The last time I built my own gaming PC would of been around 15 years ago, yeah thats a long time and well overdue. So why now? My main reason is being able to play a whole bunch of indie games that are launching on Steam, along with the urge of going back to be playing FPS games with a mouse and keyboard.

I'm also seeing my self turning off the TV and tuning into Twitch streams, after I turn the TV back on of course! I've been watching all the latest CS:GO competitions and it takes me back. I was apart of the first UK professional clan, more on this topic another day. Let's get on with the guide.

While I knew what I was doing, I felt I should refresh myself with all the latest products and setup configurations. I browsed and read a lot of different guides for building a gaming PC but here's a few things that cropped up when purchasing and building my new setup.

Case

ATX Bench Case, ATX Mini Tower, ATX Mid Tower, ATX Full Tower, ATX Super Tower, Home Theater Computer Case, Server Chassis... the list goes on. Do your research, while I did buy the correct size case to fit my motherboard I rushed in and wanted a cheap case to hold my parts together. This did do the job but my case didn't come with all the correct standing pins to hold my motherboard into place, a few missing screws is ok, I hope.

The other problem with choosing a cheap PC case is ensuring it's going to hold all your components. My AMD radeon card is a lot larger then a typical Nvidia card and the card itself only just managed to fit into the case, it's still a tight squeeze once the power cables are connected to the card.

Next issue was ventilation. The case did come with one case fan as standard and has room for one other fan, this is located at the back. Buying a fan to install into the case I made a slight oversight but luckily I purchased the correct size of fan for my case, so make sure you double check the sizing of the parts that you'll be placing inside the case before jumping in and thinking it will do.

Talking of case fans, you can now buy ones with a 3 or 4 pin connectors. Plugging a 3 pin into a 4 pin slot will work but you won't have the ability to control the fan speeds, that you'd get with a 4-pin fan.

Windows

Setting up Windows was as simple as booting up your PC with a Windows disk but most custom builds won't come with a DVD drive but you can now boot and install Windows from a USB stick, simple right?

Every guide I read and followed on how to install Windows informed me to download a Windows install and this would create the install within the USB stick, while this was true IF you're downloading the files on a correct Windows operating system e.g. Windows 7 and up, I was not. Using a Windows Vista system, known as a Legacy Windows you cannot download the installer as a easy setup tool and only as a iso file, I couldn't get this to work so I had to borrow a more up to date system to create my windows installer.

Maybe an oversight by myself but just a few niggles slowed me down along the way but general research is key, while being practical is the best way to learn and progress. 

Leave a comment below if you've recently built a new PC or are looking for some advice and we'll do our best to help you out!