INSTALL YOUR APPS

Now you’ll want some regular apps on your rig. A quick starting point is that long-time industry favorite, Ninite. Head to https:// ninite.com and pick the apps you’d like to install. There’s a few we recommend off the bat: Chrome, LibreOffice, Notepad++, and 7Zip. You can also install things such as Skype and Steam if need be, but if, like us, you’re a stickler for having all your Steam in a single location, it’s arguably better to hold off on that one until later.

If you watch a lot of media, K-Lite Codecs is a good choice. It installs Media Player Classic, which can decode and play MKV video files, among other things. You also need GPU drivers. In our case, Google “Nvidia GeForce Drivers,” and click the topmost link. In “Manual Driver Search,” select your GPU and OS, hit “Start Search,” then download and install the driver. You can opt out of installing GeForce Experience, but then you’ll need to do this every few months; GeForce Experience auto-downloads driver updates, but you need to make an account, and give Nvidia some juicy advertising details (we’re not fans).