When building a custom PC case, it is crucial to choose the right components such as the motherboard, CPU, RAM, storage devices, and graphics card. Plastic-based products are the safest option, while aluminum or steel can be used for custom cases due to their durability and aesthetic appeal.
When creating a custom PC case, consider factors such as durability, cooling, and the material used to construct the case. Some mistakes to avoid include designing the case to be assembled from bent metal sheets without welding, reducing the number of punched holes, and increasing the hole size to maintain the same total hole area.
Creating a custom transportable case for a desktop is the best and least cost-effective way to achieve a compact, portable, robust, and unique PC. Wood and aluminum are thin and light, making them suitable for PC cases. However, custom building a case out of aluminum or steel requires more effort and machining skill. Polycarbonate is the most durable material in terms of impact resistance and aesthetics.
The type of material used for the case is important, as certain metals are better at conducting heat. The case should be able to let out or let out heat effectively.
A wooden computer case may not be a good idea, as it may be a fire hazard. To avoid these mistakes, follow these steps:
- Choose the right components: The motherboard, CPU, RAM, storage devices, and graphics card should be the main components.
- Choose the right materials: Aluminum or steel can be used for custom cases due to their ability to conduct heat and help dispose of internal heat better.
- Consider the materials needed: Aluminum bars, plywood, or an existing appliance that no longer works can be used as materials.
- Follow the steps to build your PC without making any mistakes, ensuring a flawless build experience.
📹 50 PC Build Tips in Under 10 Minutes
50 tips. 10 minutes. rapid-fire. Video gear Camera: https://geni.us/cN16f Primary Lens: https://geni.us/Mfv0kQO …
Is a wooden PC case a fire hazard?
It should be feasible to construct a case for an open frame metal PC with an abundance of PC fans. Wood is not a fire hazard, as it only burns when the fire has reached a critical point and cannot be used to ignite it.
What are 3 considerations when picking a case for your PC build?
In selecting a case for a personal computer (PC) build, it is essential to consider the form factor, features, and aesthetics of the desired configuration. It is imperative to ascertain that all components are properly fitted and that the case is capable of supporting the intended operational tasks of the PC. For further insight into Cooler Master’s product range, please refer to the company’s website.
Is it safe to make a computer case out of wood?
Grounded metal is better at stopping electromagnetic radiation (EMR) than wood, as it can prevent nearby electronics from misbehaving or make your computer more sensitive to external interference. To address this issue, consider using wall-to-wall metal inside your case. Another alternative is to buy a boxy case with a fat face plate, tear off all trim, and build a wooden case around it. This will allow you to pull off the wood case’s side and open the inner metal case’s side.
The inner case provides the necessary grounding and EMR shielding for the expensive items, while the outer one serves as a canvas for your new laser engraver. The lights and power buttons may need to be embedded in wood, but they are wrapped in plastic and are not susceptible to static shock.
What not to forget when building a PC?
To guarantee optimal configuration, it is essential to bring the GPU power cord, cable management fasteners such as zip ties or Velcro, and to place the desktop on a nonconductive surface, such as wood. It is also necessary to invest the requisite time to meticulously assemble the device.
What materials can a computer case be made from?
Case modding is the artistic design of computer cases, often highlighting advanced or unusual components. Since the early 2000s, some cases have included clear side panels or acrylic windows, colored internal lighting, custom paint, or liquid cooling systems. Some hobbyists build custom cases from raw materials like aluminum, steel, styrofoam, acrylic, or wood. Historically, cases used CCFL lighting and single color LEDs, but modern cases use RGB LED lighting, often incorporated into case fans.
Metal meshes are used to improve airflow and allow RGB fans to be visible. Many cases include a PSU shroud and vertical GPU mounts, and some have holes to support external water cooling radiators. Cases with side windows may have side fans, although it is uncommon for cases with glass windows to have side fans.
Prominent after-market case manufacturers include Antec, BitFenix, Cooler Master, Corsair, Fractal Design, In Win Development, Lian Li, NZXT Corp., Phanteks, Rosewill, and Thermaltake. Some computer cases include a biased switch connected to the motherboard, which records the position of the switch when the case is opened. This physical intrusion detection system may help computer owners detect tampering with their computers.
What are the 4 main cases for desktop computers?
This guide explains the four categories of computer case sizes: full-tower, mid-tower, mini-tower, and SFF (Small Factor Form). These cases are essential for storing a computer’s primary components and accessories. They can take on various shapes and forms, and some even DIY unique constructions. The case’s shape and size are determined by the motherboard’s form factor compatibility with the tower’s. The cooling system is a crucial component of any PC case, ensuring sufficient room for air circulation and massive radiators.
Mass storage devices like hard disk drives (HDD) or Solid State Drives (SSD) are also necessary for storing data and software files. The guide provides a comprehensive guide on selecting the right case for your PC system.
What hardware makes a computer more powerful?
The CPU, or CPU, is responsible for providing instructions and processing power to a computer. A more powerful and updated processor can speed up tasks and improve computer performance. Intel. com Search allows users to easily search the entire site for specific processors, such as Core i9, Emerald Rapids, and Ice Lake. Quick links provide results for popular searches, ensuring a quick and efficient search experience.
What is the hardest thing about building a PC?
Cable management is a crucial aspect of PC builds, organizing cables, wires, and communication lines among electronic components. This DIY guide provides tips on organizing cables, wires, and communication lines. The guide includes a PCIe 4. 0 NVMe M. 2 2280, PCIe 4. 0 NVMe M. 2 2280, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, up to 7, 300MB/s read, 7, 000MB/s write, unique White Heat Spreader with striking RGB Lighting, Intel® XMP Certified, and AMD Ryzen™ Ready.
What material should a computer never be placed on?
The placement of a computer on a carpeted surface presents a number of challenges, particularly for desktop or laptop computers with bottom vents. The presence of carpet can contribute to overheating issues and the generation of static electricity, which can in turn lead to damage to the computer.
Can a PC case be plastic?
The selection of PC enclosure material is contingent upon the geographical location and intended deployment. Plastic and metal enclosures present disparate advantages and disadvantages, thereby ensuring the optimal solution for each specific requirement.
Can you use any case to build a PC?
It is imperative that the case be compatible with the dimensions of the motherboard and other components, and that the purchaser be gratified with their selection.
📹 Everything You Need to Know About Building a Gaming PC! 😄 (PC Parts Explained!)
Building a gaming PC can be a daunting task for any new PC builder, but in this video I’m making things that bit easier by …
0:00 – Intro 0:05 – Don’t Overthink Thermal Paste 0:13 – 6-Cores is the Sweet Spot 0:26 – Stream with NVENC New 0:40 – Don’t Overtighten 0:53 – Mounting Pressure Matters 1:02 – PC Part Picker is OP 1:14 – PC Assembly Order 1:30 – Avoid Pumps in Top Position 1:43 – Always Keep the Pump Fed in a Custom Loop 1:48 – Easy Soft Tube Installation Method 1:59 – Always Leak Test your Loop! 2:06 – Lower GPU Utilization at Lower Resolution 2:16 – Invest in a Proper Toolkit 2:28 – Always Download Latest Windows 10 Install 2:38 – Avoid Sharing Boot Drives 2:53 – Remember to Enable XMP 3:02 – Improve Memory Compatibility with Voltage and Frequency 3:12 – SLI and Crossfire are Dead 3:20 – ITX Cases can House Epic Gaming Builds 3:31 – Graphics Card Cooling Differences 4:01 – Stick to One RGB Ecosystem 4:13 – RGB and Gaming Performance 4:19 – Ready Up Wi-Fi & Ethernet Drivers 4:34 – Avoid Common Motherboard Bloatware 4:40 – Correct DRAM DIMM Slot Installation 4:54 – Clean your GPU Drivers with DDU 5:03 – Aim for Balanced PC Case Airflow 5:14 – Negative Pressure Generally Works Better for ITX 5:23 – Fix Nvidia’s 12-Pin Adapter 5:37 – Use a Coolant Sensor for Custom Watercooling 5:48 – Overclocking Sucks in 2021 6:04 – Lower Temps = Higher Clocks 6:17 – Avoid Premium Coolers on Budget GPUs 6:32 – Toggle Off Startup Apps for Cleaner Launch 6:40 – Disable Windows Mouse Acceleration 6:49 – Do not Overspend on Power Supply 7:05 – Do not Overspend on Motherboard 7:17 – Noctua NF-A12x25 = King 120mm Fan 7:32 – Air vs Liquid Cooling 7:48 – Plug Cables in Before Mounting Large Cooler 7:59 – Avoid PCIe Gen 3 cables for Gen 4 Builds 8:08 – Cablemod Modmesh Cables are Worth It 8:20 – Do not Mix Cables Between Power Supplies 8:29 – Intel i5-11400 = Midrange Gaming King 8:45 – GPU Undervolting for Lower Temps and Noise 8:56 – HWinfo = Ultimate PC Monitoring 9:06 – Generally Avoid DDR4 Kits > 3600MHz for Ryzen 9:19 – RAM Sweet Spot in 2021 9:27 – CPU Stock Coolers are Limiting 9:38 – Choose M.
Just an additional info on tip No. 36. You shouldn’t over spend on power supplies but you shouldn’t also cheap out on it as well. There are many PSUs out there built with low quality materials and often lack safety measures like Over Current Protections. To further expand on the original tip, only get a good quality power supply from reputable brands and are also enough to power your other components adequately. There are also websites that calculate your theoretical amount of power draw with your selected components, which give you an idea on how big of a power supply you will need.
51. If you’re on AMD AM4 build and want to swap the stock wraith cooler with an aftermarket solution, if the cooler seems stuck to your CPU when you’re removing it, DON’T yank it with force. Instead, twist it before gently prying it open. Trust me, I had my 1 day old 5600X ripped from the CPU socket breaking one pin from the CPU and bent several others, also the sleep function is messed up on my motherboard since.
I build computers for a living and this article covers pretty much all the shortfalls beginners (and even some advanced users) tend to make. My biggest piece of advice is to route all cables to the nearest passthrough in the case then pull them tight from the back and zip tie down. You’d be surprised how many customer-built PCs I see where they just A>B the cables or leave them loose when the rest of the system has hundreds spent on aesthetics (RGB, etc)
So with the ryzen infinity fabric. It will try to match the fabric frequency with your ram frequency if you have it set to 1 to 1 which most people do. If your fabric can’t do past 1800mhz then you either need to run out of sync with low ram frequency but tighter timings to get nearly the same performance or, you can overlock the infinity fabric. I’ve gotten mine to goto 2100mhz before instability requiring more voltage and at 2400mhz it won’t post at all
I could make an even shorter article on how to not build a rig that actually works. Just got my RTX 3080 and built my new rig, the wiring is a mess, the cooler RGB logo is upside down, the back plate was installed wrong and quite a few other “mistakes”. BUT .. it´s working, temperatures are fabulous and since I won´t ever look at it I am done. This article gets a thumbs up though, glad to see not everyone is an idiot like me.
This article is packed with accurate and great information. It accurately summarizes what I’ve collectively understood from building since 2003. There’s only a bit of information that may, or will, be outdated in a few years but a majority of the tips will extend for several years or more. I predict a very high view count
Add this tip: if you are confident enough to learn how, check out how to do a GPU teardown, as this helps not only with servicing older GPUs to do thermal paste replacements and cooling finstack cleaning, it also allows you to replace the thermal paste and thermal pads in the new 30-series GPUs. Those typically have really bad thermal pads that makes the VRAM overheat. Getting a high performing thermal pads with 12.8 w/mK conductivity will make them run so much better.
Great article, very useful. I recently got a pre-built for about $1100 or something, was considering buying parts and building it myself but found I was in over my head wondering what was what and unsure if certain things were compatible or not since I didn’t know about the parts picker site at the time. Previous PC was an i5 4460 with no graphics card. Originally I was thinking of the 5600x built around minimum cost stuff with a decent-ish gpu, then I found out about the shortages so went with the pre-built instead. This answered a lot of ‘beginner’ type questions I had been wondering about since buying it, mainly as what is ‘just-enough’ vs total overkill.
Your articles are awesome and this one is 2 years old so I’m wasting my time here, but just wanted to say that “95% tightness” or “100% tightness” doesn’t make sense. Some people think “tight” is as hard as they can possible turn the driver, others think its as soon as the screw is seated. I like to use the fingers approach when telling people how tight to do things (the amount of fingers gripping the driver).. when combining this with “snug” or “tighten”, it can be pretty damn accurate. “2 finger snug” is basically all you need for a PC. Cooler I would say is “3 finger tight”
Optimum Tech has become my favorite and most viewed tech website on youtube. And I follow already huge ones like LTT and MKBHD. The production value, the relevance of content, the display of pure knowledge and enthousiasm is amazing. Also everything he does and likes strikes a chord in me. It’s like there is someone out there doing tech wise, everything I have been gravitating towards until now without knowing much about it and who is showing me the way.
Thanks for that tip about enhanced pointer precision in Windows. I hadn’t heard of that one yet and I sure did have it enabled. I don’t think my aim is horrible, but I could always use that little bit of improvement. I’ll be curious to see if I can notice a difference next time I’m in one of my games.
I disagree with you on “B550 gives the same overclocking feature to X series”. It’s worth it to have a better motherboard, especially when you have a decent CPU. A better motherboard usually has more VRMs and heatsink. It also provides more voltage settings and stability settings like LLC. The price of motherboard should be around half of the price of your CPU.
Nice. I had my computer ready for a month waiting for a CPU and GPU due to current shortage. A problem that I have, is that I swap parts frequently, because I might not like how something fits or maybe I got certain part instead of the one I wanted. For example, on my previous build, I re-did the loop like 4 times because I wanted to improve aesthetics and performance. On my current build, using the NR200, I did not like that the GPU is pushed down a bit by the cables of the silverstone sfx-l 800 watts, and the cables are very stiff so it is hard to avoid it. At the end, I swapped it for the Corsair SF750. Something else is cooling, I initially used the NH-U9S, but performance is poor so I am swapping it to a NH-C14S. Next change might be liquid cooling, but my gpu does not have a waterblock from any vendor yet, which made me regret not going with the reference card.
Tip 51: If you have multiple m.2 Slots on your motherboard, check if they share pci-E lanes with your cpu, they should not cut the connection of your gpu to the cpu in half! Tip 52: If you plan on Overclocking, look for a mainboard with Bios Flashback as it can often get corrupted and updating for a new cpu generation will be possible even without a cpu installed. Tip 53: If you want RGB in your case, check if your motherboard has enough connectors and even the right ones. There are 5V and 12V RGB components out there. Tip 54: Before installing your CPU look for bent pins in the motherboard socket (intel) or on the underside of the CPU (AMD) handle these parts extremely careful! Tip 55: When choosing a motherboard for your processor planning to overclock, watch out for the CPU Phase count on the motherboard or watch a buildzoid PCB breakdown. Tip 56: When planning for a high end Build like 5900x + 3080 even if the power consumption is listed as 300W+150W I would still recommend a 750W PSU at least because of power spikes. Tip 57: If you plan on streaming and want to know more about it, visit the Youtube website EposVox for the best coverage. Tip 58: Don’t forget to put in the Input/Output Cover delivered with your motherboard! Best to put it in it’s place at in the beginning of your build as you can’t put it in from behind ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Tip 59: When choosing your monitor, best practice is to get one with a VA / IPS Panel and not TN. Also get at least a 100Hz panel. Tip 60: While Overclocking, learn to accept your results even if they can’t 100% compare to others online, everyone only posts their absolut best results that often aren’t even stable.
There is one thing that I’m now quite on board with… and that is tip number 36. The point NOT to overspend on a PSU is accurate but this causes people to neglect this part and it is the only thing keeping the sensitive 1000$+ hardware after it safe. Also its incorrect to say that a 1000W PSU is pointless because all PSUs have an efficiency curve and it usually peaks at about 40-60% PSU load, so having the headroom is … 1- a little bit of futureproofing 2… keeps the PSU cool as it is NOT pushed to near its limits 3… You are taking advantage of the gold or Plat efficiency and if your PC has powerful components you might want that 10% difference in electricity bill… The 750W – 850W range being ideal is accurate in my experience as well. I do prefer 1000W PSUs though as it gives flexibility (this is personal preference ofc). I would advice to calculate an approximate estimate of your systems power demand and let that be your 60% of the PSU…. 1080ti = 200W / Ryzen 5 5600 – 125W / Mobo + Storage + Ram + RGB + Fans from 80 – 130W (80 for idle state) so around 450… If that is the case putting a 600W would not suit me because if for whatever reason I’m in a position to upgrade in 6+ months or a year to a more powerful gpu I might need to swap the PSU as well (especially with the 30 series having this electrical transient BUUULSHIT 😀 – Had a 650W on my office PC with 3070 and it kept tripping the overvoltage protection.. switched to EVGA 1000W variant and it is all well and good now)= Also the higher Wattage PSUs are the one that most regularly come modular.
For tip 10: If you’re looking for something fire and forget that works even better–especially in cramped SFF environments–dielectric silicone grease (probably find it in the electrical section of your hardware store) works fantastic and shouldn’t damage the material of the tubing. I use this with the EK ZMT since even with water I was struggling to put the compression collars on. A little silicone grease and the collars threaded in easily and tightened down buttery smooth. However, this is specific to the EK ZMT context, which uses EPDM rubber. If you use grease with any other tubing, ENSURE YOU KNOW WHAT MATERIAL THE TUBING IS AND IF YOUR GREASE IS COMPATIBLE. Incompatible grease can degrade tubing, and you don’t want that.
Honestly what I always wonder is that almost all youtubers always go for full atx tower with atx motherboard in their build guide articles. Sure big case is easier to work with and atx motherboard offers more pcie slots but at least in these build guides they always just shrug it off as “more upgradability in the future” but never show what to do with those extra slots. I’m pretty sure people who watch and learn from these type of build guides are the ones who are just after a simple gaming PC. In this case matx size is more than enough. If people follow those guides they’ll just end up with a massive PC with 2/3 of empty space they’ll never use. This is up to taste ofc but wish there was more variety and matx was more “mainstream”.
I have a question because it is not included on your 50 tips. 1. What CPU CASING should you recommend on a tropical environment? 2. If you get an m.2 as main. What size should you get? 512GB or 4TB? 3. You didn’t mentioned as to what brand of psu should you get. And what rating? 4. Most motherboards have PCI slots. Should you get those PCI peripherals like soundblaster or the wifi+bluetooth? 5. What OS should you get? Home or professional? 6. What brand of thermal paste should you use and what type? 7. Should you get RGB sticks or not? 8. Should you get and install a disk drive? 9. GSYNC OR FREESYNC? Which is better? 10. Should you go full AMD BUILD or a split type where you use an RTX GPU? 11. Should you use an AVR? A UPS? Or not at all? 12. Should you use other storage types like ssd, hdd, or not? 13. How to prevent a user from getting electrocuted when he/she touches the CPU CASING? 14. Should you use liquid cooling on GPU? And finally… 15. Is future proofing not a beneficial anymore?
Hey guys I have a project about building a gaming computer and i have formulated a survey and need your guys help since I dont have much friends so i would really appreciate any input PS: I’m not limited to a budget 1 What is the ideal amount of memory slots on the motherboard? 2 What is the ideal memory frequency? 3 What should the base CPU clock speed be? 4 What is the recommended number of cores for a processor 5 What is the recommended number of threads? 6 What is the recommended number of M.2 slots 7 which generation processor is recommended ? 9 What is the recommended Graphics card? 10 Recommended Wattage for the PSU 11 Recommended modularity for the PSU 12 Is an NVMe SSD required
6:51 I disagree with that. You need a good quality PSU, and my build(10900K 3090 both overclocked) draws nearly 800W when playing RDR2 in 4K so using a 1200W PSU is not overkill. I used to cheap out on PSU, but one time, it kept causing BSODs(KP41) until it finally decided to fail and blow up my SATA SSD. Also, if you want stable CPU overclocking, do spend money on a high quality motherboard with decent VRM. The OC stability is better. But keep in mind that overclocking doesn’t boost your gaming performance that much these days, so only if you want slightly higher benchmark scores, spend money on a good M/B. 32GB of RAM isn’t “too much” anymore. MFS2020 runs much more stable for me after switching from 16 to 32.
12 core ryzen 9 5900x running st 4.6ghz all core, 3070 vision OC pushed up to 2245mhz with 5% extra wattage (has no artifacts under testing, meaning it runs stable). The overall performance gains over stock? Like 10-12 frames in warzone😂😂 it becomes up to the user if they wanna spend 2-3 days to get that 5-10% gain xD
Just one thing, amazing article but I don’t really agree with 2 things First is the processor, generally the I5 10400f is nearly the best, but most of the times is like 50€ more expansive than the R5 3600 so maybe the latter is the best considering the price Second, nmve drives are amazing but for me they are only needed as boot drive and for the most used app, hdd (which are way cheaper than ssd, i mean you could buy 2tb for like 50€ of 7200rpm seagate barracuda) are still the best for storing everything you have
I have a question for anyone who can answer me…I’m a YouTuber and I want to get back into making articles for games… Im going between the RX 7900 GRE or the RTX 4070 super…which should I get?i see that 4070 only has 12 GB of vram but the GRE has 16, wouldn’t that make a better editing performance and gaming? But then there’s the NVEC for nvidia while recording…idk
If you don’t like to close every single app on your pc when you boot up a game like Hogwart’s legacy and you wanna play it on the best settings,just get more than 16gb of ram,ram is cheap and the difference is very notable. When i upgraded from 16gb to 32gb i could do so many things at once without worrying it kind of felt like a new world has opened up to me so yea. “16gb is more than enough for gaming pc’s ” BS . The more the better
2:50 wait … What? I went from an MSi z270 gaming carbon pro with Intel 7600k to an Asus x570 pro wifi with and Ryzen 3600 used the same SSD drive for boot. Didn’t reinstall windows.. I just installed the drivers from the Asus website and everything has been running amazing… All my files and apps working perfect. This is the first time I have heard of needing to reinstall windows when switching from Intel to Amd or AMD to Intel. I assumed the system knows to adjust. Weird, maybe I got very lucky that everything works better than before and not worse
Me 4 years ago building my first pc without any instruction: Wow how do I apply thermal paste Ah I am to lazy to watch a tutorial I mean it looks like all thermal paste on the foto *puts on the whole tube of thermal paste *Puts on cooler with power drill on max setting *Thermal paste around the socket This should be alright more thermal paste the cooler the cpu is
#1 I think should be don’t be afraid. Take your time and don’t rush, read over the install guide it comes with, and if in doubt, watch some YouTube article on someone else doing the same thing you’re trying. If you’re new to building a pc – assembling the things is no more difficult than a Lego technic set.
The only thing I have consistently had problems with while building a PC (have built 3 of them so far) is the case power button connectors on the mobo. Usually they are 2 “sockets” grouped next to eachother with no labelling indicating which side is what (+, -, ground) and it’s always scary to just plug it in and let it run. I always have to do this mental training where I have to convince myself it doesn’t matter because I can’t brick the pc but I don’t like the guessing game :p
Wrong tips: 1. a bad amount could impact performance however it’s true that you shouldn’t overthink it too much 4. This is not really an issue 6. Probably sponsored? There are many tools like geizhals’s inbuilt tool which works even better 12. it is a balance between cpu and gpu so this ain’t rlly true. If you don’t get more fps even though you buy a better gpu it is either because of settings, the game itself, or a cpu bottleneck 13. only do this if you are really into it. I have already built pc’s for clients and still don’t have a toolkit, because frankly i don’t need one. Although i must say my father is an electrician so i have random screwdrinvers and so on laying around. If you don’t have that maybe you really should buy a toolkit cuz you can use it on more than just pc building 14. and it is probably also a better idea to go with the home version than with pro if you are cracking it since pro lacks a lot of utility unless you want more control 15. couldn’t tell you since i don’t have experience with it 19. that is yap. A smaller case means worse thermals and if you are on a budget it makes a lot of difference. I even removed the side panel window from my pc for better thermals. Also it makes for a harder build. 20. This does not matter if you have your sidepanel open like me. Just don’t buy a blower card they are trash at cooling. 21. It is not a must. Especially cuz this way is often very espensive. However if looks are important, which it will not be after 6 months, then this may be the only way.
If you want to save some money on the custom power cable, you can make your own sleeve cables under 10€. (Depends on the length, color and more….) I bought ARCTIC Freezer eSports 34 DUO for 40€ and it was my best investment ever! It kept my R5 2600 under 50°C even on passive cooling while playing CS:GO. Also don’t use big heatsinks on the M.2 SSDs, as even cold can damage the chips. I have a really thin metal sheet on my memory chips and that’s enough of cooling. Even without any airflow. Or don’t use any heatsink and let it cool using the case airflow.
holy fucking shit the enhance pointer precision thing is a blessing, I had no idea! Dude, input latency is EVERYTHING to me, so I’ve always been extremely diligent in turning off things like vsync, keeping fps high, turning off acceleration etc. I thought the pointer precision thing turned OFF acceleration, not ON! THANK YOU!
What do I do if my GPU doesn’t react to my custom fan curve at all? The default curve is pretty quiet until it reaches 75C, after that it takes off like a jetliner. I used to be able to set a custom fan curve but after some months it didn’t anymore, even when I change the speed manually in afterburner it does not react. Sometimes it glitches out completely and will stay with 100% fan power on even 5 minutes after I closed the game and it’s back at idle temps. I’ve been living with it like this for a year now and every time I tried to fix it, nothing seems to work, I think maybe the sensors are broken or something. I have a Zotac RTX 2060 base model (no AMP, OC, etc)
I’m just now getting to all this pc stuff (upgrading stuff like GPUS and stuff) and I learned a lot of stuff from this vid, I just used DDU and my pc runs sooo smooth in game and since I have a 1650 super I just found out about the Hardware (NVENC) (NEW) off this vid and now I can stream my games while keeping a steady frame rate. Thanks so much!
15. Why not? I brought my LTSC install from an Intel i7-3770 to my new Ryzen 5 3600 system (with the same GPU & all drives), and just ran AMD’s installer for chipsets and whatnot, haven’t had any major issues. 21. I just use a Razer Chroma RGB controller and everything connects to it just fine, works well with my other Razer mice and Hue lights, and can also integrate with a large number of Chroma Connect apps. The annoying thing about using board ARGB headers is most of the time you need the motherboard manufacturer’s RGB app, and MSI Mystic Light & Dragon Center sucks even though the B550-A Pro is a very good board.
i don’t really agree with the pc build order. you can literally do it in any order you want to. also the ITX being “as big as a pc needs to be” and thermals being “not as bad as you’d think” is just not true. with top tier components you need a very very good cooling system if you don’t want to thermal throttle. another thing that i cannot stress enough is the power supply choice. yes for “most” components you don’t need more than 750 but if you’re even going in the upper middle end you NEED more than that especially if it’s 30 series and it’s even more important if you plan on upgrading to 40 series. an 850 is probably enough for a 3080 system but anything more you need more than that it’s not an option. 3090 and 3090 ti and the upper half of the 40 series if you don’t get 1000 watt and up you’re computer is going to randomly turn off due to spikes in power draw
I “love” how you mention stuff about modern CPUs, like OC headroom, stock coolers etc… But never mention Rocket Lake or CML directly even once. You even show a slide picturing how little there is to gain from overclocking Intel, but for some reason, you emphasizing only AMD here. And the bit about stock coolers is just misleading, they might be fine on Ryzens or some 10th gen Intel, but they are tragically insufficient on stuff like 11400K (100C at load is okay to you guys? really?). All in all a hodge podge of good advice and bad/misleading. Still I appreciate the effort.
The airflow bit, not 100% correct. It depends which case and if you really want good temps then people need to research the case they have their eye on. Doing air cooling in a Phanteks 719 and I got 3 intake at the bottom, 4 intake at the front, 1 exhaust in the back, no top fans and removed top filter so the air escapes on its own and does so easily, and no HDD brackets. Idles around 29c-30c. Getting cooler temps on it than my Corsair 780T which idles around 32c-33c. My Corsair case is running “neutral” and has 3 intake, 2 front, 1 bottom. 3 exhaust, 2 top, 1 rear. and the Corsair has the better cooler which is a Noctua NH-D15. The Phanteks has a Noctua NH-U12S Chromax. I also have both rigs on blocks to raise em off the ground to minimalize dust/dirt build up on the filters and better air intake from the bottom. So yeah, just depends which case. easiest case to build in and not even have to think of fans setup was the Air 540. Ok, could be better, case design, shitty quality.
Ignore point 36 for two reasons. 1. Generally the higher your power supply wattage, the more efficient it runs, and therefore less money on power bills long term (also get 80+ gold at the very least), I’d recommend consulting a PSU efficiency curve to see what you should get 2. The current GPU’s and especially the 4000 series coming out later this year have ridiculous power draws, and thus ridiculous transient power spikes, if a power spike goes over what your PSU is rated for, and it lasts long enough (very common actually), you will blue screen, and might actually damage your system depending on your PSU and other components safety features. So never cheap out on a PSU, especially these days.
Something that’s never talk about… don’t bargain in the mouse, keyboard and monitor… I have seen so many $1000+ build with a $5 mouse or a 3080 with a 1080p 60hz monitor. The most important part of any build is how you interact with it. Doesn’t matter if you have the best gpu or cpu if the overall user experience will be trash because you got a bad mouse/keyboard. There are a lot of great mouses for under $30 and mechanical keyboards for under $60. Also mouse pads for less than $10.
I’d have to disagree with you on the CPU front,. I upgraded from a 5th gen to a 9th gen and got a 1660s to go with it, CPU is about 12 months older than the GPU and here I thought the same thing everyone has been thinking for about 20 years, a GPU is a better upgrade for more gaming performance. But not so much anymore. I upgraded this year to a 12th gen, same GPU, same RAM, same SSD, just a new mobo to fir the CPU and all of a sudden I am seeing about a 400% increase in the games I play that use a lot of GPU/CPU power. And it’s not like I went from a 3rd gen to a 12th gen and have a 10000% increase, less than 3 years from a CPU you can still buy new to the latest with basically all other hardware the same and I can see a massive improvement because these days games also need a lot of CPU processing power, no point in putting a 3090 into a 7th gen and thinking it will run well. Also the part about the Gen 3 and Gen 4 riser, it almost makes no difference. Tests have been ran by multiple people since Gen 4 has been a thing, and will be ran again when Gen 5 GPUs become a thing, currently at best you get about a 2.4% increase on average using Gen 3 instead of Gen 4. No one will ever see a difference in a real world scenario to say that Gen 4 is superior, it’s just not that much of an increase to worry about.
I have a weird case for 2:38, I went from a i5-2500k to a R5-3600 and just kept the same HDD. I was expecting a need for a new one but for some reason, I was able to plug it in and continue off from there. Should be worried about the future of my drive or just upgrade to a full SSD system as soon as possible?
You guys find it fun to build PCs right? I mean, I decided to build a PC instead of buying a console, and throughout the entire proccess I was thinking why did I had to bother with all that. I don’t want to understand the machine I play in, I just want to play. After I finished my build I had problems with blue screens for some reason. What a headache. Moral of the story: if you are a console gamer, do not migrate to PC. You will regret it.
Your tip #8 is completely wrong imo, best possible positioning for your AIO radiator is at the top of your case with the hose going downwards to the CPU mounting bracket. There are many reasons for this including preventing a trapped air bubble reaching the pump itself, much quieter cooling operation, as well as not stressing the radiator since gravity is doing all the work by pushing the cold/cooled water from the radiator down to the pump.
you know what sad, the motherboard came in with damaged pins and I did not look at it the first time so I put the CPU in and after havving issue with the RAM I contacted the store told me to check the motherboard and they just put the blame on me. Lost 500 eur on the motherboard and 200 eur on the exact same m.2 SSD fun I lost the money, have no extra money to replace those parts so now just sitting with PC parts and waiting like another 6 months until I managed to scrap some basic cash to BUY any cheap moehrboard that will fit the CPU also I hate that the pins are now on the motherboard and not on the CPU who made that change?
You should’ve been more clear on 36. Don’t overspend on PSU. Most likely you wont need 1000W PSU, sure, but a decent one (e.g. Seasonic Gold or even more so Platinum) could cost pretty high, but it sure worth it 😉 Also, I have a gaming PC with 32Gb or RAM and I certainly recommend for better gaming experience this amount, as while playing some games (e.g. God of War) my system was using up to 20Gb of RAM 😉
In the tip when he showed how to build pc correctly, well u did it wrong. 1st I installed psu in case 2nd cpu goes in motherboard 3rd big ass cooler on cpu 4th hard time getting motherboard in case. 5th installing io shield 6th add cables where needed (io and power) 7th add ram 8th gpu time I did it incorrectly
Took me two months of non stop relearning what fits in what socket, etc. I went so far in learning the anatomy of a GPU, how RAM works, everything about monitors (cause somehow i find monitors interesting), I am loving tech as I did in my 20s, if not more. Thank you for what you do and your enthusiasm!!
It’s very important to know how to build a pc especially when you’re buying expensive parts. Before I didn’t know what integrated graphics are and thought all CPUs could run by itself. So I bought a CPU without integated graphics and didn’t show any display lol. Ended up buying a gpu in the end even if I didn’t plan to.
Hey geekawhat I have a question about my gaming performance, I see people use the same parts I use but I get way less fps then them, I have a 12100f and a rx6700 non xt it only has a 2% bottleneck but I get about 90 fps less than what they get in warzone 2 (on the lowest settings) i want to know if it’s anything like overclocking or did I not do something right
I’m trying to make my first gaming pc build, and perusal your articles is really helping me pick the right things I want to choose. I’ve finalized everything except the CPU. My two options are Ryzen 5 5600x or i5 13400f. I’m going for an only gaming pc at 1080p to 1440p for GOW, some fps shooters and F1. I am sticking with a 6700xt. Can you help me choose which cpu could be better
Great article, as always but wish you would have given a couple of supporting points as to why the 4070 ti is a hard no for you. That’s the one I’m considering getting because I like the higher performance compared to the 4070 and the sub $1000 price point. 4080 is above $1000. What are some negatives about the card that make you rule it out as a decent option?
Quick question. On my motherboard I have gen 3 and gen 4. How ever the gen 3 has the motherboard heat sink and not the gen 4. So I’m guessing I need a gen 4 ssd with a heat sink? OS is on gen 3 looking to get gen 4, soon. Should I move OS over to gen 4? Not to mention the size. Any recommendations please.
Great article as always. Love the informative content you produce. I do have a question though. Will a i5 13400f be sufficient to pair with a 4070 for 1440p 165hz gaming? How bad will it bottleneck if ant at all? Thanks in advance and keep up the great content! Always look forward to perusal your articles!