Your first PC build: what was the biggest mistake?

[Georgia97]

Building your own PC is a rite of passage for many enthusiasts. The first build is usually exciting, nerve wracking and full of small mistakes. Most of them are harmless, but some lead to long evenings of troubleshooting or the horrible realisation that something has been damaged. Nearly everyone has a story from their first time

Classic mistakes include forgetting the motherboard standoffs, not removing the plastic film from the cooler, plugging the monitor into the motherboard instead of the graphics card and forgetting to switch on the power supply. Some people install RAM in the wrong slots, or forget the CPU power cable entirely. Others discover after finishing that their case fans are blowing in the wrong direction

My first build would not turn on at all. After two hours of checking everything, I realised the front panel power switch cable was plugged into the wrong pins. The relief when it finally booted was enormous. I have double checked those tiny pins ever since. Nearly all of these are easy to fix once spotted

Sharing these stories helps new builders avoid the same problems, and it is also quite reassuring to know that everyone makes mistakes. Feel free to share later builds too, if they produced a particularly memorable blunder

What was the biggest mistake on your first PC build?