PC building can be a relatively drama-free affair. It’s never been easier to buy the parts and put them together yourself, but that doesn’t mean it’s always smooth sailing. The more tedious PC building tasks do get easier to deal with as you gain more experience with components, but it doesn’t make them any more enjoyable. These 5 tasks are some of the most difficult, but there are some ways to make them less painful.
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5
Cable management
The least exciting part of a PC build
Routing all the necessary cables for your PC build is a chore, especially if you’re working in a small mid-tower case. Modern cases have decent routing built into them, but there’s still nothing worse than wiring everything up, only to find that the rear side panel can’t handle all the junk in the trunk. Then you begin the slow, shameful process of unplugging and rerouting cables, thinking about how you just want to get things booted.
There’s no silver bullet for cable management, but one of the keys to making it neat is utilizing as many of the cable tie points as you can, and avoiding running all cables through the main, center channel. The 24-pin power connector is beefy, so anything stacked up underneath it could keep the side panel from going on all on its own. When you can, keep things as tight to the back tray as possible, and try different paths to where you’re trying to go. Sometimes the shortest path isn’t always the neatest.
Especially difficult for novice builders
In the same vein as general cable management, connecting the front panel headers to the motherboard can be annoying. Squinting your eyes with header in one hand and flashlight in the other is usually how it goes, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Put your pride aside, and break out your motherboard manual. This will give you a much better diagram of what header goes where, and in what orientation. I find it easiest to do any on the bottom row of pins first, because otherwise it’s much harder to see what you’re doing. Also, leave that silly included dongle that comes with some motherboards behind. They’re extremely finicky and are prone to disconnecting. Connecting straight to the board is almost always the way to go.
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3
CPU EPS connections
Fingers beware
This one is personal. The CPU EPS connections, commonly found to the top left of the CPU socket, are usually nestled between two heatsink elements. This isn’t necessarily a huge issue, especially if you’re working in a case that gives you some real estate above the motherboard, but in most scenarios, that’s a luxury.
Getting these connectors in can be insanely difficult, not only because there’s such little space for your fingers, but also because the orientation of the plug is such that a sharp turn of the cable is required. This is a full-on nightmare scenario. A tight cable run where you can’t see the plug, and you also have such little room to work. Honestly, there isn’t much that can make this easier, but having a second pair of hands to hold a flashlight and provide moral support is enough to keep the colorful language to a minimum.
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2
M.2 screws
Easy to lose
M.2 drives are a wonder in their size, speed, and capacity. They’re quite easy to install compared to SATA drives, in theory. In practice, I’ve had more than one run-in with a drive that had the wrong standoff or screw assembly that resulted in a trip to the local computer store. Toolless assembly certainly helps a lot with this, as well as having a magnetic toolset. If you’re upgrading your existing rig with a new M.2 drive, take a look at your motherboard and see if it came with additional hardware before you buy.
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1
Knowing compatibility
Lots of pitfalls to derail your build
Compatibility can be the bane of any novice PC builder’s existence. Some components are easy to match, like CPUs to motherboards, but others can result in huge question marks. Sure, your cooler might work with your CPU, and it’ll certainly fit on your motherboard, but what if it blocks the top PCIe slot? This exact scenario came up in a friend’s PC build, and it resulted in him having to return the cooler and opt for another model. GPU length is also another sneaky one, and with GPUs ballooning in size, it’s one to keep an eye on if you’re putting together a new build.
Small compatibility pitfalls like this can only fully be avoided by being thorough. Some companies provide very robust compatibility lists, like Noctua for example. Other, lesser known brands, might be a bit more hit or miss, and may require a trip to an online forum in search of someone with a scenario similar to yours.
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It’s all worth it in the end
Even after ruining my fingers trying to plug in EPS connectors and front panel headers, I still love the process of building a PC. It’s rewarding to see everything light up and POST properly, especially if I’m putting together a system for someone else. I still wouldn’t mind if we tried to find ways to make the building process easier, though.
#difficult #parts #building #gaming #easier
source: https://www.xda-developers.com/the-5-most-difficult-parts-of-building-a-gaming-pc/
