MANY OF US use computers every day, but never really get into the guts of how they work. Sometimes, it’s nice to make something with your own hands that you’ll use every day. That’s what this guide is about: how to build a PC from scratch.

It can be daunting for a lot of reasons—it’s expensive, it’s complex, it can get messy. But I want to be clear: If you can build an Ikea table, bookshelf, bed, or anything that comes in more than one of those deceivingly heavy flat packs, you can build a PC. The tricky part? I can’t tell you how to build your PC. Not really. Not unless I know exactly which hardware you’re using. I can, however, explain what each component does and what my recommendations are for each category.

Once you’ve built your shiny new PC, it might be time to check out some other stuff to further accessorize your new partner in crime. Be sure to have a look at our guides for the best gaming keyboards, best gaming mice, best gaming headsets, and best gaming controllers.

First, Let’s Talk Shortages

For several years now, we’ve been in the midst of a PC hardware shortage. First, cryptocurrency miners bought up all the GPUs to farm crypto, then we got hit by a worldwide silicon shortage exacerbated by the pandemic. Now an event called the Merge has brought GPU prices back down. What that means for you, the prospective PC builder, is that it’s now easier than it has been in the past few years to buy all the parts you need to put together a good work or gaming PC. That is very welcome news.

Third-Party Markup

When you’re shopping for components, make sure you’re buying from a reputable vendor. You may think you’re buying from a large online store like Amazon, Walmart, or Newegg, but they allow third-party sellers to list products as well. There’s usually a little notice that will tell you as much, right underneath the buy button. 

If it’s shipped and sold from someone who isn’t Amazon, Walmart, or Newegg, you’re probably going to pay more for the component than its retail price. For instance, our top motherboard pick retails for $130, but as of this writing its listed on Newegg for $205. It’s shipped and sold from a third-party retailer, hence the markup. First-party sales (when the product is shipped and sold by the store whose site you’re visiting) tend to have better prices that hew closer to the actual manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of the item. 

We’ve tried to stick to first-party sales, but sometimes components are just not available through anyone but a third party. In that case, my advice is don’t spend more than 50 percent over the MSRP on any of these components. Give yourself a hard budget and please don’t pay double or triple what any of these components are worth. 

We’ve added buying advice to each category most affected by the shortage to speak more specifically to each component’s scarcity (or abundance now that prices are falling), but in general just know that building a gaming PC, even as prices come down, might be a little more expensive than you expect. If you can, be patient. Grab components when they’re cheap, hold on to ’em and keep an eye out for a good price on what you need next. All of my most cost-effective PC builds have been slow and steady ones. 

What Do You Need?

In order to get a list of components together, no matter what your experiencelevel is, you should use PCPartPicker. Not only does it have everything you need to buy, it also lets you build your PC piece by piece right on the website and makes sure all your hardware will play nicely together. It even has a few example builds you can tweak to your liking. Additionally, I recommend keeping a list of what you want, what you have, and what your budget is. I do this in Notes on my phone, with the title of each build right up at the top. It comes in handy to keep track of things. 

Regardless of what kind of PC you’re building (home office or gaming), the components you need are going to be the same. For the purposes of this guide you’re going to see a lot of abbreviations but let this section act as your glossary. 

First off, you’ll need a motherboard, a central processing unit (CPU), a solid state drive (SSD) or hard disk drive (HDD) for storage, memory (RAM), a power supply (PSU), a case, and a monitor. The only thing you might not need if you’re mostly using this PC for home-office tasks is a graphics card (or GPU), but it’s necessary for photo or video editing and gaming. That’s a lot of stuff! Here’s a little breakdown of what each component does, along with some hardware recommendations. 

Motherboard

Every other component plugs into this circuit board. It’s the highway they use to communicate and collaborate. They come in different sizes and configurations, and each one looks a little different, but they all fill the same function. Make sure you know which processor you want before you buy a motherboard. 

Motherboards come in a couple of flavors, but the most important thing to know is what kind of socket it has. There are basically two: LGA and AM. You’ll always see them listed with a number after them, like “LGA1150” or “AM3.” The exact numbers after the LGA and AM portions of these socket names will change over time, to indicate which generation of Intel or AMD chips they support, but the current standards as of 2022 (which will work with the latest chips from either maker) are LGA1700 for Intel and AM4 for AMD.

Motherboards also come in a couple of sizes, the most common being ATX (or “full size”). That’s what I generally recommend, especially if this is your first build. Your PC case will list which size motherboard it supports, so make sure they match up. I’ve made that mistake before and it’s always a pain to realize your motherboard is too big for your snazzy little case.

Buying advice: Okay, let’s be real: What separates a fancy motherboard from a cheap motherboard? The truth is, not much. A more expensive motherboard like the MSI MPG Z590 is going to mean you get more ports, more slots for internal components like storage drives, and more slots for RAM or support for more RAM. Nicer boards also typically have more lights on them, too which is of vital importance for a gaming PC.

The question though, is whether or not you need those extra ports. When it comes to storage drives, two M.2 slots is plenty, more than that is kind of a luxury. With regard to RAM, 16 GB is what I’d say is the minimum for a gaming PC. Moving up to 32 GB is essential for video editing, and it’s really nice to have for gaming but it’s not a requirement by any means.

This list has motherboards of all price points on it, but there are way more out there than we can ever test and cover for you so if you see one that you like, write down its specs and compare it to others on the market to find a good fit for your budget and your vibe. We try to keep this list updated regularly with prices that aren’t too much higher than MSRP, but if any of the prices here skyrockets between updates, shop around.

• ASUS ROG Strix B450-F (AM4 Socket): For a rig designed for 1080p gaming, start here.
• Asus ROG Strix B550-F (AM4 Socket): This motherboard has a few extra ports (including Thunderbolt 3) you’ll appreciate if you’re building a mid to high end gaming PC on an AMD processor.
• MSI MPG Z490 (LGA 1200 Socket): This one is great for 10th and 11th-generation Intel processors and mid-tier machines.
• ASUS ROG Strix (LGA 1700 Socket): This is a high-performance motherboard for gaming machines. If you’re picking up a 12th or 13th-generation Intel processor, this is our recommendation.

Processor (CPU)

This is the brain of your computer. It sockets directly into the motherboard, and it’s the single most important component of your PC. That doesn’t mean it has to be the most expensive (we’ll get to that later), or that it’s the most important for gaming performance. Like your brain, everything your PC does goes through here. Your legs are important for running, but it’s your brain that tells them to move.