How I Built My Own Gaming PC (And You Can Too!)

It is no surprise that with the pandemic, more people are playing video games. Quarantine is bringing back the old-school gamers and creating brand new ones. As I am in the middle of a third lockdown, I am one of those people who went back to their gaming habits. One thing I did in 2020 as a result of quarantine is finally getting a gaming PC.

I am someone who is afraid of spending money. I tend to always go for the cheaper option. Because of that, I opted for building my own PC instead of buying one already built with everything I needed.

This is typically the preferred option for anyone that wants to get something specific to their needs and has tech knowledge. I am none of those things. I had no idea what I was doing. I just wanted to know that I had a computer that was going to be powerful enough to run the games and programs I wanted to use, without breaking the bank.

All my life I had cheap laptops, with the only consideration at the time being the amount of memory the machine had. I didn’t even know what other components were important for me to consider. Nevertheless, in 2020 I bit the bullet. And after a lot of research, I figured out what pieces I needed to build a gaming PC.

This is a list of the pieces you need to build your own gaming PC

• Case (Full-tower, mid-tower, or mini-tower) — Holds all the stuff
• Central processing unit (CPU) — The brain of the computer
• Motherboard — Lets all the pieces talk to each other
• Memory (RAM) — Needed for running games/programs
• Graphics processing unit/Graphics Card(GPU) — Creates all the amazing graphics
• Storage (SSD) — Fast storage
• Hard Disk Drive (HDD) — Slower storage
• Power supply unit (PSU) — Powers the computer
• System cooling — Keeps the computer cool, excess heat kills electronics
• Gaming peripherals (Headphones/Speakers, Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor)
• Operating system (Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, Linux)

I got everything through Amazon, as it was the easiest and fastest way I found to get everything to where I live. There are also websites that will help you build a list of all the parts you need and make sure they are all compatible with each other. PCPartPicker and Logical Increments are two of the most widely used and helpful sites, and they typically provide links directly to the cheapest price on the internet at which to purchase each component. Once you get these pieces, be very careful with the way you handle them, as they can be very fragile!

After I knew what pieces I needed, I had to do some research. I needed to know not only what each of them was, but also the specifics that I wanted. For example, I knew that to be able to play the games that I wanted to play, I needed at least a GTX 1660 graphics card. I found a good price for an even better graphics card so I went for it. That way it would be a long time before I had to upgrade the system again.

Because of my experience with my old computers, I knew this PC would last me a really long time. And that’s something I considered when deciding on the things I wanted in it. I had my first laptop when I was 12 and it lasted until I finished High School. My second laptop has been with me for 6 years and is still in great condition.

The case is something that I never really thought about. But because I knew I wanted this computer to last, I got a big enough case to be able to do some upgrades in the future. For example, there is room for multiple SSDs and HDDs so that if I ever need more storage I won’t need to get a new case and rebuild the system.

Then it came to the moment of truth. The time to put everything together. I was so afraid I would break any of the fragile pieces. My boyfriend was helping me, but none of us had any experience building PCs. So we had a friend help us through a video call. As strange as it might seem, this was the easiest part of the process. Because once you have all you need, it all comes together rather easily.

Here’s a guide made by Intel that you can follow. It explains everything you need to do, step by step, in great detail, something that is very helpful for a first-timer who might be worried about breaking something or putting the pieces together incorrectly.

Final thoughts

You don’t need to be an expert to build your own PC. You just have to be patient, do your research, and follow what the experts say.

I did it. Anyone can do it. So what are you waiting for?

If you’re interested in reading more about my experience, check out this article. It contains a list of all the components I chose and explains why I chose them.