Tools of the Trade Building a PC doesn’t require much, but there are a few key parts we highly recommend to make it even easier
[35] CONTAINERS These are going to be your best friends. You can get a magnetic bowl—we highly recommend them, and they’re remarkably cheap on Amazon. Alternatively, use a small glass, a ceramic bowl, a tupperware tub—literally anything with rounded edges will do the trick.
The amount of case screws, side-panel widgets, mounting hardware, cable ties, and everything else in between that you’ll accumulate and need during a build is horrendous.
[36] THERMAL PASTEWe’ve been recommending Noctua’s NT-H1 paste for close to a decade at this point, and it’s still our go-to thermal paste of choice, even compared to the NT-H2 that launched in 2020. Nope, the NT-H1 is cheap, performs well, has fantastic consistency, and keeps for a ridiculously long time. Most CPU coolers will come with a tube of paste or pre-applied thermal paste, but we highly recommend getting a tube of your own. Just make sure it’s non-conductive. Plus, if you have a spare tube, they’re super handy for repairing old graphics cards, or friends’ PCs where the thermal paste may have cracked between whatever the CPU/GPU is and what’s cooling it.
[37] OPTIONAL SPARE HARDWARE If you have hardware lying around from older builds that’s compatible with what you’re working on, it can be valuable. For instance, if you’ve got a Z790 board, but it hasn’t been flashed ready for that new 14th gen chip, a 13th gen processor is useful. Likewise, memory kits for memory diagnosing, SSDs, or even power supplies can help you out, and make diagnosing system faults easier.
[38] CABLE TIES Grab a bag of these from Amazon on the cheap—you can pick up a pack of several hundred for less than $10, and they’re well worth it for cable management. They can also act as emergency mounting solutions. We’ve secured graphics cards, fans, and SSDs using these things. You can also ‘daisy-chain’ them together to secure bigger blocks of cables, and most cases come with cable-tie mounts built in.
[39] ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL OR LIGHTER FLUID
Placing highly flammable liquid on PC hardware might sound risky, but nothing cleans off the aforementioned paste better than either 99.99 percent proof alcohol or lighter fluid. Just dab a bit on a cloth or kitchen paper, and go to town cleaning up those CPUs. It’s worth noting, however, that you do need to be careful with certain materials, as brushed aluminum and sandblasted finishes, vinyl, and plastics can react poorly if they come into contact with it.
[40] A GOOD SCREWDRIVER
SET There’s a number of manufacturers out there producing full-on kits for PC building, such as iFixIt, Linus Tech Tips, and Corsair, to name a few. Pick up a cheap set with as many bits as you can find, and you’ll be able to install the largest of graphics cards to the smallest of M.2 screws. The reality, however, is that you’ll likely only need a standard Phillips head-screwdriver for most of your work, and a smaller one for the M.2 heatsinks.