How To Choose The Perfect Gaming PC Parts In 2021! (Best Gaming PC Build 2021)

# Building Your Gaming PC: A Step-by-Step Guide

## Introduction

Choosing parts for your brand new gaming computer should be an incredibly exciting time. However, 2021 has been a bit of a weird year with bigger and faster graphics cards, beefier processors, and games that are more demanding and more buggy than ever before. Despite these challenges, this guide will walk you through all the quick tips to help you get the most out of your money and build the gaming PC that's right for you. Forget about all the noise—everyone is different, and we need to get the parts that make sense for us, not anyone else.

## Addressing Stock Issues

It’s no secret that there have been significant stock issues in 2021. Price increases and delays at import points have made it a nightmare for many. However, things will get better eventually, as they always do in this business. When shopping, remember to use your head, not your heart. It's easy to rush into purchases, but doing so can lead to regret down the line.

## Key Questions to Ask Yourself

Before diving into components, there are two main questions you need to answer:

1. **What is your budget?**

2. **What games are you actually wanting to play on this PC?**

These questions will define your entire build. If you’re playing games like *Dota*, *Smite*, or *Civilization*, you won’t need as much horsepower as someone building a maxed-out *Cyberpunk* rig. Additionally, consider whether this PC will be used for anything other than gaming—workloads, streaming, or even as a living room PC. These factors will influence your component choices and budget allocation.

## Balancing Costs with Monitor Resolution

A fantastic way to control costs is by looking at a lower resolution monitor. This can save money on the screen itself and reduce the need for high-end graphics card horsepower. While games like *Warzone* perform best at over 100 frames per second, you don’t need an expensive setup to maximize your chances of winning.

Personally, I think that 144Hz Quad HD is probably the sweet spot for most people right now. It’s sharper than Full HD (1080p) while still offering the benefits of high refresh rates without being too difficult to drive.

## Focusing on the Most Important Components

When it comes to building your gaming PC, don’t get distracted by cases, RGB fans, or aesthetics just yet. The most important components to focus on first are the CPU (processor) and GPU (graphics card). These two pieces of the puzzle will directly determine your gaming experience and should be chosen wisely.

### Choosing Your Graphics Card

The graphics chip is the most important component, and most of your budget will likely be allocated here. Both AMD and NVIDIA have compelling offerings, but there’s no single "best GPU" for everyone. The key is to pick something that can play the games you want at the settings and resolutions you desire.

It’s also crucial to recognize that not all cards are created equal. While raw GPU performance might be similar between models, differences in cooling solutions, factory clock speeds, temperatures, overclocking potential, and noise levels can vary significantly. For example, the Zotac Twin Edge RTX 3070 was cheaper but too noisy, while the RTX 3060 Ti Strix edition was fantastic but priced too high.

### Selecting Your Processor

When it comes to CPUs, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Intel and AMD both offer amazing gaming processors, and which one you choose will depend on your specific needs and budget. As a general rule:

- A **budget gaming PC** might start with a 4-core chip.

- A **mid-range setup** could go for a 6-core processor.

- For a luxury build, you’d probably look at an 8-core or higher processor.

Keep in mind that lower resolution, high frame rate gaming is very CPU-intensive. Just because a 1080p 240Hz monitor might be within your budget doesn’t mean it’s realistic to run it smoothly without a powerful CPU.

## Choosing Your Motherboard

Motherboards are fun and essential, but they’re also a critical component in any PC build. Assuming you’ve already chosen your CPU, selecting the right motherboard becomes much easier. Here are some key considerations:

- **Size Options**: In 2021, you’ll likely be looking at an **Z590 motherboard** for Intel chips or a **B550** for Ryzen processors. Both support PCIe Generation 4 SSDs, which is a great addition if you have extra cash to spend on future-proof, blazing-fast storage.

- **Compatibility**: Be aware that older motherboards (like Z490 and B550) might not support the latest CPUs unless they have USB BIOS flashing capabilities. This allows you to update your motherboard firmware without needing an older generation CPU, which most of us don’t have lying around.

## Storage Solutions

When it comes to storage, it’s all about balancing performance and budget. For a starter PC, 500GB is usually sufficient, but 1TB or more is recommended if you plan to store a lot of games. Always go for NVMe SSDs over SATA unless you can find an extremely cheap SATA drive.

## Cooling Solutions

Cooling is another area where personal preference plays a big role. If you’re starting with a stock cooler, you have two main options: **air cooling** or **water cooling**. Air cooling is much cheaper but might not look as sleek, while water cooling offers better performance and aesthetics for those willing to invest the time and money.

## RAM Recommendations

For optimal gaming performance, aim for at least 16GB of RAM running at 3200MHz or higher. This is an easy upgrade you can do later if needed and a great way to save money upfront by starting with the right amount.

## Power Supply Units (PSU)

Finally, don’t skimp on your power supply unit. A reliable PSU is essential for maintaining stability and performance. Use a PSU calculator to determine how much wattage you need and always buy from respectable brands. While spending more on a PSU won’t directly improve frame rates, it’s worth investing in a quality product to avoid potential issues down the line.

## Operating System

Don’t forget that your PC will need a copy of Windows! If you don’t already have a license from an older computer, you’ll need to purchase one. While Windows is free at first, you must activate it to ensure everything runs smoothly.

## Conclusion

Building a gaming PC can be a daunting task, but with careful planning and research, you can create a system that meets your needs and stays within your budget. Remember to focus on the essentials—your CPU, GPU, and monitor—and don’t rush into decisions.

If you need more help choosing components or want to see more of my content, be sure to subscribe! And as always, if you’re looking for high-performance graphics cards that deliver next-generation visuals and frame rates without breaking the bank, check out Gigabyte’s Gaming OC series.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next video!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enchoosing parts for your brand new gaming computer should be an incredibly exciting time should be 2021 is a bit of a weird one though with bigger and faster graphics cards beefier processors and games that are more demanding and more buggy than ever before rest assured however that in this video i'm going to walk you through all of my quick tips to help you get the most out of your money and get the gaming pc that's right for you forget about all of the noise we're all different and we need to get the parts that make sense for us and nobody else i don't think i could make this video without addressing all of the stock issues that people are having the price increases actually things getting held up at import now it is sort of a nightmare it's the best and worst time to buy pc components but things will get better and like pretty much everything in this business always do your shopping with your head not your heart because it's very easy to rush into things but in the long run that's not really a great strategy are you after a killer new graphics card that doesn't break the bank gigabytes gaming oc graphics cards are the answers to your prayers get next generation performance with nvidia rtx ray tracing super smooth gameplay in the latest titles and dlss 2.0 technology for sky-high frame rates stay cool and quiet with a triple fan design whilst enjoying mouthwatering clock speeds straight out the box up the ante with gigabyte today learn a little bit more with that link down below right let's begin and there's pretty much two main questions that you need to answer if you're thinking about buying a gaming pc the first one is what's your budget but the second and arguably even more important is what games are you actually wanting to play on this thing these two questions are going to define your entire computer build as you're going to be able to sculpt your pc around the things that it'll actually spend its time computing if you play games like dota smite or maybe civilization then you won't need anywhere near as much horsepower as say a maxed out cyberpunk rig you also need to ask yourself whether this computer is going to be used for anything other than gaming are you going to be doing some workloads on it maybe some streaming or do you have any special and more specific needs a workstation will likely need more ram and cpu power a streaming den will need multiple monitors and then a living room pc will probably want to be on the smaller side bearing in mind all of these things you then bring your budget back into the equation and ask yourself how much you can realistically spend on a gaming pc it's very important to be honest with yourself at this stage and set your expectations as the more demanding the game the more you're going to have to spend on the computer to get it looking and feeling its absolute best a fantastic way to control the costs a little bit and bring the whole price down is to actually look at getting a lower resolution monitor as this will save yourself some money on the screen itself and you won't need as much graphics card horsepower to actually drive it in the first place games like warzone play their absolute best when running over 100 frames a second but you're going to need a beefier graphics card and then a specialist display to properly utilize this but they don't have to be expensive there is an aoc monitor that costs around about 200 pounds give or take and this is going to maximize your chances of winning the games even if your pockets aren't particularly deep at the moment personally speaking i think that 144 hertz quad hd is probably going to be the sweet spot for most people at the moment as it's sharper than full hd 1080p that you've probably been using but then you get all of the benefits of high refresh rates without being too difficult to drive with this all in mind you can then move on to the components and no no no no don't start looking at things like cases rgb fans none of that the most important thing to look at is the cpu and the gpu the processor and the graphics card because you see these are the two pieces of the puzzle that's going to directly determine your outright gaming experience and they should always be chosen first your graphics chip is the most important of the two and most of your budget will probably want to be allocated here amd and nvidia both have compelling offerings at the moment and a best gpu doesn't really exist just make sure that you do pick something that can play the games that you actually want to play are the settings and resolutions that you're looking for if you do need a little bit of help with this then there's someone that can help you out i do loads of graphics card reviews plenty of full pc builds from start to finish all of them show benchmarks so if you do need a little bit more help choosing a graphics card then you can find all of this information in the end screen but don't be fooled into thinking that all cards are created equally though because they're just not one rx 6800 is not going to be the same as the next as while the raw gpu performance should be roughly the same the different cooling solutions and factory clock speeds will mean that the temperatures overclocking potential and the noise levels will vary considerably as always it's all about balance the zotac twin edge rtx 3070 that i tested a couple of months ago was cheaper but it was just too noisy whereas the rtx 3060 ti strix edition this card was fantastic arguably one of the best in the business but it was priced so expensive that it just should not be bought once you're settled it's then time to think about your processor and again there's no best option as well intel is definitely not the champion it used to be they still offer amazing gaming cpus and some of them will offer better value for money than a ryzen chip it'll all change from game to game but as a general rule a budget gaming pc needs a four chord chip a mid-range six and then a luxury battle station you're probably looking at eight or more just note that lower resolution high frame rate gaming is actually very cpu intensive so don't go thinking that a 1080p 240 hertz monitor is in the budget category because it really isn't once you've decided on the processor next up is the motherboard oh i love motherboards they're so much fun to be fair i do quite like motherboards these days they are quite fun the good thing is that assuming you've chosen your cpu already this bit is pretty easy to be honest as us gamers don't need much wi-fi support is critical if you don't have a wired connection overclocking support is very handy if you want to get the most out of your cpu and the ram but otherwise there's not really any extra functionality that most of us really need you've got three main sizes to choose from itx micro atx and then mini itx in 2021 you're probably looking at a z590 motherboard for an intel chip and then a b550 for ryzen both of these will support a pcie generation 4 ssd which is a great addition if you have a little bit extra cash to spend on a future-proof blazing fast ssd but it's by no means essential just be aware that a z490 motherboard and then b550s won't necessarily support the newest cpus from intel and amd respectively they probably won't work out the box and the reason for this is because the bios the basic input and output system is only as new as the time it was manufactured and if the chips weren't around then obviously they won't support them the solution to this problem though is pretty simple you're after a motherboard that supports usb bios flashing which is that you can actually update your motherboard to support the latest generation chips without needing an older generation cpu which let's be honest most of us just don't have on hand there you go then got all of that definitely a little bit more complex than a console but here comes the absolute best bit choosing the look of your gaming pc something you can't do on console now your core components are all sorted the rest is down to personal taste there really are so many slick looking cases out there just pick one that matches your style then has enough airflow to match a build the memory or ram is pretty easy is you're going to want to invest in a 16 gigabyte kit that runs at at least 3 200 megahertz to get the best experience and the beauty of this is that it is an incredibly easy upgrade to do in the future if you need more capacity or just want to save a little bit of money up front calling is a very similar story as there's an easy upgrade to make if you have a stock cooler you can pick between air and water cooling with air being much cheaper these days but water cooling arguably does look a lot better and in some cases it will perform better to boot so the choice is entirely yours make sure that you get enough storage to actually fit all of the games that you want to fit on the drive 500 gigabytes is usually fine for a starter pc but one terabyte or more is probably preferred there's not that much point going for sata unless you can get a very cheap drive i would always go for nvme these days psi generation 4 is worth considering but if you're trying to save money or you just don't have a big budget this is one of the first things i would probably drop down on a power supply meanwhile is definitely essential and please please please don't go buying a super cheap power supply as in some cases it genuinely might explode really not a mistake you want to make instead work out exactly how much wattage you need with a psu calculator tool and then buy from a respectable brand it is okay to spend more on these things but remember that this won't directly affect your frame rate so do be aware of diminishing returns and then finally don't forget that you do need to actually factor in a copy of windows it's a windows machine after all and if you don't already have one that you can transfer from an older computer you will need to buy a new license it's completely free at first but you're going to have to activate it so if you do want to check out current pricing on windows or i guess any of the parts that have been featured in this video then you can check them out with my amazon affiliate links listed down below let me know your thoughts on this though is there anything that i've missed do you think that there should maybe be a different order of magnitude that's a cool phrase not sure if it makes sense but i'm gonna leave it in regardless if you've enjoyed this video then please smash that like button it honestly helps out so much if you need some more help choosing out gaming pc parts or you just want to see more of me than you can by hitting that subscribe button it's free there you go free pc gaming advice and of course while you're down there don't forget to check out gigabyte's gaming oc graphics cards available in a wide range of gpus this triple fan winforce caller has you covered it's a card that's not only able to deliver next generation visuals and frame rates but one that's able to stay cool and quiet under full load give your pc the love it deserves with gigabyte gaming oc level up your experience today with that link down below thank you so much for checking out i really appreciate it i'll see you in the next one youchoosing parts for your brand new gaming computer should be an incredibly exciting time should be 2021 is a bit of a weird one though with bigger and faster graphics cards beefier processors and games that are more demanding and more buggy than ever before rest assured however that in this video i'm going to walk you through all of my quick tips to help you get the most out of your money and get the gaming pc that's right for you forget about all of the noise we're all different and we need to get the parts that make sense for us and nobody else i don't think i could make this video without addressing all of the stock issues that people are having the price increases actually things getting held up at import now it is sort of a nightmare it's the best and worst time to buy pc components but things will get better and like pretty much everything in this business always do your shopping with your head not your heart because it's very easy to rush into things but in the long run that's not really a great strategy are you after a killer new graphics card that doesn't break the bank gigabytes gaming oc graphics cards are the answers to your prayers get next generation performance with nvidia rtx ray tracing super smooth gameplay in the latest titles and dlss 2.0 technology for sky-high frame rates stay cool and quiet with a triple fan design whilst enjoying mouthwatering clock speeds straight out the box up the ante with gigabyte today learn a little bit more with that link down below right let's begin and there's pretty much two main questions that you need to answer if you're thinking about buying a gaming pc the first one is what's your budget but the second and arguably even more important is what games are you actually wanting to play on this thing these two questions are going to define your entire computer build as you're going to be able to sculpt your pc around the things that it'll actually spend its time computing if you play games like dota smite or maybe civilization then you won't need anywhere near as much horsepower as say a maxed out cyberpunk rig you also need to ask yourself whether this computer is going to be used for anything other than gaming are you going to be doing some workloads on it maybe some streaming or do you have any special and more specific needs a workstation will likely need more ram and cpu power a streaming den will need multiple monitors and then a living room pc will probably want to be on the smaller side bearing in mind all of these things you then bring your budget back into the equation and ask yourself how much you can realistically spend on a gaming pc it's very important to be honest with yourself at this stage and set your expectations as the more demanding the game the more you're going to have to spend on the computer to get it looking and feeling its absolute best a fantastic way to control the costs a little bit and bring the whole price down is to actually look at getting a lower resolution monitor as this will save yourself some money on the screen itself and you won't need as much graphics card horsepower to actually drive it in the first place games like warzone play their absolute best when running over 100 frames a second but you're going to need a beefier graphics card and then a specialist display to properly utilize this but they don't have to be expensive there is an aoc monitor that costs around about 200 pounds give or take and this is going to maximize your chances of winning the games even if your pockets aren't particularly deep at the moment personally speaking i think that 144 hertz quad hd is probably going to be the sweet spot for most people at the moment as it's sharper than full hd 1080p that you've probably been using but then you get all of the benefits of high refresh rates without being too difficult to drive with this all in mind you can then move on to the components and no no no no don't start looking at things like cases rgb fans none of that the most important thing to look at is the cpu and the gpu the processor and the graphics card because you see these are the two pieces of the puzzle that's going to directly determine your outright gaming experience and they should always be chosen first your graphics chip is the most important of the two and most of your budget will probably want to be allocated here amd and nvidia both have compelling offerings at the moment and a best gpu doesn't really exist just make sure that you do pick something that can play the games that you actually want to play are the settings and resolutions that you're looking for if you do need a little bit of help with this then there's someone that can help you out i do loads of graphics card reviews plenty of full pc builds from start to finish all of them show benchmarks so if you do need a little bit more help choosing a graphics card then you can find all of this information in the end screen but don't be fooled into thinking that all cards are created equally though because they're just not one rx 6800 is not going to be the same as the next as while the raw gpu performance should be roughly the same the different cooling solutions and factory clock speeds will mean that the temperatures overclocking potential and the noise levels will vary considerably as always it's all about balance the zotac twin edge rtx 3070 that i tested a couple of months ago was cheaper but it was just too noisy whereas the rtx 3060 ti strix edition this card was fantastic arguably one of the best in the business but it was priced so expensive that it just should not be bought once you're settled it's then time to think about your processor and again there's no best option as well intel is definitely not the champion it used to be they still offer amazing gaming cpus and some of them will offer better value for money than a ryzen chip it'll all change from game to game but as a general rule a budget gaming pc needs a four chord chip a mid-range six and then a luxury battle station you're probably looking at eight or more just note that lower resolution high frame rate gaming is actually very cpu intensive so don't go thinking that a 1080p 240 hertz monitor is in the budget category because it really isn't once you've decided on the processor next up is the motherboard oh i love motherboards they're so much fun to be fair i do quite like motherboards these days they are quite fun the good thing is that assuming you've chosen your cpu already this bit is pretty easy to be honest as us gamers don't need much wi-fi support is critical if you don't have a wired connection overclocking support is very handy if you want to get the most out of your cpu and the ram but otherwise there's not really any extra functionality that most of us really need you've got three main sizes to choose from itx micro atx and then mini itx in 2021 you're probably looking at a z590 motherboard for an intel chip and then a b550 for ryzen both of these will support a pcie generation 4 ssd which is a great addition if you have a little bit extra cash to spend on a future-proof blazing fast ssd but it's by no means essential just be aware that a z490 motherboard and then b550s won't necessarily support the newest cpus from intel and amd respectively they probably won't work out the box and the reason for this is because the bios the basic input and output system is only as new as the time it was manufactured and if the chips weren't around then obviously they won't support them the solution to this problem though is pretty simple you're after a motherboard that supports usb bios flashing which is that you can actually update your motherboard to support the latest generation chips without needing an older generation cpu which let's be honest most of us just don't have on hand there you go then got all of that definitely a little bit more complex than a console but here comes the absolute best bit choosing the look of your gaming pc something you can't do on console now your core components are all sorted the rest is down to personal taste there really are so many slick looking cases out there just pick one that matches your style then has enough airflow to match a build the memory or ram is pretty easy is you're going to want to invest in a 16 gigabyte kit that runs at at least 3 200 megahertz to get the best experience and the beauty of this is that it is an incredibly easy upgrade to do in the future if you need more capacity or just want to save a little bit of money up front calling is a very similar story as there's an easy upgrade to make if you have a stock cooler you can pick between air and water cooling with air being much cheaper these days but water cooling arguably does look a lot better and in some cases it will perform better to boot so the choice is entirely yours make sure that you get enough storage to actually fit all of the games that you want to fit on the drive 500 gigabytes is usually fine for a starter pc but one terabyte or more is probably preferred there's not that much point going for sata unless you can get a very cheap drive i would always go for nvme these days psi generation 4 is worth considering but if you're trying to save money or you just don't have a big budget this is one of the first things i would probably drop down on a power supply meanwhile is definitely essential and please please please don't go buying a super cheap power supply as in some cases it genuinely might explode really not a mistake you want to make instead work out exactly how much wattage you need with a psu calculator tool and then buy from a respectable brand it is okay to spend more on these things but remember that this won't directly affect your frame rate so do be aware of diminishing returns and then finally don't forget that you do need to actually factor in a copy of windows it's a windows machine after all and if you don't already have one that you can transfer from an older computer you will need to buy a new license it's completely free at first but you're going to have to activate it so if you do want to check out current pricing on windows or i guess any of the parts that have been featured in this video then you can check them out with my amazon affiliate links listed down below let me know your thoughts on this though is there anything that i've missed do you think that there should maybe be a different order of magnitude that's a cool phrase not sure if it makes sense but i'm gonna leave it in regardless if you've enjoyed this video then please smash that like button it honestly helps out so much if you need some more help choosing out gaming pc parts or you just want to see more of me than you can by hitting that subscribe button it's free there you go free pc gaming advice and of course while you're down there don't forget to check out gigabyte's gaming oc graphics cards available in a wide range of gpus this triple fan winforce caller has you covered it's a card that's not only able to deliver next generation visuals and frame rates but one that's able to stay cool and quiet under full load give your pc the love it deserves with gigabyte gaming oc level up your experience today with that link down below thank you so much for checking out i really appreciate it i'll see you in the next one you\n"