This is a guide to help first time computer builders. My goal is to inform you on making good, optimized choices to make sure you get the best bang for the buck in terms of the two most important components in a modern computer, the CPU and GPU.

First off, some people think building a gaming computer or a work computer is an absurdly expensive thing to accomplish. The platform is actually quite flexable. From the monstrous water cooled powerhouses to the cheap $400 computers will play modern games and keep you productive.

In fact most people don't understand that deminishing returns starts to hit modern PC's pretty hard at around the $2000 range. Still incredibly high for most people considering building a computer. I'm going to show you a few basic things about building a computer to optimize your specific budget. So come with me as we flash our BIOS of misperceptions on building computers!

Don’t be fooled: Building your own PC isn’t some arcane art or esoteric skill that only the most hardcore of hardware geeks can pull off. In fact, assembling a DIY PC is pretty straightforward once you’ve settled on your parts list

Rolling your own computer offers a number of advantages that boxed desktops just can’t match. You get granular control over every single aspect of the hardware. You get to choose not only the nuts-and-bolts-level details like processing and graphical capabilities, but also deeply personal touches like the PC’s case design and cooling capabilities.

Want to build a huge, hulking full tower PC with unrivaled top-of-the-line hardware? Go for it! (If you can convince your significant other to OK the expense, that is.) Or maybe you prefer a smaller PC you can tuck under your desk or next to your home entertainment center? That’s possible too, and you can customize your itty-bitty rig with no-compromise components or aim for a more affordable small-form-factor system that’s still capable of playing games just fine. When you’re building your own PC, the choice is yours.

Even better, when you’re building your own PC you can shop around for the best price for each of your chosen components, rather than paying a single marked-up cost for the whole-hog system. The superb PCPartPicker.com website makes comparison shopping dead simple. And when you’re done building your PC and successfully power it up, it feels glorious—like you’ve truly accomplished something, rather than simply yanking a prebuilt tower out of a box.

Building a PC for the first time can be intimidating, though. Even though PC assembly’s fairly simple once you know what you’re doing, staring at a giant pile of disparate parts and knowing you not only need to piece them together correctly but also wire them correctly afterwards is enough to bring a lump to a newbie PC builder’s throat.