol
Here's one I recently made: If you can't find the caps to your AIO standoffs, don't try to make do with motherboard standoffs that just happen to fit on those threads. Especially if you only have 3 out of 4.
There is a world of information shared here and the one most important piece of advice I picked up on is to "build as much on your Motherboard before installing the board into the case. Also if possible look up the manual for your motherboard and make a photo print out of the actual illustration of a blown up page that shows location of all the connections for various cable leads.
Make sure not to swap CPU power and GPU power, both are 8 pin connectors but the pinout is quite different
pro tip: Rule of thumb, screw your air/liquid coolers in using a "x" pattern. This seems to always work for me ensuring equal distribution of pressure. not all coolers have a multiple screw points so tighten till snug do not over tighten some coolers have a hard stop to prevent this but just keep it in mind
Not just for pc's, but for everything. Makes striped holes less common, and crossthreading is eliminated
I have to remind my husband of this occasionally. The X pattern, and not overtightening on the first alignment pass. He's pretty good about not overtightening *overall,* just gotta be careful on that first pass to leave it a bit loose until everything's well threaded.
Bump
Cross tightening is a good practice with anything using any number of multiple fasteners. We use it in automotive when affixing just about anything. The principle is universal 👍
And don't overtighten. My 3rd and 4th DIMM slots didn't function because I had my AIO on too tight.
Been running my dual 1080s like Jay has been saying not to for many years. I never knew that was not how they were designed. I will be rebuilding my system soon and I will definitely be upgrading their power cable situation when I do.
I Just built my 3rd system with a 3080 and didn’t really think about the whole 2 vs 3 cables thing with the pci e connectors. Definitely going back in to add that 3rd cable today 😮, good to know for the future as these cards get increasingly hungry
Thanks Jay-Z. I know this is an older video but I'm very glad you had it out there. I didn't have the ram in the wrong slots, but they were loose. It was reading only one 16GB stick in the bios and upon looking at it, I'm not sure how it was even reading that one. Thanks for the great content and hope you have a blessed day in Christ.
Great info! I built my first PC a year ago after watching Linus Tech Tips and other channels. The only thing I potentially got wrong was using the pigtail cable to plug in my GPU. But it's only a GTX 1070 and I haven't had any issues, so not a total fail. I'll be more careful with the RTX 3080 once I get it.
Good to know. Once I got my 3080 later, I used 2 separate cables just to be safe. After watching this, I figured the pigtails must be meant for older, lower powered GPUs that use around 150 watts. Probably would be a bigger deal with a 4090.
if the wire isn't warm its fine, the manufacturers wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe otherwise they would have lawsuits on their hands
THANK YOU! This is my first time building a PC, I didn't even think about the size of my GPU being an issue. I checked and it's well under the max size, so we're good, but I opted for a larger GPU with three fans and didn't even consider the limited space lol
if you think it may be tricky to fit the additional CPU power, do it before installing the motherboard into the case.
I've built my own PC several times in the last 25-30 years, but the last one being around 7 years ago. As I have done in the past, I research current hardware and build advice before starting, and came across this video.
All great advice in the video and the comments on it as well. I didn't read all of the comments to see if this was said already (sorry too many of them), but I felt one mistake I just made is worth noting:
If your motherboard comes with heatsink/covers for your M.2 drives, don't buy an M.2 that comes with it's own heatsink. You can still install it, but you will need to leave off the motherboard cover/heatsink if you do. I bought a Samsung 980 Pro w/heatsink (thinking it was like RAM and heatsinks are always good, right?) and then realized the stock shield doesn't work with it, so had to order a replacement without a heatsink.
While I'm talking about M.2 SSD's... people should probably be warned that they come in two varieties (NVMe - works through PCIE and SATA - works through SATA which is slower). Be sure you are getting the correct one your motherboard can use.
A friend of mine played at 60Hz on his monitor for a year until he came over for a visit and noticed my monitor was so much smoother. I told him to check his display settings and sure enough.. he never even knew you'd have to change the display Hz setting.
Pro Tip: If you like to experiment before you buy: Play PC Building Simulator.
It's awesome to see what tower can hold which cooling etc.
And: Don't force parts. Usually, parts that do not want to go together do not belong together.
Good tip on the GPU cabling, I would not of thought that through. I am looking into buying anew high range card so I am sure that would of been an issue for me and it's something else to consider when buying a new PSU.
Old upload I know, but now that I have 5 builds under my belt I actually have something to contribute: Break your build in to stages, and take 5 - 10 min breaks between stages. It relieves some of the newb-jitters, and allows for a fresh state of mind at the beginning of each stage which will help you avoid stupid mistakes.
@Zing yeah im going to build mine with the LTT video in a month or so
@C Schuh that is a phone call I definitely would not make. I would just start saving up and will tell him/her, “your pc build has been delayed due to unexpected circumstances within my control” 😂
dude I did everything according to a full month of research-- and i think my mb is dead :( bios flashback never worked properly.
I got too ahead of myself and didn't do a test bench. Cockiness killed me. Doing stages should make sure I get it right once my new board comes in.
luckily I can return the bad one. If not, then I'll take my 169$ L
@Bara Robber Baron don't save cable management to the end. Keep tabs on where each cable needs to go and what's your best path, bundle cables that make the same run, etc... As you go through the process. The end result is worth the effort
This is a really great tip. As a brand new PC builder, this resonates with me so much. I'm taking my sweet time and going a little bit each night so I don't get overwhelmed or upset. Doesn't matter how many videos you watch, building your first PC is gonna be a unique experience to you. Taking my time and doing everything right the first time is more important than trying to blaze through it.
Just a point that the AMD Ryzen CPUs should just fall into the socket slots if orientation is correct and then the lever operated and secured.
If pushed as you said it could be fatal if alignment is wrong resulting in bent pins.
Quick question: If I have fans on either side of a radiator (pulling/pushing in one direction), will that increase the efficiency of air flow through a radiator?
Edit: I'd have a control board to make sure all fans are at same speed.
Wouldn't I not want the heat of my case to run through my radiator? I can only really imagine the most optimal airflow route for a AIO build being aio in the front, pulling air in through the rad, (with the Corsair 5000D airflow specifically) 3 adjacent of the radiator also pulling in, and the rest pushing it out. I think youve done an airflow guide for the 5000d, but I guess I just haven't searched for it.
If the case has sections like drive bays which can be unscrewed and removed, do so and tape the screw to the part_ (I like painters tape).
It will make it easier to handle the fiddly bits.
Orient all fans the same, especially if they’re ARGB. Use cable extensions to route them cleanly. It gives a nice clean aesthetic and ensures all the lights follow a consistent pattern.
Years ago, I decided to build my first computer. Since I really knew very little about doing this, I went to a bookstore. In the "how to do" section, I came across a manual entitled, "How to build a computer and not make mistakes." The author was JayzTwoCents. What a crazy name, I thought. But, I guessed that he must know more about this than me, and I bought it.
@Kami Sama Loves Me lmao
@MrRpgswe you okay now?
Or you lost your house in fire?
And he goes like "do as i say, not as i do" :D
I enjoyed reading this short story.
After reading several comments about thermal paste, I've decided to add another and that is don't. It's messy, either goes on too thick or too thin, doesn't spread as nicely as you'd like etc. I'd recommend instead using graphite thermal pads like those found on amazon by Innovation cooling, they aren't messy, they're of uniform thickness, you can install or remove the cooler as many times as you want because they're reusable and the best part is they don't get crusty and lose effectiveness over time. Furthermore, I haven't seen any loss in cooling performance / heat transfer vs. the top tier pastes.
Great content and this has helped me to understand how to go about my editing build. My question is, I have the Mesh 2 PERFORMANCE lian li lancool case and the EK360 AIO, and having some doubts on how I should install it. Would I be able to put that AIO in front, then use those 2 front fans at the base or top, and leave the one in the back that came with it? Or should I maybe get another set to have 2 more at base and 2 at top? Also, are the fans that come with this any good, or should I get some new fans? Advice from anyone is welcome and thanks in advance.
Mesh 2 performance
ryzen 9 5900x
32gb of corsair vengeance,
Asus Tuf Gaming X570 Pro Wifi 6
Samung Evo 1TB
4T Seagate Portable Hard Drive
Nvidia GeForce 3070 TI FE
Dell 32" curved Monitor
If your installing an AIO you should make sure you install the back plate when installing the motherboard. Some cases have enough room to apply the plate after the MB is in place, but it's not guaranteed to have enough clearance. Also if you ever replace the AIO, do not reuse the old back plate! Each series has slightly different post sizes, and just because you can secure the new pump to the old back plate, doesn't mean you have good surface to surface contact between the CPU and pump.
Tip: don't go crazy tightening the screws on the first pass, i.e., before you realize where everything needs to go, and in what order. You can always come back to them later.
In response to this tip, always tighten your screws in a cross pattern. This means you tighten one screw only a little snug, then go the screw directly opposite that screw and tighten it snug. The repeat for the other two screws. Gently move from screw to screw in the same pattern until you cannot snug it down any further. You are done tightening, the screws are at the optimum tightness and the fan or PS or whatever, is fully flush to your system.
First thing is building up and running the motherboard outside the case to make sure everything is working before putting anything in the case. You can test everything including the OS before loading the case.
Also, just to be safe, NEVER mix the cables from different PSUs. I burned two SSD drives because I used a couple of spare cables from a dead, stronger PSU. Turns out those cables were eager to spread death. I remember clearly me turning on the computer, then smelling melted plastic, seeing smoke come out, and yelling "OOH, NOOOO!".
what about using custom cables from Cablemods because you want custom colored and clipped together cables? Will they have this problem as well?
@Chutneyperson A PSU should never deliberately overvolt its outputs to compensate for cable resistance, especially when the load can change. The only Issue I can see with using the wrong size wire is that a too-thin wire will get hot.
I did not know this. Thanks for the advice. I've been saving extra PSU cables for years just in case but I'm going to discard the ones from mismatched PSUs now lol
@Roland it's because the higher wattage PSUs have different thickness copper in the cable to balance out the extra power, so if the PSU sends the power through a cable with less resistance than intended it will overvolt whatever it's going to
Stories like this are actually what make this hobby so rewarding
@JayzTwoCents
I know it's a year late, But also with the RAM slots, it's generally displayed on all modern MOBO's in which order u should put your sticks. i even found the indication in your video.
on the topic of case fans, there's an arrow on one of the sides indicating the direction of airflow.
Air flow from the fans was the biggest thing i was wondering about. thank you for explaining it so clearly, ill never forget it now!
Jay, as a man new to building these awesome machines, I thank you very much for your genius and willingness to share your experiences. Your videos are most excellent!
Congratulations you're a winner of a prize text to the number above for interaction................
Tip: on PGA CPUs (AM4) if the cooler just won't come off when you try to uninstall it - twist and wiggle it until it gently comes off, don't pull it out forcibly or risk ripping the CPU out of the socket and damaging it. Also do use that lever on the socket (I personally know too many people who never even realized the socket had a lever and just forced the CPU in with a closed lever lol).
Lol this is exactly why I just upgraded. Second time swapping anything internal and I ripped my CPU out, and damaged the board. Did give me an excuse to upgrade, though 😂
Damn jay I learned so much from this vid....I'm running a lian li case with a 360mm on top and bottom with fans both set on intake and 3 exhaust on the back under high load I hit 70c on my 3080 ti! I reversed the top to exhaust now my temp is 50c on my gpu! Thank you!
Tip for the ones who are building a custom loop for the first time:
Think about where you want to drain your loop if you need to service it beforehand! If you are building in a case you will have poor acess to most ports of a watercooling loop. The method I'd recommend is to put a T - junction at the lowest part of the loop (say a pump port or in the middle of a pipe). Then add a ball valve on one of the T - junction ports. When you want to drain the loop you can simply attatch a tube to the valve and easily empty the liquid into a proper container.
And be sure to add a plug on the outside of the ball valve. You don't want to depend on the valve not leaking.
Biggest problem I had the last time I built my PC is the fan for the CPU, mixed with the corner of the case and shadows made me miss an important plug-in for the board to the PSU. The machine would kinda boot up with lights and fans, but it did not get far. Took an hour to find the missing slot... so make sure all the pins are covered either by a power cable or maybe caps to mark them as unused.
my tip:
If the specification on the website states that the cooling can be installed to an AM5 socket but the one on the box of the product does not state the box is right and you should look for another cooling that actually supports the am5 socket
The dual channel thing for the ram happened to me. I ordered my PC instead of building it myself and kept getting an error in Star Citizen about not having enough ram free. Turns out it was single channeled from day one and I didn't know enough about computers then to see the problem.
You are an absolute legend. Dropping knowledge on the fan stuff, learnt so much.
I just realised that my CPU cooler is offset from the centre, like this _ ||| __ So, I needed to turn it around so the bigger gap is on the RAM slot side, where the fan needs to be to PUSH the air through the cooling vanes from the RAM side to the outside of the case! Thanks Jayz!
The mistake I see thr most has to be "pulling the cpu off with the cooler" because the paste hardens. It really needs to be in every cooler manual to tell you to stress test you cpu before you attempt to remove the cooler and to TWIST before you pull
@Arnold Arndth They mean that you should heat the paste and then twist the cooler, when you are going to remove it, becouse the paste hardens and the cooler just get's glued to the CPU, so people go and pull the cooler and then it just pulls the CPU with it, but the CPU is secured to the mothetboard right? So you are stressing the motherboard... and people broke those.
Could somebody rephrase what is being explained here, i don't understand it
My friend did it, only difference is a piece of the motherboard came out aswell 💀
Yep this happened to me recently lol. Accidentally caused me to get thermal paste on my cpu pins and it took me 30 mins to get it off lmao
I never thought of that, thanks for posting this!
Take your time, double check everything. Triple check it. If you there is any doubt something isn't right, make sure you understand what is right before moving forward with your build. And I cannot stress enough, read the manual!!!!!
Thank you, sir! Useable and important advice given! Wishing you and your staff and family all blessings!
The best recommendation I can make to a new system builder is this. If you are going to be building in a case that is bigger than the norm I.E. Corsair 7000 D or any of the full ATX cases or even those super cases like the Corsair 1000. In most if not all cases companies like Cable Mod are going to be your best friend. Cable Mod can build custom cables for your new system and if you are not sure of the length you will need go for the max length of 1000 mm or 39.37 inches. You can always route the cables in such a manner that it takes up all of the extra length.
My Tip:
When changing a power supply ... USE all the cables provided to replace the cables in use by the old power supply, especially if you buy a different brand.