I built my own PC and it was super easy — here's how to do it

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In the summer of 2016, I decided to build my own computer — specifically one that can handle running high-resolution video games.

I could've just bought a ready-made PC from Asus or Alienware, two of the most well-known gaming PC brands. But I like the idea of choosing the parts that go into my computer so I know exactly how much they cost and I can pick them based on my personal preferences and needs.

Plus, building your own computer is actually easier than most people might think, and it's incredibly fulfilling and satisfying, too! All you need is the parts and a screwdriver.

I should note that this particular PC cost me a lot of money, as I needed powerful parts to play games smoothly at the sharp 1440p resolution, which is sharper than 1080p. But you can build a fantastic gaming PC for starting from around $400 if you plan on gaming on a 1080p monitor.

More recently, I also decided to switch up the look of my PC pretty dramatically, which you'll see at the end.

Here's how I built my very own high-end gaming PC, and how you can do it too.

See that big white case on the left? I'm going to put all these labeled parts into that case to make a super-powerful computer that will play video games in the 1440p resolution.

In case you want to build a PC exactly like mine, I'll list each component as they come up. There's also a full list of everything I used at the very bottom of this story.

This is the motherboard, which acts as the host to most of the parts.

This is the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GA-Z170X 7 motherboard — you can buy it here. It's specifically designed for gaming, as it has some extra features that gamers will appreciate, like better internet performance. Gaming motherboards are also often built at a higher quality than regular motherboards, which means they're often more expensive, too.

To be honest, gaming motherboards are overkill for most gamers, including myself. However, I chose a gaming motherboard because I went for quality over value with this build.

I started by installing the CPU (the square thing I'm holding) into the motherboard. It's probably the easiest part of the whole build.

The CPU is the brain of a computer, as it's coordinating pretty much everything that's going on in the computer.

I bought the Intel Core i7 6700K processor — you can buy it here. It's one of the most powerful CPUs you can get at the moment and it's total overkill for today's gaming needs, as you can run games pretty smoothly with older and less powerful CPUs.

However, I'm planning to make this computer last a long, long time, so I wanted to future-proof it as much as I could with a powerful CPU that'll exceed specifications for several years.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider