-Warning: Long Read-
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think or what you would have done differently.
I've been looking around at computer parts for over a year now telling myself that one day I would build my own abomination of a computer. The only problem was, I had no idea what I was doing. So I took to tomshardware.com and sought out advice and the next thing you know, I was actually starting to understand things. Its a good thing I learned what I did when I did too because as luck would have it, my old computer (Pre-built Hp Pavilion 500-164) just quit on me out of the blue (screen).
The goal was for gaming but it slowly turned into equal parts gaming and work since I am going into my first year of college and need something practical that can also handle most if not all games thrown at it (also one of the reasons I went with the MoBo/CPU combo I did, I plan on upgrading CPU to the new Broadwell chipset when possible... Hence not overclocking yet.
The starting budget : $600-$800 before rebates.... No, that's not a joke. Things got out of hand with the spending; I see, I like, I buy. Its a real problem.
So I started saving my money and picking my parts out to create my beast (More like a puppy than a beast compared to some of your computers, but let me have my moment) and that is the part I regret the most. Instead of being smart and buying when prices were low, I just saved up the money for the whole cost and bought all at once. This was done because I can be an impatient person sometimes and having a new case with just a motherboard in it would truly drive me crazy not being able to use it.
Once all the parts were in, I set out on my journey to bring my Numbomination to life (Get it? NUMBomination, like Abomination... Oh forget it); and piece by piece in a dark cellar during a thunderstorm with eerie music in the background (cue Frankenstein enter) , it came to life. But seriously, I started it after I got home from work and it was still plenty light out and by the time I was done I had to consider using the flash on my camera. My buddy came over and wanted to help out towards the end so I probably would have finished even later if he didn't. But, so we got all the parts put together and probably close to an hour of wire/cable management and headaches, finally the moment of truth came, it was time to come to life. so I plugged it into the wall and held my breath as I turned it on and was overcome with joy when I saw the fans start and the lights flicker on. Then they went out after about two seconds.
Every time I tried the same thing would happen. Immediately my heart stopped (Not literally for those of you who would call me out on it, its a figure of speech) and I thought it was something I did like I wasn't properly grounded or something and I messed up one of the parts. Then, after about 45 min of researching I realized that it was a noob mistake and i just simply forgot to plug in the 8 pin connector on the top left of the MoBo. My beast gave a loud hiss as the fans started up and it was finally alive.
I've been using it for a few weeks now prior to posting this and let me just say, with the experiences I'm having gaming right now I wish I had switched over from console a long time ago. The only thing I'm still having trouble with trying to figure out is which games I should get now haha.
-Parts list-
CPU- Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor $205.27
CPU Cooler- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler $32.43 Thermal Comp- Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond 4g Thermal Paste $14.98
Motherboard- ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $109.23
Memory- G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $55.62
Storage- Western Digital 3TB HDD $100.00
Video Card- XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card $185.27
Case- NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case $143.72
Power Supply- XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply $80.00
Optical Drive- Leftover Optical Drive From Last Computer $0.00
Operating System- Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) $109.97
Monitor- LG 24EC53V-P $150.00
Keyboard- Razer Anansi Wired Gaming Keyboard $103.58
Mouse- Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse $60.00
Headphones- Turtle Beach X12 Headset $60.00
Another set of headphones- Steelseries SIberia Raw $40.00
Speakers- Bose Companion II $100.00
Microphone- Blue Snowball $60.00
Sweat, Tears, and Blood (literally) of a new builder- 1 Band-aid
Pride of being able to use something you built with your own two hands- Priceless
-Future plans-
-Broadwell chipset swap for overclockability
-Liquid cooling
-A 2nd R9 270X for crossfiring
-Adding more fans for airflow to internals
-usb/sd/microsd card reader internal for bay. (never got around to buying yet, so its here as a reminder)
-better fan controller for bay
-more lighting for interior of case
Like I said before, please leave a comment and let me know what you think or what you would have done differently.
*will update idle temps later and pics.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think or what you would have done differently.
I've been looking around at computer parts for over a year now telling myself that one day I would build my own abomination of a computer. The only problem was, I had no idea what I was doing. So I took to tomshardware.com and sought out advice and the next thing you know, I was actually starting to understand things. Its a good thing I learned what I did when I did too because as luck would have it, my old computer (Pre-built Hp Pavilion 500-164) just quit on me out of the blue (screen).
The goal was for gaming but it slowly turned into equal parts gaming and work since I am going into my first year of college and need something practical that can also handle most if not all games thrown at it (also one of the reasons I went with the MoBo/CPU combo I did, I plan on upgrading CPU to the new Broadwell chipset when possible... Hence not overclocking yet.
The starting budget : $600-$800 before rebates.... No, that's not a joke. Things got out of hand with the spending; I see, I like, I buy. Its a real problem.
So I started saving my money and picking my parts out to create my beast (More like a puppy than a beast compared to some of your computers, but let me have my moment) and that is the part I regret the most. Instead of being smart and buying when prices were low, I just saved up the money for the whole cost and bought all at once. This was done because I can be an impatient person sometimes and having a new case with just a motherboard in it would truly drive me crazy not being able to use it.
Once all the parts were in, I set out on my journey to bring my Numbomination to life (Get it? NUMBomination, like Abomination... Oh forget it); and piece by piece in a dark cellar during a thunderstorm with eerie music in the background (cue Frankenstein enter) , it came to life. But seriously, I started it after I got home from work and it was still plenty light out and by the time I was done I had to consider using the flash on my camera. My buddy came over and wanted to help out towards the end so I probably would have finished even later if he didn't. But, so we got all the parts put together and probably close to an hour of wire/cable management and headaches, finally the moment of truth came, it was time to come to life. so I plugged it into the wall and held my breath as I turned it on and was overcome with joy when I saw the fans start and the lights flicker on. Then they went out after about two seconds.
Every time I tried the same thing would happen. Immediately my heart stopped (Not literally for those of you who would call me out on it, its a figure of speech) and I thought it was something I did like I wasn't properly grounded or something and I messed up one of the parts. Then, after about 45 min of researching I realized that it was a noob mistake and i just simply forgot to plug in the 8 pin connector on the top left of the MoBo. My beast gave a loud hiss as the fans started up and it was finally alive.
I've been using it for a few weeks now prior to posting this and let me just say, with the experiences I'm having gaming right now I wish I had switched over from console a long time ago. The only thing I'm still having trouble with trying to figure out is which games I should get now haha.
-Parts list-
CPU- Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor $205.27
CPU Cooler- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler $32.43 Thermal Comp- Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond 4g Thermal Paste $14.98
Motherboard- ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $109.23
Memory- G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $55.62
Storage- Western Digital 3TB HDD $100.00
Video Card- XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card $185.27
Case- NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case $143.72
Power Supply- XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply $80.00
Optical Drive- Leftover Optical Drive From Last Computer $0.00
Operating System- Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) $109.97
Monitor- LG 24EC53V-P $150.00
Keyboard- Razer Anansi Wired Gaming Keyboard $103.58
Mouse- Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse $60.00
Headphones- Turtle Beach X12 Headset $60.00
Another set of headphones- Steelseries SIberia Raw $40.00
Speakers- Bose Companion II $100.00
Microphone- Blue Snowball $60.00
Sweat, Tears, and Blood (literally) of a new builder- 1 Band-aid
Pride of being able to use something you built with your own two hands- Priceless
-Future plans-
-Broadwell chipset swap for overclockability
-Liquid cooling
-A 2nd R9 270X for crossfiring
-Adding more fans for airflow to internals
-usb/sd/microsd card reader internal for bay. (never got around to buying yet, so its here as a reminder)
-better fan controller for bay
-more lighting for interior of case
Like I said before, please leave a comment and let me know what you think or what you would have done differently.
*will update idle temps later and pics.
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