What you need to build a custom gaming computer

It's worth mentioning that at the time of writing, the RTX is still a few weeks away from release, and it's probably going to sell out quite fast. However, it was a tough call between the and the K. The latter is only a little more expensive, but you can overclock it — a huge boon for a gaming PC.

In the end, I settled on the , because the K would have caused sort of a pricing cascade. Furthermore, overclocking draws more electricity, which might have required a bigger, more expensive power supply.

RAM is a tricky topic, since there are a lot of variables at play. Naturally, higher memory levels and speed cost more money. RAM speed is less important. There was also the question of whether to buy two SSDs: a small one just for system files, and a larger one for games. The benefits from this setup tend to be limited, however, and it increases the overall system complexity.

Depending on how you build your machine, the motherboard may be either the first or last component you choose. I also knew I wanted a motherboard with Wi-Fi built in, since my computer desk is far from my router. There are also mini- and microATX motherboards, and you can do some very cool things with them, but they can be expensive and difficult to put together.

A common meme in PC-building communities is a power supply as a ticking time bomb. The best-case scenario is overheating your components and burning them out well before their expected lifespan. The worst-case scenario involves a fire extinguisher. Selecting a case is mostly a matter of looks. I was actually hoping for something a little cheaper than the Corsair D Tempered Glass case, but it was the least expensive case I could find that also had a USB-C input on the front.

Remember: Your motherboard will have front-facing USB options, so make sure that your case has the proper connections for them. As such, our final build may have slightly different components, depending on what they have available. This article was originally published on October 11, , and is Part 1 in a three-part series. Part 2: How to build a gaming PC for beginners: Putting it all together. Part 3: How to build a gaming PC for beginners: What to do if it all goes wrong.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology.

After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi. Building a gaming PC is arguably the best technological investment you can make. Marshall Honorof. Topics Gaming. See all comments 5. No offense, but are you pulling off one of those "just buy it" Tom's Hardware pulled off recently and went super well for them? It would help if you bought a high-quality power supply from a reliable manufacturer.

These are internal components of the PC. These are useful components not mandatory. Some of the secondary components are: o ptical drive, the sound card, case-mounted fans. Optical drives were used when CDs and DVDs were popular; nowadays, the use of disk drives is rare because people download their games instead of using CDs. However, sometimes, we need to install games through CDS; in that case, it seems helpful.

Advanced motherboards have integrated chips that handle audio input and output, and while in the past, these integrated solutions were hardly reliable, they have exponentially advanced. If you are using stereo 2. These cards are useful when you want to connect internal modems, WiFi adapters, and used for various input-output ports.

After choosing internal components now you have to put all in the case. There are four types of cases to put components inside, these are:. These include input or output devices such as monitors, speakers, headphones, keyboards, mice, controllers, and microphones.

The Monitor is an output device that displays the result. While choosing Monitor, we should keep in mind two main factors. These are: Size and Resolution. The monitor size should not exceed 30 inches. Modern Monitor is having a size of inches. There are different resolution you can use for gaming PC such as. Instead, the remaining wires have to find a home in your closet. Here's our guide to the best power supplies for PC gaming. Your best chance of getting hold of the best graphics cards and CPUs right now is to buy one of the best gaming PCs or best gaming laptops.

Cases can be as stylish or boring as you want. We're going to go for the former rather than the latter, with the NZXT H, a slick, tempered glass case available in white or black. If you want other options, check our guide to the best mid-tower cases. The clean look goes well on any desk and doesn't stand out like many so-called 'gaming cases. Picking a case can be an entirely personal choice, so for more options, here are the best PC cases you can buy right now.

He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. Now he's back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck.

Included in this guide: 1. AMD Ryzen 5 X. Specifications Cores: 6. Threads: Base Clock: 3. Boost Clock: 4. Overclocking: Yes.

L3 Cache: 32 MB. PCIe 4. Specifications Form factor: ATX. Expansion slots: 2x PCIe 4. Storage: 2x M. Networking: Intel WiFi 6, Intel 2. Specifications GPU Cores: 4, Base Clock: 1,MHz. Boost Clock: 1,MHz. Specifications Capacity: 2x 8GB. Timings: