You’ve finally decided to build a PC. You are clear about the pieces you will use and are looking forward to getting down to work so you can enjoy it as soon as possible. If you are careful and approach the assembly calmly and always know the steps to follow, you shouldn’t have a problem, but there is always some risk that for one reason or another you will eventually do something wrong and the consequences of those mistakes could end very serious.

I know cases of experienced users who, either due to haste or overconfidence, got carried away and entered an automated mode that led them to make mistakes that in some cases ended up being expensive. So that you don’t have to go through that situation, I want to share with you today five things that, while very basic, we can do wrong when building a PCand that can eventually disgust us.

In this guide I will focus only for errors that occur during the assembly processthat is, in the things we can do wrong when building a PC, and not in the previous phase of selecting components, nor in the later part of installing the operating system, drivers and final system configuration.

It is also possible to make serious mistakes in them, such as purchase of parts that are not compatible with each other or that do not fit, and also installing inappropriate drivers, so pay attention to those steps too, because they are very important. That being said, I invite you to get comfortable and let’s get started.

1.-Place the processor in the wrong orientation

This is an assembly error that is fortunately becoming increasingly difficult to make and very easy to avoid with a little care. Both Intel and AMD sell their processors with a triangle-shaped pointer the orientation the processor should have so that we insert it into the socket correctly. This is not a major complication, in fact, if we have placed it correctly, we will notice that it penetrates perfectly with its own weight and we will not have to use force.

There are cases where it’s physically impossible to misplace the processor because it just won’t fit unless we put it in the right position, so in the end It’s harder to get it right than to get it wrong. However, I can confirm that I have seen cases of people doing it wrong and thinking that it is normal to apply some force to insert the pins which end up bending, so we always have to be careful with this point.

Before inserting the processor, take a good look at the orientation triangle that appears drawn on both the corner of the processor and the motherboard socket, as it tells you in which position it should be placed. Once you’re clear, just drop it and that’s it, it will go right in under its own weight without you having to force yourself. If you notice that it does not enter under its own weight never force yourselfremove it and make sure you install it correctly.

Forcing the processor and installing it incorrectly can result in irreversible damage that will eventually render it completely useless. Something as simple as bending or breaking one or more pins can turn a processor into a paperweight, and we can also end up bending or breaking the socket pins on the motherboard if we’re not careful, rendering the motherboard unusable because it won’t be able to run any processor. In some cases, this damage can be repaired, but the cost is usually very high.

2.-Install the RAM in «single channel» mode

Undoubtedly one of the most common mistakes, although fortunately also one of the most dangerous that we can make, because It does not cause any damage to our PC and we have nothing to worry about if we dobecause we can fix it anytime and effortlessly.

Installing RAM in “single channel” mode means that we have placed two modules behind each other, and therefore only it will use a 64-bit bus instead of a 128-bit one. This will reduce bandwidth and make the communication and data transfers that the CPU does with memory much slower. It can also negatively affect the performance of the integrated GPU, as it uses RAM as graphics memory and depends on the bandwidth it offers to achieve a higher level of performance.

In a very simple way, you can visually tell whether you have placed the RAM memory correctly or incorrectly, avoiding the need to turn on the PC to clarify doubts. If you installed modules in slots 1 and 2, from left to right, or 3 and 4, also from left to rightI am sorry to inform you that you have run into this error and that they will work in “single channel mode”.

Fortunately, this error can be fixed very easily, as I told you at the beginning of this section. Just remove one of the two modules and replace the slot. The correct order to activate dual channel mode would be from left to right, slots 1 and 3 or slots 2 and 4, always after an alternative location. If you’re worried about placing the RAM in the wrong direction, don’t worry, it has a pattern so it won’t fit directly and just look in the slot to hit it.

3.-Place the M.2 SSD in the wrong slot

This is a less common mistake, but it can have quite serious consequences. On many motherboards that offer multiple M.2 NVMe PCIe slots, it’s normal to find differences in the level of support for different standards, as well as a number of certain PCIe lanes. For example, Intel Z590 motherboards usually have an M.2 slot that supports it PCIe Gen4 x4while the rest of your M.2 slots are usually limited to PCIe Gen3 x4 or x2.

Also today we find current motherboards that have one M.2 slot supporting PCIe Gen5 x4 and the rest limited to PCIe Gen4 x4 or x2. If we install an M.2 NVMe SSD that supports PCIe Gen4 or Gen5 in an M.2 slot that only supports PCIe Gen3 in the first case or PCIe Gen4 in the second case, we will create a bottleneck that will limit the performance of these units.

We won’t have stability issues and we won’t have to worry about any damage to the board or SSD, but the performance loss will be significant and we won’t really use the potential of our storage unit. . Note that PCIe lanes can also limit performanceand that each SSD must go into a slot that offers the maximum number of lanes it can use. These are labeled x4 (four lines) or x2 (two lines).

Last but not least, you need to know that when we occupy all the M.2 slots on the motherboard some SATA III ports may be disabled. This will be listed in the motherboard manual and just make sure you don’t have any SATA drives attached to the ports that will no longer work. Don’t forget that wireless network cards can also consume PCIe lanes when activated, with all that follows when using M.2 NVMe PCIe SSDs.

4.-Mount the graphics card in the slow PCIe slot

Although it doesn’t seem like it, it’s a pretty easy mistake to make and it’s more common than we think. The motherboard has different PCIe slots operating at different speeds, and therefore do not offer the same bandwidth. It is normal for the first PCIe slot to work in x16 mode and to be compatible with Gen3, Gen4 or Gen5 depending on the age of the motherboard, the latter being the latest and integrated into the motherboards. the most current.

A higher standard means more bandwidth for each line, if the graphics card we install is compatible with this standard. So if we install a PCIe Gen4 x4 graphics card like the Radeon RX 6400 in a PCIe Gen3 x4 slot, we will create a bottleneck because it will run under the older standard and have less bandwidth.

On the other hand, it is also possible that we install the graphics card in a slot that offers only four or even one PCIe lane, which of course it will reduce your bandwidth to pyrrhic levels and severely limit your performance. Hopefully this won’t damage the hardware, but the performance loss can be huge, so it’s important to be careful and put the graphics card in the right slot.

It’s not complicated at all because there is a general rule that is always fulfilled, namely that the graphics card must be installed in the first slot PCIe expansion of the motherboard, because it is the one with the configuration of 16 PCIe lanes and the one that supports the most advanced standard. Don’t hesitate, always go for the first slot on the motherboard. This is usually also amplified and metal surface on many motherboards, which adds ideal structural reinforcement for moving heavy graphics cards and also makes it easier to distinguish them properly from the rest of the slots, which are generally plastic.

5.-Place drivers in contact areas

Many chassis, fans, all-in-one liquid cooling systems and certain peripherals come with controllers that allow us to regulate certain aspects such as rotation speed or RGB LED lighting. These types of add-ons can be very useful, but we have to be very careful when placing them because not all receive the same presentation or are properly isolated.

More than once I have met people who, after connecting their PC, do not understand why it does not finish booting. I remember a very specific case, The PC was trying to boot, the fans were spinning, the light on the motherboard was onand it even stayed on but the PC showed no signs of life and the fans stopped.

After much thought I realized where the problem was, on the fan controller in the form of a small PCB with pins that I decided to screw directly to the chassisand made some type of contact that prevented the device from starting properly. Fortunately, the protection systems on the motherboard and power supply seem to have prevented damage to the components, and after removing the controller and connecting the fans directly to the motherboard, everything worked normally.

We must not connect any type of controller or similar peripheral so that it touches the chassis. This kind of components they must always be sufficiently insulatedor placed so that it does not touch the chassis and that no contact can occur over time (for example, due to peeling due to deterioration of adhesives or fasteners).

If we ignore it, we may find ourselves in very different situations and with very different consequences. For example, the computer may not start, or it may start, but when it starts working at a certain intensity, it may freeze or spontaneously shut down caused by this contact. The consequences can be very different, I already told you that if we catch it in time, nothing may happen, but also may end up with one or more of our team members getting aheadbe careful.