Join The Community
PC Building Simulator is exactly what it sounds like: a no-strings-attached way to build the gaming PC of your wildest, most expensive dreams. Ironically, after launching on PC in Steam Early Access, it's now available on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, presumably so console players can see what they're missing out on.
What they're missing is one of the most tedious, terrifying, and satisfying processes known to man. Designing a PC and picking out parts is textbook window shopping, but actually assembling the thing is like herding cats while assembling a Lego model with your free hand. There are a million things that can go wrong, and inevitably two million things will go wrong - or, just as worryingly, everything will work out swimmingly, leaving you to wonder what's secretly gone wrong. Your new build won't post, your radiator's too big for your case, your fans are the wrong size, one of your motherboard offsets is crooked, your CPU fan plug is just out of reach of your cooler's cable and you can't really can't be asked to go back to the hardware store you just left to buy an extension.
Ahh, PC gaming.
Article continues belowIn all seriousness, PC Building Simulator is a handy little tool for prototyping and visualizing PC builds thanks to its remarkably authentic parts and settings. And as an introduction to the trials and tribulations of building a PC, it's probably more helpful on consoles where users will likely have more questions about the process.
Speaking as someone who's built a few PCs, I would legitimately recommend PC Building Simulator to prospective PC gamers so they can mess around with various components to get a feel for what they like, what's available, and how it fits together. It's a lot more fun than scouring Newegg, I can tell you that. The newly released Console Edition of the game also launched alongside some new features, including custom water cooling loops (which are hell to build), customizable cables (which are hell to thread), and CPU overclocking (which is hell to min-max). Oh, the joys of PC gaming.
If you're interested in the shiny, finicky, high-FPS world of PC gaming, here are some common PC game settings explained, and how to optimize them.
