DIY Hardware

Common PC Building Mistakes Made by Beginners

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YouTuber JayzTwoCents shares a list of common mistakes he sees beginners make when setting out to build their own PC. Scroll down for a summary of the points…

  1. Keep all the packaging until you’re sure you have a working system.
  2. Wear an anti-static wrist strap, attached to bare metal.
  3. Get a magnetic bowl for screws, and a magnetic tip screwdriver.
  4. Print a photo of the motherboard and mark places on it where stuff goes—especially useful for the front-panel cables—so you’re not struggling when the case is half full and half dark.
  5. If you number the places in #4 above, you can put little stickers near all the various cable ends so you know where they go.
  6. A jogger’s headlamp is useful for lighting what you’re looking at.
  7. Have tweezers handy for when you drop small bits in the case.
  8. Test as early as you can, don’t put the whole thing together in one go.
  9. Have a good build guide available, and follow it.
  10. Before ordering parts, put them in at PCpartPicker.com to confirm they’ll work together.
  11. Avoid any fancy stuff first time round, the fewer the variables, the easier to troubleshoot—you can add RGB, overclocking, etc. later.
  12. Lock your pet out of your build space!