How to build a PC, the last guide you’ll ever need!

57 thoughts on “How to build a PC, the last guide you’ll ever need!”

1. Almost a 2 hour video, but I’ll still watch the entire thing. Been building for a decade now, but always helps to get some amazing tech knowledge.

   1. Built my first rig over 20 years ago. I always find more tide bits that I didn’t know before

   2. @Suchir Ghuwalewala not really we live to 80 now easily

   3. @Jason Heinz agreed since Win3.11 P75 and excited about 65 3.5 floppies to install Win95

   4. @Jason Heinz Wow this is so cool! thanks for sharing your experience 😁

2. This is peak LTT. I can imagine how proud the team is putting this together!

   1. @DaddyToxic cool pride pfp

   2. @Sam Wood ):) Ligma?

   3. @Sam Wood balls

   4. My fairly updated PC part buying guide:

      When building,the shorter answer, at the least you need a quadcore CPU,I would recommend a 6core CPU, for gaming/games are ALREADY utilizing 6cores also a 3070ti or 6700XT graphics card, at the least and this is a 1080p card,A LOT of people will argue this though,2TB SSD,at the least, 16GBs of RAM at the least 32GBs for higher resolutions, a 550/600watt power supply or above,depending on if you ever want to upgrade the graphics card and depending on which graphics card you decide to go with, this is whats recommended, for a 3060/3060ti, 500/600watts, for a 3070/,this is what I would recommend to EVERYONE 3070ti or above,which requires a 650/750watt power supply, a 3080 requires a 700/750watt power supply/if you over clock an 850watt power supply is needed,also I would honestly just get an 850 watt power supply,no matter what,so upgrades can be done, without having to get a new power supply, also motherboards/sockets/platforms,we are no longer on Z77 we are on Z690/now Z790/1700 socket/Alder Lake, also something else to think about I think, with Raptor Lake/1700 socket,the i9-14900ks,will most likely be on the meteor lake platform/1851 socket and not Raptor lake/1700 socket,modern graphics cards,3060/3070/3080/3090/4090 and the rest of the upcoming 40 series cards,and also I913900k.

      Also im sure this is good news FOR SOME PEOPLE,Intel’s 13th-gen Raptor Lake CPUs will use the same LGA1700 CPU socket used by Alder Lake chips and Z790 boards will also use the 1700 socket, but the meteor lake platform/1851 socket platform is also coming out soon,this was the short version, but the next part has some good info in it as well,SOME is repeated from the top, but it goes in to more detail.

      Hope this helps,if your only reading the short version.

      This gives you some good updated information when it comes to building a new PC.

      Your CPU NEEDS to have AT LEAST four cores and when it comes to gaming now days you can benefit, in performance, from having 6 cores,in your CPU, so an I5,if you really have to skimp,but an I7 or an I9,is a much better option,more indepth info on CPUs,especially if you plan to work from your PC:

      Best Budget Workstation CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 Alternate: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

      Best Overall Workstation Value CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K Alternate: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

      Workstation CPU: AMD Threadripper 3970X Alternate: Intel Core i9-10980XE

      Best High Performance Value Workstation CPU: this is the CPU I currently have, Intel Core i9-13900K,the i9-12900k/ks, is also available, Alternate: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and now a 7950X

      Best Highest-End Workstation CPUs: i9-13900k, also AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX,you MIGHT also CONSIDER,at least right now/the 3D version of the 7950X,MIGHT be available, AT SOME POINT.

      Also if your thinking about AIOs these are good options:

      The Artic LF II and the Corsair h170i elite capellix.
       
      Depending on what resolution your gaming at, 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM,16 at the least/16GBs is fine for 1080p/1920x1080p gaming, When it comes to storage, I honestly would get at the least a 2TB SSD, to put that in perspective, I have like 28TBs,but the sweet spot FOR MOST PEOPLE, that game,is honestly a 4TB SSD/MAYBE 9TBs,depending on how many games you have in your Steam library and how many games you want to always have installed/no hardrives,in my opinion,IF you absolutely NEED a harddrive, at least make sure its 7200RPM, a good SSD,for a good price, is the KC3000 SSD, another SSD to keep on your radar/to keep an eye on is the Samsun 990 PRO,also NO TN panels,IPS or OLED, is what is used now days,1920x1080p,2560x1440p,3840x2160p and 7680x4320p,good brands are Asus and Samsung, MAYBE also Alienware, if you know exactly what your looking for and you find a good deal,if you want a different aspect ratio, other than 16×9,you already know that and I don’t need to go over that,also the higher the HZ the better.

      Also at the least now days,depending on what resolution your gaming at, graphics card wise, is a 3070ti/this is honestly a 1080p card,SOME people use it as a 2560x1440p card, I don’t recommend doing that, the Radeon alternative to a 3070ti,is a 6700XT, other recommended graphics cards, from low power to higher power 6950XT, 3080,3090 and 4090s are out now as well.

      Heres a little more info that kind of gets you up to date on newer hardware/this kind of gives you a good idea of where we are currently/shows you whats changed;

      When looking at CPUS,(*F*), just means it doesn’t have integrated graphics,honestly saving $20/$32 isn’t worth it/having a non F CPU allows you to trouble shoot things better if your having a display problem with your graphics card/driver issue.

      The K part is MUCH OLDER knowledge/MOST PEOPLE KNOW, K USUALLY means you can over clock the CPU,granted A LOT of people under clock, surprisingly now days, to get better temperatures,but an AIO and a good power supply/a good wattage power supply, can allow you to utilize more of the power in your hardware.

      SOME of this MAY be slightly out dated when it comes to Z790 motherboards/this was mainly written for Z690 motherboards,a while ago/this was for people coming from Z77 or older to Z690,I’ve updated SOME of this,but not all/Z790 motherboards have more features compared to Z690 motherboards.

      Alder Lake motherboards can use DDR5 RAM and Z690/now Z790 motherboards are what people should be looking at and also keep in mind that the meteor lake platform/1851 socket is releasing soon too. 

      I honestly would go ahead and make the jump to DDR5 RAM,I don’t see a reason not to, it will just cost more, to do so in the future/RAM prices might go down, but to support it, you would have to buy a whole new motherboard and RAM,AM5 motherboards have taken that out of the equation though/ALL AM5 boards REQUIRE DDR5 RAM.

      PCIE Gen 5,is now available too,which offers higher speed USB and M.2 speeds.

      Also MOST Z690 motherboards offer at least four M.2 slots,which is nice.

      This isn’t surprising at all, but USB Type C ports are more widely available too.

      8 Sata ports now vs the traditional/older 6.

      Thunder bolt 4 support as well.

      Really old 1155/Z77/Ivy Bridge, old LGA 1200/comet Lake/Rocket Lake,LGA 1700 New,also even newer soon meteor lake platform/1851 socket ,also if you want Ryzen/AMD, Socket, TR4 old, AM5 is new/ AM5 is what your looking for,but I don’t know if AM5 is going to perform well against the new Meteor Lake platform/1851 platform though,time will tell.

      Also LGA 1700 water coolers are something you NEED to be looking at,IF you want to go that route, because of compatibility issues/the brackets are different,you CAN get an aftermarket bracket, but if your buying a new water cooler,theres no need to do that.

      Anyway I think that covers everything,hope this helps.

      You MAY know all of this,but HOPEFULLY SOMETHING here was helpful, I know a lot of times people would rather leave you in the dark about things and just handle it their self’s vs giving you the info you need to succeed/ it can be daunting,even if you understand computers,if you don’t know what the modern platforms/sockets and so on are and it seems like PC Part Pickers, is terrible now days,hope this helps.

   5. @MrOoof They’re at the tipity top and they’re only half way up.

3. I’ve literally been scouring the internet for your PC building videos as I’m going to buy my parts in 4 days. This could not have come at a better time. Thank you so much!

   Edit; built it using this video. Wow that was fun

   1. u don’t need no guides lol, just read the manuals and a idiot can build ez af

   2. Two weeks too late but the couple of old ltt vids worked

   3. @Swanshrew Lol that’s paying for my 3070 Ti

   4. You have been “scouring the internet for your PC building videos” -What?! So going to Linus Tech Tips YT channel and typing in their channel page search “PC Builds” wasn’t an option? These are the same individuals that will come back in a few days to ask a unspecific PC related question that have been already answered 1000x over.

   5. Linus’s FOV build is super useful

4. This is the literal ultimate crash course on PC building. Easy to learn for most tech savvy people and extremely thorough for the PC building enthusiast or just the average tech interested person. Love it

   1. duh thats the point LMFAO!!!

   2. @Rui PTG ehh… than just get a console… its cheaper

   3. The only problem is I’m such a noob it’s too multipurpose I know what I want from my build but not how to get it lol

   4. Yes, but its overwhelming with information for beginner builders who will see this.

5. I’ve also been building computers for about 20 years. The main reason why these videos are the paramount of PC builders is because he and his friends are entertaining as well as informative. I am always learning. To be a leader, one needs a team and one person can’t do it all. Good jobs guys.

   1. @Michael Meadors As a complete stranger to this environment i’m learning so much just how clear the video is. Maybe I’ll build my first PC thanks to Linus!

   2. Do you lend your services? Or even charge? I’m looking for some help building a gaming pc from scratch. Please lmk how I could get in direct contact with you if possible. Thank you!!!

   3. @Haylus I ca give you a ahand with that, i can send you a spreadsheet i made for my first gaming pc and it’s under the $1200 budgt with amazon links directly to purchase the parts.

   4. @Haylus What do you use? WhatsApp?

   5. I am bulding pc’s for 25 years… already… but I am actually building now commodore amigas 🙂 don’t know why… I made 2 just for me… 😉 amiga the best computer ever… even if they were at the double digit mhz… 😀 The evolution stalled… a little… so I went into the past to still get me interested… on this. haha!

      Here is me trying to improve my system stability… 😀 or why it was not stable… 😀 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzR-MCoRFZI

      This is an chalenge… not building a new pc… that is for kids.

6. See, people appreciate the work that goes into creation of such high quality videos! That’s what makes you guys stand out so much

7. Been working on computers for over 30 years. I’ve built a number of computers, sysadmin servers in a data center, etc. etc. I’m helping my nephew with his first computer build and he showed me this video. This is an excellent tutorial on how to build a computer. Super awesome job guys!.

8. I’ve wanted to build a PC all my life but been too scared of breaking something to try. this week that ended with my first successful build, big thanks to this video!

   1. Congrats! Still trying to decide whether I should pay a professional $250 or risk breaking my 12900K to Asus Creator MOBO then Corsair AIO CPU cooler assembly

   2. @huh The case headers are the worst thing to connect. My hands are too big to get in there. I hate the fumbling around in the dark corner of the case and making sure the + and – and properly lined up.

   3. Man… This is encouraging… All these ppl doing their first build… Maybe I can… As well

   4. Big W . congrats mam!

   5. i’m too scared of the price tag

9. Just a reminder: for older motherboards or cost-cut motherboards, if you have a CPU with iGPU or onboard graphics solution, even if you have a graphics card there is a good chance that it will default to the motherboard’s graphics solution first and you will need to configure the BIOS to use the external graphics for pre-boot display. This has become less common, but is still important to remember.

   1. Things like this is why I’m just not sure if I should try my own first one… But thanks .. very useful info

   2. @StrydyRHellZRydyR It’s not a huge problem. You just move the HDMI or Displayport cable to your motherboard’s video output. Boot to the BIOS config and look around until you find the setting for default video output device so you can set it to be external GPU or whatever your manufacturer calls it. All things considered, it’s pretty simple troubleshooting. If your fans are spinning and you aren’t hearing error beeps but you’re also not seeing display output on your monitor, check and see if there’s another video output that it’s trying to use before assuming that your GPU is broken. (Just for some extra info: a LOT of workstation and server boards will also default to their onboard graphics, because they don’t assume that you’re using the GPU for graphics output. I had this problem with my latest computer and I had to borrow a monitor with VGA because I couldn’t find my VGA to HDMI adapter anywhere. and my workstation board doesn’t have HDMI out.)

10. one tip for my digital artists: know how many layers you like to use! if you use a different layer for basically every detail, you will need more ram to handle all of that. if you don’t usually use a lot of layers, then you shouldn’t have to worry too much about that.

11. Hey LTT! I just finished my first PC Build in 20+ years, and thanks to your outstanding guide, it lit up like Christmas on the first try and everything works!!!!

12. First time builder here. I’m fairly oldish, so I wanted to see why all the kids these days are building their own pc’s instead of buying them like we did back in my day.
    This guide should be the youtube homepage. The level of detail you guys put into this, including so many “what if’s” and contingencies and covering differences between hardware brands is much appreciated.
    However, firing it up for the first time using a freaking screwdriver was pucker factor 9000. Between not owning an electron microscope to read font size .001 on the mobo and not having the steady hands of a brain surgeon, this step was basically a leap of faith. But, I RTFM to find the header, and it turned on with no issues. BIOS recognized everything. I couldn’t believe it.

    Thank you so much for making this video.

13. As someone with exactly zero experience with building computers, this was invaluable. I followed along step by step and actually built a working (budget) gaming rig! Thank you all so much for this video.

    1. @UnconsciousToad Phillippines
       1 dollar is equivalent to about 55 PHP here
       And I already found a PC under 200 bucks, so I don’t need to build
       doesn’t need to be graphically intensive, as long as it can run Minecraft without crashing 50% of the time (oh and obs)

    2. I wish I could show you mine… Let’s say… I can run anything on Ultra… and still, float steadily at 150fps on a Samsung Neo G9 49″ @ 4k…

    3. @Kenneth Kerr ok

    4. @Hans Zacapa You wanna see? Drop your discord and throw you benchmarks… I spent roughly 7k on my system…

    5. @Kenneth Kerr oh don’t misunderstand, I believe you. It’s just that no one asked

14. Ok wow! This was EXTREMELY helpful! I’m still just in the planning/saving up stage for building my own PC and this whole video was so insightful and made me excited to get started. Thanks guys!

15. Linus, you helped me build my first PC in middle school and now you and your whole team helped me build my second PC going into college. Thanks for everything

    1. Cool

16. LTT completely blew it out of the water with this one. No other video/content creator can seriously compete with how thorough this walkthrough is. From the absolute start to finish on how to select parts and build a PC. For expert and novice builders alike. Absolutely 11/10 guide. Thanks LMG!

    1. It’s not an 11/10, I think it’s more like a 15/10!

17. just finished my first build. booted first try. Absolutely no issues. This was the best video, thank you.

18. Thank you so much guys! Took me half a day but just now I finished my first build, couldn’t have made it without you!

19. I was only expecting a tutorial on how to assemble it, but you covered EVERYTHING! The picking parts is extremely helpful, and super begginer friendly

20. I did my first build using basically only this video and the manuals. Truly a great ressource!

    Only criticism i have is that i felt a bit left alone when going from the “dry” test run to installing it in the case. I felt like i was in a different state then in the video and didnt know if (and how) i should remove the graphics card, power cables, cpu cooler etc.
    So if you ever do a version 2 of this video and you read this, maybe keep this in mind. Thank you for all your effort!

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