My Humble Build

[xgmadmatt]

My name is Matt, and I grew up in Lansing, MI. Back in the mid-late 90's we used to have computer stores, not just like Compu USA or Best Buy. We had local computer stores where you could walk in and talk to knowledgeable people about hardware and software and they could sell you anything from a PCI backplate cover to replace the one you tore out of the wrong slot to a full system custom built to your own specifications and everything in between. We also had computer shows where  vendors from all over the country would bring in their latest and greatest gadgets and hardware and we would spend Sunday afternoons walking around with our jaws hanging open at all of the exciting possibilities. Now days, I don't even know where to start looking for such an experience.

 

I started off when I was a teenager and all I ever had was part time job money to throw at it. I managed to beg some from my parents but usually on loan terms. I managed to cobble together a Cyrix 200 with 16MB of ram and a 400MB hard drive running Windows 98. With a Trident 2MB video card and a 2X CD-Rom. I managed to run Command and Conquer and Age of Empires on that thing. I spent a little over $300 to cobble that together plus my Dad threw in $50 to help me out. It wasn't crazy fast or exciting but it worked and it did the job I needed it for. I could never have afforded the intel equivalent board and chip...

 

Then as gaming grew and things like full motion video and mpeg decoding started becoming the norm, I had to find ways to upgrade and keep up. For that, I have almost always turned to AMD. Yes, I am a fan boy. No, I'm not going to argue about who has the best or fastest. When I worked at the computer store, we used to have dick swinging contests over who had the more power computer. I used to have a manager that every time I upgraded, he upgraded to the level above what I could afford. I got used to never being the fastest. However, I also got used to building great performing computers that do what I ask of them. I don't think of AMD as infallible or as a religion as some seem to. I think of them as I do my Sketchers, probably not the best shoes on the market, but I can afford them and for me, they are very comfortable. It's not that I won't try on another shoe, it's that even when I do, I find both Sketcher's and AMD to be well within my comfort zone in terms of price and what I expect out of the product. I won't lie either, my i7 laptop with the 1060 in it made me very happy as well. But what made me happier was upgrading my AMD build so that it could run even better without having to spend another $1400.

 

So here's my latest build. Just upgraded it today.

 

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X

Gigabyte Aorus X470 MB

16GB DDR4 @ 3200MHz

Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580 8GB - brand new

Corsair 256GB SSD

2 X 1TB WD Green Drives in a 2TB RAID 0

Seagate Barracuda 2TB

Liteon 3D Blu-Ray R/W with Lightscribe 

Rosewill Blackhawk Gaming Computer Case (2012)

Rosewill 750watt 80 Bronze Power Supply

Sceptre 32" 3D LED TV at 1080P 

Logitech G710+ Gaming Mechanical Keyboard

Logitech G502 Gaming Mouse

Logitech 5.1 Surround Speakers

 

I know it's not the fastest, or the greatest. The RX 580 I just got today is 3 years old technology wise. But my monitor is only 1080P for gaming and I didn't have a whole lot of extra money to spend. I just wanted something that would work. This computer can game at 1080P High or better settings in most games. Paired with my 3600X so far it's giving me formidable benchmarks, even against 2020 hardware. It's making me very happy for what I spent on it. I remember back in the day when the difference between spending $200 on a video card and $400 on a video card meant you were missing out on something pretty huge. Right now, I'm not seeing it. At least not with the peripherals I have. 

 

This computer can also play 3D movies in stereoscopic 3D (with passive glasses) on my Sceptre 3D LED TV/Monitor. I can also burn Blu-Ray discs, DVDs, CDs, including 3D Blu-Ray movies. It offers true 5.1 surround sound and my 8 year old case has a very unique feature that is so unique and has been so handy I can't bear to part with it. It has an External SATA connector with power and a sloped tray so you can plug in SATA hard drives right into the top of the case. As a PC repair technician this is extremely handy for backing up customer's files before restore or formating their drives. It also allows for external drive scanning for viruses and such. It's just so handy I can't bring myself to get rid of it despite the crack in the glass.

 

So that's my build. Not all of us Fan Boys are insane or unreasonable. Sometimes we are just satisfied customers. I also own Intel powered laptops and they are just as fantastic. My Surface Book was my best friend for 2 years, it almost never left my side. But when it comes to building them and for building them affordably, I just can't pull myself out of AMD's stables. You might say I was suckered into buying the FX 8150. I never had a problem with it. In fact it lasted me 5 years until I started upgrading again. 

 

 

 

[Fasauceome]

4 minutes ago, xgmadmatt said:

The RX 580 I just got today is 3 years old technology wise. But my monitor is only 1080P

nothing wrong with a classic RX 580, especially a sapphire model. I'll be recommending a used RX 580 for as long as it can pull off 1080p 60fps gaming comfortably. (basically until the end of time, is what it feels like)

[xgmadmatt]

 

I'm still benching her but I'm not unhappy at all with these results. I can live with this while I save some more bucks for that RX 6800. lol

[xgmadmatt]

Part 2: Son of the Humble Build

 

So my Son got to build his own computer for his birthday using my old parts and some new ones he got as gifts. I thought it appropriate to list it here since some of his components came from the above build literally making it a child computer. Craziness but also fun!

 

What he got was this:

 

MSI Mini ITX AMD B450 with Wifi (this thing is tiny)

AMD Ryzen 5 2600

ROG Strix Radeon RX 570 4GB

16GB Corsair Vengeance 3200MHz

256GB Team SSD

2TB Seagate Barracuda

Rosewill Prism M RGB enabled Mid Tower

650w ThermalTake 80 Bronze Power Supply

 

Haven't had a chance to bench it yet but i'm pretty sure it will hit pretty close to where mine is. It turned out pretty sweet. Definitely better looking than mine.

 

 

 

[xgmadmatt]

Spruced her up with a $35 set of RGB Fans. Not bad. Hard to take a clear picture of but she sure looks good in person.There is a crack in my window panel I'd like to fix or replace it rather than buy a new case as I was originally planning. All she needed was a good cleaning, a little re-wiring, and some new fans and she looks fantastic. Runs like a dream too. I think she's a full fledged 1080P Gaming Rig at this point and proudly so. 

[A1200]

Nice rigs. I used to sell AMD CPUs and systems back in the late 90s. Now in a corporate IT world I am aligned with team blue. Including my home rig - also not the greatest but does all I need. Looking at your story I think we must be similar ages give or take a few years. I was born in 1980. It's impossible to be the fastest all the time unless you have silly money laying around but you generally find people with plenty of money don't waste it on buying a new pc every year - that's why they have so much money!