I’m in a bit of an odd position when it comes to the idea of building a computer for gaming. Having written about computer hardware for years, I’d to think I’ve got a good handle on what the best components are for the job. However, I’ve never actually built a PC, despite wanting to for years. After years of using an older HP Envy machine with quite dated components, I decided it was time for a change, and that I wanted a do-it-all gaming PC that would last me as long as this previous option has.
A combination of excitement and inexperience meant I ended up going a tad overkill – and that became an eye-opening experience, given it instilled a lot more fear into to me get things right. Building a high-spec rig as your first ever isn’t the easiest, given the overarching thought of cost in your mind when building, and how any mistake could be a costly one.
Still, I feel I learned a lot along the way, as theory ran up against reality, and I hope you find my chronicle useful – or at least interesting! Scroll along to read the piece from front to back, or use the links below to jump ahead to the build, benchmarks and final learnings.
The first thing I quickly learnt after jumping head first into building a PC for the first time was that the website PCPartPicker is your best friend when it comes to choosing your components. Its databases contain a mass of components to pick from, alongside up-to-date prices and a system that helpfully filters out incompatible parts as you make your choices – it’s no use considering Intel motherboards if you’ve opted for an AMD system, for example, or 360mm liquid coolers if your case can only just fit a 240mm.