How I Learned to Build a PC
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- čas přidán 14. 05. 2024
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After buying a pre-built PC in 2019 I decided to build the next one myself. It was designed to fit in a TV stand in my office at home and edit 4k video whilst being reasonably affordable. This video documents my learning process.
Build (~£1100 or $1,360):
CPU: Ryzen 5 3600XT
Cooler: Noctua NH-L9a-AM4
GPU: Palit GeForce RTX 2060 StormX
Motherboard: MSI B450I GAMING PLUS AC mini-ITX
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 450 GM, 80 Plus Gold
RAM: KLEVV BOLT X 32GB kit (16GB x2) DDR4-3600 MHz
Case: Fractal Design Node 202
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1 TB PCIe NVMe M.2
Thumbnail, camera work, emotional support: @Kim_Norrie - Zábava
Since no one has mentioned it yet: The cooler you fitted comes with pre-applied thermal paste, not to mention the amount of thermal paste you put was perhaps 1.5x what you needed. Really cool video though, that's just my tip for the future :)
I actually got the original paste covered in crap before filming because I'm daft
Alas, I didn't wait long enough to see you install the second cooler (which I'm assuming was fine too :))
imo its better to have to much with out making a mess than to have to little. just keep the paste off the board and clean any off. i think there was an old gamer nexus or ltt video talking about this.
@@fency3113 The amount of paste was fine, better safe than sorry, especially for a beginner. My GPU throttled for a while because I didn't apply enough after I took it apart. Hotspots are annoying af.
Back when I built mine, my mind went blank for a moment and I just thought "Is this thermal paste?", before poking it and leaving a nice big fingerprint
Where’s Linus when you need him
Being cancelled 😂
He's a potato farmer now.
@@FrenchesOperation huh? For what again? I didn't saw anything yesterday
Hacked
@@michaeltagor4238 he wasnt really. He almost adimitted to using the "hard R" on his podcast, before realising that he didnt mean the "hard R", but the slur against disabled people.
If anyone is thinking about building their own PC. I would highly recommend it. The amount of pride you feel when all of your hard work and research comes together is something else.
This.
For any of you pc builders watching this, when a friend asks for help building their first PC only HELP don't DO.
I always say this when I'm asked that I will be their supervisor and guide but they will be actually assembling the computer.
I'll come over, we'll set up a laptop with the latest LTT build guide and hit play and they will watch it and do the actual building. I'll be there for questions and to stop them from doing anything silly.
The pride is not something they expect, but they will be more confident in upgrading, repairing, or building a new pc in the future.
@@GarrettBlackmon That's a great way, maybe I should do that as well. I usually ask them what they already know and try to guide them. I let them put most parts together but some I just put myself together and showed them how I did it. But in hindsight I definitly prefer your way!
I watched a whole lot of PC building video`s. I know every component of my current PC and I can remove and install it in again, but the BIOS-thing I have never done and just scares me...
Like, I am scared I will fuck something up and/or do not understand any error messages that might pop-up and jeopardize the entire build...
You just saying: power through it?
@@dreacken3Overall I recommend you to get a bit familiar with it and be careful with the changes you do. Always look up what you're about to change. But most of them won't do any harm to your computer. And if you ever mess up you can just factory reset it. Sometimes you need to update the bios for some changes.
Useful settings are:
-fan curves
-boot menu
-xmp/docp (otherwise your RAM is most likely to be slower than advertised)
What I wouldn't touch at first:
-cpu and ram voltage, timings or frequencies
If I had the money, sounds cool tho
I'm sure you'll have no end of suggestions but some to consider... nip in the BIOS and set your RAM speed correctly (XMP/DOCP - assuming you got something like 3600mhz for Ryzen), secure boot is probabaly turned on these days by default, and also check there's not a BIOS update available. Oh, and spend 30 mins going through windows setting turning off every single 'share/report/Cortana' option you can find ;)
Or download a program that deletes all the bloatware for you. (especially for win 11)
And especially check before the speed of the motherboard so it matches the ram, learnt that the hard way
@@CkBr he had a clean install from a USB, there was no bloatware ^^
@@SinclairWest Microsoft installs their own bloatware
Like the other guy said about Cortana and that kind of crap
Or just use Linux instead
Pretty hardcore to start out with an ITX build (tiny desktop). Well done!
Yeah, itx builds are a lot less forgiving in terms of compatibility as he ran into. Cooler height, gpu size, itx motherboards, etc. kind of a pain but I love looking at itx builds since they vary so much with custom niche parts.
I absolutely enjoyed this video.
You've summarized pretty well in layman's terms what the PC components do. And being a PC enthusiast as a teen and building my first PC when I got a job, I 100% relate with what you said about feeling like you've already done it before because of the hours of deep diving just watching guides in general.
No shame in having a prebuilt for your first PC, but welcome to the family! Glad you had fun!
For the power and reset switches, it actually doesn't matter which way around you wire the connector as long as you are on the correct pins, because all they are doing is closing a circuit when the switch is pressed. In fact if you find yourself tinkering with parts outside of a case (which is sometimes handy for troubleshooting), you can even short the two pins with the tip of a screwdriver to power on/off. The LED's connectors you do need to get right, since the D is for diode and they are sticklers for current flowing in the correct direction.
Someone else has mentioned the PSU appears to be upside down, another thing I've noticed is that the cables 20 / 24pin into the PSU isn't plugged all the way in. Probably won't be a big issue but if you do fix your upside down PSU, be sure to reseat the cables into your PSU and push them all the way in - at best, they could come loose if you move it, save trouble shooting it later, at worst, it could be a (probably very minor) fire hazard.
Otherwise, love it and love that you've shown that it's really not that difficult to build your own PC, definitely a very helpful skill to have for quite a few people in the world.
When you installed the ram, one side of the second stick didn't click in and the stick visually looked crooked. This means that it isn't fully seated and won't work correctly. Also, when you were going through the UEFI at 12:52 you can it says you only have 16gb of physical memory instead of the 32gb you installed. So just push that one side of the ram stick in a little further and you'll double your memory capacity.
I built my first pc in 2020 as well, back when I was in grade 8, and I’ve never looked back. I love learning about all the new parts and what everything does. Really cool video, and I’d love to see more computer content in the future :)
in 9/10 cases, stock cpu coolers (ones that come with the cpu you got) tend to have thermal paste already applied (unless something changed in past 7 years since i last built my pc), so adding more at 8:40 probably wasn't strictly needed . Shouldn't be a future issue, but keep an eye out on the temperatures you are getting, if something looks concerning in 1-3 years, that would be my first guess as to why. Different thermal compounds mixed together under a fair amount of heat might behave unexpectedly (and its generally a fair shout to replace it every now and then).
Edit: never mind me, you replaced it later due to height restrictions. Good job, these small factor builds tend to be the biggest pain to build
I actually destroyed the pre-applied thermal paste by peeling off the sticker and leaving it . It got covered in crap and I removed it. Next time I'll know better! Thanks for the comment though as I didn't know what it was when it arrived.
@@MikeBoyd you did yourself a service by getting rid of that stock paste
And the amd stock cooler not fitting for that case.
Because for some reason
Coolermaster (the company that makes coolers for amd cpus) decide to use glue on that thermal paste
Obviously its not glue lol
But after extended period of time
When you try to replace your cpu
Its just stuck there
I've seen more people rip their ryzen cpu clean (sometimes not cleanly and end up bending some pins) off the socket stuck to their stock cooler than i count
Also pretty good choice on a third party cooler too
Noctua never disappoints
@@radhisghaier6394 I had exactly that problem of my old Ryzen CPU being completely stuck to the cooler, but it was fairly easy to remove after about 30 seconds of blowing hot air on it with a hair dryer.
This was a great video Mike. I've been an avid pc builder and gamer for years and no matter how many times I build a pc I still feel that sense of satisfaction. I'm glad your experience went well. Enjoy your pc and welcome to the community!
Great job, Mike. That first PC build can be so stressful, but I recognize that look you had when it finally posted, because I felt the same way.
Great for you. I also put together a custom pc a couple years ago, but decided to pay for the store to put it together because I was afraid of messing it up. This year I decided to upgrade the CPU and GPU, and did it myself. It was so much more rewarding.
This video is brilliant. It reminds me so much of building my first pc, feeling like everything would explode. but its a skill I couldn't go without now, so useful!
This was pretty much exactly how my first PC build went, incl all of the emotions. Very cool video!
Been building pc's a lot for personal and friends! But bruh that test display that you use for your camera is freaking dope for testing and for server tinkering :O Best idea ever!
This video made me smile so much at the end. I've always dreamed of building my own PC and I'm getting closer to doing that because of you. Thanks for all your amazing content.
As someone who built his own pc and took a lot of time to research about PC this was such a fun video to watch. I love the PC community and when I was a newbie I got helped so much on forums like LTT. Now I help people on reddit when I have the time
For me the most fascinating thing is understanding every component and how it's coded :/
Great video. People like you help grow the PC community, eliminate e-waste, and showcase a new hobby, like pc building, that many other people are too scared or nervous to try.
I have been watching your channel for years now, and throughout the years you have made some absolute amazing content. I am a programmer, pc builder, Rubik’s cube solver, and rock climber. It’s nice to see that every time I decide to try a new hobby, you normally try it soon after. I love that you share a majority of my hobbies, and are a creative and inspiring person.
Keep it up Mike. I’ll keep watching for years to come.
Yes. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Mike!
Absolutely love your content!
I came across a callisthenics video on TikTok and saw him do a handstand push-up and immediately thought this would be a cool challenge for you!
Best of luck 💪🏻
Happy to see you learning this skill, I love building computers, ive taken apart and built a dozen pcs now its just as fun now as it was the the last 7 times, it really is a powerful skill, it means after warranty you can still continue its life
honestly great job i remember how scarry it was building my first PC and its always nice to welcome someone new into the self building family
@8:10 you put in the second ram stick and it clicked only on one side I was afraid it wasn't gonna post but seemed you got it (: maybe this one only locks on one site
actually a beefy gpu helps editing too but you've pretty much got all the details right and the fact that you trobleshooted the problem of the pc not booting yourself and you started with the most simplest problem first is honestly the cherry on top. great video.
You're an inspiration Mike. I've always bought pre-built PCs and felt a little sheepish about it for reasons similar to what you describe in this video. Will have a go att building myself next time.
I recently built my first gaming PC last week, and i agree with this video, its a great skill to have! Relatively simple and surprisingly fun
A friend convinced me to build a PC, so I had him help make a build list. I bought the parts and he walked me through connecting everything. It's what I am still using today- 5 years later. The amount of pride is amazing when you look at your build. I would recommend it to anyone because you can make it look however you want, and it definitely looks more complicated than it is. Everything snaps into place, and the wires are easier to figure out than you think.
Sometimes I miss this feeling of doing things for the very first time that I enjoyed a lot. This brings back good memories
Excellent video Mike! I just built my first PC recently and it's so satisfying :)
Built my first Circa £1,000 PC recently as well. Its incredible. I love boot speed, the clean windows, and yes the RGB.
I know my parts will need upgrading soon, but the joy of it is I can do bits here and there!
Well done Mike! You built your first PC! Pretty much everything was spot on. My biggest advice when building any PC is always consult the Motherboard manual before the builds, and few things can't be installed where they shouldnt be, so its hard to go wrong. Dont worry about the front I/O, thats always a problem when you're making a PC for the first time. Also the thermal paste, as long as its about the size of a pea, usually you're fine, even if its a little more than that, it doesnt harm anything.
Also, never throw your old hardware away, either recycle or do something new with it. The amount of old kit that can be plugged into a TV as a media box, security cam, turned into a NAS or even a router is unbelieveable. At one stage I even used an old laptop to record video footage of birds on a feeder outside a flat window via movement.
I also like to think as motherboard as the skull, GFX as the eyes, soundcard as the ears (thats usually built on motherboards these days) RAM & HDD as short and long term memory and the thing that brings it all together is the brain to process the information - The CPU. Case is generally the skin as well.
Glad you had no problems with windows, as sometimes installing that with a legit key can be a nightmare. Looks like you were alright on that one though. Good Job!
What an incredible video Mike! I've built my own system and I agree it's such a rewarding experience. Still, there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying a pre-built if that's what you want, but I highly recommend _anyone_ that's considering it to build a PC at least once. That'll make your experience with a pre-built better too, since if anything goes wrong or you want to upgrade a component, you won't be scared to take your pre-built apart and modify it.
omg you explained it so well with the game thing. honesty everyone should explain every thing like a video game :)
I have huge respect for you trying this out, especially considering you didn't have anyone in person with you to help out and used quite an unconventional case.
Overcoming the fear of destroying any of these expensive parts can be hard but the reward of being able to build a pc by yourself is indescribable!
Mad props!!❤ Check your psu connecters if youve got a moment just to be safe, just a tad loose.
Built one myself a few years back. Still going strong. Was super fun too.
After just spending a weekend upgrading my PC and doing a full custom watercooling setup for the first time, I feel the anxiety you have before turning it on for the first time and especially the shock when there's an issue!
I've loved tinkering around with PCs and this interest actually landed me in my current career so it's so nice to see basically a love letter for one of my favorite hobbies.
What do you do?
Good job Mike! I remember my first build, it was pretty scary, but like you said, it's a great skill to have if you do tech stuff. And don't worry about parts not fitting, that happens to all of us at some point!
This takes me back a few years to my first build. Definitely worth learning if you haven't already.
I really noticed this video, that your text scripting and voice-overs are on another level! great video!
Nice Job, and well explained what the parts do.
This was posted less than 12 hours after my psu randomly went bust and I had to stress for hours diagnosing it, it is indeed a daunting but valuable skill.
Was thinking you forgot the motherboard standoff copper screws (short circuit hazard) but looks like the case had fixed standoffs, so all good! Thanks for the cool video.
Fun to see you've chose the same case for your NAS as my NAS. 😊
I totally agree, it's a great experience to have. I've built so many PC's since the 90's thanks to my dad funding my passion. There was no youtube or community back then that I knew of, I was fortunate to have a friend who taught me all I needed to get started. Windows 95 and dial up internet, crazy how things have changed.
Well done!
There isn't much that's more satisfying than putting your own PC together and watching it boot!
One thing I would mention: Make sure to keep cables away from fan blades. I noticed the cable for the CPU cooler fan was sitting over the top.
It will be ok, but if it happens to touch the fan the sound it makes it awful and slightly terrifying!
I've been building my own PC's for 30 years now, and still feel good about each one I've built. It is always good to see people trying it for the first time. Well done Mike, I'm proud of you for taking this step 🙂
I loved this video! It was cool to see the perspective of someone who is just learning about computers and building them for the first time! You did pretty much everything right, and I'm impressed that you went with a form-factor case for your first. You may already know this, but if you wanted, you'd likely be able to upgrade your CPU in the future with a quick BIOS update. AMD kept the AM4 platform into the 5000 series of processors, so if you wanted a bit more life out of it in the future you could get it
welcome to the club friend!! loved the video!
Finally - after watching all of Mike's other videos of skills that I don't have, I see this one - and enjoy the smug feeling of having been doing this for the past 20+ years :)
Congrats on you first pc build. May it be the first of many...
that analogy was great but "rgb is their ego" was just the cherry on the top
I was lucky enough to have a buddy give me an old build of his a number of years back. After the processor suffered a heat death I didn't want to start fresh when so many of the components were still usable so, new heat sink, cpu and moba, a few other upgrades and off the the races. Saved me hundreds of dollars and I fully relate to how good it feels to boot it up the first time. Made a builder out of me for life and now I have a 10year old case and power supply running video editing and multi channel audio recording sessions almost daily. Utility at its best.
A nice budget build, congrats!
haha i was gonna say all you have left is to make a NAS and then you did it, truly beyond the point of return now :)
big ups for the overall message of this video - increasing personal agency with a very useful set of skills while reducing ewaste, increasing the lifespan of your devices, and saving money vs buying prebuilt or a new machine instead of upgrading or troubleshooting your current one? no downsides if you ask me, plus the tech is genuinely just really cool! like you say, there's so many resources out there, and the pc community is so dedicated and widespread, the barrier of entry to all this and more is only as great as someone's willingness to learn. nothing quite like it!
Welcome to the fold. This is an amazing hobby, and it's so much to learn. New technology almost every year. So much fun, so much anguish. Just remember to tighten the screws on your CPU cooler, like you tighten the bolts on the wheels on your car. Don't ask about the thermal paste, it's become a meme. :)
Great job Mike, lovely to see learning new skills even outside of the sport-y realm.
PC building from the physical point of view (plugging things in together) is very useful and you probably won't forget it, unless some standards change.
However knowing how to put together a balanced system, within a budget, knowing where you can save money and where you should pay extra for quality, is a very different thing and if you don't stay in that tech loop constantly, by the time you need a new PC, you gotta research all that stuff all over again.
True, but if you've already learnt what questions to ask and where to look for answers this won't be very time consuming. Definitely worth it compared to watching 3 LTT videos a week (if you don't enjoy it of course)
I built my first desktop last month. Thankfully one of my close friends is a full pc nerd. I was able to run all my part selections and questions by him.
I built my first pc just last week! Loved the process, would definitely recommend. Pc parts picker and Linus Tech Tips how to build a pc will see anyone through to success
i used to be scared of opening up my laptop even when it was totally overheated due to dust build up inside. But once, i just dare myself up and dive into it. Opened it up for the first time, and oh boy, it was so dirty. I cleaned it up with helps of tutorial videos. Closed it up, and was so happy about it that i could handle my laptop's problem myself, and was not afraid anymore to solve my own laptop's problem from cleaning to upgrading. That leads to experiment and explore even further on how to improve my laptop's performance. Skip to 3 years later, now i run a side business of hardware and software PC/laptop repair, all because of that sudden encouragement i had :)
Haha, here I am sitting on my 2012 Macbook Pro, still running lovely. Have replaced multiple items to keep it up to date and I just ping stuff to my external home drive to keep it decluttered and it still suits the purpose I need it for! I was once a binner of things and that is no more :)
Good job the Node 202 is not the easiest case to work with i had so many little issues with mine
At first, I was spotting everything you were doing wrong and I was correcting you in the comments about the most noticeable mistakes. But just now I realised my first build(s) were 100x worse 😂 you are actually doing a very good job for the amount of experience you have.
Remember taking apart my family’s home computer in 2009 and had to put it back together😅. Literally how I learned and now studying Computer Science
When creating my first Pc I also messed up the power switch connector. I was searching for the problem for about an hour, checking every connector, I possibly could. But despite this I somehow missed the fact that the Power SW cable was plugged in wrong. But I eventually figured it out, and the relief that I felt when all the fans turned on was a feeling that I will not forget.
This is a really great video, I can totally relate to the feeling of not wanting to touch the PC out of confusing and paranoia. But slowly, through installing a Wi-Fi Card, repasting the Gpu and upgrading more parts, my perception of computer complexity went away!
Climbing and PCs are like the two things I do, and these past couple videos have been very entertaining to me.
Definitely recommend building PCs, I started out about 10 years ago building my first computer, now I can't count how many I've done between upgrades to my personal PC to full builds for various friends and family. That's not even to mention that since picking up this skill I've swapped careers from marketing into IT and couldn't be happier.
Learn something new, you never know where it might lead.
No need to apologize for not building your own, not everyone has the time nor the will to do so. I also bought a pre-built 1.5 years ago as a first PC but since then, I upgraded the CPU. Doing only that was so stressing and also so rewarding once the process was over :)
When I saw that motherboard started sliding and heard screeching the back of the case, my soul left my body.
I love this video, PC building is such fun
Might be a good idea to spend some time tidying the cables up. It will help with airflow and looks neater.
100% agree! Everyone should learn basic computer knowledge. Half a year ago I had to replace my hard drive in my laptop as it crapped out on me right once warranty ended. I decided to switch to an SSD to get some better speed and though it was scary it went smoothly with only minor hiccups.
All in all it likely saved me at least $100 if I was to send it in, and maybe $1000 as to if I just gave up and replaced the whole thing.
Very nice. Its fun to be able to make your own PC.
Somehow your videos never seem to stop amazing me, good job on this one! Btw, a few ideas for a future video if you ever come around to it, try finger-boarding I find it really amusing, and maybe you can try making your own electric skateboard, it's actually not that hard if you find the parts. You can also try riding the one wheel or maybe even frisbee throwing. There is also writing with your left hand... I'm just throwin these out there... Good luck on your future endeavours, I hope you succeed in everything you're trying to accomplish :)
great PCs, mike!
one tip i learned was using the motherboard box as kind of like a table to set the motherboard on when first starting the build before moving it into the case, its a non electrically conductive surface and it kind of keeps what you're currently working on more in your view i guess? its more emphasized because its closer and not on the table with every single other part
I custom built my pc and yet here I am still learning so much about it!
I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but the power supply is installed upside-down. The fan should be facing the bottom of the case as there is no vent at the top.
I actually thought this when I was editing. During the build I couldn’t figure out how to mount it the other way though
There is nothing wrong with buying a prebuilt! Building a PC can be very confusing the first time. I just built my third PC and it was confusing because of all the new standards.
Very cool to see, also not a very difficult skill imo. I upgraded the ram in my laptop cause it was slow, only came 4 gb, and spotted that there was room for a hard drive in the process in addition to the ssd it came with. Which I have never needed to actually add one, but useful to know.
Favourite kind of video. Big W.
A little heavy on the paste, but more is better than not enough.
Not necessarily a super difficult skill, it's basically Lego. But it's something that a lot of people don't dare to try because it seems too complex. Thanks for putting out this video, I'm sure you've saved someone some money.
The hard part is buying the best parts for the price and optimizing the build to do what is needed. A lot of people take marketing at face value and buy the first thing that claims to do what they need. Identifying resources for benchmarks and the differences between benchmarks and the differences between pieces of hardware and the nuances of what brand or architecture is better for certain tasks is hard for people who have no knowledge or exposure to PC building.
He's back! Nice one Mike 😄
Nice! I usually feel like building a PC is pretty accessible if you have a friend who knows what they're doing heh (or failing that, a friendly neighborhood Linus)
I love the Fractal Node series, they're just so _dense_ It's great. Been running a 304 for years, nice to see both its brothers get some love.
Awesome video! You show how you take what you know, and relate it to what you are learning!
When I was a math tutor, finding the tutees "learning language" was finding enough of their worldview to relate math concepts to. Mike, your video shows you relating computer components to video gaming! Brilliant!
Thanks for the new vid love your content
Glad you enjoy it!
respect for the DS3 build, not putting all into vigor and a dex build aswell! play with a bleed build once its really fun, dex goes well with it just need a good bleed weapon and some points into luck ;)
Love you Mike.
Did the same like two years ago, no idea what i was doing or if it would work.
I was realy nervous to short-circuit something or that parts didn't fit.
but i am writing this very comment on this PC right now (which means everthing did work)
12:20 the best feeling ever, getting to BIOS / UEFI :D
Don’t forget the vibration pad for the power supply!!! 😮
I remember the excitement after building my first computer in 2016, when it finally turned it on, and all the LEDs lit up my room at 1am after 6 hours of building and troubleshooting! Have built a handful of computers since for friends, family, and myself, and I still get so much excitement when it first boots to life!
Great job. Biggest issue, which isn't an issue is PSU size. You went with a 450w psu, and according to PC Partpicker, estimated power needed is 334w. When choosing a PSU, you don't want your needed power usage to be over 80% of the what the psu is rated for, due to inefficiencies, losses, and transient power spikes. But if you upgrade your cpu, gpu, or both, you may end up having power delivery issues, which can result in random shutdowns or freezes.
What I personally do is, put all the parts in PC part picker, multiply the estimate wattage by 1.25, add 100 and then round up to the nearest 50. So 334 x 1.25 = 417.5 + 100 = 517.5, which rounds up to 550w.
Mike I like how you approach any new challenge.
About your storage server. Probably you now about that, but still. Did you manage redundancy and backups. This can be pain full lesson to learn if not take in consideration.
nice video! I think it would be pretty cool if you could try to build a custom keyboard next.
great message ^^