BUILDING A GAMING PC

Gone are those days when people depend upon manufacturers or local stores to build their PC’s. These day with little research you can build your own Gaming rig with your choice of parts with all your customizations. In this guide I’m going to fully guide you through the process of HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN GAMING RIG.

2018 was a great year for building your own PC though there was cryptomining crysis on GPU side but you always have GPU’s to get your hands on. But 2019 is going to be even greater year for you to build your own gaming PC, with the release of new GPUs and the upcoming 9th gen intel CPUs and 3rd gen Ryzen CPUs and also the long waited NAVI gpu. So lets get started with certain things you need to know before building your own PC or even buying parts

CHOOSING YOUR PARTS

CPU

Now this is the most important thing before you build your PC. First thing first, you need to choose the parts you’re gonna buy. Say if you’re willing to build a budget PC then Ryzen is your best bet. But if you want the best FPS out of your PC then go with INTEL. Ryzen systems are better if you are planning on multitasking like Gaming and streaming at the same time. Intel is no slouch but ryzen is better.

Next you need to choose your motherboard for your CPU. And here is the important part where most people’s get confused. If you’re going with Ryzen CPU then find a motherboard with AM4 socket( warning AMD declared that it is going to support AM4 socket until 2020), if you try to stack an Intel cpu in a AM4 socket you will end up breaking both your motherboard and your CPU. Here is the quick chart

AMD RYZEN 1ST TO 3RD GEN CPU = AM4 SOCKET

INTEL 8TH GEN TO 9TH GEN CPU = LGA 1151 SOCKET.

Yes both AMD and Intel has different sockets. Intel uses LGA 1151 SOCKET for its CPU’s, so if you’re trying to fit and AMD cpu in a LGA 1151 socket motherboard then say goodbye to the dollars you spend on buying your cpu and motherboard as you’re going to break both.

Now if you’re confused what to buy INTEL or AMD? Then I would say first prioritize what you’re gonna do, if you only want to game on your computer then obviously go with Intel as Intel gives more single core performance than AMD and games only require single core performance, but if you’re planning on gaming and streaming both at the same time then go with AMD as streaming requires very high CPU multicore performance and AMD just nails it. AMD processors are better in multithreaded workloads and will be able to handle multiple applications while gaming easily. No matter what CPU you choose always go with minimum 4 Core 8 threaded CPU or 4 core 4 threaded cpu. Though this days majority of gamers are opting for 6 core 12 threaded CPUs or 6 core 6 threaded CPUs.

**The CPU speeds given here are base clocks only**

RECOMMENDED AMD CPUs

Ryzen 3 2200g(4 core 4 threads, 3.5 GHz) (Minimum for gaming)

Ryzen 5 2400g(4 core 8 thread, 3.6GHz)

Ryzen 5 1600(6 core 12 thread, 3.2 GHz)

Ryzen 5 1600x(6 core 12 thread, 3.6GHz)

Ryzen 5 2600(6 core 12 thread, 3.4GHz)

Ryzen 5 2600x(6 core 12 thread, 3.6 GHz)

Ryzen 7 1700(8 core 16 thread, 3.0 GHz)

Ryzen 7 1700x(8 core 16 thread, 3.4GHz)

Ryzen 7 2700(8 core 16 thread,3.2 GHz)

Ryzen 2700x(8 core 16 thread,3.6 GHz)(Best for gaming and Streaming)

RECOMMENDED INTEL CPUs

Core I3 8100(4 core 4 thread, 3.6 GHz)(Minimum for Gaming)

Core I5 8400(6 core 6 thread,2.8 GHz)

Core I5 8600K(6 core 6 thread, 3.6 GHz)

Core I5 9600K(6 core 6 thread, 3.7 GHz)

Core I7 8700(6 core 12 thread, 3.2 GHz)

Core I7 8700K(6 core 12 thread, 3.7 GHz)

Core I7 9700K(8 core 8 thread, 3.7 GHz)

Core I9 9900K(8 core 16 thread,3.6 GHz)(Best For Gaming)

Processor

MOTHERBOARD

Okay may be some of you remain confused about the motherboard thing in the CPU section but lets clear it all at this section. Most of the motherboards these day are dedicated for gaming and provide best compatibility for gaming with high end CPUs. But one thing you should know, if you’re buying a costly CPU then you should buy a costly motherboard too as the features supported by your costly CPU will only work great with great motherboards but these manufacturers are also making great mother boards at budgets. You need not to go beyond 200$ to buy a motherboard and if you’re one of the top game enthusiast then you need not to spend beyond 400$.

Okay starting with the AMD side of things the first thing you should know that if you’re buying an AMD CPU then you should always opt a motherboard with AM4 socket, atleast until 2020.

On intel’s side you should check if your motherboard supports LGA 1151 socket to install your 8th or 9th gen Intel CPUs, and also intel changes its sockets time to time so keep an eye for it.

You should also check your motherboard manufacturer’s website to find the list supported CPUs and also for the supported ram speeds. AMD Ryzen class CPUs needs high speed ram for better performance so if you’re buying a high speed ram then check if your motherboard supports that speed and that type of Ram.The next thing you should check is to see the number of DIMM slots in your motherboard where your Ram’s are installed and see if they support dual channel as motherboards with more DIMM slots makes you future-proof. Atleast go for a motherboard with 4 DIMM slots. And if you are a person who is concerned about the looks of your computer then check if it has RGB in the heatsinks of the motherboard and also check if your motherboard has RGB header for your RGB Led strips.

The most important thing for a gaming PC is the GPU and it need PCI-E x16 slot and you need to check for it if your motherboard has it. Since its 2019, most motherboards will have a x16 slot or you have to put it in dustbin.

Next big thing is the form factor of your motherboard. Motherboard usually comes in different sizes known as ATX, micro ATX, mini ITX. For consumer grade use I would say ATX is the highest and mini ITX is the smallest. ATX is typically the largest size of motherboards and are very common, micro ATX is slightly smaller whereas mini ITX is the smallest and generally used for compact PC and portable PCs. And remember the size of the motherboards determines the number of DIMM slots and PCI-E slots you have as mini ITX only has 2 DIMM slots.

And one last important thing to check while buying a motherboard is if it has NVME M.2 slot for your SSD. SSDs are usually faster storage devices than your traditional HDDs and in 2019 you should opt for an SSD. More about SSDs is coming at later part of the review.

RAM

Now ram is one of the most important things in a computer. Every thing that happens in your PC passes through ram to your processor and hence it determines the speed of your PC. Now while opting for ram you should atleast consider a 8GB kit as it is standard these days. For gaming you should choose for atleast 8GB otherwise it is recommended to go with 16 GB. Yes, to do hassle less gaming and being future proof you should atleast have 16 GB ram in dual channel. 8GB is fine but it will not be enough in certain tasks and Games. And if you plan on using your computer for Streaming at very high quality, Video editing then go with 32 GB ram. I think 32 GB is a bit of overkill for only gaming in 2019 but it has its uses. 64 GB of ram is straightway an Overkill unless you work at NASA. I would say go with 16 GB ram and you will be fine, you can even do streaming at 1080p 60fps.

Now there is one more important factor to consider is ram speeds, higher the ram speeds faster is your PC. I would atleast go for a 2400 Mhz ram in 2019 and you can go all the way up to 3600 Mhz. Ryzen generally benefits from higher ram speeds and you can go for 3000 Mhz or 3200 MHz. Don’t go below 2133 MHz. Always buy rams in dual channel as dual channel benefits in every task.

DIMM slots

CPU COOLER(FAN or AIO LIQUID COOLER)

Now this is very important in every CPU as cooling solution for your processor is highly essential otherwise it will end up burning. Now in this cooler section there are certain things you have to consider according to your need. First of all if you’re using an AMD cpu then you can use the stock cooler that comes in the box but if you want to overclock your CPU then you should go with an aftermarket cooling solution. Aftermarket coolers are generally made by other manufacturers to provide more cooling than your stock cooler that came in the box. On intel side I would strictly suggest go with an aftermarket cooler as intel stock coolers are rubbish and if you planning on overclocking then you should always go with an aftermarket cooler. Intel stock coolers will still be usable but you may get thermal throttling or occasional BSODs when the CPU will get heated due to heavy gaming.

There are two types of cooler you should know about, one uses fans and greater heatsinks to cool your CPU using air, another one is Liquid cooler(AIO) which uses liquid to cool your CPU. Liquid coolers are generally needed for high end CPUs like octa core processors or hexa core processors like I9 9900K or Ryzen 7 2700x etc. You can also Opt for liquid coolers for Budget CPUs also as there is no harm but it will cost you more than fans. First think if you want to overclock your CPU, and if yes then go for a liquid cooler, fans will also do good but liquid coolers are better for overclocking especially for 6 to 8 core processors. Now if you’re not an overclocking type of person the you can go with air cooler and save some money for other components.

One last thing, before buying a cooler whether it is Air cooler or Liquid cooler always check if its supports your CPU as manufacturers sometimes makes coolers differently for AMD and Intel processors and some manufacturers supports both Intel and AMD CPUs, but always check this point.

AIO Liquid Cooler

Fan Cooler(Air Cooler

GRAPHICS CARD(GPU)

Here comes the most interesting and Juicy sections of the whole guide. One thing before saying anything about Graphics Cards, I LOVE GPU I LOVE GRAPHICS.

Now lets start the guide again :)

The most important thing in your gaming PC is you GPU. It determines the level of performance you will get from your PC in games. Now there are many things you need to consider before buying a GPU.

1) First see the memory or the VRAM(Video RAM) of your GPU. Its one of the important factors and if you want to game at higher resolutions then a GPU with higher VRAM will always give you more FPS.

2) Secondly you need to see the cores in your GPU, like CUDA cores in NVIDIA and Stream Processors in AMD. A GPU with more CUDA cores will always give you more beefy performance.

3) Third thing you need to see is the thermal solution given to your GPU. This days every GPU come equipped with minimum two fans for better cooling. Some GPUs even come with 3 fans or even with Liquid cooling.

So now let me tell you the GPUs you need to buy for each resolution to game on.

Currently the most popular resolution to game is 1080p. The next resolution is 1440p and the highest resolution for gaming is 4K.

There are plenty op GPU options from both NVIDIA and AMD for every resolution, and AMD GPUs are known as Radeon.

Depending upon the resolution you want to play you have to choose your GPU, just see the suggestions below.

NVIDIA

1080p - NVIDIA GTX 1050TI, NVIDIA GTX 1060(6GB), NVIDIA RTX 2060(6 GB)

1440p - NVIDIA RTX 2060, NVIDIA GTX 1070, NVIDIA GTX 1070TI, NVIDIA RTX 2070, NVIDIA RTX 2070TI

4K - NVIDIA GTX 1080, NVIDIA GTX 1080TI, NVIDIA RTX 2080, NVIDIA RTX 2080TI.

Now lets breakdown certain things before going to AMD Radeon part. From NVIDIA side of things you can see there are plenty of options but you might have got confused which card is best for the respective resolution. So firstly I should say that if you are a budget gamer or want to experience the life of gaming for the first time then go with GTX 1050ti(4GB), its the cheapest GPU nvidia offers and is really good at playing modern games at 1080p(medium settings). But if you want the best 1080p option then go with GTX 1060(6GB) as it will give you more frame rates and its has more VRAM and power than GTX 1050 ti. Secondly if you want the fancy features like Ray Tracing and DLSS then go with RTX 2060. And for 1440p Gaming go with RTX 2070 or 2070TI. And now the last part , 4K gaming, is something for which you might need to spend 700$ to 1299$. As Nvidia’s last Generation high-end offering for 4k gaming the GTX 1080TI costs around 699$ and you should not go below GTX 1080 at 599$. Anything below GTX 1080 will give you rough results in 4K gaming. And now if you want to be future-proof and want the best 4K GPU and if you have the money to drain then go with RTX 2080 Ti, its a beast and is the best 4K GPU you can get right now.

AMD RADEON

1080p -RX 480, RX 570, RX 580(4GB) or (8GB), RX 590(8GB)

1440p - RX 590, VEGA 56.

4K - VEGA 64, RADEON VII

Now lets breakdown things for AMD a bit. Here you can see AMD has lots of GPUs for 1080p gaming as AMD wants to capture the budget segment of gaming and to tell you, the best 1080p playing card Radeon has to offer you is RX 590. It is a more refreshed version of RX 580 with same specs but with a lesser die size of 12nm. You can also go with RX 580 but it will not be as future proof as RX 590. The next resolution is 1440p and here AMD has very little offering, Yes RX 590 will be able to give you playable FPS at 1440p but to get the best results just go with Vega 56, it is the card AMD made to compete with GTX 1070 and can play 1440p games at a respectable FPS. I would rather suggest you to wait a bit as AMD is planning to launch new GPUs for 1080p and 1440p gaming known as AMD NAVI.

Now coming to 4K, and to play at 4K you need to choose RADEON VII as its AMD’s 2019 latest offering and is the best GPU for gaming at 4K from AMD side of things. You can also buy Vega 64 but its not that great, I was not happy with it.

And the last thing you need to consider before buying GPUs is to see their power requirements as GPU are one of the most power hungry things in a PC.

STORAGE(HDD and SSD)

Now in a PC, by the term STORAGE you usually know a Hard disk or HDD, but now there is a new type of storage in the market known as SSD and more and more people are buying or completely switching to it from HDD. SSDs are much faster than a traditional hard drive and makes your computer a lot faster. SSDs are also of two types, one is SATA SSD and other is NVMe M.2 SSD. SATA SSDs come in 2.5 inch drive size and you need to plug them with SATA cables, while to install your NVMe SSD you have to screw it directly into the motherboard’s M.2 slot. I would suggest you to go with a 1 or 2 Tb HDD of 7200RPM for storing all your games as games these days are fairly large in size and ranges from 50 GB to 100 GB. Then opt for a 128GB ssd for storing your windows as SSDs prices are pretty high compared to HDDs. You can also opt for 1 or 2 TB SSD if you have deep pockets to spend money. And using SSDs as a boot drive for your PC makes your windows boot a lot faster and also increases the speed of windows. Remember all your apps of windows store and windows updates will be downloaded on your SSD so you can also go with a 256 GB SSD for future proofing otherwise 128 GB SSD will still be fine.

A FULL MECHANICAL HDD

SATA SSD

NVMe M.2 SSD

PSU (POWER SUPPLIER)

Here comes the main part which will be responsible for starting your PC and will be providing power to every component. PSU or Power Suppliers are responsible for providing power to your every component. Here one important thing you have to consider is the wattage of your PSU. CPU and GPU are generally the most power hungry component in a computer and your PSU must be able to give sufficient power to them. Suppose your whole computer needs 400 watts of power then you must opt for minimum 550 watts of PSU, though you can go with 450 watt PSU but for future proofing you should keep additional 150 watts more because in case if your GPU fails or you want to upgrade to more powerful GPU then it will require more watts of power. If you want to know how much power your total PC needs then go to the PcPartsPicker website, this site will tell you how much power you PC is going to consume and also if all the parts are compatible with each other. This is an excellent website to see if your PC parts are compatible with each other or not. Secondly, this is not a very important point but if you want to make your cable management a little bit easier then go for a modular PSU as it’ll help you to attach cables on your own. You can also Opt for non-modular PSU but it’ll make your cable management a little bit harder.

Now its already a very large article so lets quickly jump into how to build your PC and the points you should keep in mind while building it. I know reading only will not make you understand everything so please forgive me, but don’t worry I’ll be building my own PC on MAY or JUNE, then I’ll update the article by providing the link to my youtube channel video

Here is the link to my youtube channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzmFxWZha_8qLNrz4bgUQsg

BUILDING YOUR OWN PC

INSTALLING PROCESSOR

The first and foremost thing you should do right away is to open your motherboard form the box, keep it over the box so that the pins down the motherboard do not scratch your table or they don’t bend. Then you should unbox your cpu and lift the processor from the box by grabbing the sides. This is the most important thing to note, never grab your processor horizontally as if the golden pins below it get bent then sky will fall upon you and say goodbye to you processor. You should grab your processor by grabbing the sides. Next pull the lever up to open the cover of the socket, place the processor on the motherboard by aligning a triangle arrow on the processor with the motherboard. This is the most crucial point of the whole PC building, if you place your processor wrong then you will break everything. There will be a little arrow on bottom of one side of the processor align it with the arrow on the motherboard and place it gently, no need to give any force. Now push the lever down again and done, your processor is installed, well you might need to add some force to the lever and you may feel like you are going to break something but its perfectly fine as it requires some force.

See the processor is holded by its side, you should hold it like this

Pins underneath the processor

INSTALLING RAM

After your processor is installed you should install your ram sticks. Installing ram is very simple you should only check for the right notch orientation in the motherboard. You should check your motherboard’s DIMM slots and there you will see notches in the slots, they are not in the middle and somewhat shifted towards one end. But before installing the ram first push the switches down on the sides of the DIMM slots and then allign your ram with the notches and push down the ram, hear a satisfying click sound and done your ram is installed.

INSTALLING CPU COOLER.

Here you have to depend upon your product manual, because cpu coolers are of many types and its almost impossible to tell about every cooler. If I could have done a video tutorial then also I would have shown you only one type of cooler. But let me only tell you about the basics. Firstly you have to screw the back plate of the cooler at the back of the motherboard, after securing the back plate refer to your manual how to install the cooler or see any youtube video to do it properly if you’re not sure. And always apply thermal paste before installing the cooler and if you’re using stock cooler then there is a thermal paste pre-applied down the cooler.

Next connect the fans in the fan headers on the motherboard to give power to your fans. But one thing before quiting this section, if you plan on using a Liquid AIO cooler then please check if your case supports Radiators before buying as if it does not supports radiators then you cannot use your liquid coolers.

INSTALLING MOTHERBOARD IN THE CASE

Before you install your motherboard first install the I/O shield at the back of the case, to do it properly first allign it with all the ports at the back of the motherboard and then slot it in the I/O shield area of the case. Then place your motherboard. You should note you have to install the I/O shield in correct orientation as if you do it wrong then it will not break anything but it will give you the greatest hassle in your life to reinstall it again.

I/O SHIELD OF A MOTHERBOARD.

Then just look at your case carefully and look for screw holes there. Put your screw holders that you got with your motherboard or case and place them in the screw holes in the case. Then place your motherboard on those screw holder perfectly alligning it with screw holders. Then get the screws that you got with your motherboard case and secure them in the screw holders.

INSTALLING PSU.

Installing the power supply is also very simple. First take all the cable that came with your power supply if you’re using modular or semi-modular PSU and connect them in the respective power ports, if you’re confused which port is for which cable then its written clearly in the cables and above the ports or refer to your manual. And obviously if you brought a non-modular PSU then you do not need to go through these confusions but you have to go through the hassle of cable management.

Now slide in the PSU in the case, some cases have PSU place in the upper section or some in the lower, and remember your PSU fan should always face downwards.

Now take the cables and side it to the back of the case. Screw you PSU and Done.

INSTALLING HDDs and SSDs

Let me assume you are using SATA SSDs.

Installing HDDs and SSDs are nothing to worry about. First locate 3.5 inch drive bays on your case for HDDs and 2.5 inch drive bays for SSDs. Take out the drive bays from the case and secure your drives with screws in the bays. After that take your drive bays and secure them with the case again. Now some people get confused after these, there are two types of SATA cable for both your SSDs and HDDs, One connect your drives with the motherboard and the other connects your drives with the power supplier for giving power to your drives.

The SATA cables have L-shaped ports at one end, connect these L-shaped ends with the L=shaped ports in the drives. And connect the other end with your motherboard. And you’re done installing storage devices.

And now I’m assuming you’re using M.2 NVMe SSD, so to install m.2 SSDs is pretty simple, see the manual to locate the m.2 slot on your motherboard if you’re new builder. Open the screw at one end of your m.2 slot and slot in your m.2 ssd in the slot and secure it with the screw again. DONE!!

INSTALLING GPU.

This is the sweetest part of building your PC. First Open the expansion brackets on the back side of your CPU case, you just need 2 slots to open. Place your GPU in the PCI-E x16 slot with LOVE and screw the GPU at the area where you opened your expansion slots. Now some GPUs need power pins while some don’t(ex- GTX 1050TI) majority of GPUs will require power connectors and these comes in 8-pin or 6-pin configuration. Take the 8-pin or 6-pin cable from your PSU and slide it in the power port of the GPU. Done, you have successfully installed your GPU and it only needs to unleash the beast.

CONNECTING CABLES

To connect all the cables refer to your motherboard manual to see where they should actually go in.

The first cable you need to connect is the 8-pin CPU cable.

The second cable you need to connect is 24-pin power connector to the motherboard, its the largest cable and you will be able recognize it instantly.

Next cables you need to connect are the case cable as to use your Case ports, where you connect your pendrives and other peripherals must be connected to the motherboard and also the power button of your case needs to be connected to the motherboard to use them. Refer to your manual to see where to connect each. Next cables that need to be connected are SATA cable and GPU cable and I’ve told about it in the GPU and Storage section of the process.

CABLE MANAGEMENT

This is the area where you have to pretty much depend upon your skills as cable management is totally the beauty of the builder. But some tips I want to give you, always take all the cables at the back of your case and slide them through the small windows your case provides to connect your cables from the back of the case to the motherboard.

FIRST BOOT TO CHECK.

Now the final part is to close your case and first boot your PC to check if everything you’ve done correctly or if everything is working fine. Important thing to note is first check if your Power button on the PSU is turned on as many people do not turn i on and gets confused why the PC is not starting. Now after hitting power switch, if you are using Ryzen system it’ll take some time like 1-2 min. Always give your PC 1-2 mins at first boot. If your PC doesn’t boot check all the cables are tight and all are in the correct position, if needed double check with your manuals you got with parts, give more importance to the motherboard manual as a motherboard is the vital part. Now if you’re confident that nothing is wrong from your side the it might be hardware issue and you have to replace your parts. If you’re completely new and build a PC then just make your PC checked by an experienced person or mechanic, and if you are a PRO then you determine the failed hardware yourself.

But if everything goes fine then VOILA, you’ll see your boot screen and the only thing you have to do is to install windows.

I’ll be telling how to install windows and setting up your new PC on another blog

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