​My Build Blog

​My new rig

Building your own PC can be rewarding. You can customize every component your are going to use to build your RIG. Start of by deciding what you want from your rig. If you are a gamer you will be looking to get a very powerful graphics card (GPU) and a high end CPU.  In my case I am looking at creating an HTPC (Home Theatre PC). I watch NETFLIX and use a video streaming app (DVBviewer) to watch TV via DVB-T and DVB-S2 sources. 
The main reason I build my own PC is that I can carefully select appropriate parts that suit my budget. As I already have several parts I will continue using them until they fail  (Keyboard, mouse, monitor and hard drives). I already had a Windows 10 license so I had no need to buy an OS. 
You will need to research what you will be buying. There are usually product reviews on most items that you will find in a PC. Obviously if you already have a PC you can use a number of components you already have. For example I have a 4K monitor which works fine and I have no reason to replace. I have had the LG27MU67 for about 18 months now and it is very capable.

Keyboard and mouse are usually needed, again I have my own keyboard and mouse and don't need those. As I intended to keep my old system working until the new one was built I needed a new case and a power supply. For a power supply I would recommend something upwards of 600 Watt if you are going to be doing any gaming. I bought an 850 Watt PSU. This should be more than enough to power all I could fit in my PC. When buying a PSU make sure it has all the connectors you will require. 



For a case I had a few in mind.  You will have to consider if you are going to use liquid cooling. If yes you will need to make sure your case had the correct facilities for liquid cooling.

In the end I bought this case.  Corsair Carbide 330R.  One requirement with case was filters. We have 3 cats and the amount of fur the fans suck in is unbelievable. I have to vacuum my PC on a regular basis otherwise it will overheat and could easily fry my CPU.

---

The heart of your PC is the CPU chip. Over the years AMD and Intel have battled it out with the CPU chips getting more complex and being clocked faster. Recently we have seen Intel release the KabyLake (i7, i5, i3) range of CPUs.  AMD is back in the playing field with the RyZen CPUs.

The Intel Kaby Lake CPUs will get a new socket. 
​LGA 2066 will be released mid 2017, Currently the LGA1151 is the socket for 7th Gen and 6th Gen Intel® Core™ desktop processors.

AMD RyZen motherboards will have an AM4 socket. 
The major motherboard manufacturers all have products for these CPUs.

---

Motherboards.....Yes will definitely need one of those.

 A motherboard is where your CPU and memory are fitted. Also you will find all the connections for your disk drives, USB ports, Sound connectors and many other connectors. Most of the new motherboards will feature a USB 3.1 connection.

GPU
I already have an AMD RX480 GPU so will be keeping that. I have been using this GPU in my current rig and it has coped with everything I could throw at it. That includes 4K UHD satellite streaming at 60fps. Brilliant pictures.  The picture on the left shows the HDMI connection via the sound system and it implies it can cope with HDCP2.2 which will be ideal if NETFLIX or Amazon Prime Video will support NETFLIX on a PC.

---

Cooling your CPU 

Cooling your CPU is one important factor you will need to consider. There are many factors you will have to consider. If you use your PC for general day to day use you will probably get by using a stock cooler. On the other hand overclocking will benefit with better cooling, same applies to heavy gaming. 
I have been looking at some of the available options. The types of cooling I am looking at are
Air Coolers & Liquid Coolers

Air Coolers
There are many to choose from: 
Items on my shortlist are
Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4
CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 
Be Quiet BK019 Dark Rock Pro3
Arctic Freezer 33 Plus

Liquid Coolers
Liquid Coolers (sometimes referred to as Water Coolers) are available as AIO (All in One) or CLC (Closed Loop Cooling). Also we have the DIY Loops which can also be setup to cool a GPU in the cooling path.
A few examples of the AIO
Cryorig A80
Corsair H110 280mm AIO Hydro/Water CPU Cooler
Corsair H110i AIO Hydro/Water Intel/AMD AM4 RGB LED CPU Cooler
Swiftech H240-X
BeQuiet! Silent Loop

For the extreme overclocker there is also th option to go with an LN2 cooling. Liquid nitrogen cooling is extreme. There are many videos on Youtube if you want to take a look.

Now whichever option you choose you will have to plan well ahead. 
If you choose an AIO  cooler you can have 1,2,3 fan solutions. The fans also come in different sizes, mostly are 120mm or 140mm. This will need to fit your case so you need to make sure you have enough room for the AIO. 
Same applies to Air coolers, some are pretty massive and will generally cover a large area of the motherboard. This can sometimes obstruct one of the PCIe slots. The memory slots will need to be considered too as most memory will have a heat sink bolted on. 

Noctua have created 3 air coolers special edition for AM4.
The NH-D15 SE-AM4 comes with AM4 mounting hardware only. This is 
looking like a good option for the RyZen CPU.

My current rig which I built in 2011 has a Corsair H60 single fan AIO cooler and has been problem free for the last 6 years. 

April 2017: My new rig
You can check out what I used to build my PC



Obviously these units are designed to provide efficient cooling with minimum noise. Some do it better than others. There are many reviews for most products. When I decide on a cooler for my rig and get everything working I will share my experience.