How To Choose The Best Parts For Your PC

Reliablecounter Team

If you have never built a computer before, it can be quite an intimidating experience – in fact it can be pretty overwhelming when looking at all the different components and brands available but don’t worry, with a bit of research you’ll be up and building in no time.

We’re going to go through some key tips to keep in mind if you’ve been wondering how to build a gaming PC. These tips will hopefully help you simplify some of the decisions you have on your mind as well as giving you a bit of information on what to look for when researching your build.

 

Decide On A Budget 

One of the most important things to consider when building a gaming PC is the budget you have available. Once you have a set budget and a good idea of what you achieve with your build, you’ll find a lot of the parts you’ve been looking for can be disregarded due to their price.

For example, if you’re looking to build a budget system with a budget of around £600, you won’t need to be looking at high-powered graphics cards as they will push you way above budget. Make sure to do some research on what counts as ‘budget’ for each component though, a budget GPU may be in the range of £150 – £200 whereas budget RAM may only cost £100.

 

Research Your Proposed Parts 

When you are looking for the individual parts for your system, research is key. Make sure to do as much research on your proposed parts as possible. Some things to consider are:

  • Do they fit your budget?
  • Are they compatible with each other?
  • What kind of performance will they bring?
  • If you’re going for a set style, check how these parts will look and work together.

If you just buy parts based on price or even their looks alone, you may find that when the time comes to build your PC you have to return and reorder certain components due to compatibility issues.

If you have an idea of what you are looking to accomplish with this build, it can really help you in your research. If you’re only going to be doing light office work then you won’t really need to research extravagant cooling solutions. However, if you are going to be doing a lot of high-performance gaming, you’ll want to dedicate a lot of your research towards the CPU and GPU.

 

Decide on AMD or Intel 

When you start to plan out your build, one of the first and most important things you’ll need to decide is the brand of your CPU. The two main brands you’ll have to choose from are AMD and Intel. Each will have their own sets of pros and cons, with ranges of CPUs to fit all budgets.

Unless you are loyal to one of these two brands, both offer very impressive CPUs. While Intel has historically had a slight edge over AMD when it comes to gaming, AMD has recently been dropping some incredibly powerful processors, while often remaining the cheaper option.

You’ll want to make this choice carefully as this will impact the rest of your build. Depending on which CPU you choose, you’ll need to have a compatible motherboard with the correct socket type to house it. Certain motherboards only work with certain brands so it’s best to triple check that these are compatible before you part ways with your money.

 

Don’t Cheap Out On The Case

Now, there’s no point picking out the components of your dreams to find out you can’t fit them in your case. When you’re looking at a case, don’t just go for the cheapest option out there.

Although there are some great bargains to be found when case hunting, you’ll want to make sure you can fit all your components inside it, as well as making sure it has adequate room for cooling.

You’ll want to make sure you have enough room for your fans or water cooling setup. If you’re going to be overclocking you’ll find your temperatures will be higher than usual, this is where cooling becomes essential.

 

Finishing it all off

While building a PC can be a lengthy process, especially with the amount of research you’ll be doing, it’s well worth it in the end. Not only will you know your build like the back of your hand, you’ll also learn a lot about it in the process.

You’ll also be in a better position when it comes to upgrading too. If there are parts you regret picking, this is the perfect learning experience for your next build, and trust us… There’s always a next build!