So I recently decided I need a new computer, and chose to build it myself despite knowing next to nothing about hardware components, and what’s good. I found help from YouTube, Reddit and friends. I originally had little idea what I wanted, but after searching I settled on a 1440p monitor. And then 2 1080p monitors. Then on 2 1080ps, one at 60hz and the other 144hz… This went on for a long time until I settled on a 1440p 144hz – which never arrived, so I opted for an ultrawide 1440p.
After cherry picking the perfect (in my opinion) set of components (and going for a subtle black/white theme), I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger and order them. I bought RAM individually because in the sales buying 2×8 was more expensive than 1×8 twice. The component list is as follows:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
| Type | Item |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor |
| CPU Cooler | be quiet! PURE ROCK 51.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler |
| Motherboard | MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard |
| Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory |
| Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive |
| Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card |
| Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) |
| Case Fan | be quiet! Pure Wings 2 61.2 CFM 140mm Fan |
| Case Fan | be quiet! Pure Wings 2 61.2 CFM 140mm Fan |
| Monitor | LG 34UM95-P 60Hz 34.0″ Monitor |
| Mouse | Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse |
| Keyboard | Beryllium RED Switch Mechanical Gaming Keyboard |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-06 21:15 GMT+0000 |
The build went relatively well, and I had absolutely no problem with components (apart from the Enter key not working on they keyboard, so I had to RMA it). I intended on taking pictures and I took a few, however I was too into the project of building it to give too much thought to documenting it. My 2 greatest concerns whilst building were installing the CPU – the amount of force I had to put in made me think I was going to break it. My second was the RAM which needed an uncomfortable amount of force to fit in.
I’ve been running the computer for a couple of months now – and I’m in love. The black and white motherboard and RAM sticks look amazing together. I was originally skeptical about bothering with the cooler, but I decided to to allow me to overclock, and I like the design. The SSD was one of the best purchases on there. I had NO IDEA they were THAT fast – I get 7-10 second boot times (with fast boot enabled on my motherboard).
All in all it’s an amazing pc – gaming is great with high framerate and ultra settings, and it’s also good for game design. I can have Unity and Visual Studio split between the monitor and still have plenty of room.
I’m a software developer and recent graduate from the University of Hull. I’m fascinated by machine learning, artificial intelligence & procedural generation, and love sinking into exciting projects such as games, simulations & websites!