Building a PC is easier than you might think.

I finally made the transition to “veritable gamer” last week after building my first gaming rig.

The decision came more or less on a whim. I’d been gaming on dedicated laptops and consoles for years, and a lack of both funding and confidence always held me back from taking the plunge into a costlier hobby. Nevertheless, building a gaming pc was something I knew I would do… eventually.

I can’t really say which straw broke the camel’s back. Maybe it was the frustration of having to adequately divide desk space for my laptop, my writing pad, and my coffee. Perhaps I’d just run out of things to keep me procrastinating on my required tasks. Whatever the logic, the moments between finally deciding to build and purchasing my components couldn’t have been separated by more than 30 minutes.

My approach was surely the product of impatience and eagerness. I wouldn’t recommend anyone take to Amazon so precariously for such a decision. But to say I was uninformed going in would be categorically wrong. While the finalization of all it was quick and mildly unprepped, my research on PC building began years ago. I knew going in what components I would need and, in some cases, had already chosen pieces for my ideal first build.

Another result of my unabashed eagerness was that plenty of compromises were made that probably wouldn’t have been if I were a more stern or experienced builder. I didn’t end up with the motherboard I originally wanted: MSI’s B450 Tomahawk just wasn’t available wherever I looked. The GPU, also, was something I was willing to spend a pretty penny on until a friend convinced me that waiting for Nvidia’s 3000 series video cards would be best if I really wanted to go all in on graphics.

So, without further ado, here are my final specs:

The days between shopping and building were rife with anxiety. I asked dozens of questions to MonsterVine colleagues and local friends, and I spent hours scouring internet forums. In the same timeframe, my YouTube search history would become inundated with Linus Tech Tips and Bitwit videos. I’d come to believe that anything and everything would go wrong. Touching the mobo’s PCB in any way would result in a dead system. So much as casting a glance at the underside of my CPU would cause the pins to snap off. RAM would become unseated. I’d forget to plug in power connections. A smidgeon too much thermal paste would flood my system with a gross, globby mess. Everything was doomed to fail.

But eagerness and excitability renewed my confidence come build day. I’d watched enough videos to understand that modern PC building isn’t nearly as intimidating as it sounds. I followed the tutorials to a tee, and, despite dropping my screwdriver onto my mobo twice, everything worked fine. Windows booted up, I updated the necessary drivers, and I downloaded my most-used software. The only thing that really went wrong was not having my CPU power connection plugged in all the way, which was solved by a mere push on the header.

I wish there were a more exciting ending for you (not really), but it wasn’t a remotely complicated process. It felt more like putting together Mega Bloks than it did an endeavor of technological prowess. The only thing I regret is the amount of doubt I let slip into my mind, but I also think that made me a more careful builder. Anybody who is hesitant about building their first rig because they’re worried about missing the proper “know-how” should squash those fears. It’s a suspiciously easy hobby to get into and learn.