8 Tips for the Beginning PC Builder

You never forget your first time—building a PC, that is. You usually spend way too much time getting too little done, and though you end up with a system that probably works, you're not really sure because your hands are too scratched up to use the computer right away. Most first-timers aren't immediately sure they want to be lifers.

But that's natural. PC building, like anything else, is a skill that requires time, patience, and above all practice to perfect. But the results are almost always worth it, even when the process isn't ideal on your initial go-rounds.

We're assuming you already have a basic idea of what to do to build a PC—this isn't a step-by-step guide. But if you're a newbie, the following tips should save you some time and frustration.

1. Research, research, research. The most important part of your build happens long before you even pick up a screwdriver, and that's making sure you buy all the right parts. Spend as much time as you can on sites like Newegg.com, which have advanced search systems, verifying that all the components you're looking at work together today and will continue to do so tomorrow. Some specific questions you'll want to keep in mind:

• If you're buying an Intel processor, is it of the right series (Core i7, Core i5, etc.) to fit in the motherboard you're considering?
• Do the motherboard's RAM slots and the DIMMs themselves have comparable speeds to reduce the possibility of performance bottlenecks?
• Does the motherboard have all the ports you need or want for your peripherals?
• If you think you may want to upgrade later, are you leaving plenty of room for expansion in terms of drive bays, card slots, and so on?
• Does your power supply have sufficient wattage to, uh, power all your other hardware? (Warning: Arithmetic may be required!)

2. Ground yourself. It's easy to charge yourself up with static electricity, especially if you're working in a carpeted room (or if you have to walk across one to get to where you're building). But what's just an annoying shock to you can be devastating to computer hardware. To be sure you're safe, discharge yourself before touching anything with sensitive circuits. Many PC toolkits come with antistatic wrist straps, and you can go that route if you want, but they can be inconvenient. A less restrictive way: just touch some of your case's bare metal. It'll be a moment of discomfort, but you'll get over it—a lot of PC hardware isn't as resilient.

3. Watch your bags. While we're on the subject of static: It's tempting to throw away potential garbage when you're unpacking prior to starting a build, but antistatic bags (such as the one the motherboard comes in) are worth hanging onto. Whether they're for holding components temporarily while you install something else, or for longer-term storage, the bags will help you preserve your tech investment.

4. Allow more time than you think you'll need. Things always seem simple when you're looking at parts in boxes or reading their manuals. But they can suddenly get a lot more complex when you're actually trying to install something. Leave time for dropping screws inside the case (and fishing them out again—see tip 5), struggling with DIMMs that don't lock down the way you think they should, and especially figuring out the front-panel wiring scheme. These snags can trip up even experts, so don't expect instant magic from start to finish.

5. Get grabby. You already know your most important PC-building tool is a Phillips-head screwdriver. But just behind it should be a three-pronged grabber. If your screwdriver's head isn't magnetized—or, heck, even if it is—you're all but guaranteed to have to fish out screws from uncomfortable nooks and crannies in your case at least once during a build. The grabber, which has extendable wire prongs, is thinner than your fingers, giving it the ability to grab screws when your fingers can't. One comes standard in almost every PC toolkit—get to know it well.

6. Put power first. Install your power supply unit (PSU) into your case before you do pretty much anything else. It'll be disappointing to find that there's not enough room to squeeze it in once you've added your motherboard, fans, drives, and other hardware. Put it into place first, then drape the cables somewhere out of the way while you work on everything else. Organizing the cables will be a pain, but it's a lot better than finding out you can't weave the PSU past the heat sink on the CPU.

7. Think outside the case. Do as much work as you can before inserting your components into the case—that will give you a lot more room to maneuver when doing tricky things like installing the processor and heat sink. Depending on the layout of your specific motherboard and the design of your hardware, this may not be possible, but it will automatically lower your blood pressure if it is. If you have removable cages or brackets for your hard drives or SSDs and optical drives, chances are you'll find things a lot less bruising if you can do most of the assembly outside the case first and then integrate everything later.

8. Don't get discouraged. Building your own PC is pretty simple once you set your mind to it, but there are lots of little places you can go wrong. Even pros sometimes screw up the brackets on the DVD drive, forget to connect a power cable, or confuse a couple of the front-panel wires. And even if you know exactly what to do, you can find yourself getting tripped up more easily than you might think. (Properly seating that Intel heat sink on the processor is maddening for everyone.) But be patient and stick with it—the results are almost always worth the trouble. No one's perfect the first time at bat, but the first time you hit the power switch and watch a computer you built from scratch boot up, you'll feel like you hit a grand slam.