Guidelines

• This guide assumes you are building a gaming PC. If you are building an HTPC, workstation, NAS, supercomputer cluster, or anything else that isn't a gaming PC, this guide will be of limited use to you.
• All prices listed are in United States Dollars.
• The prequisites of a "build" are a CPU, GPU, RAM, motherboard, HDD and/or SSD, case, and power supply. A build may also include an optical drive, aftermarket CPU cooler, network adapter, or other components. Monitors, mice, keyboards, speakers, and headphones are not considered parts of a build for the purposes of this guide.
• This guide was last updated on January 27, 2019. If you are reading this more than a few months from that date, much of the information on specific components in this guide will likely be out-of-date, but general advice should still be applicable.

General tips and FAQ

• You don't need a sound card.
• You don't need a network adapter if you use a wired connection.
• You probably don't need an optical drive.
• Don't bother with RAM that has a higher speed than 2400. The extra money you'll spend getting an additional 2% improvement in performance would be better spent on pretty much anything else. The one exception to this is if you are using integrated graphics, where faster RAM typically will result in significantly better performance.
• PCs are basically space heaters; almost all power drawn is converted to heat. If your machine has a power draw of 400 watts, around 395 of that will be converted to heat.
• If you live in driving range of a Micro Center (or Fry's, to a lesser extent), get your CPU and motherboard from there. It will be far cheaper than purchasing them online (up to around $100), and they tend to have very good customer service to boot.
• If you live outside the United States or Canada, you're fucked. If you live in Europe, you're slightly less fucked.
• Use PCPartPicker but don't put too much trust in it. Prices listed do not include some retailers (including Best Buy) and are frequently outdated or don't include sales. It also lacks listings for many parts.
• "What is the minimum I can spend and still have a decent PC gaming experience?" Around $375, not including peripherals. It can dip lower if you don't mind buying used.
• It generally isn't recommended to order from online retailers other than Newegg or Amazon. Not only is customer service variable, but you also don't want to be waiting on parts from half a different retailers.

CPU

General tips and FAQ

• Only buy products in the R3, R5, R7, Threadripper, i3, i5, i7, and i9 product ranges. With few exceptions, everything else is outdated, not powerful enough, or otherwise unsuited for a gaming rig.
• AMD is generally a better value, especially at lower price points, while Intel offers maximum performance at the high end.
• "Should I buy an AMD APU?" Only if you're on a shoestring budget. While quite good for their price, they nonetheless do not perform very well, being outperformed even by the lowest-end modern dedicated graphics card. That said, if you aren't concerned with playing new games at high settings, this is a very viable path. For the average person, though, it is strongly recommended to save another $100 or so of pennies and get a dedicated card.
• "Don't AMD CPUs have a reputation for poor performance?" They did, and rightfully so, but with the release of their Zen architecture in 2016, they are once again competitive with Intel.
• Used CPUs in apparently good condition are generally safe to buy, however, you should only expect around 20% in savings compared to buying an equivalent new CPU.

Why do some people recommend AMD over Intel? Because Intel:

• Intentionally sabotages performance on AMD chips for their compiler.
• Uses bullshots in promotional material.
• Threatens and bribes OEMs to not use AMD processors.
• Overcharges for their products as a benefit of their monopoly and use of false advertising.
• Previously and possibly currently installed remote killswitches on their processors.
• Arbitrarily prevents overclocking inexpensive processors and removes features from overclockable processors.
• Possibly pays off hardware sites for good reviews.
• Has terrible engineering that resulted in almost their entire product line having a major security defect.

CPU Cooling

If you're enough of an amateur to need advice when it comes to cooling, chances are you don't need watercooling or any other aftermarket solution. Though it was rather practical a decade ago, power efficiency has increased to the point where a significant overclock is necessary before stock cooling isn't good enough, doubly so with watercooling. Another reason to avoid watercooling is that while it may seem nicer than air-cooling, it is in reality much more expensive, noisier (you need a water pump in addition to fans you would already have), and difficult to install.

Motherboard

General tips and FAQ

• It's pretty much a crapshoot when it comes to quality, although ASUS seems to maintain a slight edge, but that is negated by a shitty RMA process. The following steps when selecting a motherboard are recommended:
  
  1. Go to Newegg/PCPP's motherboard section.
  2. Filter out undesirable motherboards (incompatibility, lacking a feature, etc).
  3. Sort by price.
  4. Work up in price until you find one with decent-enough reviews. Be sure to check Newegg's reviews, as they are particularly useful. You should expect pretty much any motherboard to have about 15-20% of the reviews stating that it failed.

Graphics card

General tips and FAQ

• GPU prices tend to scale quite well. Starting at $200 and moving upwards, a 15% increase in price will net around a 15% increase in performance.
• If you're buying new, only buy from AMD's RX and Vega series and Nvidia's 1000 and 2000 series.
• If you're buying used, only buy from AMD's R9 300 and Nvidia's 700 and 900 series.

Why do some people recommend AMD over Nvidia? Because Nvidia:

• Utilizes a technology stack called "GameWorks". In exchange for helping the publisher advertise the game, the developer will implement "features" such as HairWorks and PhysX. Though the effects are kind of neat, they are ultimately rather gimmicky, and have more of a performance impact than what they're worth. While the current state of GameWorks isn't very well-known, as of a few years ago they were keeping the libraries under lock and key, meaning that developers could not view the code (so as to optimize it for AMD cards), and AMD could not implement it without adding code to their GPUs that they were unaware the actual contents of were. The chairman of AMD even alleged that developers were strictly forbidden from optimizing games for AMD cards in any form whatsoever if they used GameWorks. Recently, these features have been having significant performance impacts on Nvidia cards as well (such as Fallout 4's God Rays and raytracing in Battlefield V). When some AMD users attempted to purchase low-end Nvidia cards to utilize these features, Nvidia noticed it and promptly blocked the practice.
• Frequently lies about the specifications of graphics cards, the most atrocious being the GTX 970. It was purported as having 4GB of VRAM, but upon inspection, it was revealed that it actually only has 3.5GB of usable VRAM, with the last 0.5GB being near-useless. It was also advertised as having 64 ROP units, but in fact only has 56. It was ALSO advertised as having 2048KB of L2 cache, but actually only has 1792KB. Nvidia denounced all of these as lies for months before eventually apologizing and offering refunds. A class-action lawsuit resulted in them having to refund everyone who bought the cards $30.
• Has pushed developers to add unnecessary tessellation to their games, the most famous example being Crysis 2. Nvidia cards were able to handle high amounts of tessellation better than AMD cards at the time, and the devs added in crazy-high amounts of tessellation (much of it being under the map in the form of water) that resulted in zero graphical improvement, but a high performance impact on AMD cards.
• Newer drivers seem to hinder older cards more than they should. Whether this is simply a result of poor programming, or deliberate sabotage to help encourage the sale of new GPUs, it isn't a good sign.
• Instituted a ~%15 launch tax on their 1000-series cards. For the first month or so that they launched, only "Founder's Edition" versions were available. These cards are the exact same (save for the shell) as normal cards, except that they cost more. If you wanted to buy these cards at launch, you had to pay extra. Just 'cause.

RAM

General tips and FAQ

• You don't want to get less than 8 GB of RAM.
• You probably don't need more than 16 GB of RAM.
• Speed and CAS don't matter unless you're using integrated graphics.
• Practically all brands source their RAM from the same factories, so don't even bother factoring that in.
• In general order of importance: type, physical size (sometimes heatsinks and RAM can have clearance issues), capacity, price, aesthetics, speed, CAS, voltage, brand.
• If RAM is listed as having a higher voltage or speed than your CPU or motherboard supports, it will still probably work fine.
• Don't bother overclocking RAM you retard.
• RAM is currently rather expensive because of price-fixing.

Power supply

General tips and FAQ

• A shitty power supply can and will damage other components, so don't skimp here.
• "80+" is a measure of power efficiency, not necessarily quality. That said, units that have this certification tend to be high-quality, and you probably shouldn't buy anything that isn't 80+ certified.
• Generally good brands: EVGA, Corsair, SeaSonic, be quiet!
• Popular brands to avoid: CoolMax, Logisys, Raidmax
• Be sure to check professional reviews for the unit you're buying. Good sites for this include JonnyGURU.com, Hardware Secrets, and HardOCP.
• A 100 watt surplus on top of your estimated wattage is advisable. Not only will it guarantee you'll have enough power, but it'll also allow you to install or upgrade components that may draw more. Additionally, PSU efficiency peaks around 75% maximum load, so it will run more efficiently as well.
• Depending on your case, a non-modular PSU can lead to a mess, especially in smaller cases.
• "Semi-modular" supplies are just as good as fully modular ones. The only difference is that in a semi-modular supply, the necessary cables (like motherboard power) aren't removable.
• PSU fans almost always take air in, rather than push it out.

Monitor

General tips and FAQ

• It's hard to buy an outright bad monitor. Amazon sells $90 monitors that, if lackluster, are perfectly fine. Just try and make sure you don't get anything that is less than 1080p.
• Low (i.e. 1 ms) response times are a gimmick. The time in between frames of even a 144 hz display (7 ms) is greater than the 4 ms difference in response time between a standard 5 ms and "gaming" 1 ms display. Essentially, if its lower than 16 ms for a 60 hz display, and 7 ms for a 144 hz display, it doesn't matter.
• 144hzmonitors.com is a very good resource (including non-144 hz monitors!)
• Thrift stores often have decent monitors for under $25.

There are several considerations that must be made when purchasing a monitor:

• Resolution (1080p, 1440p, 4K?)
• Aspect ratio (16:9, 16:10. 21:9?)
• Size (21", 24", 26"?)
• Display type (TN, IPS, OLED?)
• Refresh rate (60 hz, 90 hz, 144 hz?)
• Adaptive sync (FreeSync, G-SYNC, neither?)
• Adapter type(s) (DisplayPort 1.3, HDMI 2.0, DVI-I?)
• And, of course, price.

You may also want to consider the monitor's dead pixel guarantee, overclocking compatibility, and general construction quality.

What is adaptive sync/FreeSync/G-SYNC?

Adaptive sync refers to a monitor's ability to change its refresh rate on the fly. Monitors (LCD ones at least) have traditionally run at a fixed 60 hz, with some high-end ones reaching 144 hz. The issue comes with screen tearing. If a GPU sends a rendered image to the monitor faster than the monitor can draw it, the monitor will draw multiple images on the same frame, leading to a tearing-like effect. V-sync solves this problem, but is usually limited to 60 fps, and has other limitations as well. This led companies to produce two competing standards: AMD's FreeSync and Nvidia's G-SYNC.
FreeSync currently has wider industry adoption, costs significantly less (due to not having to pay licensing fees and implementing a special chip), is an open standard, has no performance penalty, and supports a wider range of refresh rates (9 - 240 hz) than G-SYNC. HOWEVER, FreeSync is currently only supported on AMD GPUs. Conversely, G-SYNC has more limited adoption, requires manufacturers to pay a licensing fee of approximately $150 to Nvidia, purchase a special chip from Nvidia for $50 (which isn't even necessary), has little documentation so that people from outside of Nvidia can work on it, a small (but measurable) performance impact, and a more limited refresh rate range (30 - 165 hz). HOWEVER, Nvidia cards exclusively support G-SYNC.
Nvidia recently announced that they would be adding G-SYNC support to certain FreeSync monitors, so keep this in mind as well.

Putting all the pieces together

General tips and FAQ

• Use a magnetic screwdriver.
• The first thing you should do is put the IO shield on the case. Too many people have assembled their computer, only to discover that they forgot to install it, and have had to un- and re-mount their motherboard because of this simple error.
• Make sure you don't have any static buildup because of humidity, standing on carpet, etc. Static discharges can easily damage components. Many people will recommend using an anti-static wrist strap, but this generally isn't necessary so long as you're cautious.
• There's "knowledge" that has been going around for several years about how it's "dangerous" to work with your motherboard on the included anti-static bag. This is complete nonsense that appears to stem from a single forum post made in 2008.
• Be sure to plug your monitor into your graphics card and not your motherboard.
• No seriously use a magnetic screwdriver.

Other people have made plenty of superb build guides, so I'm not going to reiterate on what they've already done. Carey Holzman is well-respected and does in-depth and comprehensive videos. Newegg, Linus Tech Tips, and NZXT also have good guides.

Canned builds

Entry level: $375

This build will allow you to play most new games at medium settings at 1080p 60fps, and should remain relevant for at least the next couple of years.

Good value: $600

This is a broadly recommended build for anyone wanting to get the best value for their purchase. You'll be able to play pretty much everything with good to great settings for years.

Pricey but excellent: $1200

A cream of the crop build; like the above one but all-around better.

Spare no expense: $3000

For if your employer or daddy is buying it for you.