If you’ve been blaming yourself for accomplishing nothing constructive during our never-ending pandemic, stop. There are moments when doing nothing is the best thing you can do. Sometimes it’s good to use your own two hands to create something. What you’ll learn in this book is the fundamentals of computer construction. How to Build a PC at Home

Numerous factors, including its high cost, high complexity, and potential for chaos, make it an intimidating prospect. But I want to be clear: if you can assemble an Ikea table, bookshelf, bed, or anything that comes in more than one of those deceivingly heavy flat packs, you can build a PC.

That’s not the hard part. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to assist you with assembling your computer. I wouldn’t say that at all. Not unless you tell me the specific configuration of your gear. However, I can describe the function of each part and provide my suggestions for improvement in each area.

After putting together your brand new PC, you may want to look into additional components and add-ons for your machine. Check out our reviews and buying advice for the top-rated gaming keyboards, mice, headsets, and controllers.

What are the requirements?

No matter your skill level, there are some tools to use to compile a list of components. It not only sells everything you need but also enables you to put together your computer on the site itself, with the assurance that every component will function properly with the others. It even includes some customizable example builds.

Whether you’re making a PC for work at home or for gaming, you’ll need the same basic parts. All you need is a motherboard, CPU, storage, memory, PSU, case, and monitor to build your own computer. If you plan on using this computer primarily for home office purposes, a graphics processing unit (GPU) may be overkill; nonetheless, a GPU is required for jobs like as editing photos or videos and playing games. Wow, you have a lot there! What each part performs is briefly explained here, along with suggestions for related devices.

Motherboard

This circuit board serves as the hub for all other parts. They use it as the main avenue for coordination and communication. Various shapes and sizes serve the same purpose, yet the individual items may have different appearances. Before purchasing a motherboard, you should have your processor choice nailed down.

There are many variations of motherboards, but knowing which socket type it uses is crucial. Simply put, LGA and AM are the two main types. They’re always followed by a number. Current standards as of 2022 (compatible with the most recent chips from either vendor) are LGA1200 for Intel and AM4 for AMD, but the actual numbers appended to the LGA and AM sections of these socket names will change over time to indicate which version of Intel or AMD chips they support.

Likewise, motherboards are available in a variety of form factors, the most popular of which is ATX (or “full size”). That’s the standard advice I provide, especially for the first time at home. If you want to use a specific motherboard, your PC case should state the maximum dimensions it can accommodate.

Processor (CPU)

Your computer’s processor is its central processing unit. It is the single most crucial part of your computer and plugs directly into the motherboard. It need not be the priciest option either (more on that later). Even if it’s not included, thermal paste is required for the CPU. Put your CPU on a diet. I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not food, no matter how appetizing it may appear.
You should expect the biggest markups on your central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU). However, these costs will fluctuate widely, so if you can’t afford the part you want right now, keep checking again.

A Graphics Card (GPU)

A computer without a graphics processing unit is not suitable for playing games (also called a graphics card). Specifically, it is a processor tailored to the needs of visual data, such as the graphics in a video game. It’s also utilized for things like editing movies and pictures and doing other things that require a lot of visual processing power.

We recommend that you be patient if you want to purchase these cards because they are currently difficult to locate in stock (or at a reasonable price). It’s absurd that the price of graphics cards, one of the most in-demand PC parts, is so high compared to what it should be. That’s why you’ll find mostly expensive options here. Make sure it’s a good graphics card if you’re planning to spend a lot of money on it.

Storage

Your computer’s storage space is located here. Basically everything and everything you own—from video games and movies to documents and photographs—will end up in this folder. Storage space can be expanded whenever it’s needed.

This Western Digital Black 1TB PCIe Internal SSD is a great choice for almost any gaming rig due to its blisteringly fast NVMe interface. Amazing read/write rates of up to 7,000 and 5,300 MB/s mean it can easily hold all of your games and, in theory, your operating system. There is also an M.2 variety.

Inexpensive and reliable, the Samsung 980 Pro M.2 SSD is typical of Samsung’s M.2 offerings. Fast, reliable, and tiny (about the size of a stick of gum), they’re compatible with any other internal SSD. You don’t even have to tinker with cables, since most motherboards provide an M.2 slot on the front or rear of the board. This device has a read speed of about 6,980 MB/s and a write speed of about 4,876 MB/s.

The Samsung 970 Evo M.2 SSD is an outstanding value for any system build despite being part of the slower and more affordable Evo series. This M.2 storage device can achieve maximum speeds of 3,500 MB/s in reading and 3,300 MB/s in writing. Although slower than some of the others on this list, it’s still plenty fast for gaming. If money is tight, I would recommend the Evo.
The built-in heat sink in the Corsair MP600 M.2 SSD ensures that the drive stays cool even while it transfers data at lightning speed. The maximum read speed is 4,950 MB/s, and the maximum write speed is 4,250 MB/s.
With maximum read rates of 560 MB/S and write speeds of 530 MB/S, this Wester Digital model is better suited for a secondary storage drive rather than the primary one from which you run games or your operating system.