How to Build Your First Gaming PC with BuildMyPC

Building a PC can feel overwhelming, especially when you have spend several weeks researching for the compatible parts within your budget. Trust me, we have been there and honestly, making mistakes can be very expensive.

We have made these mistakes ourself, and that’s exactly why we have created BuildMyPC – a PC compatibility checking website for beginners as well as for professionals. This website takes all the guesswork out of component selection and ensure everything works flawless without any compatibility issue.

Now, let me walk you through the entire process of building your first PC.

How to Choose Compatible PC Parts

If you’re building a PC, assembling the parts isn’t the hardest part for your build, but finding the compatible products is. Even one wrong choice can bottleneck your entire system or, worse, cause compatibility issues with other components.

Most of the time, we have seen people use platforms like Fiverr to hire someone to help them with a list of compatible products. However, in most cases, this would cost around $40–$50, which is an insane price. Frankly saying, you could buy decent storage for your build at that price.

This is where BuildMyPC helps you, and here’s how:

You need to visit our “SYSTEM BUILDER” page. Once you’re there, you are ready to set up your virtual environment to test the compatibility of different parts.

Here we’re explaining a few things you’ll see on that page:

• Rig Link: This is a unique link for your build. You can share it with your friends or save for future references. It will help you revisit your build and modify according to your needs without losing your progress.
• Markups: A unique feature that lets you copy components, their prices, links, and more details to your clipboard. You can later use this information for suggestions on platforms like Reddit, forums, etc!
• Compatibility: This section will alert you for any compatibility issues throughout your journey. For example, if there’s some incompatibility between CPU and motherboard, it will instantly indicates it.
• Estimated Wattage: This is a unique yet powerful concept that will show you the power requirements needed to run your PC. Many people purchase underpowered PSUs, which often leads to costly mistakes. This will help you avoid such mistakes.
• Components: This section will display list of all components necessary for your PC build. Next to component names, you’ll see an option to “Choose component” that will allow you to browse through our vast library of products.

Now, let’s get back to building our first PC.

Processor

As you know, processor is the brain behind our custom build and we shouldn’t compromise here.

So, we’ll first start by selecting a powerful processor for our build. When you click on the “Choose component” button next to processor option, it will redirect you to the processor page. Here you can explore all the processors we have added to our system.

On the left side, you’ll see filter options (which is a common UX design for any eCommerce website). There you’ll see various type of filters that will help you narrow down your choices based on your needs and preferences.

We’re looking to build a gaming PC, so we’re selecting “AMD Ryzen 7 5800X” which is a decent processor for gamers. Afterwards, we’ll move to next step, which is selecting a motherboard.

Motherboard

The beauty of BuildMyPC is here!

When you select the first component, which in our case is a processor, the system automatically filters compatible motherboards and other components. No more worrying about compatibility issues!

Isn’t this cool?

So, in this next step, we’ll find compatible motherboards for our AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor. On the left side, you’ll see motherboards by brand, the form factor, chipset, etc. Some motherboard supports overclocking and some don’t. Similarly, some chipset comes with better performance, more socket types, and various other configurations.

You carefully need to filter them by the chipset or your needs. As we’re looking for a premium high-end motherboard for our gaming build, we’ll either look for X570 based motherboards, X470, or B550 for mid-range gaming. You can refer to this post for more information on the chipsets.

Here we’re selecting the X570 motherboard from Asus brand, named Asus TUF Gaming x570-Plus with Wifi. This one is an ATX motherboard which comes with integrated WiFi, PCI 4.0, dual M.2, and RGB lightning to make our build look more STUNNING!

CPU Cooler

Afterward, we need to look for a powerful CPU cooler that can easily dissipate heat during intense gameplay. People usually go with stock coolers to save few bucks, but we would not recommend this. It’s because most of the time when we face issue with our system, it is due to the CPU not cooling properly.

Why CPU cooling is not negotiable? It’s because…

• It prevents thermal throttling that reduces performance
• Extend CPU lifespan
• You’ll hear low noise (it matters a lot to me)
• Overclocking / boost clock performance will increase

For these reasons, we would suggest getting a decent CPU cooler from a top brand like Corsair, Cooler Master, and NZXT. We have been used Corsair Link iCUE H100i on some of our previous builts. It has decent airflow with a FAN RPM between 480 to 2400 and comes in a pack of 2 fans.

Author’s note: Currently, we do not check the physical dimension clearance of various PC parts such as the CPU cooler and RAM. Please make sure to verify these clearances on the manufacturer’s QVL list.

Case

We’ll now move to case.

This is where personal preference really comes to play. Choosing a case is easy, you just need to understand a few basics to make sure everything fits well inside.

Here are some things to remember when selecting a case:

• Form Factor: The case you’re selecting should be compatible with the form-factor of motherboard. But you don’t have to worry here as BuildMyPC does it for you!
• GPU / CPU Cooler / RAM Clearance: As of now, physical dimensions of these products aren’t checked by BuildMyPC. So you have to make sure the case you select has appropirate length to fit all the components without any issue.
• Connecitivity of Front Panel: Consider the number of USB ports, audio jacks, and other connectivity options for a better build.
• Build Quality: Choose a case that suits your style and has durable build quality.

For our build, we’re looking for ATX Mid-Tower build, so we will go with the “Cougar MX 330” which is a decent mid-tower case with over 800+ positive review on Amazon.

Graphics Card

After the case, we’ll choose graphics card instead of case cooler.

Not because case cooler is not necessary, but it will determine how powerful case cooler we need to handle the heat generated by the GPU and other components.

As the processor we have selected doesn’t comes with any integrated graphics card, we need to add a discrete graphics card for our build. You’ll get a new graphics card for as low as $40-50, but we’ll not be looking at these low-profile graphics card. Instead, we’ll look for the graphics card which can easily run games like Valorant, Cyberpunk 2077, and Counter-Strike.

For our current build, we have saved somewhere around $1200-$1400, so we’re looking for a powerful graphics card within this budget. So, we have gone to graphics card and filtered products between this same price.

In this budget, we’re seeing some of the best graphics cards that are sure to run the games we shared above at high FPS. And personally we’re fond of MSI products, so we will continue with the second product in the list, which is MSI RTX 5080 16GB. This graphics card falls within our budget and is superb for performance.

Memory

RAM (aka Memory) is pretty straightforward to choose. But these are still considered important for better performance, durability, multi-tasking, future-proofing etc!

Here’s how a decent memory increases overall performance:

• It can increase minimum frame rates
• Allows you to do better multi-tasking
• Provides system with better stability

16GB of memory is sufficient for most builds, but since we’re building a gaming PC, choosing a memory with 32GB capacity would be a sweet spot. And we always prefer reputable brands like Corsair, G.Skill, or Kingsone, so most probably we’ll go with the Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB.

This RAM comes in a pack of 4 x 8GB of capacity and our motherboard supports 4 x DDR4 memory, so it would be compatible with our current build. In case you’re looking for a build with more RAM, make sure to check it with your motherboard’s specification.

Storage

Storage is another most important component for your build, and in last few decades, it has envolved a lot.

Choosing a good storage can drastically affects the performance of your build. But here are a few suggestions you should remember while adding storage to the system builder.

• Compared to HDDs, SSDs reduces the gaming loading time 300-500%
• Having a fast SSD can improves the Windows boot time

And here’s a small tip: Never use HDDs as primary storage drive in your build. In case you’ve limited budget, you can use them as an additional storage unit to store non-important files.

You’ll also get two options in SSDs, here are the differences:

• SATA SSD: Replacement of HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and offer 5-8 times better performance.
• M.2 SSD: This type of SSD are ten times faster than the normal SATA SSD.

As for the brand, we would suggest purchasing SSDs from reputable brands like Samsung, Corsair, Western Digital, etc. We’re using Samsung EVO 970 is our current build, so we would probably get this same one!

Once selected, we’ll move to CPU cooler, or in case you’re looking for more storage, you can add another one to your current build.

CPU Cooler

Now, it’s time to select an appopirate CPU cooler for our build.

Most beginners overlook this component and end up making one of the most expensive mistakes in the long run. However, proper airflow is important for maintaining optimal temperatures and ensuring component longevity.

Here’s how it can help:

• Lower temperature means better performance and longitivity of components
• Proper airflow will prevent dust from building up on your system
• Better cooling means higher boost clock speed
• And most importantly, quieter operations under load.

Some cases come with case coolers included, allowing you to save some money. However, if you ask us, we would recommend purchasing powerful case coolers separately for better heat dispersion.

In our case, we’re looking to get most out of our system with 5-powerful CPU coolers, and as we have added a decent CPU and a graphics card, we’re looking for something more powerful with better fan RPM, somewhere around 2400! So, we would go with the “Cooler Master Mobius 140P ARGB” model.

Power Supply

Finally, we need to select a power supply for our build.

You can view the estimated wattage required on the SYSTEM BUILDER page. Based on that, choose a power supply that can handle the entire load.

It’s also important to select a PSU with about 30–35% more wattage than the estimate. For example, if the estimated wattage on our website is 600 W, choose an 800–900 W PSU. This provides headroom for overclocking and helps protect your system.

Next Step

Now, we have added all the IMPORTANT components to our build, so we’re almost ready to start shopping!

At this point, you’re ready to purchase these components or you can add any additional components if you need them. You can find more components on BuildMyPC as per your requirements. But honestly, for most gaming builds, what we’ve selected covers everything you need.

Author’s Note: Since we have added motherboard with built-in Wi-Fi, you can completely ignore the networking section. As there’s no need to add separate Wi-Fi cards or ethernet adapters unless you have specific requirements.

In case you’re looking to purchase all components from Amazon, you can simply click on the “Add to Cart” button. This will automatically add ALL the selected products to your Amazon cart in one go! And honestly, this is one of the best feature we love in BuildMyPC!

Now you’re ready to build your PC. Don’t hesitate to ask for help on Reddit, from family, or from us! You can reach us at hello@buildmypc.net for further assistance.