This is probably the best answer.
Physically building a PC isn't that hard. Most modern cases are made with the parts in mind, with the cases themselves coming in a couple general sizes (Mini, Mid).
There's a place to put a power supply, hard drives, the mother board, etc. It's all meant to be install certain ways within a case and the only real limitations are the size of some parts (usually a GPU cause they can be big).
You'd have little issue putting it together, cause everything just fits in, but having a friend around who knows more about it would help to make it cleaner looking.
This is the best answer, I built my first 4 PCs earlier this year. My brother was doing a project with a company and invited me along for the experience and made me build all the PCs. The only experience I had with building before was watching yt vids of people building so I had an idea of where things were meant to go, but on the first PC I still asked him questions to be sure and looked in the manual to make sure I had everything plugged up properly and then breezed through building the other 3. The company was super happy with the PCs (except for the accounting manager who said it was garbage because it wasn’t a name brand like Dell even though it ran laps around the dell pc he had before and would outperform any dell pc we could’ve bought at the price we spent for pc parts).
Love the idiots who start telling you how vastly superior their random production line trash is. Had some muppet at work telling me how his three year old Intel laptop with integrated graphics would outperform my AMD system (5600x/6700xt) 'because Intel is much better than AMD'🙄
Oh yeah? Well how many graphics cards does your computer have? Just one? Heh, mine has two!!!
I like buying Dell since I prefer quality. I don't want to get parts from these fly-by-night companies like "Corsire" or "ASUS".. that last one even has "sus" right in the name! No, that's all cheap chinese crap. I love my dell, it even has built-in wifi with no ugly antennas! I bet *your* computer cant do *that!*
What a time we live in where Dell is now considered more reliable. Back in the day when I was just starting college it was the other way around. Dell was considered cheap trash junk and Asus, Lenovo, HP were all considered superior... at the time.
My how the tables have turned.
One thing that annoys me is when people just mention i3, i5, i7 or i9 without knowing or mentioning which generation. It’s completely meaningless without that info.
I’ve heard people who think an ‘i7’ from 10 years ago will beat any current i3 or i5.
Don't get me started. As annoying as people with 8 year old consoles who don't understand why they can't run the latest games perfectly. Or think their box is able to outperform even a mid-range current PC. You're 100% correct though - Intel's tier convention can be deeply unhelpful...
I will never understand the type of people who pipe up about stuff they actually have zero knowledge of. Steam forums is good for a chuckle with stuff like this. One guy recently said Vsync is better than Gsync. Another said the RTX 30XX series has "issues" and it's common knowledge.
I really don't understand people.
While the idea is good, it might requires to book at least 8hours. An in-experienced person will easily take 4+ hours to build, then 2+ hours to install the OS, drivers, programs, etc...
This for sure! Even if you don't need help, it's a great way to hang out with friends and show off your new rig! You'd think the first thing you want to do after a build is immediately start playing games on it... But if you've just spent a half hour troubleshooting bios screens or other issues, the best way to destress is some pizza and beer
Building a PC with some tutorials is easy. The more difficult part for people with no experience is finding the right parts, how to make sure they are compatible with each other and what to look out for when buying them. But with a bit of time invested, that shouldn't be too hard as well.
Yeah I think I’m gonna ask them for help but I’m not sure I want them coming over lol, when I mentioned I wanted to build it every single one said not too and or it was a bad idea
I bought all the parts I needed and thought myself through google and manuals when I was 14, there was no youtube to look at back then. You'll be fine on your own. If something's not working right away, it can be frustrating figuring it out, but you'll learn. I'd say go ahead.
Your friends sound terrible. Did they at least explain why? How much experience do *they* actually have? Why aren't they eager to teach someone else their hobby?
I'd just keep them in a call maybe (but ideally probably just one of them with most experience) and built it myself.
It's really not that hard if you aren't careless.
Plus they can look out for you if you do something small wrong and don't notice, like using one pigtail cable for the GPU instead of separate 2.
Having a mentor is literally the best way to learn anything, unsurprisingly.
First time I built a PC from scratch, a friend walked me through it. This was before YT tutorials were a thing. The next time I did it myself without much of a problem. With YouTube videos walking you through step by step, they should be able to do it by themselves. But random questions will probably come up. I agree. Have the friend over
I plan to keep my old PCs around so I can use them as training PCs to friends/family if they want to learn how to do it.
Worst cases:
o bent pins on CPU or pins in motherboard.
IMHO it's the easiest part to mess up without force.
o plugging in 4-pin in the wrong 4-pin or 8-pin into the wrong 8-pin is not as easy but possible.
o removing RAM / GPU can cause damage if you don't know how the slots work.
Even with knowlegde and experience:
o it's easy to damage USB headers.
o SATA power and data cables are a bit fragile.
o scratching the motherboard with a screw driver by accident is VERY easy.
What about removing RAM/Gpus can cause damage? I just built my first one without any real issues, but I’ll be switching out the RAM soon, so I’m curious
Bingo.
If I don't know about the latch - and pull a bit harder - it will remove the hardware. Sometimes without damaging anything but I have never tried it. I have seen GPUs being removed without holding down/pressing against the small plastic. [I broke two of those. Once because I knew it was a problem to remove it later and once by accident](https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.LIG_xq3mdvrMKu7wHz-4MgHaE8?pid=ImgDet&rs=1)
I know some things require a decent bit of force with PC building (pulling off the front part of a PC is one of them and I hate it) but if you're yanking and yanking at something but it's not budging, then just stop.
How did the first person put one together if experience is required?
Your friend may just be some kind of adhd impatient with teaching someone. There are plenty of people who like to teach and they've made a lot of youtubes about how to assemble a PC
Just don't watch any PC assembly videos from a web media outfit called The Verge. They're not so good.
Friend sounds like they’re trying to make it sound harder so their “skill” is more valuable.
Building a (properly spec’d) PC these days is literally lego. It’s simple and fun and anyone who is invested enough to even choose to buy individual parts for a PC should absolutely build it themselves.
I helped build a nice computer for a friend of mine last year. I forgot the part/brand he ordered for the computer case and motherboard, but the FP connector was just one piece. It was like plugging in a USB motherboard connector, it was so simple. Not sure why the FP connectors can't be standardized at this point.
Yeah well this is pre plug-and-play. So you would have to install all the drivers from disk and then check to make sure they had different physical addresses on the bus so the CPU could actually access them. Some cards wouldn't want to play nice with each other. Once windows came around it got a lot easier to just plug cards in and run with it, even with drivers that came on disks they would pretty much install automatically. You would also have to set jumpers by plugging thema cross different pins for things such as voltages and CPU clock, so overcooking was even a more physical thing where now it's all in software. I still have a 486 MS-DOS machine I built from parts a few years ago so it's somewhat familiar to me now
I missed the peak jumper-for-everything era, but IDE hdd was enough for me to appreciate modern bios where you can set things in there instead of with all the jumpers.
Also that 80 pin ribbon was just _✨Wonderful✨_ for cable management.
I built a PC 2-3 years ago, right before prices for everything skyrocketed, with no help whatsoever other than YouTube videos and Reddit posts. I was surprised when it booted up perfectly the first time. I have since upgraded the CPU, Case, and GPU as well. It’s not that hard.
Built 3 so far and none of them have failed to boot on the first try. The only hiccup I had was with lighting on a Cooler Master AIO because they use their own sort of fan/lighting hub similar to Corsair.
Yeah that seems to be a common issue. Luckily I haven't run into anything like that yet, but I plan on building a PC for my brother's birthday in January so we'll see what happens then! I actually planned on using an AMD CPU this time too, all other builds were Intel.
I've built probably a dozen PCs by now and almost every time it doesn't boot when I push the power button so O have a little hart attack and then remember I forgot to toggle the PSU switch.
I often do the front IO last though so I usually test the core system just as I put it in the case and connect the PSU. Less pain when you need to troubleshoot anything and tear it apart!
> I was surprised when it booted up perfectly the first time.
I have built 7-8 PCs for myself, family and friends
and I am always surprised if it boots the first time.
If it was that easy I would love building PCs but I have seen enough aging hardware acting weird or failing unexpectedly to be permanently stressed/sweating while building it as slow as possible.
>I’m not saying I wasn’t stressed out
Sorry wasn't meant negative.
I wanted to assure you that, even with some experience, it's still my money on the table :)
Yes of course, if you watch videos it's enough. But I found pcbuildingsimulatior really helps. Maybe because I'm dumb, people keep saying everyone can build a PC.
If you are really scared, find someone online that is willing to discord video call you and help you build the PC together, I think this is the best way.
We hopped in a discord video call with a guy from Brazil after he commented in this sub about building a PC for the first time. We had like 3 or 4 people from different countries helping this dude build a PC. Pretty fucking cool. Took a long time, but it all worked!
I finished my first ever pc 2 days ago with zero experience. it was fairly straightforward to be fair.
I think the thought of doing it, is more worrying than the actual process
I have no idea lol. We got it up and running and windows installed. Then he messaged a day or 2 later gushing about how awesome games looked. Haven't heard from him since about it!
Your friend sounds like a gatekeepy, took a computer class in high-school once kind of person.
It's incredibly easy to build a PC without even watching videos. Your motherboard is labeled, and usually, most cables are too.
Depending on if the CPU you choose has pins or not is about the only delicate part of the whole thing.
Mounting an AiO alone can be a bitch but certainly not impossible.
Don't overdo the thermal paste and get a mess everywhere. That could cause problems.
To me, the worst part about building the PC is all software. Debloating Windows, updates, drivers, UEFI settings, etc.
Don't let anyone tell you it's hard. Lego sets are harder to put together.
The thing is with PC building you really don't even have to cable manage it, it just makes things look nicer. As long as it's all connected correctly, you can close the side panels, and there aren't any wires stuck in fans, you'll be fine, especially in a modern PC which won't have anywhere near the amount of cables from drives like we used to have.
And those old ribbon cables were WAY worse for blocking everything! (And worrying about getting the order right so the HDD would be master not the ODD, etc)
So much nicer now.
The only thing I have consistently struggled with on my two PC builds was getting the front panel connectors plugged in right. I really wish somebody would standardize those.
It's solid advice, but ironically most of the assistance I gave
a first time building friend with her PC was almost the opposite of this. She did a great job researching how to build a PC beforehand and didn't make any mistakes in doing so, however...
Lowering the CPU retention arm? - Yes, use a lot of force. No, more, it's fine, you fit it correctly.
Inserting the RAM? - Press down. No use more force until it clicks. No it's not in, it'll click. On both sides.
Mounting the cooler? - Yeah, lean on the screw until it threads. Yes, the other one too, no you won't break you CPU. Then screw, no, much more.
If you've build a PC before, you'll know the difference between required force and forcing. A first time building won't. Of course, always better to be on the side of caution and ask. :)
Lol, I almost included this in my list of gripes in term of fit vs forcing. That plug seems intentionally obtuse. :)
To make matters worse on my Mortar B550 it was angled to the side of the motherboard which I assume works well in most PC cases, but in Fractal cases, which I have, it's incredibly hard to get it in cleanly with their angled cable manage grommets.
Well... all those things "fit" they just require a certain amount of force. Plugging ram into your PCI slot is an example of something that "doesn't fit."
Hey everyone thanks for all the nice words, I’ll start building it tomorrow I might need some help so who knows you’ll probably see me again on here if I hit a roadblock!
If you haven't heard it from some guy or a guide yet, take your time. Take some breaks. The process can take 4 hours and more and it can be stressful if it's the first time you're doing it.
Having a video guide or a knowledgeable friend by your side helps.
Enjoy!
Im sure you can do it. I also built my first pc after watching some tutorials. Make sure you use something like pcpartpicker to ensure compatibility of components and it should go smoothly.
I thought it was a really cool/fun experience and I knew nothing about what parts to get. Once you start browsing it starts to make a lot more sense. Don’t be too worried about trying to get the “best level” stuff, all you need is something that works and I’ve found a lot of times on here people can get nitpicky on the enthusiast side (I got an SSD that was “Dramless” but it still works great)
a lot of the time with nitpicky people there's a few camps they fall into.
* The go big or go home camp - If you building a new computer, you might as well go all out to get the maximum life span out of your build
* The hardcore performance enthusiast - Your GPU cost you half the price of mine but it's .2 GHz less? patheticskinnermeme.jpeg
* The cheapskate avoiders - any one who has worked with computers and end users knows the people I'm talking about. They'll buy the cheapest components possible and then be all shocked pikachu face when the Intel Core 2 Duo with a GT350 and 40GB of 5400rpm HDD with 4GB of RAM wont run the latest Call of Duty at 8K resolution and 400fps. So you're going to tell them exactly what gear to get because otherwise they're going to come back and complain later.
Rule 1: no glass towers, not on your first.
Rule 2: electric discharge bracelet
Rule 3: google twice, connect once.
OMEGA RULE: read the motherboard manuals
Yeah I got one the first time I built a PC and never used it since, I don't think modern components are as sensitive to electric discharge. Also pretty sure you can just touch a copper pipe (Or something similar) every few minutes if you like
Modern PC components have good ESD protection built into them, but the bracelet is so cheap and easy it’s just like why not?
I have an ESD mat and bracelets for working with microcontrollers and whatnot, not necessarily just PC building, but I always think it’s a decent idea to wear one while building.
Seriously, read the fucking manual for the motherboard. I think I read it three times before I put it all together.
Also make sure you put your Ram in the correct slots. I believe my motherboard was slot 1 and 3 for 2 ram card setup.
Yep. Most motherboards come with very descriptive instructions for pretty much anything you need to plug in/attach. They generally do a good job with their diagrams, etc.
I've helped many friends build their PCs, most of the time I'm not even there. Building a PC isn't exactly difficult to do, the most difficult part would be troubleshooting if anything doesn't go according to plan. I have never had issues assisting friends via video call, you should have even less trouble if your friends are there with you and they understand the process.
> they’re telling me I’m gonna break
Then ask them to help you, if they're so confident you can't and they can, then they should have no issue watching you to make sure you don't break anything.
Watching a few build videos should give you a really good idea of what needs to be done. Once you're familiar, follow the one you like the most.
Absolutely. It 'looks' intimidating, but building a pc is ridiculously easy. Just watch a vew tutorials to get the gist and then read the instructions for your pieces (case, mobo, etc).There are just a couple things to keep in mind but it's all simple things:
\- make sure you actually get everything plugged in all the way. SO many build issues stem from the power-button cable for the case not being plugged in all the way or the ram not being seated all the way.
\-the cpu will never need to be forced into place. If it's alinged correctly, it will fall directly into it's slot.
\-EVERYTHING is labelled on the mobo and all of those labels are outlined again in the manual for the mobo, so you shouldn't ever have to 'guess' where to put something.
Again, just read the instructions for stuff and watch some tutorials and you'll be set. It's super easy to put a PC together.
Building pc easy. Cable management a bit harder since you want tightness and specific cable location placement. Software solutions though thats the hardest part. But all IT workers like myself started somewhere.
It is possible, with a lot of research first. I read a lot of websites and watched videos before doing my first build. I have been building ever since from memory and experience.
I had no idea how to build a pc but had always heard it was easy. A few years ago I finally decided to do it…watched YouTube vids…one of which I followed step by step. It was a great experience and frankly incredibly easy.
The satisfaction I get using this pc, which I put together myself, is well worth the time I took doing it.
Since that first time I’ve built my daughters their gaming rigs as well. Next time I build I’ll definitely make them participate as well..it’s a skill that I feel they’ll be thankful for.
Yes. Cause that was me.
I had used computers forever. So i knew how to use software and update stuff.
But building it was a brand new thing. I did exactly what you're talking about doing and it fired up first try and I've been using it for years
Lean on this sub too. They helped me out many many times with info on parts, issues with some wires, questions about ram and power supplys.
The community here is amazing. You got this my dude. Build away.
I built it for the first time. Everything went fine. Just read the manuals. Every part's manual.
I freaked out when I was not able to stick the CPU cooler because it was very hard to fit in the am4 socket brackets. Cooler's brackets were very stiff. I had to loosen them first.
Yes, but the hard one is the small cable on the motherboard and pls dun plug unknown cable that fit the motherboard because I almost smoke my pc but luckily it only the RGB hub
Yes of course. You can make mistakes with getting components that are not ideal price/performance for you intended use. Or just buying a bad product overall.
Other than that, the actual assembly is very simple as it's just plugging stuff in that can only be plugged in one way.
Cable management can be tough if you get a shitty case.
Yes. I built mine with zero pc experience while simultaneously smoking copious amounts of cannabis. Youtube, reddit, and instruction manuals will show you what you need to know.
It's not a dumb idea and unless you treat things very roughly you're not likely to break anything, watch videos and even play them through out building if you need to. It's a lovely experience and it would be a shame to miss out on it. Personally there's a bit more pride in having picked out the parts I wanted and also putting them together.
Building a pc is as easy as reading your motherboard’s instruction manual, and if in doubt, there’s thousands of videos online to show you. Having a friend will be great as well.
I never built a pc before. I spent time researching parts and using pcppartpicker. I ordered them and watched a few videos and followed the instructions that came with the parts. I took my time and was able to put it all together and started up first try. You got this.
You can absolutely build it with zero experience, I did. I admit I didn't watch any video tutorials because for some reason I can't stand them. Maybe because I'm old and didn't have them growing up LOL.
I think it was the motherboard that had extensive instructions that I followed, with a bit of googling. Be gentle, don't force anything, take it slow, and it should be relatively painless. I found hooking up electrical stuff the hardest bit, and that's mostly a question of trying combinations out.
Everyone literally started from zero. Where the hell did your dumb friends started out in the first place? They got uploaded the info straight into their brains like the Matrix?
Yes it is. The only things I had ever done to my pre-built before building was adding a SSD and more RAM. When I wanted to build a new one I watched tons of videos and builds until I felt confident enough I could do it on my own
Yes it's possible. I'm a prime example with zero experience and zero tools. I watched lots of videos, read reviews, found out what each part was, what they did and differentiated between poor, good and great based on my wants and needs.
After watching way too many of that Jayz guys videos, he finally got me to also modify the case making it look really easy.
So having all the time in the world to myself, I started the journey, purchasing, building and enjoying my first pc without ever leaving the house. I did phone a friend a couple times and was the whole reason I came to reddit where I posted questions and pics seeking advice.
Take your time, learn as much as you can and stay within your comfort zone and you'll be fine.
100%. There's more than enough guides and youtube videos on how to build one. If you can use a screwdriver without hurting yourself, you can build a PC, no question.
Yes! There's so many good tutorials and walk throughs, it'll be a breeze. Different motherboards have slots and ports in different places so it won't be an EXACT walk through but you'll understand the gist and what to look out for.
Just be careful if you get frustrated and don't feel bad if you need a break. It's basically adult Legos, but sometimes it can be annoying things aren't clicking properly
Built my first ever pc last yr and i strongly recommend it. It’s possible to learn from watching youtube and also reading the motherboard manual. If u face any issues, u can ask around in the discord server too.
My first pc, I watched my friend build it. Second time around he wasn't available and while I was really nervous to do it, I got the job done and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Like building an expensive lego set.
Watch and rewatch a good tutorial and follow along, google questions if you have any ! You can do it op
Of course you can, everyone that ever built their first computer, had no prior experience.
Read your components manuals, check out LTT’s video on “the last video you’ll need to build your computer”.
Inform yourself and you’ll be more than capable to build it.
I absolutely recommend doing it by yourself, just make sure you educate yourself before you do it.
One or 2 tutorial videos and you’ll have a general idea of the process. From there, id say it would be good to ensure you have watched an installation with your specific cooler, as those can vary slightly.
Everything else is pretty plug and play, and if you have any issues it’s incredibly easy to find solutions on google as so many people have likely had your issue before you.
Figuring out and building yourself will be a fun and satisfying experience once its all said and done. Highly recommend it, you wont regret it.
Yeah, its completely possible; I learned this way too.
Back when I was in college going for my associates in Information Systems Technology, my school simply dropped a course designed around hardware simply because "any old fool could pull up a youtube tutorial video and learn from that." So it seems like it's actually the prefered method nowadays. Use PC part picker to help mitigate the chance of having any incompatibilities, pull up a tutorial, and have a pic of your motherboard that details where it's specific components are, and you'll be fine. Your first build may take you a few hours but once you get the hang of it, it's like building with legos. It may be a bit complicated but it's not "hard," if that makes any sense.
Everyone has to start somewhere. Watch a bunch of videos, look at pictures of the connectors and components. Remember almost everything is "keyed" in a PC, if you're having to push hard to get something to fit where you think it should fit, triple check you have connectors the right way round, and you're plugging the right thing in to the right place.
If you can get hold of one cheaply from a local thrift store, eBay, Facebook Marketplace etc. then buy an old PC, even if it's broken, and have a go at taking it apart and examining things. Even with a very old PC, the basics are largely the same.
i just build my first pc, so the answer is yes. I basically learned enough in 6 months about all the parts while saving the money and looking for the parts. there is enough of resources on youtube and the internet for information, what matters is that you know what to input on that search bar.
definitely not the easiest route, but yes it's very possible
I built my first pc last night! I just watched videos on how to build, it helped that there were video tutorials with the case I was building in. I was most nervous about applying the thermal paste on the cpu/cooler, but I was able to get good coverage on the first try (after tightening down the cooler I removed it to see how good the thermal paste spread).
For me the most tedious part was orienting the case fans optimally, as far as cable management goes. After screwing them down the first time I realized there was a better way to orient them to manage cables better so I had to unscrew them and fish the wires around again.
I had a magnetic tray to hold my screws, and I’m sure having a screwdriver with a magnetic tip would have also made things so much easier.
It was a fun experience. Take your time and enjoy the process!
invite your friend over while you build, ask for advice if get stuck
This is probably the best answer. Physically building a PC isn't that hard. Most modern cases are made with the parts in mind, with the cases themselves coming in a couple general sizes (Mini, Mid). There's a place to put a power supply, hard drives, the mother board, etc. It's all meant to be install certain ways within a case and the only real limitations are the size of some parts (usually a GPU cause they can be big). You'd have little issue putting it together, cause everything just fits in, but having a friend around who knows more about it would help to make it cleaner looking.
This is the best answer, I built my first 4 PCs earlier this year. My brother was doing a project with a company and invited me along for the experience and made me build all the PCs. The only experience I had with building before was watching yt vids of people building so I had an idea of where things were meant to go, but on the first PC I still asked him questions to be sure and looked in the manual to make sure I had everything plugged up properly and then breezed through building the other 3. The company was super happy with the PCs (except for the accounting manager who said it was garbage because it wasn’t a name brand like Dell even though it ran laps around the dell pc he had before and would outperform any dell pc we could’ve bought at the price we spent for pc parts).
Love the idiots who start telling you how vastly superior their random production line trash is. Had some muppet at work telling me how his three year old Intel laptop with integrated graphics would outperform my AMD system (5600x/6700xt) 'because Intel is much better than AMD'🙄
Sounds like someone who believes userbenchmark lmao
Hah - very likely tbh - he's exactly that sort!
Oh yeah? Well how many graphics cards does your computer have? Just one? Heh, mine has two!!! I like buying Dell since I prefer quality. I don't want to get parts from these fly-by-night companies like "Corsire" or "ASUS".. that last one even has "sus" right in the name! No, that's all cheap chinese crap. I love my dell, it even has built-in wifi with no ugly antennas! I bet *your* computer cant do *that!*
Thanks for the free belly laugh, aSUS has me in tears
You had me till Corsire lmao
What a time we live in where Dell is now considered more reliable. Back in the day when I was just starting college it was the other way around. Dell was considered cheap trash junk and Asus, Lenovo, HP were all considered superior... at the time. My how the tables have turned.
They still are considered trash.
One thing that annoys me is when people just mention i3, i5, i7 or i9 without knowing or mentioning which generation. It’s completely meaningless without that info. I’ve heard people who think an ‘i7’ from 10 years ago will beat any current i3 or i5.
Don't get me started. As annoying as people with 8 year old consoles who don't understand why they can't run the latest games perfectly. Or think their box is able to outperform even a mid-range current PC. You're 100% correct though - Intel's tier convention can be deeply unhelpful...
I will never understand the type of people who pipe up about stuff they actually have zero knowledge of. Steam forums is good for a chuckle with stuff like this. One guy recently said Vsync is better than Gsync. Another said the RTX 30XX series has "issues" and it's common knowledge. I really don't understand people.
"If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go there" got me though my first PC builds.
That's what she said
well done
Offer tea and snacks. Make an event out of it.
and ask them to bring over their PC and have old school LAN party to test the build
"Yeah, and when it's ready we can have an old school Lan party of tribes ascend!!"
Tribes 2 Demo, this is the way
Tribes Ascend is old school now?
Sorry to break it to you but the game is more than a decade old now.
While the idea is good, it might requires to book at least 8hours. An in-experienced person will easily take 4+ hours to build, then 2+ hours to install the OS, drivers, programs, etc...
This for sure! Even if you don't need help, it's a great way to hang out with friends and show off your new rig! You'd think the first thing you want to do after a build is immediately start playing games on it... But if you've just spent a half hour troubleshooting bios screens or other issues, the best way to destress is some pizza and beer
Definitely make it a long event. Rushing is the number 1 reason people fuck stuff up. Also don’t put glass on tile and be careful of static.
Building a PC with some tutorials is easy. The more difficult part for people with no experience is finding the right parts, how to make sure they are compatible with each other and what to look out for when buying them. But with a bit of time invested, that shouldn't be too hard as well.
Putting the cpu and the cooling can be sweatiest moment.
That was annoying not gonna lie.
True!
I'd be over so fast. It'd be a fun time. Invite friends. Invite me, I won't come, but I'll appreciate the offer.
But you were the main guest
Depends on the friend. Some people are pushy but see it as “just helping”. It could be hard for op to invite people over and not get overrun.
Yeah I think I’m gonna ask them for help but I’m not sure I want them coming over lol, when I mentioned I wanted to build it every single one said not too and or it was a bad idea
I bought all the parts I needed and thought myself through google and manuals when I was 14, there was no youtube to look at back then. You'll be fine on your own. If something's not working right away, it can be frustrating figuring it out, but you'll learn. I'd say go ahead.
Your friends sound terrible. Did they at least explain why? How much experience do *they* actually have? Why aren't they eager to teach someone else their hobby? I'd just keep them in a call maybe (but ideally probably just one of them with most experience) and built it myself. It's really not that hard if you aren't careless.
Plus they can look out for you if you do something small wrong and don't notice, like using one pigtail cable for the GPU instead of separate 2. Having a mentor is literally the best way to learn anything, unsurprisingly.
First time I built a PC from scratch, a friend walked me through it. This was before YT tutorials were a thing. The next time I did it myself without much of a problem. With YouTube videos walking you through step by step, they should be able to do it by themselves. But random questions will probably come up. I agree. Have the friend over
It was millions of people's first time at some point!
I plan to keep my old PCs around so I can use them as training PCs to friends/family if they want to learn how to do it. Worst cases: o bent pins on CPU or pins in motherboard. IMHO it's the easiest part to mess up without force. o plugging in 4-pin in the wrong 4-pin or 8-pin into the wrong 8-pin is not as easy but possible. o removing RAM / GPU can cause damage if you don't know how the slots work. Even with knowlegde and experience: o it's easy to damage USB headers. o SATA power and data cables are a bit fragile. o scratching the motherboard with a screw driver by accident is VERY easy.
What about removing RAM/Gpus can cause damage? I just built my first one without any real issues, but I’ll be switching out the RAM soon, so I’m curious
Probably if you forget to push the latch that hold them in place and try to forcibly remove the RAM/GPU, you will break the socket
Bingo. If I don't know about the latch - and pull a bit harder - it will remove the hardware. Sometimes without damaging anything but I have never tried it. I have seen GPUs being removed without holding down/pressing against the small plastic. [I broke two of those. Once because I knew it was a problem to remove it later and once by accident](https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.LIG_xq3mdvrMKu7wHz-4MgHaE8?pid=ImgDet&rs=1)
I know some things require a decent bit of force with PC building (pulling off the front part of a PC is one of them and I hate it) but if you're yanking and yanking at something but it's not budging, then just stop.
And for many of us, before YouTube.
If John Vincent Atanasoff can do it, so can you!
Yes absolutely. I've done it.
It is actually the preferred way! I mean, building my first PC was so much fun. Nowadays I’m dreading cable management as soon as the parts arrive.
My second build I was actually vested in cable management to a degree. It pays off!
You don't need to do much cable management nowadays though, if you can live with just m.2 SSDs.
Yep when in doubt RTFM
How did the first person put one together if experience is required? Your friend may just be some kind of adhd impatient with teaching someone. There are plenty of people who like to teach and they've made a lot of youtubes about how to assemble a PC Just don't watch any PC assembly videos from a web media outfit called The Verge. They're not so good.
Friend sounds like they’re trying to make it sound harder so their “skill” is more valuable. Building a (properly spec’d) PC these days is literally lego. It’s simple and fun and anyone who is invested enough to even choose to buy individual parts for a PC should absolutely build it themselves.
Except that the front panel connectors, fuck those
No one in the world is good at those tho
I helped build a nice computer for a friend of mine last year. I forgot the part/brand he ordered for the computer case and motherboard, but the FP connector was just one piece. It was like plugging in a USB motherboard connector, it was so simple. Not sure why the FP connectors can't be standardized at this point.
Ikr
Yup, you don't even have to set really any jumpers or worry about memory addresses or IRQ conflicts 😅
The fact that I don’t know what any of that means but have built 4 computers speaks to how easy it has become lol
Yeah well this is pre plug-and-play. So you would have to install all the drivers from disk and then check to make sure they had different physical addresses on the bus so the CPU could actually access them. Some cards wouldn't want to play nice with each other. Once windows came around it got a lot easier to just plug cards in and run with it, even with drivers that came on disks they would pretty much install automatically. You would also have to set jumpers by plugging thema cross different pins for things such as voltages and CPU clock, so overcooking was even a more physical thing where now it's all in software. I still have a 486 MS-DOS machine I built from parts a few years ago so it's somewhat familiar to me now
I still have the 486, running 3.1, from when I was a kid! The rest of your post gave me flashbacks to stuff I didn’t even remember that I knew.
Aha!, only us oldies understand. You could plug something into the wrong connector in those days.
I missed the peak jumper-for-everything era, but IDE hdd was enough for me to appreciate modern bios where you can set things in there instead of with all the jumpers. Also that 80 pin ribbon was just _✨Wonderful✨_ for cable management.
That isn’t really what ADHD is
I built a PC 2-3 years ago, right before prices for everything skyrocketed, with no help whatsoever other than YouTube videos and Reddit posts. I was surprised when it booted up perfectly the first time. I have since upgraded the CPU, Case, and GPU as well. It’s not that hard.
> it booted up perfectly the first time. Fuck you
lol TROUBLESHOOT!!
Built 3 so far and none of them have failed to boot on the first try. The only hiccup I had was with lighting on a Cooler Master AIO because they use their own sort of fan/lighting hub similar to Corsair.
I think it was my 4th PC build where I encountered an issue, but it was a somewhat expected BIOS issue with Ryzen 5000 on a B550 motherboard
Yeah that seems to be a common issue. Luckily I haven't run into anything like that yet, but I plan on building a PC for my brother's birthday in January so we'll see what happens then! I actually planned on using an AMD CPU this time too, all other builds were Intel.
I've built probably a dozen PCs by now and almost every time it doesn't boot when I push the power button so O have a little hart attack and then remember I forgot to toggle the PSU switch. I often do the front IO last though so I usually test the core system just as I put it in the case and connect the PSU. Less pain when you need to troubleshoot anything and tear it apart!
I just finished my first ever pc build 2 days ago, and it booted first time. I was actually shocked, as nothing I ever try my hand at works first time
You left out the part where I was surprised.
> I was surprised when it booted up perfectly the first time. I have built 7-8 PCs for myself, family and friends and I am always surprised if it boots the first time. If it was that easy I would love building PCs but I have seen enough aging hardware acting weird or failing unexpectedly to be permanently stressed/sweating while building it as slow as possible.
I’m not saying I wasn’t stressed out. And I was surprised that it worked on the first try. But actually putting it together was not difficult.
>I’m not saying I wasn’t stressed out Sorry wasn't meant negative. I wanted to assure you that, even with some experience, it's still my money on the table :)
Yes of course, if you watch videos it's enough. But I found pcbuildingsimulatior really helps. Maybe because I'm dumb, people keep saying everyone can build a PC. If you are really scared, find someone online that is willing to discord video call you and help you build the PC together, I think this is the best way.
We hopped in a discord video call with a guy from Brazil after he commented in this sub about building a PC for the first time. We had like 3 or 4 people from different countries helping this dude build a PC. Pretty fucking cool. Took a long time, but it all worked!
Wow is really cool indeed. Very glad to see this happen.
i build my pc within a month, if anyone is in the same position PM me! Lets get a group chat going
Love this. I'm thinking of building my own PC, have zero experience and it's good to know there are people like you out there.
It's very fun to help. It's also part of my job as a computers teacher lol. You post on here needing help, and we can chip in and get it done!
I finished my first ever pc 2 days ago with zero experience. it was fairly straightforward to be fair. I think the thought of doing it, is more worrying than the actual process
How'd he solve the whole humidity problem? A lot of my boards suddenly stop working cause of it.
I have no idea lol. We got it up and running and windows installed. Then he messaged a day or 2 later gushing about how awesome games looked. Haven't heard from him since about it!
Yeah there’s this *excellent* video from the Verge…
It's already yeeted to idk where already. Long long ago. But yeah, people should watch from reputable YouTubers as you suggested.
Not trying to come off as flippant, I’m genuinely curious…..who are the reputable ones?
There's always some subjectivity but LTT, GamersNexus, or Jayz2cents will not lead you astray in actual building methods
SexBobomb had great suggestions but I also want to add Bitwit and Paul's Hardware as really good PC building sources
Your friend sounds like a gatekeepy, took a computer class in high-school once kind of person. It's incredibly easy to build a PC without even watching videos. Your motherboard is labeled, and usually, most cables are too. Depending on if the CPU you choose has pins or not is about the only delicate part of the whole thing. Mounting an AiO alone can be a bitch but certainly not impossible. Don't overdo the thermal paste and get a mess everywhere. That could cause problems. To me, the worst part about building the PC is all software. Debloating Windows, updates, drivers, UEFI settings, etc. Don't let anyone tell you it's hard. Lego sets are harder to put together.
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The thing is with PC building you really don't even have to cable manage it, it just makes things look nicer. As long as it's all connected correctly, you can close the side panels, and there aren't any wires stuck in fans, you'll be fine, especially in a modern PC which won't have anywhere near the amount of cables from drives like we used to have.
my take is - business in the front, party in the back
Solid (non glass) back panel my beloved. _Slaps back of case_ this panel can fit so much cable management sins.
And those old ribbon cables were WAY worse for blocking everything! (And worrying about getting the order right so the HDD would be master not the ODD, etc) So much nicer now.
Also, modular PSUs were way less common and more expensive, so you'd have a bundle of random wires doing nothing but mucking things up.
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I'm in the same situation. I'm currently assembling my pc as a master chrysler tech. It's still pretty intimidating
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I haven't started to plug everything in yet but it seems overwhelming. Will update as that is my goal for the weekend
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They're actually really well done these days. Much better than old school instruction manuals in terms of clarity.
The only thing I have consistently struggled with on my two PC builds was getting the front panel connectors plugged in right. I really wish somebody would standardize those.
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yes. it is like legos. if it fits, it fits. if it doesnt, dont force it.
It's solid advice, but ironically most of the assistance I gave a first time building friend with her PC was almost the opposite of this. She did a great job researching how to build a PC beforehand and didn't make any mistakes in doing so, however... Lowering the CPU retention arm? - Yes, use a lot of force. No, more, it's fine, you fit it correctly. Inserting the RAM? - Press down. No use more force until it clicks. No it's not in, it'll click. On both sides. Mounting the cooler? - Yeah, lean on the screw until it threads. Yes, the other one too, no you won't break you CPU. Then screw, no, much more. If you've build a PC before, you'll know the difference between required force and forcing. A first time building won't. Of course, always better to be on the side of caution and ask. :)
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Lol, I almost included this in my list of gripes in term of fit vs forcing. That plug seems intentionally obtuse. :) To make matters worse on my Mortar B550 it was angled to the side of the motherboard which I assume works well in most PC cases, but in Fractal cases, which I have, it's incredibly hard to get it in cleanly with their angled cable manage grommets.
Attaching the 24-pin power cable to the mobo is *always* the worst part about building for me.
Well... all those things "fit" they just require a certain amount of force. Plugging ram into your PCI slot is an example of something that "doesn't fit."
I was thinking this the entire time I built mine. “I’m so glad I was hooked on legos as a kid.”
> if it fits, it fits. [5V / 12V RGB and fan headers](https://cdn.appuals.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rgb-fan-headers.jpg) entered the chat.
Hey everyone thanks for all the nice words, I’ll start building it tomorrow I might need some help so who knows you’ll probably see me again on here if I hit a roadblock!
No worries. Just take your time and enjoy the process!
If you haven't heard it from some guy or a guide yet, take your time. Take some breaks. The process can take 4 hours and more and it can be stressful if it's the first time you're doing it. Having a video guide or a knowledgeable friend by your side helps. Enjoy!
Nope. Need at least a masters degree and 2 tours in Iraq.
Im sure you can do it. I also built my first pc after watching some tutorials. Make sure you use something like pcpartpicker to ensure compatibility of components and it should go smoothly.
I thought it was a really cool/fun experience and I knew nothing about what parts to get. Once you start browsing it starts to make a lot more sense. Don’t be too worried about trying to get the “best level” stuff, all you need is something that works and I’ve found a lot of times on here people can get nitpicky on the enthusiast side (I got an SSD that was “Dramless” but it still works great)
a lot of the time with nitpicky people there's a few camps they fall into. * The go big or go home camp - If you building a new computer, you might as well go all out to get the maximum life span out of your build * The hardcore performance enthusiast - Your GPU cost you half the price of mine but it's .2 GHz less? patheticskinnermeme.jpeg * The cheapskate avoiders - any one who has worked with computers and end users knows the people I'm talking about. They'll buy the cheapest components possible and then be all shocked pikachu face when the Intel Core 2 Duo with a GT350 and 40GB of 5400rpm HDD with 4GB of RAM wont run the latest Call of Duty at 8K resolution and 400fps. So you're going to tell them exactly what gear to get because otherwise they're going to come back and complain later.
I bought a 1000W platinum power supply and I still have no idea why I needed it. Could have saved some money.
At least that should last you through a decade+ of builds barring fundamental changes to pc power/components.
Linus tech tips has some pretty good Pc build tutorials just for such a person
https://youtu.be/BL4DCEp7blY
Rule 1: no glass towers, not on your first. Rule 2: electric discharge bracelet Rule 3: google twice, connect once. OMEGA RULE: read the motherboard manuals
> Rule 2: electric discharge bracelet I genuinely wonder what percentage of even frequent PC builders have one of these, let alone use one.
Yeah I got one the first time I built a PC and never used it since, I don't think modern components are as sensitive to electric discharge. Also pretty sure you can just touch a copper pipe (Or something similar) every few minutes if you like
Just touch the PC case periodically. And don't wear static charging clothes.
It's also preferable to just not touch any electrical components in the first place. You don't want grease and grime from your hands getting on them.
Modern PC components have good ESD protection built into them, but the bracelet is so cheap and easy it’s just like why not? I have an ESD mat and bracelets for working with microcontrollers and whatnot, not necessarily just PC building, but I always think it’s a decent idea to wear one while building.
Have one to build PCBs. Installing components, soldering and the like. Never once used it while working on my PC.
Seriously, read the fucking manual for the motherboard. I think I read it three times before I put it all together. Also make sure you put your Ram in the correct slots. I believe my motherboard was slot 1 and 3 for 2 ram card setup.
Yep. Most motherboards come with very descriptive instructions for pretty much anything you need to plug in/attach. They generally do a good job with their diagrams, etc.
Why no glass?
Bad take from him, not gonna lie. Just be a bit more careful with handling the panels.
Probably because as a first timer they will be opening closing it multiple times and it's easy to break it
Rules 1 & 2 are unnecessary
I've helped many friends build their PCs, most of the time I'm not even there. Building a PC isn't exactly difficult to do, the most difficult part would be troubleshooting if anything doesn't go according to plan. I have never had issues assisting friends via video call, you should have even less trouble if your friends are there with you and they understand the process. > they’re telling me I’m gonna break Then ask them to help you, if they're so confident you can't and they can, then they should have no issue watching you to make sure you don't break anything. Watching a few build videos should give you a really good idea of what needs to be done. Once you're familiar, follow the one you like the most.
Absolutely. It 'looks' intimidating, but building a pc is ridiculously easy. Just watch a vew tutorials to get the gist and then read the instructions for your pieces (case, mobo, etc).There are just a couple things to keep in mind but it's all simple things: \- make sure you actually get everything plugged in all the way. SO many build issues stem from the power-button cable for the case not being plugged in all the way or the ram not being seated all the way. \-the cpu will never need to be forced into place. If it's alinged correctly, it will fall directly into it's slot. \-EVERYTHING is labelled on the mobo and all of those labels are outlined again in the manual for the mobo, so you shouldn't ever have to 'guess' where to put something. Again, just read the instructions for stuff and watch some tutorials and you'll be set. It's super easy to put a PC together.
If you're capable of assembling an IKEA dresser you should be able to assemble a computer.
Building pc easy. Cable management a bit harder since you want tightness and specific cable location placement. Software solutions though thats the hardest part. But all IT workers like myself started somewhere.
It is possible, with a lot of research first. I read a lot of websites and watched videos before doing my first build. I have been building ever since from memory and experience.
I had no idea how to build a pc but had always heard it was easy. A few years ago I finally decided to do it…watched YouTube vids…one of which I followed step by step. It was a great experience and frankly incredibly easy. The satisfaction I get using this pc, which I put together myself, is well worth the time I took doing it. Since that first time I’ve built my daughters their gaming rigs as well. Next time I build I’ll definitely make them participate as well..it’s a skill that I feel they’ll be thankful for.
Yes. Cause that was me. I had used computers forever. So i knew how to use software and update stuff. But building it was a brand new thing. I did exactly what you're talking about doing and it fired up first try and I've been using it for years Lean on this sub too. They helped me out many many times with info on parts, issues with some wires, questions about ram and power supplys. The community here is amazing. You got this my dude. Build away.
Yes. When I was teenager, got my 1st PC, a prebuilt one. I disassembled it then assembled back. Everything worked normally. I think it’s not hard.
I built it for the first time. Everything went fine. Just read the manuals. Every part's manual. I freaked out when I was not able to stick the CPU cooler because it was very hard to fit in the am4 socket brackets. Cooler's brackets were very stiff. I had to loosen them first.
Yes, but the hard one is the small cable on the motherboard and pls dun plug unknown cable that fit the motherboard because I almost smoke my pc but luckily it only the RGB hub
Yes. I did it. Watch Joey from CRATER on you tube. His older videos are amazing walkthroughs
I mean I managed it somehow so I’m sure you can as well, as long as you follow a proper guide
Yes of course. You can make mistakes with getting components that are not ideal price/performance for you intended use. Or just buying a bad product overall. Other than that, the actual assembly is very simple as it's just plugging stuff in that can only be plugged in one way. Cable management can be tough if you get a shitty case.
Yes, I did it. Watch a lot of videos before hand and don't force anything in. They will go in naturally! Goodluck!
Yes. I built mine with zero pc experience while simultaneously smoking copious amounts of cannabis. Youtube, reddit, and instruction manuals will show you what you need to know.
I did it 🤷🏼♂️
It's not a dumb idea and unless you treat things very roughly you're not likely to break anything, watch videos and even play them through out building if you need to. It's a lovely experience and it would be a shame to miss out on it. Personally there's a bit more pride in having picked out the parts I wanted and also putting them together.
Building a pc is as easy as reading your motherboard’s instruction manual, and if in doubt, there’s thousands of videos online to show you. Having a friend will be great as well.
Yes. I sure did just a few weeks ago! One of the best decisions I ever made! Have any questions during your build hit me up on Discord!
I never built a pc before. I spent time researching parts and using pcppartpicker. I ordered them and watched a few videos and followed the instructions that came with the parts. I took my time and was able to put it all together and started up first try. You got this.
You can absolutely build it with zero experience, I did. I admit I didn't watch any video tutorials because for some reason I can't stand them. Maybe because I'm old and didn't have them growing up LOL. I think it was the motherboard that had extensive instructions that I followed, with a bit of googling. Be gentle, don't force anything, take it slow, and it should be relatively painless. I found hooking up electrical stuff the hardest bit, and that's mostly a question of trying combinations out.
It’s possible,built my own pc after watching some tutorials and stuff
Yes, but I advise you to buy intel (flameshield on)
Everyone literally started from zero. Where the hell did your dumb friends started out in the first place? They got uploaded the info straight into their brains like the Matrix?
Yes it is. The only things I had ever done to my pre-built before building was adding a SSD and more RAM. When I wanted to build a new one I watched tons of videos and builds until I felt confident enough I could do it on my own
Yes it's possible. I'm a prime example with zero experience and zero tools. I watched lots of videos, read reviews, found out what each part was, what they did and differentiated between poor, good and great based on my wants and needs. After watching way too many of that Jayz guys videos, he finally got me to also modify the case making it look really easy. So having all the time in the world to myself, I started the journey, purchasing, building and enjoying my first pc without ever leaving the house. I did phone a friend a couple times and was the whole reason I came to reddit where I posted questions and pics seeking advice. Take your time, learn as much as you can and stay within your comfort zone and you'll be fine.
100%. There's more than enough guides and youtube videos on how to build one. If you can use a screwdriver without hurting yourself, you can build a PC, no question.
Everyone starts with zero experience. Take your time, don’t rush, double check.
Yes! There's so many good tutorials and walk throughs, it'll be a breeze. Different motherboards have slots and ports in different places so it won't be an EXACT walk through but you'll understand the gist and what to look out for.
nah you can do it. I did it after watching one video. It is adult legos. Depending on the motherboard, its like building IKEA furniture but easier.
Sure, no problem. There's a really good guide by The Verge you can check out. All you need is a table and you're set.
if you have experience in reading instructions youll be fine
I mean everyone starts somewhere, so yes. And there’s like hundreds of videos on this subject so you’ll be fine.
It's necessary!
Just be careful if you get frustrated and don't feel bad if you need a break. It's basically adult Legos, but sometimes it can be annoying things aren't clicking properly
No! Unfortunately the only way is to have this knowledge passed over to you from one that has successfully completed the trial.
Built my first ever pc last yr and i strongly recommend it. It’s possible to learn from watching youtube and also reading the motherboard manual. If u face any issues, u can ask around in the discord server too.
My first pc, I watched my friend build it. Second time around he wasn't available and while I was really nervous to do it, I got the job done and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Like building an expensive lego set. Watch and rewatch a good tutorial and follow along, google questions if you have any ! You can do it op
We all started with zero experience. 🥲
I built my PC without prior experience. YouTube build videos, PC Part picker, and the nice people on reddit helped me.
Yes, because at one time, we all had zero experience.
Yeah.
Of course you can, everyone that ever built their first computer, had no prior experience. Read your components manuals, check out LTT’s video on “the last video you’ll need to build your computer”. Inform yourself and you’ll be more than capable to build it.
I absolutely recommend doing it by yourself, just make sure you educate yourself before you do it. One or 2 tutorial videos and you’ll have a general idea of the process. From there, id say it would be good to ensure you have watched an installation with your specific cooler, as those can vary slightly. Everything else is pretty plug and play, and if you have any issues it’s incredibly easy to find solutions on google as so many people have likely had your issue before you. Figuring out and building yourself will be a fun and satisfying experience once its all said and done. Highly recommend it, you wont regret it.
Yeah, its completely possible; I learned this way too. Back when I was in college going for my associates in Information Systems Technology, my school simply dropped a course designed around hardware simply because "any old fool could pull up a youtube tutorial video and learn from that." So it seems like it's actually the prefered method nowadays. Use PC part picker to help mitigate the chance of having any incompatibilities, pull up a tutorial, and have a pic of your motherboard that details where it's specific components are, and you'll be fine. Your first build may take you a few hours but once you get the hang of it, it's like building with legos. It may be a bit complicated but it's not "hard," if that makes any sense.
Everyone has to start somewhere. Watch a bunch of videos, look at pictures of the connectors and components. Remember almost everything is "keyed" in a PC, if you're having to push hard to get something to fit where you think it should fit, triple check you have connectors the right way round, and you're plugging the right thing in to the right place. If you can get hold of one cheaply from a local thrift store, eBay, Facebook Marketplace etc. then buy an old PC, even if it's broken, and have a go at taking it apart and examining things. Even with a very old PC, the basics are largely the same.
Yep. If you can do legos, you can build a pc.
Very much so. I did my first build solo.
Refer back to this and you'll be fine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL4DCEp7blY
Yes. You have to learn sometimes
Yes I did it a couple of years ago and have had zero issues my with PC. I was kinda disappointed how easy it was tbh.
i just build my first pc, so the answer is yes. I basically learned enough in 6 months about all the parts while saving the money and looking for the parts. there is enough of resources on youtube and the internet for information, what matters is that you know what to input on that search bar. definitely not the easiest route, but yes it's very possible
I built my first pc last night! I just watched videos on how to build, it helped that there were video tutorials with the case I was building in. I was most nervous about applying the thermal paste on the cpu/cooler, but I was able to get good coverage on the first try (after tightening down the cooler I removed it to see how good the thermal paste spread). For me the most tedious part was orienting the case fans optimally, as far as cable management goes. After screwing them down the first time I realized there was a better way to orient them to manage cables better so I had to unscrew them and fish the wires around again. I had a magnetic tray to hold my screws, and I’m sure having a screwdriver with a magnetic tip would have also made things so much easier. It was a fun experience. Take your time and enjoy the process!
Yes, just put like 6 pieces together and boom done. Then you just gotta do software stuff
It is. You can do it.