When the postie comes, I’ll be building a PC for the first time in years. What are the do’s, don’ts and tips nowadays?
Obviously classics like RTFM, plan ahead and retrieve any dropped screws are evergreen.
Things I believe are true: tighten your CPU cooler screws evenly (like putting on a car tyre), all screws should be no more than finger tight, build in a dust-free environment.
What about grounding yourself? I remember reading that the danger of this was way overstated and e.g. anti-static wrist straps were a waste of money. Is building in a case that’s plugged in (but powered off) enough?
I’ve seen recommendations to build outside of the case first to test components - is this good advice?
Anything else?
If your cabling gets too in the way of itself don’t be afraid to unplug everything and start over.
If it won’t post, reset your RAM by removing it and putting it back in again.
Nothing should be difficult to insert/plug in. The RAM and video card probably has the most resistance because of their long connections, but it should never feel like you are struggling to make it go in. That is a good sign that something isn’t lined up properly or isn’t the right connection.