Post Your Computer Build

I used to have one of the first "laptops" - it was an Epson something or other. Storage was on those tiny cassettes that you could also use in an answering machine. It had a built in printer that printed dot matrix on what looked like a narrow cash register receipt... screen was a 3 or 4 line LCD (think small calculator screen).
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Built my first ever ITX the other day to replace my giant tower. I got a standing desk and thought I’d do something a little different to clean up the new workstation. Yes the cooler looks hilariously oversized but yes it’s awesome!

cleaned up the wiring a bit since this pic was taken, but definitely very challenging to route everything neatly.

 

Yep, I remember the day when I successfully assembled my first custom build based on Athlon x64 CPU that went into DFI LanParty mobo and all that was put together inside a fully acrylic case with BFG 7800 GTX IIRC. Although it took a while to get it done and operationa, the entire process was still a fair bit easier to building PCs in the Wolfenstein era.

These days building a PC seems trivial to a point where it's not a challenge in the slightest if someone asks me. But then again, that's a good thing for most people.

 

I think the biggest challenge these days is managing power and heat. With mainstream CPUs consuming 100W+, high end video cards 300W+, and power supplies legitimately in the 1kW range... Well that's just plain nutty. And I don't think that many of the current solutions are particularly elegant or efficient.

 

Well, we get more holes to route our cables through them and all the PSU wiring often looks nicer than it used to, so folks into orderly look of their builds have a time of their lives. But yes, 1kW PSUs are common and that is nutty indeed!

 

On the flip side, for 'normal' usage we have quite capable mini systems like the Pi family, which is also nutty, just in the opposite direction. Pi2AES really is a giant killer.

 

Couple updates to this bad boy after relocating:

- 2080 Super is now 3080 Ti
- PSU upgraded from SF600 to SF750 to accommodate
- A12x25 on the side is now Phanteks T30 (thicker fan perfectly closes the gap between the the fan/side panel/C14 heatsink
- GPU is deshrouded with two more T30s at the bottom. GPU sag no longer a concern at all
- Top exhaust A12x25 fans are now Chromax because I love burning money for some reason..

 

Ooh the ADAM! That machine was a hoot but had some weird quirks. The PSU for the entire machine being housed in the printer so you had to have it connected at all times.

The cassette storage was wild, acting like one of those old school reel to reel storage mainframes, running forward and back to seek/load files.

Also, if you left any cassettes in the drive during a cold start, the computer was notoriously poorly shielded such that on power on, any cassettes in the drives would be wiped.

Edit: I think this applied to the coleco add-on version as well, not just the standalone ADAM.

 

Nice thread!





This is only for gaming.
For everything else, I use a Mac mini M1, which I'm very happy with.

 

First new build in 7 years, and first one basically from scratch in probably twice as long. Also the most powerful/feature rich build ever, as I normally go more mid tier. Wanted a strong processor with modern chipset features as this rig will be doing more video editing and 3D modeling than I have done in the past.


CPU: Intel i7-12700KF (Creature of habit and stuck with intel. Saved a few bux by dropping the integrated graphics. Wanted lots of fast cores, as many of the programs I want to use can utilize them)

Mobo: MSI PRO Z7690-A Wifi (Was going to go ASROCK as usual for me, but seeing members here with MSI boards, decided to give them a shot. Bonus is that it is all black. I also really wanted to stay m-atx so I could use my old case, but couldn't find a board that had everything I wanted or for a reasonable price. It was super nice and easy to build in a full sized case, though)

Cooler: Scythe Fuma 2 (Been a huge fan of Scythe since the old SPCR days. Almost went Noctua, but loyalty (and cheapness) won out. Can't hear it and it kept my CPU temps sub 80c during a stress test, so I am happy.)

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance DDR5 32GB 5600 C36 (Most reasonably priced "performance" DDR5 I could find. Almost went DDR4 at half the cost, but decided to semi-early adopt the new tech. Can't get it to run at XMP 5600 C36 at the moment, but hopefully will sort it soon).

GPU: Old GTX 1070 (Hoping for some sanity as the market continues to normalize and the next gen of RTX cards come out)

PSU: CORSAIR RM850x (Most PSU calculators told me 750W would work, but went for a little extra overhead in case I go big on the next GPU purchase. Not a premium PSU, but is supposed to be a reliable one)

Boot SSD: Crucial P5 Plus 1TB NVME (Haven't been let down yet by Crucial ram or ssds so decided to save a few dollars over Samsung stuff)
Storage SSD: Crucial MX500 2TB (Only drive brought over from my old computer since it was less than 6 mo old)

Case: Antec P10 FLUX (I have used Antec cases for nearly 20 years, so gave this one a shot. My requirements included silence oriented paneling (including a sound deadening front panel that can be swung away), a 5.25 drive slot for CD and Bluray ripping, solid cable routing, a discreet look, and a reasonable price tag. This one hits on all of them. I will say I was a little disappointed with how thin the sheet metal is compared to even my P5 that is only 3 or 4 years old, but it doesn't seem to impact sound transmission and I probably won't be trying to use the unit as a step stool, so should be fine)

And most relevant to this forum, got the USB3 PCIe card Marv recommended to pair with the Unison input on my Bifrost 2

Action shot (forgot to take a finished shot when it was still on the work table):

Case ended up bigger than I needed, but it fits under my desk fine. And builds look so much different now that cases are taking routing of cables to the back of the motherboard tray. Not to mention basically hidden PSUs and no more stacks of spinning drives and their bulky cables. I guess that's why the case looks so weird and empty.

Felt great to do this, and alot of inspiration came from this thread.

 

Going a little off-topic but I think many of you will be interested in this comparison of All Intel vs All AMD with every single other factor identical. Yes, these are laptops, not desktops, but I think that may be the best way to have identical cooling etc.. for the purpose of the head to head. Both have a great showing but Nvidia is consistently better until you get to that battery life. Insane difference there. AMD appears to still be the efficiency king. I prefer AMD CPU and Nvidia graphics but I’d be fine with AMD graphics as well.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/test-fest-can-an-all-amd-gaming-laptop-beat-an-equivalent-intelnvidia-one?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=whatsnewnow&zdee=gAAAAABjNL8HZhkUE1UkLDMZ1KE7gM8HvFSurxWFP4-IC_QySUhw_K8EtsX_BNITj_UBS7BcSi595aZdHtlZRxb0AZtr_iyQeQ==

 

I actually like where enthusiast PCs are going. One main reason for messy interior is how busy it is. When all is hidden, it's easier to make it look nice. Here the word 'empty' actually for me describes nice and orderly look

 

I don't care that much.

Sure, when assembling it, there is pride in routing the cables neatly, but then the side is put on, and that's the last we see of it all until upgrade or trouble

 

That's true, once the build is finished we don't touch it. But if I can have things tidy and nicely routed from the start, that makes me a bit happier for a day or two

 

if it is especially messy it can cause less efficient airflow and cooling.

 

You are not a mini-itx guy i see

 

No, I'm a Big Box Man.

 

I hear you, nice audio setups based on nice cans provide an out-of-this-world experience in games, especially for those folks who move from "gamer" audio stuff.

 

I have upgraded my main rig a little, and with the spare R9 3900X I have, I'll build a new rig based on it, will have two full AMD rigs when done in February:
:
Main Rig -
AMD R9 5900X + Tt BigWater 3.0 360mm AIO
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme
2x 16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB RT DDR4 3600C16
Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6900 XT (will be replaced by RX 7900 XTX when I get back in February)
500GB Crucial P3 Plus NVMe M.2 Gen 4 x4 (OS + Essential programs)
2TB Kingston NV2 NVMe M.2 Gen 4 x4 (Games)
2TB Teamgroup MP33 NVMe M.2 Gen 3 x4 (Games)
4TB Samsung 860 EVO SATA SSD (Games)
2TB Samsung 860 QVO SATA SSD (Games)
2TB Seagate HDD (or similar) for downloads/music files/movies
Corsair HX1000 Platinum
CoolerMaster H500M

2nd rig -
AMD R9 3900X + Thermalright PA 120 SE
Gigabyte X570S Aorus Elite AX
2x 16GB Patriot Viper Elite II DDR4 4000MHZ (will get it to run at 3600C16 if possible)
(Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6900 XT (when I'm back in February)
500GB Crucial P2 NVMe M.2 Gen 3 x4 (OS)
4TB Leven JS600 SATA SSD
2x 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SATA SSD
2TB WD HDD (or similar) for downloads/music/movies
Enermax MAXREVO 1500 or Corsair HX 1050 (have both, will decide which to use)
SOLDAM XR-1 Black Knight

I've ordered the parts (mobo, RAM, etc) from Amazon, some delivered both here in Canada, and to my bnud's home back in my home country. Gonna be a little busy when I get back.....