For those who are looking into building their own computer, or are in the process of it, here are the Top Five tips that may be very helpful for you!
- Make a Clear Budget
- You need to know exactly how much everything is going to cost. It can be easy to underestimate the overall cost of computer, especially if you forget little details like cooling, fans, keyboard, windows software, monitor, or mouse. Getting caught up in the rig is fun, as long as you are prepared to pay for everything you need.
- Buy It All At One Time
- This is probably some of the best advice I followed when I built my first computer, and it goes right along with budgeting. If you only have enough money to buy one or two of the parts you need, just wait. There is a very good chance that you may change your mind, find a better deal, or you might not get enough money in the next month or so to finish buying parts. Very soon it can become a mess, so I HIGHLY recommend saving the money you need, then buying it all in one go. I learned this one from experience.
- You Do Not Need “The Newest” nor the “Best”
- If you are not looking to run three monitors at 4k while hosting two servers, than you certainty do not need to buy the highest end hardware. While it is cool to have nice shiny “top of the line” parts, it is very often not necessary. If you are just gaming for a hobby or editing videos on the side, I would highly suggest looking into the mid-grade parts. Often times, as long you you do not skimp on essentials like RAM, GPU, or CPU, mid-grade parts with the current gen. of hardware runs great!
- Do Your Research
- If this is your first time building a computer, then do some serious research. Even before you buy parts, make sure you learn what parts are compatible, because it is very easy to miss something and buy a part that will not work with your computer. There are a ton of resources online that will teach you the basics of building, and you will not regret taking the time to learn! I will never forget the one time I just decided to “wing-it” and almost caught my computer on fire! So yeah, please take the time to learn and ask questions before you jump in.
- DO NOT SKIMP
- No, I am not about to tell you to buy the newest and best because we already addressed that. I will say though that too often people decide to pay significantly less for one part on their computer and it ends up crippling the whole rig. For example: I bought a really nice CPU and a very nice MSI GPU, but I skimped on the RAM because I thought I could good buy with 4gb, instead of 8gb. For the longest time, I was trying to play high end graphics games, overclocking the GPU, and was still getting poor frames per second. The moment I upgraded to 8gb of Ram, the game ran as smooth as butter. Why? Because I did not meet the requirements of the game in one area my hardware. Point is, know what your requirements will be, and do NOT skimp. Save the money and buy what you need and want, you will not regret it in the long run.
Well, those are my top 5 Tips! I hope this was helpful! I will continue to post about all of my computer adventures and advice! If there is anything you would ever like me to talk about in the future, just comment below!
Daniel James, Signing Out!
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