 So you just finished building a brand new rig, it's all ready to go, all ready to boot up, and all ready for your 12-hour gaming session. But before doing all of that, here are a few important things to do first to save you future frustrations, hassle, and ensure that your build will last long. Around the programmer, and this is things to do on a brand new build. This video is brought to you by our sponsor CDheoffered.com. This February, they will be having a Valentine's Day sale for Windows 11 Pro and Windows 10 Pro. To avail, go to their website, click on Windows 11 Pro, and buy now. Use our code HS20 to get a 25% discount. Our sponsor CDheoffered is also offering up to 25% discount for Windows 10 Pro activation keys, as well as Office 2019 Pro. Use our code HS20 to avail, and then click on Submit Order. Choose your preferred payment method and proceed with the payment. Once payment is complete, click on User Center, and there you can see your code. And once you get your code, go to Windows 11 activation, and enter the code you just got to activate your version of Windows. So if you need safe, legit, and original software, check out CDheoffered.com. So just to clarify, this is not going to be a build guide or how to build video. This video will assume that you've already built up the system, it's all good to go, everything is compatible, and there's currently no issues. So tip number one, keep all the boxes of all the components. I know it's very exciting to finally turn on your build and proceed on gaming or do whatever you want. And some of these boxes can be really big, and you just want to discard them or throw them away. But it's very important that you keep them in one safe place, all bunched up together, because mainly of three things. Number one most obviously is for warranty or RMA claims. If for some reason you run into any issues, most shops, like 99% of all the shops here in the Philippines will require you to have the original packaging if you want to lodge a warranty claim or return the product if it's faulty. Most of these shops will require you to have every bit of plastic layer, every bit of part there. So it's very important that you always have access to it, you know where it is, and better yet, keep them all in one location. Number two is an equally important thing. Some of these components have spare parts in them. So for example, AIOs have different mounting hardware for different CPUs, and you will need them if ever you decide on changing the CPU. This goes the same for motherboard screws, motherboard stand-ups, M.2 screws, extra PSU cables, and a lot of trays and mounting brackets for cases. Number three is something that we usually do not think on a brand new build. Later down the road, if you're a fan of this shop, you will be inevitably upgrading those components. And having the box and complete packaging for each component will net you a better price if you decide to resell them. And most buyers are reluctant to buy a unit-only component. So keeping all of these boxes and all the parts in them together in one place will save you a future headache down the line. Number two is make an accounting of all the components. This can be as simple as skipping a list or better yet, create a spreadsheet of all the items and the components in the system. Include there the brand, the exact model, the capacity, some notable specs, the price that you got it, and the store that you got it from. This will serve as the perfect reference later down the line if you ever want to list down the components in your system. And it's always a very good idea to be completely familiar with all the components of your rig. This is also especially handy if you bought your components from different stores. Warranties or returns will be easy to track down. And it could serve as a reference for when you want to sell some of those items. It's also very important that you have a complete list of all the items. Especially if you run into some problems and you're going to ask someone or a more experienced PC person on the internet so that they could take a look at the system at a glance and easily pinpoint some of its issues. So far, those are very practical in outside of using the system. But now tip number three is complete the software configuration. So this would start not in Windows but in the BIOS. You just have to think of one setting here and that is enabling the XMP or Expo setting for your RAM. As some of us already know, the advertised speed for the RAM will have to be manually configured in the BIOS. You have tons of videos or resources on how to do it here on YouTube or different parts of the internet. It will slightly vary depending on your motherboard but basically it's a setting inside BIOS and you just have to select a profile. Hit save and exit and then try to boot. This is very important to do first thing because this will indicate any issue within the RAM or the motherboard. If that goes well, now you're into Windows. The very first thing that you want to do is to set the maximum refresh rate for your monitor, especially if it's a brand new one. Some of the higher settings do need to be manually configured in either overdrive setting or just a menu toggle in the OSD of the monitor. Once you're there, you also want to check inside Windows and see if the maximum refresh rate is enabled. Also, actually before any of this, make sure that the HDMI cable or the DP cable from your monitor is connected to the video card if you have one and not on the motherboard. Lastly, but most importantly, update the drivers. In no particular order, this is the chipset drivers, the LAN, audio drivers, sensor drivers, Windows updates and of course the GPU drivers. You generally want this to be always up to date but maybe wait a week or so before installing a new one. Just to know for sure that the driver versions are stable and there are no issues. Speaking of keeping up to date, you don't have to keep the BIOS updated absolutely always. If at first boot, everything works and everything's functioning well, everything's stable, the BIOS version is the last thing that you want to update. Also, do not forget to update the apps for your RGB controllers, peripheral software like software for the keyboard, for the mouse, for the headset and other apps that your components require. And you generally want to do this every three months and trust me, keeping everything updated and making sure that those updates are well and good will make everything run smoother. So tip number four, this is the prime and perfect time to do this. Stress test and benchmark your system. For stress testing, you can use OCCT or prime 95 for the CPU and then firmware for the GPU. You want to do this because you want to check the stability of these components or the PC in general. Once all of the updates and the configurations are complete, you can begin stress testing your system. These apps are not designed to crash and burn your system. If your components are functioning well and there are no issues with them, your PC should be able to run these stress tests no problem. This will also importantly determine if you've mounted the cooler correctly. You also want to take note of the temperatures with an app called HWINFO and check the temps while it's stress testing. Very high temperatures or thermal throttling will indicate that you've either incorrectly mounted the AIO or the cooler. Maybe you didn't apply enough thermal paste or the cooling is not enough for the component. Once the stress test is complete, you want to rest up your system for maybe an hour or 30 minutes, just shut it down and then turn it back on again and run benchmarks. Here at the shop, we use Cinebench R24 for the CPU and the GPU and Timespy from 3DMark again for the GPU but in a gaming context. Speaking of gaming, of course you can use your games to benchmark your components especially the GPU. You want to keep and record the scores you get from these benchmarks. These scores will represent the peak or the fresh or the out-of-the-box performance for your PC. You want to do this again after six months and see if there is any significant change in the scores. You can also check the temperatures again and any significant changes in the score like around 300 or 500 less will mean that there is an issue with your components and you have to troubleshoot them. Finally, when all of these is done, tip number five is to actually enjoy your PC build. Rip up all the configurations in the RGB, go play games, post the benchmark results in social media or post pictures of the build itself, the aesthetics. Again, on our discord, we have a special channel for that and mostly do not let other people dictate how to enjoy your system. You paid for it, you built it, and you now get to use it. Sometimes in the PC community, we're very critical of all the components or the configurations of our fellow PC gamers and our PC hobbyists and basically that's a very toxic trait. Just go ahead and play the games to your heart's content, edit your videos, do your work there and basically enjoy using the system. All the essential things from tip one to tip number four are done now. There's really not much you can do to further optimize your PC at this point without of course buying new hardware so it's time to stop stressing out about any things that you have to do first and you now get to enjoy your hard work. Finally, some parting words. So everything except tip number five, so tip number one to tip number four we currently do here at hardware sugar. Availing of our build services or basically outright buying from us will save you all the hassle of tip number one to tip number four because we will do it for you and we will do it for you the correct way. So basically if you're watching this and you still do not have a rig or you're planning to buy one soon visit our website at hwsugar.ph or visit our store here at Chino Roses Makati. Thank you and see you next video.