on-hold Generic Gamer's PC, but also my first desktop

[Nulcheck]

Well hello there, I've got a story about my PC. First off, I built this several years ago, back in February 16, 2017, but I wasn't on the forum back then. Since then I've added and upgraded a few things, but nothing too drastic. I'm putting it on hold because money, but I do plan on adding / upgrading more in the future.

Anyway, story time. I used to use laptops and whatever generic family PC my parents had. I don't remember all the other computers I used, but I'll list off a few I can remember. Some generic Dell pc my dad got, ran windows 98, xp, vista and 7 through out the years, but now doesn't work at all anymore. Some laptops I remember using was a Lenovo Thinkpad I believe, and a Republic of Gamers laptop my dad got me in high school.

 

That Republic of Gamers laptop I used through out high school and several years after until Q1 of 2017. At some point it just kind of got worse and worse over the course of the week, and so I had to buy my desktop PC parts that week. Luckily I was already planning on getting parts, I was just holding off.

Here's the current spec of the PC, they're mostly the same from when I built the PC.

Spoiler

* - recent addition (In last 2 years (2019 as of now))

** - somewhat recent addition (Several years old already, but not 2017 old (when I built the PC))

No asterisk - As old as the PC (2017), or older.

 

Initially built in February 16, 2017. Kinda had to bulk buy some internal parts because the laptop I was using just died one week. I had to pay my dad back over several months because I didn't make a whole lot at the job I had at the time.

 

Main Things:

• Case: Corsair Carbide Series Black/White Steel ATX Mid - (I modified it a bit)
• CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K Quad Core - (I would have gone with a i7, but at the time they were kind of expensive, so I went with an i5)
• Graphics: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus GA-Z270X-Gaming K5
• PSU / UPS:
  • EVGA SuperNOVA 80+ Gold 850W
  • APC 360W 7 Outlets UPS** (My hometown's power is garbage)
• RAM: OlOy Warhawk 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 (x2)* - (old RAM was G.Skill Ripjaws V 8GB (x2) )
• Storage:
  • WD Blue 2TB HDD (x2) - (C drive and a game development drive (which was games drive at first))
  • WD Blue 6TB HDD (1)* - Games drive (The D drive )
  • WD 2TB Elements Portal External Drive - (Backup drive)

Before you say "Get an SSD for your OS! It's--" yes I know, but things are working fine for now so.. it's not at the top of my list right now. And again, kinda had to bulk buy internal parts because the laptop I was using just died one week. I had to pay my dad back over several months because I didn't make a whole lot at the job I had at the time. Also, SSDs get a bit expensive for the space I need. Maybe if I upgrade a couple other internals, I'll throw one in or something.

 

I also feel like it's pointless to just get the SSD for the OS if everything else is still on HDDs. So windows is faster, but read/write and file stuff is still HDD speeds; what's the point then? To me, just the one reason isn't enough. I'd rather just move everything to SSDs so everything is fast, file stuff and windows. But, I would have to get a few SSDs (OS and normal file storage), and all of that would be expensive. For the time being, it's not a the top of the list. If I didn't have to worry about money and, well... life things, sure I'd just throw money at it and get whatever, but that's not how things work. That is why I labeled this post as "On Hold"...

 

Anyway, in the mean time, got any suggestions / what specs I should be looking for SSDs? (Current motherboard has two M.2 connectors, just checked the product page / manual. Didn't realize this at first. So if you got any suggestions there, post it!)

 

Other stuff you probably don't care much about:

• Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow - Overwatch edition** - (Green switches are the loudest thing known to mankind, and as a programmer, I hate them now). The old keyboard was a board and mouse combo thing (Octane or something like that, idk) my friends got me one Christmas, but at one point started acting up so I got this keyboard when my friends and I went to Fry's (rip) one day. (Also been looking at getting a Blackwidow V3 recently, because yellow switches. Read more in the "Possibly upgrades / Additions" section)
• Mouse: Razer Basilisk V3* - Boy do I got a story about the old mouse, I'll put that in a spoiler under this. Recently got V3 because some of the switches on the V1 were going out. Also the glue on the grip rubber pads was like, coming off, so those were slipping around.
• Audio: Razer Kraken Ultimate USB Headset* - My older kraken was quite worn out and needed replacing. So I went with the upgraded kraken.
• Mic: CAD U3 USB Mic - I don't use the headset mic, I use this one on a scissor arm stand. I've had this since like 2014 or something and still is good. But, it's a little sensitive (Especially with razer's green switches) and I'm looking for a new one.
• Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23" HDMI (x2) (One was gifted) - Sometimes I feel like I need 3, but I don't have room. I also currently (and just recently) put them on a Huanuo Dual Monitor Arm Desk Mount *
• Other: 
  • 15 Key Elgato Stream Deck* - Super useful! (Got it on sale around Christmas time one year.)
  • Razer Tartarus* - A friend got us all one of these one year. I game on this and not the main keyboard, because you know... green switches and a mic. The mic still picks up the keys of this, but it's not as bad.
  • Asus DVD-RW SATA Optical Drive - Yes, I have an optical drive. I still have games that are on CDs! But I really needed for my motherboard's drivers, one of which was for the internet, so.. However, at the time of building, I just Frankensteined one in from an old dell PC my dad had. Still got one myself, which arrived the day after building the PC, because I still have games on CDs.
  • Excelvan 5.25" Multi-Function Media Dashboard - Super useful, and mainly got it because it has more USB ports, and the case ones didn't work or some reason (They had USB 3.0, but the connector was a 2.0. And nothing worked wherever we plugged it in). Also has other ports for: Compact Flash (Came in handy literally only once), SD Card, 4 Pin Molex Power, SATA, and ESATA, and a few others.
  • Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas 4 Flight Stick* - It's awesome and makes Ace Combat, Elite Dangerous, and a few other games so much easier.

 

Mouse Story

Spoiler

So my first "gaming" mouse (Idk if it really was, it wasn't the greatest quality) had some rgb shine through a scorpion design on the mouse. It was my first mouse with dedicated back and forward buttons, which is used in games for melee, and one of those broke. So I got a G.Skill mouse because one of my friends had it and he said it was alright. So I used that for years.

 

One day, I was just going through PC stuff and noticed my motherboard had a BIOS firmware update. I thought, well that's kinda important, why not. It was fine for a week, until one day when I started up my PC and the mouse didn't work. Eventually, I think using the keyboard, I found out that the mouse was actually being detected as a storage drive. I tried to revert the update, that didn't work. I also tried flashing the bios after reverting the update, and that didn't work. One of my friends (more hardware tech knowing than me) asked what mouse I had, and he said that was G.Skill's one and only mouse they've made (at the time, idk if they've made more), and that he changed to a different mouse a while ago because problems. So I went with a razer mouse since I had other razor stuff and I didn't want to have several RGB controlling programs for stuff. Also, I know razer can handle their stuff, because my other razer stuff didn't have problems with the BIOS update.

 

Anyway, I thought this was funny, because I never seen or heard of a mouse being detected as a storage device by a computer. I wasn't even mad (maybe a little), just dumbfounded by the situation.

 

I still have both mice. I don't know why haha

 

 

Pics!

Spoiler

These were taken in 2017 from my phone, so they're pretty bad.

 

This was when I just had the case, no internal parts. You can see I cut away a bit of the case so the external drive's cable wasn't taking the weight, and could just come straight out. Didn't plan on selling the case, so whatever.

 

Motherboard, with nothing installed.

 

RAM, CPU, and CPU fan installed. (Sorry, I don't know what fan it was, all I know is that it's a Thermaltake fan, like the rest of them)

 

My friend holding my graphics card. (I actually didn't build the pc myself, a friend wanted to)

 

First boot

 

Front panel with the added bay stuff.

 

Possible Upgrades / Additions

Spoiler

• Mic: Shure SM7B - Yes I know, generic streamer mic everyone uses. But I've heard it, and watched several reviews and comparisons, and I like the sound of it. But it's an XLR mic, so I need other stuff for it.
• Mic Stand: Rode PSA 1 Boom Arm - Also yes a generic stand a lot of streamers use. But my current stand is the one with springs, and is noisy. So I'm gonna get a good mic stand for once.
• Interface: TC-Helicon GOXLR - I was looking at a different interface that can also do a guitar jack, but for the same price I can get this. I can also route audio stuff so I can talk to friends on discord, and not have my mic or them show up on stream! (I only needed this once before, but who knows, I may need it again). Also faders yee
• SSD: I would like one at some point, but I mean... things are working for now so.. it's not at the top of my list right now. Maybe if I upgrade a couple other internals, I'll throw one in or something. In the mean time, got any suggestions / what specs I should look on one of these? (Current motherboard has two M.2 connectors, just check it recently. Didn't realize this at first. So if you got any suggestions there, post it!)
• Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow V3 - Spent a while going back and forth between a few, but I think I'll settle on this. First off, the floating type style looks easier to clean, but I ultimately went with another blackwidow because they seem to be the only ones that have razer's yellow switches. After listening to a few sound tests, yellow switches are quieter than green, and I like the sound of them. And as a programmer, I want quieter keys. Also, the current one I have, some keys kind of have a metallic ring after the press now, so that's kind of getting annoying..

 

Of course I'll need a xlr cable and a few other little things that I don't feel like writing down here, but I have all the stuff saved on a list.

 

 

Well thanks for reading this, if you read anything. You can follow the post to know when I do updates, if you like.
Got any suggestions / helpful info / constructive criticism (instead of just "well that's just a dumb excuse for [...]"), then I'd love to hear what you've got to say.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Nulcheck
added the new mouse

[SorryBella]

6 minutes ago, Nulcheck said:

Before you say "Get an SSD for your OS! It's--" yes I know, I don't really care. I turn it on and then go eat breakfast, the end. lol

And you type on your password and go eat lunch, cool. Still get an SSD, hard drive seek times is not good enough for W10 smooth experience, especially on a 5400RPM HDD.

 

8 minutes ago, Nulcheck said:

Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas 4 Flight Stick - Awesome and makes Ace Combat and Elite Dangerous so much easier.

TM gang, gonna get an LCM pedals this christmas for myself.

[Jorban]

52 minutes ago, Nulcheck said:

Before you say "Get an SSD for your OS! It's--" yes I know, I don't really care. I turn it on and then go eat breakfast, the end. lol

Buy an SSD regardless. Having anything on the HDD that's used for caching, such as pagefile, will lead to awful results.
If the drive is awful you can also experience lock ups as Windows will not know how to 100% handle it.

52 minutes ago, Nulcheck said:

15 Key Elgato Stream Deck - Super useful!

You're buying a Stream Deck but not an SSD?

52 minutes ago, Nulcheck said:

RAM: OlOy Warhawk 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 (x2)

The capacity is overkill and the full specifications of the ram is not listed.
OIOy is known as a very cheap brand and is most likely going to be awful.

[Nulcheck]

6 minutes ago, Jorban said:

You're buying a Stream Deck but not an SSD?

This was well after the initial build and got it on sale. I just don't feel like dealing with moving an OS to a different drive and all that. I've been fine with it so far so whatever.

[SorryBella]

6 minutes ago, Jorban said:

The capacity is overkill

Far. From. It. 16GB is already very much nessesary even if youre just gaming, a lot of modern games can use up to 12GB including windows nowadays.

[Jorban]

11 minutes ago, Nulcheck said:

This was well after the initial build and got it on sale. I just don't feel like dealing with moving an OS to a different drive and all that. I've been fine with it so far so whatever.

That's a dumb excuse to not buy an SSD for a bootdrive..
Regardless you should have allocated any funds that you had in order to buy it to buy a boot drive for your computer.
Seems like a waste.

11 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

Far. From. It. 16GB is already very much nessesary even if youre just gaming, a lot of modern games can use up to 12GB including windows nowadays.

You might be right, but generally for the average gamer, it seriously is double than what is needed.
Windows will allocate system resources well.
If you have a decent SSD as a bootdrive, more than half the time the pagefile will be more than enough for overages.

[LloydLynx]

I suppose an SSD is a luxury to some. If an HDD is working fine for you, keep using it. But I have a tip; when the Windows installation starts to get too slow and all the normal maintenance doesn't do enough, create a new user account, move everything to that account, and delete the old account. It's a little known trick that I discovered on my own as a kid to combat Windows rot.