How I Learned to Build a PC

[@fency3113]

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 :)

[@MikeBoyd]

I actually got the original paste covered in crap before filming because I'm daft

[@fency3113]

Alas, I didn't wait long enough to see you install the second cooler (which I'm assuming was fine too :))

[@derrikcreates]

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.

[@Dionyzos]

@@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.

[@generic_luke]

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

[@potatomanW]

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.

[@GarrettBlackmon]

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.

[@kampfkanguru1951]

@@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!

[@dreacken3]

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?

[@kampfkanguru1951]

@@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

[@spade8094]

If I had the money, sounds cool tho

[@rescyn1190]

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 ;)

[@CkBr]

Or download a program that deletes all the bloatware for you. (especially for win 11)

[@AntxnBeats]

And especially check before the speed of the motherboard so it matches the ram, learnt that the hard way

[@SinclairWest]

​@@CkBr he had a clean install from a USB, there was no bloatware ^^

[@fireskorpion396]

@@SinclairWest Microsoft installs their own bloatware Like the other guy said about Cortana and that kind of crap

[@pyskon1k369]

Or just use Linux instead

[@Mr_Giraffe]

Pretty hardcore to start out with an ITX build (tiny desktop). Well done!

[@Polymath2B]

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.

[@Mushiwushii]

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.

[@K0ALA.]

Where’s Linus when you need him

[@FrenchesOP]

Being cancelled 😂

[@alexanderpinney]

He's a potato farmer now.

[@michaeltagor4238]

@@FrenchesOP huh? For what again? I didn't saw anything yesterday

[@jackmchaledj]

Hacked

[@FrenchesOP]

@@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.

[@jacobwells2438]

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.

[@CrosshairClips]

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.

[@jackfolsom7498]

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.

[@toastermon2272]

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.

[@o.v4069]

What do you do?

[@west5385]

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

[@1Life4Passion]

For me the most fascinating thing is understanding every component and how it's coded :/

[@rim7961]

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

[@MikeBoyd]

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.

[@radhisghaier6394]

@@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

[@tprofi452]

@@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.

[@NS-ih8zt]

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.

[@minikretz1]

No shame in having a prebuilt for your first PC, but welcome to the family! Glad you had fun!

[@MrIrondog55]

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!

[@chucklesdeclown8819]

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.

[@UncleDon226]

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.

[@kugelblitz2001]

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.

[@MikeBoyd]

I actually thought this when I was editing. During the build I couldn’t figure out how to mount it the other way though

[@hellacious_]

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!

[@zakieldiju5640]

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 :)

[@kev1965]

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

[@Ad-J86]

This takes me back a few years to my first build. Definitely worth learning if you haven't already.

[@wartab]

Sometimes I miss this feeling of doing things for the very first time that I enjoyed a lot. This brings back good memories

[@ahuggingsam]

This was pretty much exactly how my first PC build went, incl all of the emotions. Very cool video!

[@randomviewer3494]

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!

[@JeseeWalker]

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.

[@JackBahh]

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!

[@thatguy9017]

As a PC builder enthusiast myself, I must say I'm impressed! Good work! But there is still a few things to note, when building your first PC. I saw that your 24-Pin on the powersupply wasn't fully in, it's quite important to double check that they are all the way in. I would also like to see some more air-flow in your case, more fans help your components stay cool and will increase their lifespan and performance. Also, a 450W powersupply works fine, but I would recommend at least a 650W one, if your pc doesn't have a strong enough powersupply, your pc will reduce the performance for the system (in a nutshell, it bottlenecks your PC). Not sure if you did this or not, but your CPU cooler might've came with a plastic cover on the underside, if you didn't remove it, I'd suggest you do so because the cooler is almost useless if so. It might've came with a layer of thermal paste instead of the plastic cover, in that case I wouldn't add more thermal paste to it, just used the pre-applyed thermal paste. Also, Mike, i think you might wanna turn your power supply the other way around, because by the looks of it, it seems like you're choking the powersupply by not letting the fan taking in fresh air. Some PC tips that doesn't involve your build: * Be careful with the USB 3.0 connector, it's known to break. * Don't screw in 1 screw all the way in on the CPU cooler, you want to do them all every now and then so you don't damage the CPU * If you have more than 1 stick of RAM and more than 2 RAM slots on your motherboard, you want to have the RAM sticks in dual channel (check your motherboard manual for the right slots for dual channel) * Have the GPU in the top PCI-e slot * Remember to put in the IO-sheild before your motherboard (if it is included) * Update your GPU drivers regularly (improves performance * Check that your RAM is running on the right frequency in your BIOs (if your CPU and motherboard supports a higher frequency) * When you put in your RAM, you want to hear a "click" on each side of your RAM stick * You want to have an equal amont of intake fans as outtake fans, too much positive or negative pressure in the case isn't good for your components * Don't have too little or too much thermal paste on your CPU

[@Mandarin9900]

What did you mean exactly by don't screw in 1 screw all the way in for the CPU cooler? Could you elaborate please? Thank you

[@thatguy9017]

@@Mandarin9900 Sorry, I wasn't fully sure about how I was going to phrase that sentence. This is what I ment: Yes, you want to tighten the screw all the way down, BUT you shouldn't screw a screw all the way down in one go. You want to start with one corner, tighten that screw slightly, then move to another corner and the next corner, and so on. And so it this way until you feel like you can't tighten any of the screws down anymore. This is so the pressure on the CPU is spread out evenly, if you don't do it this way, you could ruin your CPU.

[@Mandarin9900]

@@thatguy9017 Thank you!

[@nuuwnhuus]

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.

[@MrCrunch808]

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.

[@JeffDeLamater]

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.

[@otrrsuns3t]

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

[@seifyk]

A little heavy on the paste, but more is better than not enough.

[@14Jesman]

that analogy was great but "rgb is their ego" was just the cherry on the top

[@casestudymtb]

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.

[@Joetoep]

When I saw that motherboard started sliding and heard screeching the back of the case, my soul left my body.

[@malachiswedberg8367]

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.

[@Ulvens]

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. :)

[@jacklyons1383]

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 💪🏻

[@Meg_A_Byte]

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.

[@CrystalStearOfTheCas]

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)

[@matrixyst]

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!

[@calebsmith1744]

I custom built my pc and yet here I am still learning so much about it!

[@thelittlecousin5211]

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!

[@kazkz5331]

You need to boot into the bios and set your ram speed. They run default at slower speed than the ram is rated for. This is probably the most overlooked step in PC building.

[@marijngrashoff30]

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

[@jc74435]

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.

[@jimcobb2116]

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 🙂

[@Spitts]

As said in this video, understanding what each part does is the key to building a PC. About 10-15 years ago I built my first PC and was so overwhelmed looking at parts. The amount of different options for each part is scary, especially since the manufacturers use the most complicated naming system for everything. It makes figuring out what to get seem impossible. If you just spend a little time understanding what each part does and understanding the seemingly random numbers they use to name them it will all start to click and be much less overwhelming. Actually building the PC is the easy part. It's just like big, expensive Legos.

[@ei..]

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!

[@snows2211]

It's actually possible to remove the plastic shroud of the stock amd cooler to shave off a few millimeters from the height without affecting performance. Still, great video!

[@Cpt_Dave]

Built one myself a few years back. Still going strong. Was super fun too.

[@saltysoyman6908]

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 :)

[@Ramon314]

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.

[@sniff7276]

I learnt this same skill about 5 years ago, and have upgraded my PC multiple times Ryzen 3 2200g -> Ryzen 5 3600 -> ryzen 7 5600x MSI 1080ti -> MSI 3070ti 450w PSU -> 850w PSU 16gb ram -> 32gb ram 1tb SSD -> 5tb's worth of SSD's Fan cooling -> Liquid AIO Changed cases. I've spent heaps of money on it so far but I wouldn't change it for the world! totally agree with the sentiment.

[@Oscarmite1]

It’s a nice feeling building your own Pc

[@tyno_skt]

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 :)

[@shawno8253]

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.

[@jaikobie1353]

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

[@M0rph123]

Might be a good idea to spend some time tidying the cables up. It will help with airflow and looks neater.

[@tubulartomato4144]

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.

[@anderseriksson6445]

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.

[@jaroel]

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)

[@MediocreHero66]

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 :)

[@Ryan-rq6dx]

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.

[@lorenzojw04]

Let’s go! Built my first PC when I was 13 (18 now). Learned everything from KZbin (mostly Linus)

[@thecremeegg]

Nice one! If you haven't already, go into the bios and turn on XMP as your RAM will be running slower than it should be.

[@StonedSpagooter]

For a man with money I respect the modesty of this build. ANYONE could do this. Piece by piece.

[@rivermarshall8850]

Mad props!!❤ Check your psu connecters if youve got a moment just to be safe, just a tad loose.

[@singletracksendy5565]

omg you explained it so well with the game thing. honesty everyone should explain every thing like a video game :)

[@jackbarbowwe]

I like to think of each PC part as a body part or something u use in ur life which makes it easier to remember; CPU is the brain of the PC, Hard drive is ur memories (SSD is ur vivid memories), motherboard is ur skeleton (keeps everything together), Case is ur skin (keeps everything inside protected), Power supply is food for ur PC (more power needed for more active PCs), RAM is a notepad were you scribble down notes when taking in information. It all seems daunting until u release a PC is essentially just a lego cube made up of like 5 bricks

[@BurntCookies97]

I'm sure it works fine and I'm sure someone else has mentioned this somewhere but you'd ideally want to rotate the Noctua cooler 90 degrees. As it is, the airflow path is crashing right into the RAM and IO on the motherboard, you'd get better performance from having the air travel out the relatively unobstructed sides. Probably doesn't make a huge difference though.

[@LeJimster]

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.

[@kampfkanguru1951]

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!

[@evnik1427]

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

[@miquerto]

Yes. Thank you for sharing.

[@swimseven77]

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.

[@jordanrobb7326]

welcome to the club friend!! loved the video!

[@MikeB12800]

Don’t forget the vibration pad for the power supply!!! 😮

[@viiltelijamurhaaja7225]

You said that power switch was the wrong way around, but it actually doesnt matter. Power and reset switch can be any way around and still work because they are just connecting the two pins when the button is pushed, but the led:s need to be right way around

[@ChrisMelville]

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 :)

[@iannilles160]

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

[@enormhi]

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!

[@DaPenguin]

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.

[@onboardlotus]

Welcome to the pc building club👍. since learning how to build my first pc a few years ago its allowed me to help friends and family troubleshoot,upgrade,and build new computers. As a result of all the fun ive had im pretty addicted to anything that involves compter parts now

[@SyntaxNation86]

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!

[@nielsvdmarel]

I really noticed this video, that your text scripting and voice-overs are on another level! great video!

[@joshhiroti]

Favourite kind of video. Big W.

[@treagan]

Loved this video Mike! A thin mini-ITX build like that is no small feat for a first-time builder. As a computer hardware engineer, I have two small pieces of advice for handling parts: (1) at 8:17, it looks like you briefly hold the M.2 SSD by its gold pin connector. This is something that's important to avoid, since the oil from your fingers can fuck with the impedance of the connection and you also risk discharging static electricity into the component. On that note; (2) you were probably doing this and just didn't show it, but make sure you ground yourself every once in a while when handling exposed parts -- don't want to static shock them into oblivion by mistake. I usually just touch a big piece of metal every couple minutes, but if you want to be really safe, you can wear a grounding bracelet. Didn't know "Windows" and "no bloatware" could go together in a sentence. Try installing Linux sometime for a real bloatless PC :^)

[@stevealford230]

You might be overpraising: if one can assemble a Lego man, they can build any PC form factor easily. 1) Yup... I guess he didn't read the manuals, but just watched YT videos; 2) Yup, but he's a Brit (Scot variant)... they say "earth" instead of "ground" for electrical purposes... they probably think you mean to make some form of tea when you say it our way. :)

[@kumagaming6302]

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.

[@PTPVods]

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

[@nikonyrh]

12:20 the best feeling ever, getting to BIOS / UEFI :D

[@Ramon314]

Fun to see you've chose the same case for your NAS as my NAS. 😊

[@Pascal33Hitman33]

Welcome to the PC Master Race :D Btw: too much thermal paste is not an issue. The pressure frome the cooler squeezes everything out that's too much and since normal thermal paste is not conducting, it's really no problem for any electronics. Just don't let your Motherboard slip the next time xD

[@Alucard-gt1zf]

A nice budget build, congrats!

[@bilalahmad2402]

Excellent video Mike! I just built my first PC recently and it's so satisfying :)

[@mpgrim3312]

Climbing and PCs are like the two things I do, and these past couple videos have been very entertaining to me.

[@azhrak]

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.

[@phkit420]

I saw the blue notification And was super excited for another climbing vid 😢

[@australianpolyrhachis]

i made my own PC only a few weeks ago. researched all i needed to know and asked tect friends what i should put it. However i had a PC place build it for me as I did get a far more complicated one for high end gaming.

[@breeze.-gk6xu]

Congrats on you first pc build. May it be the first of many...

[@devanjohnson737]

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!