First Build!

Tyler · **Posted:** June 28th, 2015, 4:41 am

I recently graduated from college and decided that I wanted a desktop that could handle some gaming (as I've only had my Macbook Pro for the duration of college).

This was the result

I should get all the components in this week and I'm so excited to have a gaming PC (and to be able to join y'all for some tuesday PC gaming)

I do have a few questions for anyone with a little more technical experience/know-how than I:
1) So I'll have an SSD + HDD and I know that I should keep the OS and applications on the SSD and everything else on the HDD, but where do games fall into that? I found this as a possible solution for putting only certain games on my SSD, but I don't know how much a game would be enhanced by being on an SSD.
2)I've been away from the Windows ecosystem for a while (my last windows PC ran XP), is there anything of note that I should check out with regards to Windows features that I might miss otherwise? I bought Windows 8.1 (yay student discount) and I know that Windows 10 is just on the horizon
3)Somewhat related to (2) - are there any great applications/resources that anyone just LOVES for Windows? I know that Shane/Earth/other co-hosts usually do a great job of picking some good ones for pick of the week on Update, but, as I've only been with a Mac for the past four years, I haven't really been paying attention to them. So I'd love to hear if any were especially memorable to anyone!

Thanks so much!
Tyler

Adbot · **Posted:** June 28th, 2015, 4:41 am

Shane · **Posted:** June 28th, 2015, 3:38 pm

1. OS and applications definitely on the SSD. You can put your games on the SSD if you got a really large one. I would say given the size you got just put the games on the spinning disk. The only time games really interact with the drive is when they're loading, most games loading screens accommodate you enough for this as it is.
2. Windows Defender/Microsoft Security Essentials are what you want for virus/spyware protection. It's built by Microsoft, this means Microsoft is better able to optimize the software for its operating system. Anything else these days is just a waste of money and has a tendency to act like spyware itself.
3. I'll let someone else who uses Windows more than I to answer this one.

Earth · **Posted:** June 28th, 2015, 3:42 pm

I'll answer these in the order you asked

SSD/HDD
- I just keep games that I am currently playing on my SSD, and when I'm done I move them onto my HDD.
- Don't install applications to the HDD - you have more than enough space for what you need
- Some people may tell you to disable the page file or whatever - don't do that!
- I keep things like music, videos, and games that I might play soon but am not currently playing on my HDD - if I can, I put it on my SSD.
- I have a 512 GB SSD, while you only have a 256 GB, so partitioning it probably wouldn't help you any. I partitioned mine into an OS/applications partition (~150 GB) and the rest for storage of things like games I'm playing
- Shane is wrong - your SSD definitely big enough to hold games. My OS partition is only using 135 GB, and I downloaded a couple of big files yesterday that I haven't deleted yet
Hmm... Well, I'll go over some things that you should definitely know about Windows itself...
- Alt-tab - if you don't use it, do it!
- Snipping tool is a nice way of taking screenshots
- I changed my default download location to my desktop so I don't have some folder in the background that I never look at sucking up hard drive space
- That's pretty much all I can think of... Paul might have some more for you
Aaaalrighty, programs.
- Ninite is the best thing ever! Use this to install as many programs as you can!
  - I would recommend the following from Ninite
    - Chrome
    - Skype
    - iTunes if you use it
    - VLC
    - Audacity
    - Spotify if you use it
    - SumatraPDF
    - You're using 8.1 so you don't need to get Essentials
    - Malwarebytes
    - Spybot 2
    - qBittorrent if you ever torrent anything
    - Notepad++
    - WinSCP
    - OneDrive
    - Steam
    - TeamViewer if you use it
    - Revo
    - WinDirStat (helps you keep up with what's taking up hard drive space)
    - WinRAR
- As for other programs...
  - ShareX for taking and uploading screenshots quickly
  - NetWorx for keeping track of your upload/download
  - WhatPulse if you're curious about how many clicks/keys you press
  - f.lux - it makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day
  - MobaXTerm if you ever need to SSH
  - VMWare Workstation if you do virtualization
- Aaand some Chrome extensions
  - Checker Plus for Gmail
  - Enhanced Steam
  - F.B Purity - Clean up Facebook
  - Facebook Disconnect - disallows Facebook tracking on other websites
  - FlashBlock
  - Ghostery - adblock
  - LastPass - password manager (there are mobile apps too!)
  - Personal Blocklist - you can block websites from Google Search results
  - Reddit Enhancement Suite if you use Reddit

Tyler · **Posted:** July 3rd, 2015, 1:28 pm

Thanks so much, both of you! The build went super smoothly and now I'm just getting situated with Windows again

Earth · **Posted:** July 3rd, 2015, 2:18 pm

Great! Let me know if you have any more question/issues