---
title: '🛑 How to Build a PC 🛑 Step By Step Ryzen & Intel 🛑 How To Build a Gaming PC'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=qkr07CutHrU'
video_id: 'qkr07CutHrU'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 1162
---

# 🛑 How to Build a PC 🛑 Step By Step Ryzen & Intel 🛑 How To Build a Gaming PC

> Source: [🛑 How to Build a PC 🛑 Step By Step Ryzen & Intel 🛑 How To Build a Gaming PC](https://youtube.com/watch?v=qkr07CutHrU)

## Summary

This video is a comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial for building a PC in 2023, covering Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 5000, and Intel builds. It starts with a parts check and tool list, then walks through every installation step from CPU to final boot, including BIOS flashback for compatibility. The guide emphasizes that building a PC is easier than it seems and encourages beginners to follow along.

### Key Points

- **Tools Required** [01:15] — Only essential tool is a screwdriver; optional items include Velcro strips, thermal paste, isopropyl alcohol, and a magnetic parts tray.
- **Pre-Motherboard Installation** [02:50] — Install CPU, cooler, RAM, and M.2 storage on motherboard before placing in case; use correct socket lever and alignment triangle.
- **Thermal Paste Application** [05:29] — Apply thermal paste in an X pattern with four small dots; err on the side of slightly too much. Tighten cooler screws in a crosswise pattern.
- **RAM and M.2 Installation** [06:30] — Insert RAM at slots 2 and 4 for two sticks; apply firm steady pressure until click. M.2 SSD goes in at 45-degree angle, then latched down.
- **PSU and Cable Routing** [09:30] — Route EPS cables before installing motherboard; install PSU with fan facing vent; route cables loosely until system posts.
- **GPU Installation and First Boot** [14:20] — Install GPU in top PCIe slot; ensure metal bracket doesn't catch on case; use anti-sag bracket for heavy cards. Connect monitor via HDMI for first boot.
- **BIOS Flashback Procedure** [16:50] — For BIOS flashback, use 8-32GB USB drive formatted as FAT32; rename BIOS file per manufacturer; push flashback button until LED flashes, then wait up to 8 minutes.

## Transcript

hi welcome back to PC Builder I'm Jason
So today we're gonna show you step by
step how to build a PC in 2023 including
ryzen 7000 ryzen 5000 and Intel builds
now I know if this is your first PC in a
while or if this is your first PC ever
it can seem really really scary and of
course we've all been there before so
I'm here to tell you that not only is
this easier than you think it's going to
be to build a PC but most importantly
you can do this that's right you got
this remember if you get value out of
the video give it a like because it
makes a real difference to the channel
and of course subscribe and click that
Bell icon that way you get notified when
we release cool content with that let's
jump into it first off let's do a parts
check now if you need help on what parts
to pick check out our PC parts Explain
series or if you need specific
compatible Hardware we have a lot of
build lists and guides on the channel
like our ryzen 7601 or our Intel i5
13600k one where we go over all the
parts that you need to get we'll leave
those playlists linked down in the video
description so for parts you should have
your CPU a compatible motherboard
compatible CPU Cooler compatible Ram a
storage device preferably an m.2 nvme
ssd1 a graphics card a PC case and a
power supply let's do a quick tool check
as well well the only tool that you
absolutely need is a screwdriver and I
do really love this flexible one for
about 12 on Amazon so I'll leave a link
to it down in the video description
there are some other tools that I like
to have available for cable management I
really like these velcro strips a
plastic ties are also okay but Mr bear
always tries to eat them and the great
thing about these velcro strips is that
you can actually open them back up and
run more cables or take one out later I
also use a pair of small wire clippers
to trim the ties but scissors are fine
here too a little extra thermal paste is
always good to have on hand though most
coolers they do come with enough pace
for up to two applications if you end up
needing a clean thermal paste off
components it might be nice to have a
little bit of isopropyl alcohol on hand
but this usually isn't necessary I also
really like these relatively cheap
magnetic Parts Trace to keep our screws
and such all together and did you look
pretty cool I don't typically use an
anti-static bracelet but you certainly
can if you want and if you have an
anti-static mod mat that's great as well
but again not necessary as we can build
on top of the cardboard motherboard box
just don't do anything silly like wear
socks on top of carpet that will build
up that static charge there is no single
right way for how to build a PC but
there certainly are a lot of wrong ways
I'm going to show you what I feel is the
most efficient and easiest way for how
to build a PC but if you like doing
things a little different then that's
fine too Step Zero if your motherboard
is going to need a bios update to post
with your CPU and you need to use the
BIOS flashback feature gigabyte calls
this Q flash plus then check your
motherboard manual on whether you can do
that with the CPU installed or not if
you need to do bioslashback right now
jump to the end of the video where we go
through it in detail and if not let's
keep going step one take the motherboard
out of the box and if it has a separate
i o panel like this then take that out
too take the motherboard out of the
plastic wrapper and put it on top of the
box or on your mod mat for both systems
we're going to open the socket by using
the lever ryzen 5000 systems or am4
socket with the pins on the chip so this
one's easy you just put a little side
and downward pressure on the lever arm
then swing it up gently ryzen 7000
systems are am5 with depends on the
motherboard as are modern Intel systems
and they essentially work the same we
again put a little downward pressure on
the lever to unlatch it then push it
very gently to the side and swing up we
then lift the socket cover up careful
not to touch the inside pins or let
anything fall in you can remove the
plastic socket cover now if you want or
it'll just pop off when we suck at the
CPU step two we take out our CPU out of
the plastic clam shell we find a little
triangle on the CPU and we match it up
on the motherboard ideally we want to
gently place the CPU directly down with
as little side to side motion as
possible so we don't damage anything
hands we want to use almost no Force
whatsoever just letting gravity do the
work Verizon 5000 am4 systems would just
now gently push the lever down and latch
it for ryzen 7000 and modern Intel
systems we close the latch cover first
then we swing the arm down and latch it
if you've left the plastic cover on
it'll just pop off during this process
hold on to that if you ever want to sell
the motherboard separately step three is
installing the cooler now make sure
you're using the correct mounting
instructions and kit provided if using
an aftermarket cooler note that if
you're using an all-in-one liquid cooler
you can install the pump now but I
generally prefer to get the mounting
hardware installed and put the pump on
after it's in the case so we can angle
the tubes how we like for the ryzen Box
cooler we just unscrew the plastic
retention bars and remove them then the
CPU Cooler which is already had thermal
paste pre-applied just goes right over
the top and into the screw holes now we
just make sure that each screw hole is
seated and not screwed in yet once we do
that we apply a turn or so on each screw
in a cross wise pattern to ensure equal
mounting pressure and we just keep going
until the screws don't turn anymore
using a medium amount of torque we want
it snug but we do not want to over
tighten it as that can damage the CPU to
install a mid-range cooler follow the
instruction manual for the cooler and
just note that many will include their
own back plate especially for Intel
motherboards and keep an eye out for
compatibility with am5 where the back
plate can't be removed see our 7600x
build guide for more on that when we
apply thermal paste ourselves I
typically do it in an X with four small
dots of paste in between like this you
can also use the spreader or an old
credit card and spread the paste
yourself just remember using a little
too much paste is fine using not enough
is not so err on the side of just using
slightly too much without going
overboard we then follow a similar
system of seeding the screws then
tightening up in an alternating pattern
a little bit at a time to ensure even
mounting pressure if the fan looks like
it might overhang the ram then we wait
to install it until we get the Ram in
otherwise just go ahead and install the
fan and using the clips remember to use
a medium amount of force in a steady
application no sudden jerks are
overpowering anything then we can tidy
up the cable hide it under the fan or
even against the vrm and connect it to
the motherboard CPU fan slot for an
all-in-one liquid cooler just make sure
to follow the instructions as to where
to plug the cables in to which headers
on the motherboard and for a deeper dive
including positioning and do's and
don'ts for liquid cooling check out our
best practice liquid cooling guide step
4 installing the ram now this is the
same whether using ddr4 or ddr5 you're
going to want to open the ram brackets
this is almost always slots 2 and 4 if
using a two stick kit and all of them if
you're using a four Stick kit always
double check your motherboard manual
just in case note that some Ram brackets
have two clips While others like most
assist boards have just one then making
sure to line up the slot in the ram
stick with the socket we push down and
firmly apply medium pressure again until
we hear that click noise remember to
apply the force in a steady motion and
not a sudden movement or you can damage
the mother board generally if you feel
like you have to force something that
means there's another issue going on
that needs to be solved step five now we
want to install our m.2 storage if
you're using a pcie Gen 4 drive and you
have an AMD b550 motherboard or you're
using an older z590 or b560 Intel
motherboard with 11th generation Intel
CPU then refer to your motherboard
manual as to Which m.2 slot to use for
Intel 12th gen ryzen 5000 on an x570
motherboard or ryzen 7000 it just
doesn't matter if your motherboard has
an m.2 heat spreader remove it by
unlatching or unscrewing it note that
some boards will come with an m.2
standoff and screw already in the
motherboard and someone will come with
it in the box and you'll need to install
it if your motherboard has a bottom heat
spreader it's not that common but newer
high-end boards are now coming with them
just make sure to remove the plastic
film covering on the bottom once that's
ready take your m.2 at about a 45 degree
angle go ahead and just push the
connector end into the slot until you
can't see it anymore then swing it down
gently and latch or screw it into place
do not remove the sticker on the drive
as it's actually a heat sprayer itself
if you use a motherboard heat shield
just peel the film off the heat pad then
place it over the drive and screw it
into place note that some m.2 drives
come with their own heatsink and it will
avoid the warranty if you remove it so
consider where you want to put them if
using motherboards with a large cover
for multiple m.2 drives Now we move to
prep the case start by taking off both
side panels This is the Choose Your Own
Adventure part and where I do any fan
installs or swap outs if I wanted to if
you aren't using a hard drive then I'd
also consider removing the hard drive
cage if that's possible and there's a
PSU shroud if it's a cheaper case with
no PSU shroud then I'd leave it in to
hide the cables if you're using an
all-in-one liquid cooler and feel you
can install the radiator in the case and
still have enough room to get the
motherboard in you can do that otherwise
wait until the motherboard's in the
important thing is to make sure that the
motherboard stand-ups are screwed into
the right place on the case most ATX
case cases come with them pre-installed
for a full-size ATX board so if you're
using a Micro ATX or for some reason an
ITX board in them follow the
instructions to unscrew the ones that
need to be moved this is the part where
a small pair of pliers can come in handy
if you do need to move the standoffs and
you're having trouble hand screwing them
in you can just put a screw in them and
use a screwdriver then use the pliers to
hold it in place while you back out the
screw if your motherboard came with a
separate i o Shield then go ahead and
attach it to the case from the inside
pushing towards the outside until it's
fully in place just make sure to orient
it the right way step 7 let's get the
motherboard in that's what you're
thinking right wrong before you do get
your PSU out or just the four plus four
pin EPS cable if that's modular run that
cable through the top rear hole or
multiple cables if your motherboard
requires more than one EPS cable and
then to lay the case flat now connect
those cables to the motherboard like
this in large cases this isn't really
that necessary but in many cases you
will struggle to get them connected
afterwards if you don't now pay
attention to whether your PC case has
the PSU get installed through the side
or through the back so you can route the
cable properly step eight now that those
EPS cables are connected let's get that
motherboard in with a case laying flat
lift the board gently by the cooler line
it up with the i o shield and the holes
some cases have a metal pin in the
middle standoff rather than a screw and
if so just slot it into that hole if not
use a screw in the middle front hole and
screw it in most but not all of the way
now go around and screw the other screws
in most of the way but not all the way
until they're all in and then tighten
them down using a medium amount of
torque you might need to push the
motherboard slightly one way or the
other to line holes up and I usually
take care of the most problematic screws
first the ones that don't want to line
up which are often at the back step 9
tilt the case upright and get the PSU in
place now some cases have an external
bracket for this that you can then slide
the PSU through the back in most cases
you just shove the PSU into this side
panel then towards the back but first
let's unfurl the cables we need keeping
the others tied up if it's not a modular
PSU for modular psus figure out which
cables you need and just get them
plugged in now because it's a real bear
to do it once it's installed don't
forget the pcie cables for the graphics
card if we're using cable extensions
keep the cables spooled up and just
connect the extensions we need to those
cables remember cable extensions plug
into the cables the PSU came with and
those cables then plug into the PSU
because while they're standardized on
the motherboard side they are not
standard on the PSU side so let's not
blow anything up most PC cases have a
vent for the PSU fan on the bottom so
when installing the PSU make sure to
face the PSU fan towards the vent
usually at the bottom of the case slide
it in screw it down four screws and
we're good there's a number of different
ways to Route the GPU pcie cables
oftentimes you'll see them come up from
the bottom or from the where the PSU
shroud is I often like to go from the
side and over the top of the GP you not
to obscure the front of the GPU and I
typically just make sure that the cables
themselves don't touch the GPU when it's
fully seated step 10 let's get things
connected and routed there's usually
fine main cable runs to Route three top
to bottom on the left side in the middle
and far right and two horizontal ones on
the top and on the bottom if you have a
fan or RGB Hub it's a good time to
figure out where you want to put it
now's a good time to Route the 24 pin
motherboard power cable if it's a 20
plus 4 style connector that needs to be
pushed together make sure you're doing
that right as there are often a plastic
piece that somewhat holds it together
and if done improperly it will not allow
it to seat the same goes for other
connectors like the pcie six plus two
pin and the four plus four EPS
motherboard power cable I personally
like to Route the PSU cables first as
they're the big beefy ones and then
stack smaller fan and other cables on
top of it don't invest too much time in
Cable Management just yet as we want to
make sure the system actually posts
before we really tie everything down the
PC case itself has several Romaine
cables that we need to connect the HC
audio cable to the bottom rear of the
motherboard the front panel USB type A
connectors usually to the USB 3 header
or if there are additional USB 2.0 ports
to one of the 2.0 headers you'll notice
these all have one pin closed off so
Orient them properly before pushing them
gently but firmly into the motherboard
if you have a front panel USB type c
this is the time to connect it if you
have a header on your motherboard fan
cables should get plugged into either a
Fan Hub or directly into the motherboard
fan header you can use a pwm fan
splitter cable if needed and each fan
connection should support up to 5 fans
argb and RGB cables can often be Daisy
Chained and then plugged into the
motherboard while we're at it we should
install any two and a half inch ssds or
hard drives which will require a SATA
cable that most motherboards come with
and a PSU Santa power cable that the PSU
should come with make sure to Route the
SATA data and power cables as well
finally the power button and other pin
outs go in consult your motherboard
manual but generally the one that really
needs to get plugged in is the case
power button and the positive terminal
usually goes first either on the left or
top with a negative one placed to the
right or below it gigabyte motherboards
come with a plastic pin out holder thing
that I wish every motherboard came with
you just push the pins into the Right
Slots then connect them all at once Step
11 if you've got a graphics card now is
the time to install it at the top pcie
slot as well as install any other add-in
cards like Wi-Fi we just need to unscrew
any rear panel guards usually only on
nicer cases on the cheaper ones you're
gonna have to bend them out then remove
the screws and the cover for the rear
slots typically beginning at the second
slot and going down push down the slot
retention button on the main pcie slot
to open it up carefully line up the card
from the front and press down from the
front to back making sure the metal
bracket at the back of the card doesn't
get stuck on the case you should hear a
click of the pcie retention bracket
snapping into place
and then be able to screw in the card in
the back if you're having issues make
sure the metal bracket on the back of
the GPU isn't getting stuck on the case
pcie slots this happens a lot it should
want to go in with gravity plus a little
firm but steady pressure now let's plug
in the pcie power cables we previously
routed for the GPU if your GPU is a
beefier one then I would also use an
anti-sag bracket or stand making sure
that it does not impede any of the GPU
fans from spinning alright let's see if
we post connect a monitor using HDMI
DisplayPort can be a little weird on
first post so I always recommend HDMI
make sure if you're using a GPU that the
cable is plugged into the GPU not the
motherboard plug in the power supply to
the wall turn the PSU button on and
press the case power button if you have
debug lights or a postcode readout pay
close attention to that just in case you
have an issue give it a minute or so as
sometimes the board will need to power
cycle a couple of times if you don't get
a post make sure the board doesn't need
a bios update for boards with a bios
flashback feature you can just let's go
ahead and Flash it which we'll go
through next if that doesn't work then
check all your connections again when
you get that post you can either proceed
ahead to setup or just power it down and
finish up the build to finish up the
build tidy up the cable management oh
tidy honestly it's up to you I mostly
focus on what you can see from the front
side I'm personally an advocate of
minimal rear panel Cable Management
because you're the only person who will
likely ever see it and it's very likely
this will be the last time you look at
it but if you feel the need to hyper
manage all the cables then go for it I
just focus on making sure it's a clean
looking build on the front side and
there's nothing too loose in the back
before we jump into the BIOS flashback
or setup phases remember if you've
gotten value out of the video please do
take a moment right now and give it a
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cool content like the after you build
setup guide that's coming soon which
will be linked right here when it's out
there we're going to go through the bio
setup Windows installation drivers and
more if you do need to flash your bios
on your motherboard in order to have
your CPU post it's very easy to do but
your motherboard must have the bio slash
back feature again gigabyte calls this Q
flash plus your motherboard will have a
button typically on the back I O panel
but it can often be on the board itself
consult your manual for where it's
located if any of my instructions differ
from those of the manufacturer for your
board then do what they tell you instead
you need a USB drive that's between 8
and 32 gigabytes but no larger than that
as it needs to be formatted as FAT32 and
32 gigabytes is the max file size for
that hence the name using Windows on
another computer format the drive is
FAT32 in the file manager and you can
name the volume whatever you want
download the BIOS that you need from the
manufacturer's motherboard support page
hopefully the newest one sometimes you
do need to update the BIOS in steps so
just double check you can jump from your
bios directly to the newest one extract
the BIOS onto the USB drive then right
click the BIOS file on the thumb drive
in file explorer and rename it based on
who makes the motherboard for gigabyte
rename it as gigabyte dot bin for ASRock
rename it as creative.rom for MSI and
rename it as msi.rom Asus has a file
utility to rename the BIOS file so just
go ahead and run that from the USB drive
now let's flash your bios on your
motherboard make sure the USB drive is
put into the correct port for the BIOS
flashback and that the EPS power cables
in the upper left hand corner of the
motherboard are connected along with the
24-pin motherboard power connector on
the right side of the motherboard make
sure the PSU is plugged in and it's
turned on push and hold the BIOS
flashback button until you see an LED
start flashing on the motherboard now
leave the board alone until the
motherboard light is done flashing
typically anywhere from one minute up to
eight minutes once it's done flashing
wait another 20 seconds then you can
power off your PSU and build the PC if
you haven't done so already once built
power on the PC using the PC case button
if we have any trouble posting after
updating the bios follow your
motherboard instructions on how to clear
the CMOS typically either pushing a
button on the board or using a
screwdriver to bridge two CMOS pins on
the motherboard now your PC might reboot
several times and continue the update of
the bios so just leave it alone until it
finishes and you're done don't forget to
subscribe and click the Bell icon to get
notified when we release cool content
like the after you build setup guide
coming soon which will be linked right
here when it's out