10 Reasons Why Building a Gaming PC is Awesome

[Julio Franco]

Building a gaming PC can be time-consuming and stressful. There are a thousand things that could go wrong, and any one of them could wind up costing hundreds of dollars. And yet we do it anyway. Why? Because building PCs is totally awesome.

Last summer, I finished building and fine-tuning a new gaming PC. It was a rewarding, maddening, exciting, terrifying, and ultimately enjoyable experience. Shortly after finishing, I made a list of the ten best things about building a new PC.

Read the complete article.

 

[darkzelda]

That's one of the things I loved about PC gaming, it's incredibly how the whole process finish with the satisfaction of playing the games you love in a machine you actually build.

 

[VitalyT]

Having put together a few top-notch desktop PC-s I found the most rewarding experience in having a very quiet PC. My current one is totally silent, it is always on, and that's why I love it.

 

[CortyDK]

I agree with VitalyT. I used to build noisy pc's with latest hardware and need for effective cooling. But my latest pc build includes an ssd, a passively cooled Radeon R7 graphics card, and only one slow-going 120mm case fan. Reducing power consumption from cpu/gpu and other peripherals are now just as fun as in the old DOS days when I was trying to squeeze a few more kb out of base memory by loading drivers to highmem or umb by arranging the order using only trial-and-error.

 

[Guest]

We turning into BuzzFeed now.

 

[Evernessince]

I think the best part about having a PC is what is can do. Tons of software, your choice of OS, you can setup your rig to do whatever you want(streaming, audio recording) ect.

The PC platform is very flexible and can cover a wide range of uses.

 

[Antykain]

I've build many rigs for friends, family, co-workers, etc.. And each build is a small learning experience. While many of the builds go pretty flawlessly and without a hitch, there is always that ONE (or two) build that really tests your patience. But, it's always satisfying firing up the rig for the first time after everything put together. Much has changed over the 25+ years I've been tinkering with PC's, but one thing has stayed the same.. That giddy feeling you get after building the rig of your dreams.

And yes, it will play Crysis..

#PCMasterRace - yessir.

 

[Guest]

Is it me or did this guy sound like a total noob. All I can say is, these kids and their new newfangled videos and guides, back in my day sonny we didn't have any of that! Now get off my lawn you crazy kids...

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

We turning into BuzzFeed now.

We? You're a guest. Once you've joined TS and become one of the clan then you can talk about "we".

 

[Capaill]

Number 7.
Every time.

 

[Filip B]

Let's be frank guys. There's also a downside to this. And that's the painful Windows and driver setup

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Building a gaming rig is cool and super easy, I've just finished building another one for myself but justifying the funds for something so indulgent is becoming increasingly difficult for me considering there are no more than 3 upcoming titles (GTA V, Batman Arkham Knight and Project Cars) I'm looking forward to. Over the last 2 years I've only bought 2 games whereas in bygone years I used to buy at least 6, there was absolutely nothing that interests me.
If things carry on like this my latest build will most likely be my last which is a pity because I'd like to craft myself a custom water loop for it and if I can't make the most of it, it's pointless.

 

[hood6558]

Great article! Those are all the same reasons that keep me building PCs. Once I have the big NewEgg box of goodies in hand, I'm not sleeping until it's finished, and all drivers, firmware, and software are perfect, and I usually forget to eat for long stretches. Then I usually sell the system within a month, for only what I have invested in parts, and start planning the next one. It's a very rewarding hobby, but not financially! I try to break even if I can. Eventually every family member and friend in town will have one of my creations. The downside to that is forever answering tech calls (usually because they perform ZERO maintenance on Windows, and downloaded 35 toolbars). It's nice to keep busy in my declining years...

 

[nazartp]

Let's be frank guys. There's also a downside to this. And that's the painful Windows and driver setup

Sorry, any installation of Windows after XP is a breeze. Latest media box I built runs (gasp!) Windows 8. I did ZERO manual driver installations. It even found both of my networked printers and asked me: "Do you want to install your printers?" I clicked "yes", and there they were.

 

[nazartp]

First computer built - ZX Spectrum. From scratch. Meaning etching the PCB, soldering ICs in place, making case/keyboard from PCB blanks and some buttons.

Most rewarding build - spending evenings over a couple of months with my son designing and building thermoelectric cooling for his rig. We built Arduino-based PWM controller for the Peltier element so the water temperature always hovers just below ambient to prevent condensation. It is modular, serviceable and fits in the standard 5.25 drive bay.

 

[Burty117]

Let's be frank guys. There's also a downside to this. And that's the painful Windows and driver setup

Eeerrrr.... What?

 

[abysal]

We turning into BuzzFeed now.

We? You're a guest. Once you've joined TS and become one of the clan then you can talk about "we".

haha... burned!

 

[madboyv1]

10. When you close up the case and decide that you're finished

Any habiltiual system builder will never be finished my dear boy, for the burning soul of the tinkerer will find that side panel coming off many a time after.

Also,

We turning into BuzzFeed now.

We? You're a guest. Once you've joined TS and become one of the clan then you can talk about "we".

Well if he feels like he is a loyal Kohaku user, the guest's comment might still be correct, since well, this is a cross post from Kotaku. Also, here is a reciprocal post about the worst things about building computers, according to the same OP. [Link]

 

[Nobina]

2. Talking yourself into getting the more expensive part

I'm pretty sure most people are talking themselves into getting a cheaper part.

 

[Kibaruk]

Let's be frank guys. There's also a downside to this. And that's the painful Windows and driver setup

Maybe 15 years ago... and even then, all the drivers came neatly packed with the hardware you bought in a CD. So unless you were a freaking pig or those kids that rip boxes apart to get the "shinies" and then dumping everything else, that was not a hard part at all. Even on W95 all you had to do was hit next next skip next next and voila.

 

[TorturedChaos]

I'm sorry, but the way this article was written grated on my nerves. If this was a TV commercial I image it with lots of flashing colors, camera bouncing all if the place, and absolutely no substance to it.

I built my own computers so I have control over the quality of parts I install in them and to save money off a boutique build or off the rack POS. I install the OS I want that fits my purpose, and csn customize the computer for the job I'm building it for. I don't have to deal with any of the preloaded crapware and if I have to refomat, I'm back to a fresh installed OS, not ones filled with ads. It has nothing to do with any of the reasons listed above.

Let's be frank guys. There's also a downside to this. And that's the painful Windows and driver setup

Even if your living in XP world, if you are building your own PC you have that wonderful disc that comes with the Mobo and you can install most if your drives right from it. Win7 all I usually have to install is the Ethernet drive and it does the rest. Ubuntu - don't even have to do that.

 

[wiyosaya]

Let's be frank guys. There's also a downside to this. And that's the painful Windows and driver setup

I can't say that has been my experience since Windows 7. Even Linux these days, specifically I have been using SuSE for several years now, the setup is surprisingly easy.

Back in the days of Windows 3.1, or Windows 2000, and perhaps even Windows NT x64, I would agree with you but just not now. Some motherboards even come with the ability to upgrade the bios over the internet without having an OS installed. Things have gotten so much easier that I would have to say if you have not built your own in a while, you should try it.

I've been doing it since I built a 386-SX16 back in the early 90's, and it is almost trivial these days by comparison. In addition, I worked for a small company that built a hardware product which needed a PC. I convinced them that building their own was the way to go. They subsequently hired someone who had no technical background to build them. She told me that she could not build one, and I told her yes you can, trained her, and in less than a month, she was doing just fine.

 

[madboyv1]

I'm sorry, but the way this article was written grated on my nerves. If this was a TV commercial I image it with lots of flashing colors, camera bouncing all if the place, and absolutely no substance to it.

Basically, like any clickbate list? The damn things are generally annoying regardless of content, but at least this list was on one page, and not on 30 pages. You know, first page to load the image, second page a quick caption, third page a not so witty quip, ad nauseam.

 

[Deltree]

Loved this article. We have the same uncredible PC case!

 

[SirGCal]

I just prefer to spend a proper amount of money for the right parts for the project and, most importantly, zero bloatware. Even if I did ever purchase a packaged computer, I'd reformat it regardless.

But I build rigs for their intended purposes. If I have left over parts from a previous build that will do the job, they get the job and I finish it off with new things. While my gaming rig might be overkill, the rest are silent. HTPCs can also be made so inexpensively, etc. And my own servers vs synology or other too-expensive boxes. However I have no problem installing Linux and RAIDZ2. But $300 for hardware instead of $1200 for that example. My gaming rig is my only expensive (and audible) build.