It's a crucial component in any laptop or desktop computer, but very few computer owners actually know what a motherboard is or what it does. There's a motherboard (often called a logic board in smaller more mobile devices) sitting in every computer system: the processor, RAM, hard drives, graphics card, and other bits and pieces all plug straight into it.

PCs come in all shapes and sizes: there's the bog standard beige tower, a unit that fits inside the palm of your hand, a rig that looks just like a console, and then mecha-inspired creations like the one above.

Building a PC doesn't have to be daunting, though. And while there are tons of reasons to build a PC, ranging from better graphics to cheaper games to greater versatility, there's also some things you should know before you start.

AMD has just released its fastest processor yet after more than a half decade of research and development, and Intel's Kaby Lake processor is now available in every form that matters for a PC builder -- so how you do choose the brains of the operation when you're piecing together your own P? This guide will take some of the guesswork out of the decision for you.

When you're buying a new gadget, you want the fastest, most powerful one you can get for your money. Benchmarks can help you figure out what devices have the most power, but sometimes they're just a distraction.

Having recently built a new PC, I know all too well just how expensive parts can be. It's tempting to source used PC parts to save money but there are some components that are definitely worth buying new. So what PC parts are fine to buy second-hand and what should you buy brand new? Let's find out.

Your hard drive failing is one of the worst things that can happen to your computer, since you lose a ton of data. Fortunately, most drives include a tool set called SMART that can monitor your drive and let you know when you're about to have a problem.

If you want to get on the VR hype train, you're going to need to build a pretty powerful PC to handle the load. However, gauging just how well a graphics card can handle VR is a lot more complex than you'd think.

Dear Lifehacker, I'm looking to build a new PC that's capable of running high-end video games and 3D graphics applications. In other words, it's going to get pretty hot! I'm seriously considering a water cooling solution but don't really know where to start. So my questions are: is water cooling worth the effort and what type of skills do I need to pull it off?

A Hackintosh is a machine dedicated to running the Mac operating system but it is strictly non-Apple hardware. Apple is notoriously restrictive with the official hardware that can run its operating systems so, of course, tenacious techies have found ways to work around it. There are whole communities of devotees that dedicate themselves to creating Hackintosh machines with different specifications. Recently, app developer Mike Rundle detailed his process of building a US$1200 Hackintosh. Sounds quite cheap. So how much would it cost an Australian that wants to buy all the parts locally? We did a breakdown of the costs bit by bit.

Video: SSDs are a clearly superior drive format, but they're more expensive per gigabyte than their platter-based hard disk drives. The natural middle ground is to get an SSD for your Windows installation and an HDD for all your stuff. This video shows you how to setup both to make them work well together.

I'm in the process of upgrading my antique PC from six years ago. Progress is slow but I've started to dismantle parts for replacement. It's at this time that I'm forced to reassess the way I've approached cable management -- something that is easily neglected -- inside my PC. Armed with more insight than my inexperienced past self, here are some tips you may find useful in keeping your PC cables neat and tidy.

If you want to overclock your PC, you're going to need to care a lot about how much heat your CPU generates. This video from LinusTechTips helps you understand how to pick the right heat sink, and more importantly, how to improve the one you have.

Video: If you're building a killer PC gaming rig, you might need a high wattage power supply. However, some power supplies waste more power than others. Here's how to find out where yours sits.