I Always Forget To Mention These PC Building Tips...

[@jonsmith4069]

Never put the side on before 1st power up

[@positrondesign6514]

Putting the side panel on before testing will curse a PC to be ... #4 = a build that goes horribly wrong.

[@gasracing5000]

Always plug in the monitor before booting... so you don't sweat waiting for a post screen that will never come 😂

[@rangersmith4652]

I'll go you one better. Build up the mobo on its box and boot to BIOS without putting anything in the case. Saves a lot of headaches.

[@troybakker7628]

​@@rangersmith4652i did that to update the bios to support my cpu, but disconnecting the 24 pin cable afterwards was a nightmare

[@cbrew5082]

Amen

[@rickmaus7526]

One thing for a new builder to consider if buying a system from a place like microcenter is to pay a little extra to make sure your motherboard, cpu and memory posts before you leave the store. Especially if you live far away.

[@platt_mallar]

I didn't know Microcenter had that service. That's awesome. How much does it cost?

[@rickmaus7526]

@platt_mallar I am not sure it seems to change

[@shakeypudding6563]

You sir are a god send and a fountain of information. I just finished my very first PC build at age 61. I used PC parts picker to sus out my parts and then used several of your videos to put it together. I installed Windows 10 Pro and used a grey site key. It is working flawlessly. And I too spilled blood during the installation 👍😃 PS- I’d love to see a video on doing the little tweaks to ensure your gaming PC is running smoothly. TY.

[@pjt8]

congratulations, welcome!

[@johnkase6285]

My first build back like 15 years ago was built on Paul’s Newegg videos, he’s the goat 🎉

[@Lurch-Bot]

Did you thoroughly stress test it? I typically use Furmark and run both the CPU and GPU burner simultaneously while monitoring GPU and CPU temps with GPUZ. A lot of builds will 'work flawlessly' until you subject them to an intense load. I am very wary of new components these days because QC has not been good since COVID. I got a GPU awhile back that 'worked flawlessly' until I ran some benchmarks and saw that it was severely underperforming. I sent it back and got another one that was fine. I like to use Passmark and 3DMark for benchmarking because the averages are easy to look up and they are widely used so there are large sample sizes.

[@Enixious99]

Very cool, congrats! I use Winaero Tweaker to turn off Microsoft's built in data collection/telemetry. I've found it can have a massive improvement on the responsiveness of lower power machines. Make sure you watch something involving how to set up and update your BIOS, which I believe Paul has done a video on. Also some people might think it obvious but lots of poeple don't know about Nvidia/AMD graphics card drivers and/or how to install their relevant motherboard ulilities to control fans. These things can have a big impact on the stability of your system long term.

[@Odb718]

LAY THE CASE DOWN. Too many youtuber's dont show that you need to be laying it down. They'll show cable management and everything else standing up, but don't focus on LAY THE PC DOWN to put the mobo in. Now that crap goes through the backs of cases you have to keep flipping the stupid thing over. No one shows that.

[@XxAtomic646xX]

i never lay the case down to install a mb. all mb and case i use have a peg the mb sits on while i get the 1st screw started.

[@JeskidoYT]

There are some coolers that require the case to NOT be laid down

[@calebburrichter8452]

which ones? I genuinely don't know@@JeskidoYT

[@Apeman_king_of_apes]

@fiatfan83 sounds like a fun job. How does one get such a job?

[@jaghine]

Can I offer an alternative to this... "Don't be afraid to HAVE to lie the case on it's side". Gravity is a fickle mistress, for she will punish those who freely ignore her existence with a stark reminder of such oversights by randomly hurling (one of) your new acquisitions to the ground at a seconds' notice. Be mindful of production limitations that do not allow for instructional videos to be created with multiple cameras.

[@nielderfp]

And PSU cables are not interchangeable between manufacturers, or sometimes between PSUs of the same manufacturer. Been there done that, destroyed the SSD, got the T-shirt.

[@Karlston]

Important point, thanks. About time there were standards for the PSU connectors and therefore the PSU ends of PSU cables. Would make PSU swaps/upgrades oh so much easier.

@@Karlston I'd be glad if they at least put their name (and the PSU name/type) on the cable. But no, they're usually -unmarked- unhelpfully marked. So you need to keep all cables in the box, or in some container marked with PSU identifying info.

[@i2cube]

I thought the tip was to never close the case panel until you have successfully performed the first POST, otherwise the PC God will smite you for your hubris

[@DT8888]

I built my wife’s and my own PC in the last 12 months. My first ever PC builds after a lifetime of buying prebuilds. Your videos not just helped me with the build process (one was intel and the other AMD so thank you for having guides both ways!), but you inspired me to even try building my own PC You’re a gem and an asset to the tech community

[@bbqribz570]

I've bought probably 8-10 keys through Kinguin since that old video came out. All have worked without issue, it's literally saved me hundreds. Thanks Paul!

[@aaldrich1982]

I always advise to route the EPS cable before installing the IO shield and platform. Sometimes the clearance for the EPS cable at the top of a case is limited. Get it through before the mobo lessens the clearance for the EPS connector to come through.

[@rainerbehrendt9330]

Second that. My Meshify C Case and the Dark Rock Pro 4 Cooler are a tight Fit and as my first PC Build that Knowledge would be helpful because i pleased the PC God with Blood. Lessons learned. Next Time will be without Blood lost.

[@Foomba]

Been there. Very frustrating.

[@LicheLordofUndead]

@@rainerbehrendt9330 No! the sacrifice to the PC gods is a requirement. One does not simply build a computer with a blood sacrifice.

[@Apeman_king_of_apes]

9:02 This is very, very true. Sometimes things just don't go right. Sometimes parts don't fit, or arrive damaged. My latest example: I am a very seasoned builder. I've been building computers since about 2009. I've assembled probably close to 100 PCs at this point, just for myself and all my friends and family, and their friends and families. Over the summer I got stumped by a new build that would boot the first time then never power back on. Turns out I got 3 bad EVGA power supplies sent to me in a row, and they were taking out motherboards. One of them even burst into flames! Never had so many part failures from a (now no longer) reputable brand. Sometimes shit happens, and that's why I buy new parts with warranties and money back guarantees.

[@outlet6989]

I've had the same problem with PSUs. Before I connect PC cables to a new PSU, I test the PSU with a Power Supply Tester IV.

[@jesus607]

What brand were they?

[@Apeman_king_of_apes]

@@jesus607 EVGA

[@futuza]

Yep, I'd say you probably have a 5-20% chance each part you order will arrive dead on arrival (or with worse even more insidious issues). And if you're ordering 10+ parts chances are almost guaranteed that at least one of them will be bad. And sometimes it's your own fault for not reading closely enough (order wrong size or forget to check dimensions on something etc)

[@bookbinder66]

Build to the monitors you want to end up with

[@lucasrem]

Why is Paul crying again ? You need his store ? Bought a Bad monitor, why, gamers never need it ?

[@bshonka1]

This always seemed like a logical start for any build! Not sure why we don't see more build advice centered around monitor resolution and refresh rate.

[@rangersmith4652]

Sort of, but I would amend that by saying this: build to the experience you want to have. That means sought-after FPS, settings, and resolution in the games you want to play. If you play CP77 and need 60FPS, full RT, ultra settings @ 4K, don't buy hardware that can't do that. There is ZERO value in a PC that does not meet your needs, no matter how good the supposed bang-for-buck of your parts. If your budget can't support that, rethink your needs.

[@joecool1875]

Yes that is a smart way to plan your build, or rather the price range of monitor you can afford some cost as much as the pc these days 🙄

[@reubenmorris487]

Learned that the hard way. Upgraded to 3 2560X1440 monitors and paying for it after the fact.

[@MasonzeroDigitalWorks]

Grey market keys are hit or miss but all the ones I've used for my person computers have been fine. I also bought probably 30 or 40 from various sites for people I built PCs for and no one has ever complained that Windows became unactivated. However, I have heard stories of keys getting deactivated. And those OEM keys are tied to your motherboard, so if you upgrade your mobo it will need a new key.

[@blazinmob]

Also, if you upgrade too many parts, you will need a new key. And to make matters worse, the new Key may not work (but may still be valid). My hardware setup was upgraded with a new GPU, time passed and then a new CPU, more time passed and finally some new RAM and my Key was deactivated. I bought a new Key and my current Windows doesn't want to take it. I tried removing my old Key using Command Prompt (you can search online for the steps) and the old was removed but Windows would not take the new Key. The point I'm trying to make here is you will need to do a fresh Install of Windows before you can use your new Key. I will do just that when I upgrade my Windows 10 to Windows 11. The "Activate Windows" watermark is not too bad... mostly.

[@jwest88]

I upgradedy mobo and cpu and was able to use my Microsoft account login to use the same windows license.

[@thatfordboy4297]

​​@@blazinmobAnd on the flip side of that. I have swapped CPU, ram, GPU,s OS drives, in effect the whole PC, several times, on several boards with windows activated via a "grey" market key. And never once encountered an error.

[@peterwstacey]

I always add a PC speaker to the front panel IO connectors, at least during the build. No need for expensive Debug displays (although I wish they were included), a simple beep code tells you if anything is faulty. You can always remove it after a successful POST

[@rnsaopaulo]

Ah yes, the blood sacrifice. Discovered that one on my build last month as I attempted to use a finger to depress that PCIE clip on an installed graphics card. Aluminum cooler fins and knuckles participated in that sacred rite. It will be the wooden chopstick from now on though.

[@maridaudran]

I have spilt many pints of blood over the years on my and others PCs as I help my friends and family.

[@odahithedubious2017]

If, like me, you were trained in ESD prevention, you can get a "spudger: that is ESD safe for about $5. It has a chisel tip, the other end is pointed, it has a nifty little notch to help with positioning jumper wires during circuit board repairs, and it's made of ESD-safe materials. It also won't shed tiny splinters into your case. I use mine all the time, and also have a "cheap insurance" ESD wrist strap that I plug into the ground point on an unused outlet, via an extension I made. I'm a bit of an ESD obsessive, but I'd rather not risk a $2000+ build for lack of a few cheap accessories.

[@curtis.albrecht.79]

I "ALWAYS" install a tiny little SPEAKER, when connecting the Power Button to the MB. That way, I can HEAR the POST beeps. Just last night in fact, I was building an OLD i7-4460 with 16GB (x2 x 8GB) of DDR3 1866Mhz RAM. Well, that's some really old hardware. And, I was HEARING that RAPID BEEPING, indicating that there wasn't any RAM installed. So, I broke out my trusty ERASER and CLEANED the gold contacts on the RAM. After some agressive ERASING, the contacts were clean enough that I got that Heavenly ONE/SINGLE beep, indicating that POST had indeed completed successfully. Speakers and erasers are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, when working with "old" hardware. Also, the build above uses a Kingspec (MT-512) 512MB, mSATA drive on a PCIe x1 Adapter Card. PCIe x1 is rated 6Gbps, the same as all of the SATA 3 ports (in older hardware). So, if you manage to come across an old laptop, that HD can be repurposed into a desktop, with one of those Adapter Cards. They are VERY compact, and eliminate the need for SATA cables cluttering your build.

[@profosist]

I say old school and find one of the bigger ones, they have a much nicer tone than the shrill piezo buzzers.

[@mjc0961]

Agreed. I'll never forget a coworker who had just built a PC and wasn't sure why it wasn't working. I got him to plug in the PC speaker and we heard a single beep, a successful post. So I looked at how he had plugged in his cables at the back of the computer and it was a classic case of "plugged the video cable into the motherboard instead of the graphics card"

[@JosSliv]

The "Blood Sacrifice" is an acceptable part of the building process unless you're taking a blood thinner and then bleed all over your new components. Been there, done that. Luckily after the clean up and transfusion 😄everything worked just fine.

[@petenielsen6683]

Since I am a blood cancer survivor I cannot give blood to humans. Instead I sacrifice it to my computer every few years.

[@gmcanepa]

TechYes actually called Microsoft and asked if his Windows key bought in gray market was OK and they told him it was perfectly fine. So if Microsoft doesn't care, neither should you.

[@r3nt5ch3r2]

One poor support guy might not always give the right answers and represent Microsoft. I would recommend to stay away from volume licenses and only buy retail licenses.

[@Bob_Smith19]

I will gladly pay full retail when MA removes all telemetry from their OS. Until then it’s $5 licenses. Thankfully most of the time I can use Linux.

[@sergioav7278]

How is that specific CS tech going to know that his chinese license key has been bought with a stolen credit card credentials ... MS support just sees a windows key that has been activated.

[@GroetenUitNederland]

I sent a Windows 10 activation code from a refurb COA sticker to a friend. It came from a discard PC. He used it to activate his Windows 11 installation on his new PC. I didn't expect this would work. Because I was sure it is a licence tied to the mobo of the old PC. It dis and still is working. This confirms what Paul's says at 3:40. A new key is assigned to that activation by Microsoft. Apparently they don't check if the old key was tied to one PC/mobo

[@thatfordboy4297]

I have never paid full price for windows10/11. Either "grey" market, or without activation. Anyway It is crazy how much fear mongering over Grey market keys there is. Probably the same type of people that say to never buy used...

[@odahithedubious2017]

One thing I'm almost ashamed to admit, is that I sometimes do repeat my mistakes. For example, even though I checked, I didn't get my RAM fully seated. NO BUENO. It wouldn't POST. The second time I've committed this very basic blunder. Which leads to another life lesson. If nothing is going right, and you're absolutely stumped, it's usually because you have overlooked something really basic. Didn't check that RAM was fully seated. Forgot to plug in the power to the SATA hard drive. Didn't plug in the motherboard power. Forgot to turn on the power supply switch. Stuff like that.... I don't do it vary often any more, but still get caught sometimes. Usually due to getting distracted by some shiny object.

[@TheSlowDude]

Yep me too

[@pete1200s]

Gotta say Pauls Hardware was one of the first to come up with the little things missed when building a PC. YEARS AGO. Ive been building PC's for Family & friends for years & you have always been the best help for problems missed by others. Cheers Mate

[@benjaminlynch9958]

To add to the list of components that can be reused or salvaged: (1) case fans (2) CPU cooler if the mounting mechanism is the same (eg all AM3/4/5 motherboards have identical physical mounting requirements.) (3) CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drives, if that’s relevant to you. (4) PCIe or external (read:USB) audio and microphone devices such as DACs, microphones, webcams, etc. (5) and if custom water cooling is your jam, radiators, pumps, reservoirs, tubing, and sometimes even waterblocks can be reused from one build to the next provided it’s all in good working order and doesn’t have any leaks, corrosion, or microbial growth.

[@BleedForTheWorld]

They even make external HDD drive bays intended for INTERNAL HDDs these days. They come with a power cord and a USB cord.

[@curtis.albrecht.79]

PCIe Adapter Cards for NVME's, for older MB's, that don't have NVME slots. SATA cable clutter is one of my OCD triggers. 😂

[@eldibs]

Addendum to number 2 - Also if it's a Noctua cooler. Those guys will ship you a bracket for anything, it seems.

[@returo7297]

dont forget to keep grounded and remove all the peels, if u noob/newb dont use aio, use gloves for sweaty, bloody, micro hairy hands, if got tons of nano hair use nets too . . . get paul hairstyle, and no pets around site especially cobras and scorpions . . . iknow they love u so much . . .

[@Masna_]

Paul always seems grounded

[@rainerbehrendt9330]

Don't forget the Tweezers, the Swiss Army Knife that hopefully has a Philipshead Screwdriver in it and a Thermopaste Applicator........

[@WarHawk-]

@@rainerbehrendt9330 - And a LED 'headlight' comes in handy when you don't have that third-hand available.

[@Jay_the_Caffeinator]

And for God's sake, DON'T PUT ALL THE CASE SIDES ON!!!

[@uss-dh7909]

@@rainerbehrendt9330 we're not fighting static, we're fighting cancer! I swear that blurb was the best thing to come out of that whole debacle.

[@missingsemicolon1119]

I found it funny/great you mentioned the "blood sacrifice". I gave up some blood on my first PC build, was pushing a stubborn 5.1in plate out the front that eventually gave way and cut myself deep on the case; still have the scar. This led me down the rood for a time where I wound up helping many people (was in the Navy living in the barracks) build and troubleshoot their own computers. Was a great time those many years ago, but still help family build from time to time now.

[@slateslavens]

Hey Paul, just a heads-up on PC parts: Most people muddle through their PC life with a single monitor. Until you've had the opportunity to have a multiple-monitor system, you have no idea what the benefits are. Whether that's having Discord on a second monitor, or an interactive map for your favorite MMO, a second monitor is an absolute _must-have_ for any modern system. Can't afford a second monitor you say? Nay brother (or sister)! I have a slew of monitors I can use as secondary units and I bought them for almost literal pennies. Go hit your local thrift stores. Locally, I rarely see 1080p monitors for sale, but a secondary monitor doesn't need to be that high def. In fact, the lower the resolution it is, within reason (it still needs to be useful), the lower the impact it will have on the FPS of your main monitor. Now truth be told, I'm a bit of a pleb. I'm still gaming at 1080p on an ancient RX580 GPU. But my secondary monitor running at 1440x900 cost me a whopping $9.90 at a local thrift store. Granted, I live off the beaten path a bit, so I can't get full PCs locally. But some of your _can._ SO whether it's just a second (or first?) monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc., Remember to hit up the local thrift shops to see if you can scare up a good deal. FWIW, I've even seen a few Thrustmaster flight sim setups for under $25... If you don't look, you can't score anything. The worst that can happen is you spend a day checking out local shops and come home with nothing. On the topic of failure, just remember that you'll learn more from overcoming a failure than you will if everything goes according to plan. It's only a _total_ failure if you don't learn anything from it.

[@platt_mallar]

My wife couldn't understand why I would want a 2nd monitor until I finally got one. Then she was all about it.

[@slateslavens]

@@platt_mallaronce you hook up _anything_ as a second monitor, there's no going back...

[@Slide100]

Just wanted to thank you for your videos. I just finished my first ever build using your videos (including this one) as my guide. Perfect! Everything worked first try, no drama whatsoever! Thanks for your help!

[@EricXVII]

I still use grey market keys. To date ive not had one declined or rescinded. My nephew however has had one suddenly stop working and become invalid after a year. So they work but your mileage may vary. At worst you just go buy another cheap key and carry on.

[@michaelholub5027]

You forgot a few. First is have highly purified alcohol (I prefer isopropyl, 70 percent, not proof) minimum on hand, and lint-free and clean microfiber towels. NOT paper towels or TP or w/e is common in a household. I've saved the OEM's that pay me for next-day on-site service quite a lot just being prepared. Second, if anything (besides lifting an assembly) takes more than 5 pounds of force, something is wrong. Third: enjoy it! Manual labor that challenges our wonderful brain is why we're this advanced. I trust myself to clean the pins/LGA board more than the person that initially assembled the thing.

[@jandraelune1]

1:50 Sound cards can transfer easy between builds and they can go for a LONG time before they get outdated. 3:00 Windows license now ties to your MS Account, >> Not your PC

[@eldibs]

I bought an OEM license key for Windows 10 for my personal use from Newegg for the standard price in 2020, but in the intervening time I've gotten grey market keys to put together computers from spare parts for my niece and nephew without any trouble (they're thrilled to have their own computers, too). The keys worked fine and Microsoft hasn't deactivated those licenses in the few years those systems have been running for. Worth it for the $13 or so I paid for each of them. I don't remember where I bought them from, but it wasn't Kinguin.

[@JonWhite-k9p]

@6:40 The arrows are going the right way. They're showing you what you do to the *number* when converting. "1 TB = 1024 GB" means that when you convert GB to TB you divide the number by 1024, or when you convert TB to GB you multiply by 1024.

[@metaldiceman]

He was talking about the other set of arrows (bits bytes) and is still wrong there. The video he's talking over has it correct.

[@fvdeddrift]

Gamer's Outlet was super helpful to me this last time around with W11 for my better half's rig we threw together last year... Very good value, and prior to purchase I sent an email and got immediate response essentially promising the key was legit, and it would 100% work for a clean install with no nefarious garbage attached. Dude was right! Been great! Fantastic that some parent company is able to buy like 10 million keys from MS and pass them off to us for a great price! Great subject matter for this one Paul! And nice to see Joe pop in there! Lol! Great work as usual dude!

[@netiturtle]

Windows OS license can also be linked to your Microsoft account. If you then rebuild your PC, add that account to "email and account" (no need to log into into PC with it, the user account itself can still be local) and your Windows OS should be able activate with that license. And oddly enough, after this UEFI BIOS should also store the key, meaning another reset on same hardware hash doesn't need Microsoft account anymore. Done it once, unsure of details or limitations

[@mjc0961]

I've been doing this since Windows 8 and haven't had to buy a new key no matter what changes I make to the computer.

[@kittywampus]

I finally gave in and upgraded my computer. I bought a prebuilt "gaming" pc from newegg. 500 bucks for a basic a520m k motherboard and 5600g processor in a tiny case. It's still miles ahead of the first gen i7 it's replacing and I was able to reuse the couple of HDD drives from that computer. It's good for sata cables and screws, but not much more. I suppose I could snag the optical drive if I need it. I've upgraded the case and power supply so far so I can do future upgrades

[@futuza]

1) Expect to RMA something. Expect to recieve at least one bad part, every build I've ever made has always required at least one RMA. This means you should not put yourself on a hard deadline until after you've ensured each part you've recieved is fully functional. It might be a bad stick of RAM, a motherboard with an outdated BIOS/UEFI instruction set that cannot be updated without another CPU, a broken capacitor or a CPU with bent pins, maybe your video card has fans that don't work, or your AIO cooler is missing the correct mounting bracket, or a case fan has a stripped screw socket. PC parts are delicate and shipping companies are never kind, and manufacturing processes are still very flawed when it comes to PC parts, chances are very high you'll recieve at least one dead part. Each part has probably a 1/10 chance of being dead on arrival. Thankfully most manufacturers are reasonable and willing to replace the bad part free of charge, but its going to take time l, so give your PC extra time for RMAing. Keep all your receipts/boxes/packages for at least 30 days after you've built the pc, if something hasn't gone wrong/stopped working by that point you probably won't need them anymore - but make sure you keep a digital copy of your proof of purchase/receipt of purchase, in case you ever need to make a warranty claim. Feel free to recycle all of the boxes and packaging once you've done that, but be aware of the warranty terms, as some stupid companies will require idiotic things (eg: to provide the original packaging) to make a valid claim. There are some manufacturers that are just plain worth avoiding because of how difficult they make it to make a claim. (And these companies should probably be class action lawsuited out of business.) 2) Test Each Component Thoroughly test each component (individually as possible). Try to elliminate variables if it does not behave as expected, for example if your new monitor isn't working try using it with another known working PC to discover what the real issue is, eg: it might be the cable, GPU, drivers, or BIOS settings that is the root cause, rather than the monitor itself. There's a million things that can go wrong and it is best to test after you have eliminated as many variables as possible that could be influencing the results. Before completely assembling the PC test components, for example plug your Powersupply, RAM, CPU, and cooler into your MB and make sure you can POST outside of the case. If everything works, then proceed to put it in your case. Save things like cable management and cleanup for later, until you can test that it all works. After you get your PC up and running, benchmark and test components to make sure they're behaving as expected (eg: if your ssd is supposed to have 7000Mbps read/write speed, but is getting 2000, then you need to do more testing or consider an RMA if you didn't just do something dumb like forget to update a driver). 3) Document your PC Document information about your PC build (sites like pcpartpicker are great for this kind of thing), and record your benchmarks, date of assembly, costs, and take pictures of the PC, etc. This will be extremely helpful to yourself if you ever need to refer back to that information or if you want to resell it or recommend things to others. 4) Document Problems Documemt unusual/difficult issues you encounter and fix in a public forum (not a walled garden that requires a sign in). Did you have a really weird error with your RAM that took two weeks to figure out? Write down how you fixed it and post your solution, because someone else might have the same problem - they will be very grateful you were willing to share and help, and it's just the right thing to do. 5) Setup Backups Once everything is working/updated/setup etc, make sure you figure out how to back your data up and have a disaster plan in place. Consider what will happen to your data in the event of several scenarios including: power surge, hardware failure, malware, cloud company data breach, flooding, tornado/fire/war and figure out how to mitigate around these issues while staying within your means. Some data is not worth backing up (game installs, applications, etc) others are critical to preserve (passwords/sign in information), and deserve more care. Once you've figured it out, make sure it actually gets backed up!

[@jeremyroberts2782]

If you buy a full copy you can transfer it to a new computer, My computer has gone through around 4 CPUs, 4 graphics cards over around 6 different builds, with hard drives added removed as required all on the same Win 7 Pro key (running Win 11 Pro now) i bought for £15 in a MS mad sale the did. If you buy an OEM key it is more complicated but can still work. if you are reusing stuff it may transfer, I know someone who who replaced a MoBo, CPU, and RAM, Graphics card and hard drive over several years and is still using the original win 7 OEM key (for Windows 10 now). So Trigger's broom exists as far as MS are concerned.

[@CheesyPotat0]

I think it's important to mention that you might get stuck on the internet connection screen when trying to install Windows 11. There are KZbin videos showing how to bypass that. I buy Asus motherboards. Armoury Crate pops up to install all my drivers once I get to the desktop. One of the most frustrating parts of building a system for me is plugging in the CPU 8-pin cable. It's not a fun experience. I always end up getting it with a flashlight and some patience. 😩😂

[@habilain]

These days in most places, bytes use SI units correctly (i.e. 1kB = 1000B). There's a separate "binary" prefix, for example "1KiB = 1024B", but, for example on all disks you'll see the normal SI units. The exception is the JEDEC standards which allow the use of, say, 1GB = 2^30B, but have a polite note on them saying this causes confusion and shouldn't be used anymore.

[@or2kr]

Crucially, Windows says KB, MB etc. even though they calculate it as KiB, MiB etc.

[@habilain]

​@@or2krI actually had to go and check that, because KB refers to the infrequently used Kelvin-Byte for the temperature of stored information. I kid though; by convention, KB actually does refer to powers-of-two, and kB is SI units, so that's not ambiguous. The rest of the Windows examples is basically MS being obtuse and sowing confusion, which is pretty much par for the course, really. The binary notations KiB/MiB/GiB etc. were standardised in late 1998, so it's not like they haven't had time to sort it out.

[@or2kr]

@@habilainAh yes, forgot about that. Brb, checking my -257,15CB large files

[@alexadelaide]

Don’t forget THE VERGE did an amazing PC build beginners guide

[@GoreDough92]

The color scheme in your background is just... *chef's kiss* From someone who is a huge fan of the Miami Vice aesthetic. You sir, fkn nailed it. Well done

[@paulbrooks4395]

My latest, having had to do a Windows reinstall was that all my problems came from a bad firmware update. Just a buggy version. Many times, the hardware is perfectly okay, but something like Xbox game bar will cause stuttering in full screen. Or a new Bluetooth driver is just worse than the old one. The point is that software can make perfectly good hardware seem broken, when it's still in great shape. To that end, be wary of any tools or software that automatically upgrades firmware. There is a Windows setting that allows Windows Updates to just install them whenever they come out. A very, very good tip is to never upgrade firmware unless you know from the vendor that it will fix your specific issue. And another tip--before making a change, be sure you have a rollback plan! Be sure you have the tools and your data is backed up and the backups are good!

[@BeeWhere]

Great advice, also if you are having issues, take a break and come back to it later, or get some sleep and troubleshoot tomorrow.

[@adrianandrews2254]

If its late at night and you've just finished your build THEN GO TO BED. Don't switch it on until the morning. I've had too many all-nighters not following this advice !!

[@EldenLord84]

Here’s my tip. Despite having built multiple PCs over the years, my palms still get very sweaty doing it. Picked up a cheap pair of ESD gloves on Amazon. Helps so much.

[@dcloustalet]

Just finished my first build and used Kinguin. Worked great and was 25.00 for windows 11. Keep the awesome content coming and thx for all your help.

[@adrianwarner8686]

I bought a Windows key from Kinguin ages ago, around 2015 at a guess. It has been used for four systems now, no issues.

[@rharbarenko]

As a PC/Printer Tech I look down at my hands and see several fresh scabs and scrapes and can say the last point 100% checks out.

[@RedmoonIndustries]

In the past I would always upgrade the 1) Video card and the 2)Motherboard/Processor/Memory separately as in either one or the other. So it would be like upgrade Video Card and then wait 12-18 months to upgrade the Processor/Mobo/Memory, and then wait another 12-18 months to once again upgrade the video card. Other components would be upgradable / added whenever necessary

[@hexedhemorrhage]

A note about activating Windows (in my experience) - You can customize your color scheme, background, etc. if you don't connect the PC to the internet to allow it to validate if the key is genuine. This also works if you don't input any product key. I don't know if the registry edits still work for Windows 11 preinstall, but there used to be a way to set up Windows 11 without connecting to the internet as well which would allow customization.

[@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811]

I bought a Windows 10 Pro key from Kinguin based on your video. It ended up being a legit OEM key and I haven't encountered any issues. I would highly recommend it over paying full retail price or not activating at all.

[@GD_MoonBlister]

Great video Paul! Just chiming in on the 3rd party "grey sites". I have had nothing but success purchasing keys from ENEBA. In fact more than half my steam library is from there. Not saying nothing can happen but this guy here hasn't had any issues.

[@tmmy2ootuff843]

good info here even if they are just reminders for people that already know.

[@Mopantsu]

When building a new system it might be worthwhile building most of the system outside the case and testing it there first (resting the motherboard on top of it's box is fine). Especially if the case is cramped or small form factor. It saves valuable time checking if any new parts are faulty to be returned and replaced. Also if you are a generally sweaty person avoid leaning over parts. I killed a motherboard that way when some of my sweat dripped into a memory slot.

[@JustSheen]

I'm feeling part 4 so hard right now. I bought a 14900k, 4090, and an Asus Z790e board and they were all bad (confirmed by the respective RMA departments). Building it was very fun but when things stopped working a month later holy shittttt working out all the problems from those faulty hardware examples was not fun. I'm absolutely getting the Microcenter warranty thing next time because wow.

[@johnpolk8230]

Sweaty palms and a defective motherboard were my highlights for my first computer build.

[@Tom-sd2vi]

Nice. I’m my first build I had a problematic RAM stick that lead to all kinds of weird issues. Took me 4 months to figure out it was the ram stick.

[@mhoskin37]

Thanks for your channel and content! I'm about ready to start my first PC build. I will bleed, struggle, swear and possibly fail because of you!! Keep up the good work.

[@Monsux]

I have bought like 10x Windows 10/11 Pro keys online, and they all worked fine. The most I have paid was around $5.

[@LauraKnotek]

One I'd add is don't forget the IO shield. I had to remove a motherboard (and all its various cables) because I forgot the IO shield.

[@bmh67wa]

I have a scar on my hand where I had to get stitches from when I was building a desktop in a horizontal white case back in the early 1990s. I swear they sharpened the edges in those things back then! Those cases were tough though. They had to be to support the weight of a CRT monitor sitting on top of them.

[@sultanofsick]

A little related to the bit/byte discussion is the reason why drives never have the capacity advertised when you install and format them. The manufacturers define size and advertise based on base 10 math, i.e. 1 gigabyte is 1 million bytes. However this is not how operating systems report size, they do it in the base two method you talked about where the next "size" up is 1,024 of the previous. Iterate that over the several "steps" (kilo-mega-giga-tera) and you end up with something in the neighborhood of 95% discrepancy between the size advertised and what it will actually have available in windows. It doesn't mean your drive is bad, and also not the commonly explained "lost to formatting".

[@bladactania]

I have used kinguin about a half dozen times since your video about it. I've purchased windows 10 and 11 keys, most recently about 3 months ago, all with no issues

[@EnricoAnsaloni]

I would add this tip: don't overlook case airflow! Modern CPUs run very hot, and it's crucial having a good airflow even if you go full custom loop. It makes a huge difference.

[@timseguine2]

When converting transfer bitrates I usually just divide by ten to get real world bytes including overhead. The math is easier, and it usually ends up being closer to real world performance in practice than dividing by 8.

[@buddybleeyes]

Is it really closer?! That's something I didn't know. Always known it from my electronic/avionics engineering lecturer it to be "8 bits in a byte"

[@timseguine2]

@@buddybleeyes no not theoretically. 8 is the correct number to divide by. But there are a lot of unknown inefficiencies in most transfers, so you aren't going to get the full quoted rate. I've found 10 is just a convenient rule of thumb that is close to right more often than it is not because of those inefficiencies.

[@buddybleeyes]

@@timseguine2 ahh I see, I just watched Paul's section on it so it makes sense now :) I've honestly mainly used it for figuring out throughput for eth cables and drives :)

[@Subpilot1]

As you say there is more to the transfer than just the data bits themselves. There are error checking and framing bits and your rule of thumb of divide by ten is a fairly reasonable approximation of real-world transfer rate or "throughput".

[@RehctubNomis]

#5 is a lot less these days then when I started some twenty five years ago, all those sharp edges and burrs you used to get even on brand cases, nevermind the cheaper no name cases. (That said, the Meshroom S v2 bit me when putting together the other day and I have a lovely bruise on my arm from it..)

[@ScottBonner]

You prob already know this, but another way to carry over a windows license is, when upgrading your PC, log on with windows live before the upgrade, then do so again after the upgrade. As long as you haven't changed too much of the hardware, it will carry your windows license via the live account and validate on its own. I've done it before when changing both motherboard and cpu at the same time, and I've done multiple upgrades on the same license.

[@sergioav7278]

A few things to clarify. Grey market keys work but those are chinese license keys bought with stolen credit card cretentials. So it's best to not support these since you're directly supporting crime by buying those 1 dollar keys (20 dollar keys are the same, you just get scammed harder). And the conversion from megabyte to kilobyte is times 1000 or dividing by 1000, not 1024. Those are international units (kilo, mega, tera, etc). The conversion using division or multipkication of 1024 is called kibibyte, mebibyte, gibibyte, etc and the letters are kiB, MiB, GiB and so on. Also the k from kilo or kibi is always lowercase, from mega onwards it starts being uppercase.

[@michaelbjerregaard4331]

5:37 The arrows are right, they are the conversion factor to move between the different prefixes. For example if I have X bits then i would have X/1000 kilobits

[@mikemitchem4846]

Just did a clean install of Windows 11 on a desktop I refurbished. I used a key off a Windows 7 disk and had no problem with activating.

[@ARocketsPocket]

I needed a windows license a while ago and simply bought an oem key for w10 pro. If I remember correctly it cost me around 10 € and worked flawlessly

[@kaldo_kaldo]

It might have been worth covering gibibytes (GiB) vs gigabytes (GB). For those who don't know, a gigabyte (GB) is 1000 megabytes (MB), but computers often work in gibibytes (GiB) which is 1024 mebibytes. This is why you will buy a "1TB" SSD and it will show up as ~900GB. Windows nowadays incorrectly uses "GB" but it's still actually "GiB".

[@CantankerousDave]

5:40 - it's not the arrows that are backwards, it's the multiplication and division symbols.

[@galland101]

The logic of the chart is if you have 1 MB, you multiply by 1024 to wind up with 1024 KB, and then by another 1024 to get 1048576 Bytes.

[@greybeard5123]

1 byte x 8 gives 8 bits. He's reading the arrows wrong for the way they point. The chart assumed you have some memory/storage, and want to covert it to a different unit.

[@Col_Crunch]

Logically if you change the arrows the symbols become correct. Meaning that saying that the symbols OR the arrows are incorrect are equivalent statements.

[@BillTranmer]

The board is correct as-is. To convert from Bytes to bits: 1Byte x 8bits/Byte = 8 bits

[@Col_Crunch]

@@BillTranmer If the 1s were not present I would be more inclined to agree with you, but an arrow pointing from 1 bit to 1 kilobit with /1000 implies that 1 kilobit is 1/1000 bits when it is the opposite. It implies that you divide the source by the value next to the arrow to arrive at the destination, which is not true.

[@WutipongWongsakuldej]

My tip is, if you’re not some KZbinr who use PC as props in the video, just put your PC down on the floor. You will get more desk space and less clutter out of it. If you have carpet floor, just make sure to put some hardwood as a base before putting your case on top of it. Also your pc looks will impress people not longer than 30s, so spending money on its looks is kinda silly. Strip out all the lighting will save you a ton. Good cable management and good thermal management are still good to have, but not stupid leds.

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

All that lighting will also increase the temperature inside the case.

[@outlet6989]

Before I place a PC on the floor, I place a water heater overflow pan under the PC.

[@rangersmith4652]

Third party activation keys work, and they're not risky in legal terms. Microsoft knows these sites exist, and they could stop them, but they don't stop them. They give 10 and 11 away for free, do they not? They just want you to use Windows. But if they can get you to pay

[@bbailey446]

The arrows in their conversions and the operations indicated for them were going the correct direction. The issue, at least in my understanding of unit conversion using the "ladder" method, is that everything on each step of the ladder should be equal, and 1 Mb is definitely not equal to 1kb. So, if the top rung of the ladder is 1 Mb, the next rung below should be 1,000 kb, and the lowest should be 1,000,000 b. If the top of the ladder says 1 GB, the next one down should say 1024 MB, 1,048,576 kB on the next one, and 1,073,741,824 B on the lowest. If you're trying to convert from B to b, lets use X, XB=8Xb and algebra ensues. YAY, ALGEBRA!!!!😋 PS, I built my first computer when I was in elementary school! Granted, that was with the help of an old Engineer from INTEL.

[@PeterFraser-hp3rs]

Yeah, I always get really nervous when building a PC. My hands literally shake. Things that you normally wouldn't think twice about, like closing a side panel of the PC case, connecting up various bits and bobs to motherboard risers, etc. seem to become incredibly fiddly and awkward to get right. For example, it took me forever to get one of the legs of my Bequiet case to snap into place, and I was extremely careful when placing the CPU in the motherboard socket and yet somehow (and I still have no idea why) the fastening clip sprung loose when I was moving the motherboard and the CPU went flying onto the floor! (Actually, thinking about it, what must have happened was my thumb must have accidentally glanced across the CPU fastening clip when I went to pick up the motherboard.) Fortunately there was no damage, but these are the sorts of things that always seem to plague me when I'm building a PC. It seems the more careful I am at building a PC and the more diligently I prepare, the more problems I encounter.

[@madscientist3665]

For my first PC build from 4 years back, I followed Paul's advice to purchase an activation key from Kinguin. I had no issues going this route.

[@SciPunk215]

Say Paul, next time you build a computer you should try installing Linux. If you haven't used Linux in a while, it's worth doing just for kicks. Linux Mint and Pop_OS! both work remarkably well, Steam installs easily, and Steam games just work (once you enable compatibility mode). I always say, regarding operating systems, you have three choices... one of them is free and doesn't spy on you.

[@TjPhysicist]

re: data rates. I'd also mentioned the 1024 vs 1000 thing. Unfortunately both are common enough in usage - marketing uses 1000 whereas computer systems almost exclusively use 1024, because that's been the convention from the start. Originally, as you said, the conversion between Byte, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte etc was a factor of 1024. However it's more commonly 1000 now, especially when you look at marketing - iirc this was mostly done for marketing and ease of use reasons. A 1TB drive is **not** 1024 Gigabytes it's 1000 Gigabytes. This is further compounded by the fact that computers themselves still use 1024. E.g. what in windows shows up as "1 TB" is actually 1024Gigabytes NOT 1000Gigabytes. The actual new convention is to replace the last two letters of the prefix with "bi" e.g. Kibi instead of Kilo or Tebi instead of Tera when you mean to use 1024 conversion rates. But ofc no one does that. It's not tremendously important, but the difference between a terabyte and a Tebibyte is 10%. So your Terabyte hardrive you bought - windows will say it's "0.9TB" because what it actually means is "0.9 Tebibytes".

[@chefmike8888]

Windows 7 is no longer accepted, some random yet rare cases it has worked but i believe as of Jan this year Microsoft stated that the license from 7 will not work for an update to 10. I have a few 7’s and just last week i updated an acer laptop from 7 to 10 and used the key that has been with the laptop since day 1. And no good. Watermark it is.

[@joelombardi4907]

Great video. It's because of your channel and some others that I'm going to attempt my first pc build soon. My current PC is a little long in the tooth lol. I'm not a gamer per se, but the options for normal everyday non-gaming pre-built machines just suck to me. They seem so bland looking and often lack the components I want. Thanks for all of the information over the years!

[@nathanng]

You should consider getting more people to try using a mainstream linux distribution like Linux Mint or Ubuntu. Most PC builders enjoy the tinkering involved with setting up their computers and in many ways running Linux feels like an extension of that. There are pros and cons of course but going through the process of learning how to overcome the challenges can be an enjoyable / frustrating / educational experience. (and of course you can thus avoid the whole paying for a windows key issue, as mentioned)

[@evklinken]

I had a build with mostly 2nd hand parts go very wrong. Don't know if it was the 9400F, the mount, the Mobo, etc... Windows just did not want to install, and neither did Ubuntu. Had to sell the parts with promises to reimburse if anything was faulty, but nobody returned anything. Anyways, my current PC is thankfully chugging along very nicely :)

[@arupian666]

I don't think I've ever done a build without The Blood Sacrifice. Luckily the old I/O shields are a mostly a thing of the past because they were often as sharp as scalpels and I've drained much of the red stuff futzing around with one. Older, badly manufactured cases were also prone to giving the odd laceration or 2.

[@ShadowManceri]

About the bits and bytes. Misinformation there. 1 mega is 1000 kilos. Not 1024 kilos. (Metric users likely already did catch up.) Thus 1GB is 1000MB and 1MB is 1000kB etc. That 1024 factor you see there is ancient relic that is invalid and has been invalid for decades (likely longer than you have been alive). However if you want to use that, then you can use binary prefix, such as MiB (mebi) or KiB (kibi), noting that mega is different from mebi. But I would suggest that you keep using 1000, it is much easier as it works exactly the same as metric system because it is metric system. Binary prefix is not metric. Some crap operating systems still use the incorrect method and that do confuse people a lot. If you ever see your hard drive for example showing less space than the label says, blame your OS reporting it wrong. There is no missing space, just OS using wrong units and screwing up the math. The OS is actually using binary prefixes but is showing metric units instead. The hard drive is using metric units and showing metric units, exactly correct. So different units are being used, but both show the same units and that doesn't play out nicely. Thus you see confusing result. *Do not do that.* These are not freedom units where anything goes and nothing makes sense.

[@Adam-Mei]

I always forget how daunting it is to start building pcs I could afford to build my first in 98' but started building for offices and businesses in 91'. It paid $250 per build up to $400 then prebuilt's got really inexpensive to purchase.

[@BigTime817]

I activated a new build for a friend with a kinguin windows 10 key. I activated windows 11 without a hitch. Also picked up office 2021 too. Still my go too.

[@jfr1995]

Idk if i should really be saying this lol but you can get rid of the windows atermark even without paying. You just need to edit an entry in your PC's registry. There are plenty of guides for this, and it stops the watermark from showing on your PC even if you havent acrivated it. Works with Windows 11.

[@1stormseekr336]

Oh this reminds me, i'm building my new pc this weekend...while waiting on the parts i need to clean my old g710+ keyboard..may look at getting some new A W D keys too.

[@BradleySmith1985]

I recommend keeping the older system intact as it's mostly complete. You can easily install Ubuntu Linux on most older computers to keep them out of the landfill. Also, using the older key links you to that older system. Windows 7, 8, and 10 have reached their End of Life (EOL), with 7 and 8 already ended and 10 scheduled for October 2025. When upgrading, if you have a Windows 10 license and are moving to 11, you can still use the key but may need to link it to a Microsoft account for transfer. This is their new method for tracking license activations, with one license per system. Using it on more than one system will trigger the watermark on many.

[@Yuriel1981]

0:45 Paul, we all love your hardware........ merch. Lol

[@MaxxKoggen]

HSC's videos is showing how you convert from one base unit to the next. You conver from bits to Kb by dividing the value. You go from Mb to Kb by multiplying. 1000b = 1Kb by dividing and 1Mb = 1000Kb by multiplying. He wasn't showing weighted values. I think the issue is that he wrote 1b, 1kb, 1mb instead of just writing the units alone or converting one large value to each unit

[@peterwstacey]

I was thinking this too - data is Contravariant, so if you scale the units up by 1024, you scale the number down by 1024 (e.g 2 kB -> 2048 B). Of course, they may have just made a mistake :D

[@bmiller949]

I could totally relate to what you said. I pick the parts and have someone else put it together. Microcenter did my last 2 pc's.

[@maxhardover9772]

It might help to explain to neophytes that 8 bits does equal one byte, but why? Generally speaking, one byte equals one character, e.g., the letter B is represented with one bye of data and so on. So, if you're looking at a 1 Gbps comm link, you can divide that by 8 and see it's about 125,000,000 characters per second. If you assume (uh-oh) the Encyclopedia Britannica contains about 40,000,000 words and an average of 5 characters per word (200,000,000 characters), that means your 1 Gbps link can transmit roughly two complete copies of the Encyclopedia Britannica per second. Not bad! It sort of brings home the reality of the format.

[@Bezayne]

I've been able to use a old windows key on a pc I've built 4 months ago. The key was from 2010, and in use on my previous system, though I never linked that system to a MS account. The day I wanted to migrate to the new PC I did link the old system, then deactivated the key on the MS account and could then simply use it again on the new system without any problems. As I understand it there is a difference between a digital license and an oem key, where the digital license will allow you to disable / enable it, but an oem key wouldn't.

[@ViperTr99]

IMO the monitor is the most important part - all output depends on him! And the water-mark for windows activation can be handled via a registry entry.

[@gurshair]

One fun fact is that per 1tb of advertised storage, you will lose ~70gb when formatted with your operating system. That's because advertised drives use 1000 GB = 1TB while your OS uses 1024 GB = 1TB. From bytes to kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes all using 1000 instead of 1024 is where the 70Gb loss comes from.

[@Mr.Morden]

I've used gray market Windows keys a few times and never had a problem with them. I've even reinstalled Windows many times and transferred to a different computer.

[@sirjonsmithiii992]

Blood sacrifice is no joke. Just look at what it did for Timothy Chalamet and Henry Cavill.

[@duskshadow25]

I remember years ago motherboard we had to put IO shield, and sometime I would forget and put the motherboard in without it. But modern motherboards don't even use those IO shield anymore and just come installed already. So, all you have to do is just mount the motherboard nowadays without having to worry about IO shield.

[@bshonka1]

Wow somehow I've never come across such an understandable explanation of bits & bytes before. Thanks for the clarification Paul!

[@UENShanix]

It's sadly wrong. A byte is simply 8 bits, nothing more nothing less. 8 bits is a byte, 8000 bits is a kilobyte. The powers of 10 vs powers of 2 (i.e. 1000 vs 1024) comes from the long history of computers an approximation that aren't super important right now. To differentiate, the IEC defines values that are multiples of 1000 use the SI prefixes (e.g. kilo-, mega-, giga-, etc.) while multiples of 1024 use a different set of prefixes (kibi-, mebi-, gibi-, tebi-, etc.). But because Windows incorrectly shows the user storage using powers of 2 instead of powers of 10, we're still dealing with this confusion. If Windows was magically fixed tomorrow, you'd be seeing a 1 TB drive as 931.3 GiB, not 931.3 GB which you do right now. Though the uppercase vs. lowercase is completely correct. And the arrow directions he's talking about are wrong but that's just a framing device, it's not important. 1 byte x 8 (bits per byte) = 8 bits. That's why the arrow going from byte to bit is x8, not divide by 8.

[@jh456-4]

Purchased 3 windows licenses and 3 MS Office keys from Kinguin over the years. First install is 3+ years old with no issues.

[@Yves_Cools]

@Paul's Hardware : ref. #3 Paul you forgot 1 important thing to mention there, and that is the difference between KB vs KiB, MB vs MiB, GB vs GiB, ... (i.e. kilobyte vs kibibyte, megabyte vs mibibyte, ...). Storage device manufacturers like to intermix these different measuring options in order to make their devices' storage capacity larger than they really are.