Your essential step-by-step guide to building your own computer from planning to completion.

Building your own PC is not something everyone will want or need to do. It takes some time, planning and careful thought and is not always the best possible way to get a new computer within your budget. However, if you want to feel a great sense of satisfaction, save money, learn more about how computers work and set yourself up to be able to solve hardware problems in the future, we recommend it to anyone. If you need to either get your first PC or replace an old one, this guide, aimed at the first time builder, takes you through every step: from planning the system to installing components and adding essential software.