Building my own PC

[Neal]

Okay, posting in the Hobby area as it's not really related to RVing but many of us work from the RV and have our computers, etc. so posting here to share the fun. I built my own PC's in the past then went back to prefab Dell's which have been fine. I don't want to wait for Dell to catch up to the latest tech, it's time for a new PC, while I don't "need" as with most of my purchases, this is where I spend a good majority of my life, in front of a computer, for my work so it's part of the making it enjoyable.

I've been an Intel guy to date but I think I'm going with a AMD processor this time around. The new Ryzen 9's just came out and I'm thinking of a 5900 or 5950X. Video is pretty set on the NVidia 3080 and of course both of these items are out of stock and will be for the foreseeable future so this is a build that will occur around March I'm thinking.

Mid tower ATX case, 850W power supply, not set on a motherboard yet but I've been playing with the Newegg PC configuration tool which has been helpful. Probably a Samsung EVO PRO 980 1TB M2 SSD. 64 GB of RAM (3200).

Nothing complicated but sounds like you can really build your own super fast machine these days. Not a gamer, just developer, but enjoy a robust development machine.

Any PC builders out there, share your tips for building something in the coming months.

 

[AbdRahim]

I would love to have you as a electronics customer, Neal. I would not need many like you to make an excellent living.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Back in the day I built my own towers. Today I buy to save energy. Yes because I don't have to make a living with the puter and lessons learned boating full time I use laptops. With the advanced programming on Chromebooks so I can use Linux apts I use them for all my computing today. I have been thinking of linking them all together to use them as a low end super computing system for video editing.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Been there, done that, @Neal. Then I discovered Macs.

TJ

 

[RKins]

I built my tower (several times) using a Fractal case, the last time (2 years ago) I built with 1000W PS, ASUS Republic Of Gamers Maximus IX Hero MB, i7 2600k processor, 32G of top end ram, Twin GeForce video cards (I think they are 98xx). Even though I'm 65, I enjoy a peppy PC and sometimes I game with it, but also I run security and camera systems on it, so it hasn't been turned off in about 2 years ('cept to do updates). The ROG line of MBs are superb for speed and flexibility, Nvidia makes killer video cards, and the fractal case line is outstanding, having like 14 drive bays (why I don't know, but I do have 4 drives in it plus SSD on the MB) - the thing I really like about the case (weighs 29lbs empty) is the design of the air flow. The system runs super cool without any crazy liquid cooling, just big fans. I am extremely pleased with this PC, so much so that I have no desire to upgrade anything in it - it's a smoker. I bought everything through NewEgg.

 

[Buly]

Been there, done that, @Neal. Then I discovered Macs.

TJ

What is the the difference between Windows and a virus?
You get the virus for free.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

What is the the difference between Windows and a virus?
You get the virus for free.

very much the same thing. Come to think of it Billy is still into viruses.

 

[Neal]

What is the the difference between Windows and a virus?
You get the virus for free.

 

[Neal]

very much the same thing. Come to think of it Billy is still into viruses.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Over the years I have built many PC boxes. Once you are sure all the bits work well together, it is a simple and interesting process.
The one problem I have found is the MB and Case compatibility. A couple of times, even though the Case indicated it is compatible, the MB wire connections were difficult or impossible with a specific case. Otherwise it is a simple process and fun too.

Been using MBs for both a AMD or Intel CPU over the years. Never really found much difference for how i use a PC. The hardest task employed is Video creation.
ADOBE Premiere apparently needs WAY More processing power than I am going to spend for a PC to work smoothly. I'll suffer the crashes and slow processing

Currently using Win 10, a ASUS MB and an Intel chip set. It is about a 4-5 year old build.
And a Graphics card.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz 4.20 GHz
Installed RAM 64.0 GB
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

 

[Neal]

Yeah, I went to use Adobe Premier on my last RV trip to process some drone footage and it gave me the thumbs down on my NVidia GTX 1080 so I spent far too much and put a RX 2070 SUPER in (that is pushing it for my 450 power supply).

I have mac's as well and they work fine, I do much prefer the Windows 10 experience. Having major issues with Big Sur on my Mac's as usual for the annual upgrade and major Apple regressions and that's across the board from Apple Watch and Apple Macbook Pro and iMac. I don't have these issues in Windows 10. iCloud sync not working right, on and on.

This Dell XPS 17 9700 I'm using now is amazing. The fan runs hard which is the only downside as I'm using a dock station to drive 3 monitors (4K 27's) and it does amazing. I really don't need anything else. The PC build will be mainly for fun and future. It seems building PC's (gaming machines) has returned as the new craze.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I was in Phoenix to pick up some solar panels and put Fry's Electronics on the list of places to stop. I was amazed! The store was almost empty of; employees, electronic supplies, and computer parts. Unbelievable!!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I am extremely pleased with this PC, so much so that I have no desire to upgrade anything in it - it's a smoker.

The trick is making sure that none of the smoke leaks out!

TJ