10 Worst Things About Building A New Gaming PC

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I am operating under the assumption that this article is all tongue-in-cheek because I've never met anyone that had this much problem with thermal paste. :eek:

F*ck thermal paste. There may be no more divisive, infuriating, doubt-infecting substance in all of technology. How does one best apply thermal paste? How can it be screwed up? What happens if it's applied wrong? How can you tell?
 
Sub-title: "How I Fail at PC"

I was hoping it would include a mini-review of sκippy high performance thermal paste.
 
He seems to be trying to learn how to build a PC based on Twitter tweets, so it's not surprising he is getting conflicting messages. There are tons of great guides he could have read instead of writing this list.

Arctic Silver's website will tell you exactly how to apply thermal paste for a given processor, or you can google just about any CPU with "thermal paste pattern" and get an answer. Twitter is the last place I would go for such information.
 
Hell I've always used a plastic card to apply my tbermal paste. You get them for every store you've ever been, might as well use them for something.
 
I'm bored, I'll nitpick him.

1. Sharing anything about your new PC with other people who build PCs.

Well, I can't really dispute this one, so I will go ahead and give him this one because we all know it is true.

2. Spending $100 on a new Windows license

Well first Apples OS isn't free so that point is moot, Using the OS on the XB1 is a piss poor example and I reuse my OEM license of Windows when I upgrade. So really no clue what he is talking about other than a possible early admission he hasn't the faintest clue what he is doing.

3. The anti-static strap.

If you have to use one you are a dumbass. It isn't difficult to ground yourself without wearing a tard strap. Now if you are doing component level repair and soldering the boards, that is another argument.

4. Screws

Did this require that much writing to prove that not only can't you build a computer but you are quite possibly the most mechanically inept person on the planet?

5. The thing you need but don't have.

Didn't make list, didn't know what he was doing..is now proven beyond doubt that has no clue how to build a PC and is an idiot.

6. Thermal paste.

I really don't know how to insult this one, I mean honestly he basically does all the insulting himself. Just hire someone who actually knows wtf they are doing next time and don't spend 2 hours cobbling together an article that makes you look like this much of an idiot.

7. Those tiny front-LED cables

You bought a shitty motherboard and honestly it isn't that hard. Hell I'm blind and it isn't that hard. You are just terrible at this.

8. The games that still don't run smoothly.

There are these things called Drivers and they need to be installed for things to work well. There are also these things called minimum specifications to run shit. Also there are just some really shitty games.

9. Overclocking.

Based on your obvious knowledge of the first 8 points, this is not something you should be trying..EVER.

10. The gnawing feeling that your PC still isn't fast enough

dumb point, not even worth nitpicking.
 
Wow, I never have bought a PC. Must first was an AMD 386/40 I built. I guess I've build about 20 over the years, maybe more.
 
The person who wrote the article should stick to consoles, dumb people can use those easily.
 
The person who wrote the article should stick to consoles, dumb people can use those easily.

Meh. Everyone was an idiot their first time, unless they had a vet holding their hand in person. Course most people weren't silly enough to fill column inches about it
 
He even had the benefit of having a heat spreader, oh the horrors!!! Try pasting up an open core and use a shim then worry about screwing on the heatsink and breaking the die, then you can complain.
 
I always use the X Method for applying thermal paste.

pic_disp_php_id_22016_width_800_height_800.jpg


Was going to ream this guy for such a "click bait" article but since he also put up a "10 Best Things", will let it slide.. although #8 & 9 on the "Best" aren't exclusively just for DYI builds. Both articles aren't thought out very well.

Unfortunately for me, #7 on the "Best" rarely happens the first time!! :(

I find Newgg Paul boring but wouldn't mind his job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
 
I've probably built over 100 computers since I first started in 1994 with a Cyrix based cpu.
Last prebuilt I bought was my Amiga 3000 desktop in 1992 (laptops don't count since you can't really build one, you jus upgrade certain parts).

Windows OEM builders licenses are technically tied to the first motherboard when it is installed, but if the motherboard fails and you can't procure the exact one you can tell them that you had to change it to get the machine working again.
 
Just read the Arctic Silver guide for your thermal paste and your CPU. Typically you tint, then put a small dot about the size of a grain of rice or small line on the IHS. I'm not really seeing what's so difficult.
 
Just read the Arctic Silver guide for your thermal paste and your CPU. Typically you tint, then put a small dot about the size of a grain of rice or small line on the IHS. I'm not really seeing what's so difficult.

This is what I've always done. The paste is like the easiest part if all. Of that list, the thing that I do have some empathy with are the motherboard power and indicator connectors. Of course, using your hands would be hard, a pair of needle nosed pliers makes it much easier.
 
That is a terrible list, aside from #7, none of those things have ever been a problem for me. Ever. Mobo front panel pins kinda suck if you don't get a board with one of those nice little connector blocks, but its not that big of a deal. Thermal paste is a breeze to put on. Squirt some on the processor and spread it with a credit card until its paper thin.
 
This is a Kotaku article people. Possibly the dumbest group of "journalists" on the planet.
 
He has a point. Applying TIM can be slightly difficult, not the application part, but it's very hard to tell if you over applied and could jack up your CPU by turning it on. I've over applied it once or twice, never enough to damage anything though.

Still, it's not THAT bad.
 
Dumb article, but I agree that thermal paste can be a pain at times.
 
This is a Kotaku article people. Possibly the dumbest group of "journalists" on the planet.

I think people here are taking the article too seriously. I took it as tongue-in-cheek and thought it was funny.

Especially the thermal paste part where the comments are exactly as he described...everyone has their own method and they're not afraid to tell you.
 
Imagine this article 15+ years ago.

Bare CPU dies (ccccrish!), actual hardware incompatibilities, 10 pci boards per machine, power supplies that resembled medusa, no steam, no cloud, shit bird or NO websites to get drivers and trying to get them over 56k or ISDN.

But yes, it is a funny write up. #10 is the truest of them all. NEVER. GOOD. ENOUGH.
 
heh.. i read this as humor piece, enjoyed it. i used to be one of those who painstakenly applied a thin smooth layer of paste across the cpu. then one day hardocp posted a link to articlehttp://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/What-is-the-Best-Way-to-Apply-Thermal-Grease-Part-1/1303 after reading that i switched to the grain of rice method.

i dont see how any of his problems could be considered serious. if they are he needs to learn how to google better
 
In other words, the author of the article is a complete dumbass who should probably stick with a tablet.
He should be careful though, those USB charging cables are quite tricky! :rolleyes:
 
There's a whole lot of people in this thread that take themselves and this article way too seriously.
 
#4 is legit. Fucking never have the exact right screws, but kind of sort of find the right ones to make it work.
 
When I first started out building computers by putting together Socket A systems, everyone just told me how easy it would be, that pretty much anyone could build that kind of machine.

But installing the heatsink on those was a horrible experience. Everything had to be JUST right, or you would crack the die, maybe even the motherboard. You also had to apply the thermal paste to a much smaller area. I messed that up several times before getting it right. Fry's kept taking my returned motherboards/processors during that, thankfully.

The irony is, everyone told me that you needed a technician to install the new LGA processors from Intel, that it was only doable by professionals unlike the old processors. And yet it was the easiest processor installation I've ever done. Just screw four things in with a diagonal pattern. SO much easier than trying to hook an uncooperative piece of metal using a screwdriver while making sure the other side doesn't come unhooked, all while worrying about the heatsink sliding around and cracking the die.

TIM is awful is when you have to apply it to a very tiny area, like on these:

wLSyxvJ.jpg


That said, I have no idea how anyone would have trouble applying paste to THIS:

oaWMhh5.jpg


I don't understand why people ALWAYS find easy things harder and hard things easier. But it always seems to be the case.
 
#2 is the most annoying. Windows 8 is now free for tablets under $250. I think it's going to be free for cheap laptops to since Chromebook now has 40% of commercial laptop sales. What do companies like Dell pay for an OEM copy of Windows on a consumer desktop, $25? The high cost of Windows to the individual makes it more expensive to build a low end PC than to buy one.

The worst OS is the most expensive.

On a positive note, Linux is gaining traction for indie games. So maybe one day gamers will be lucky enough to say goodbye to Windows forever.
 
i see almost none of these as an issue, i'm hoping this was a parody article.
 
I think the only time applying thermal paste is a pain in the ass is when you're doing it on a GPU where the jumpers are exposed close to the die.
My workaround was just applying Arctic Silver Ceramique instead since if I accidentally overdid it it doesn't conduct electricity so nothing accidentally crosses or shorts out.
Problem solved!
 
I got scared applying TIM on my first 2 builds....first one, my buddy did it. Second one, I bought the Zalman paste with the nailpolish application method. All since then - a BB sized pebble in the middle of the CPU. No problems. I wonder what I was "scared" of before.
 
Haha, worth looking at for the chick saying, "You're wrong."

Also:

TIM is awful is when you have to apply it to a very tiny area, like on these:

wLSyxvJ.jpg

Brokeb seal... I remember wondering if that was a joke or if I was seeing things... I don't remember much else from the turn of the millennium, I was in college.
 
This thread is a good example of Americans not getting self-deprecating sarcastic humour. As a Brit I thought it was hilarious. Things like using kitchen bowls to divide up the screws, which I totally don't do *shifty eyes*

Lighten up you bunch of grumblers :p
 
They just had an article with the 10 best things about building a gaming PC. Lighten up Francis.
 
Everyone knows about the pea trick. Why do people try to smear thermal paste today?

farm09peasizeremount.jpg
 
Meh. Everyone was an idiot their first time, unless they had a vet holding their hand in person. Course most people weren't silly enough to fill column inches about it

exactly. lets not all act like our first build was a breeze, although the tutorials on the internet have made this way more accessible than folks who started on this hobby/career path back in the 90s. remember ordering parts from trade shows and magazines and sending checks :p ?
 
exactly. lets not all act like our first build was a breeze, although the tutorials on the internet have made this way more accessible than folks who started on this hobby/career path back in the 90s. remember ordering parts from trade shows and magazines and sending checks :p ?

I remember my first PC build was a Pentium 2 slot design and it stopped working within the hour. I was like what's wrong? Now the darn thing won't even turn on. The CPU is sure getting hot, I wonder if that's normal? The CPU requires a fan on the heatsink? My old Pentium 90 didn't need that.
 
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