First Build evolutuions

[Podo]

Hello all fellow Linus Tech individuals, though this is not my first post this is a strong introductory post.

 

In November of last year (2015), I suddenly got struck by the bug to build a PC.  I can't put my finger down on the reasoning behind it, but I believe it had something to do with my fingers getting itchy to fix/build/create/tinker with something during the winter months (Minnesota's weather was just turning foul). I had been a console gamer for a while, 2005, but my roots were from PC games because my father is a database developer he knew his way around PCs and introduced me early age 4. Playing games like AOE II, Madden, and Descent, and getting demo disks to even get samples were good memories.

 

And with black Friday around the corner I felt I could probably build something which would beat any console with an entry cost of $100 over a 2tb Xbox one.  Thus my search began as I browsed forums (toms, anandtech, linus), read tech articles (anandtech, tom's hardware, pc gamer), discovered youtube tech channels (linus, NCIX, Jayztwocents, Paul'sHW).  Looking to build a PC for "$400+graphics card." This is what I came up with over the shopping holiday.  Went team Blue and Green, with budget Case and PSU.  All prices reflect after tax and mailed in rebates, so true cost out of pocket.
 

CPU: i7-4790k - $268.92 (microcenter)

MoBo: MSI Z97s Krait SLI - $75.79 (microcenter)

Mem: Corsair Veng Pro 2x8GB ddr3-2400 - $69.99 (Newegg)

SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB - $75.09

GPU: MSI GTX 970 4GD5T OC" - 271.99 (Newegg.com, this does not reflect the Class-action Lawsuit $30 "rebate")

Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 (4 case fans included) $42.83 (microcenter)

PSU: Thermaltake TR2 600w 80+ Gold $39.99 (Newegg.com)

OS: Win 7 key from dead laptop, "upgraded" to Win 10

 

Build Total: $844.6

 

So didn't end up being "$400+GPU" but I felt I got a solid build.

 

A couple weeks later, I upgraded the storage and cooling with a Seagate 3TB HDD ($90) and a Hyper 212 ($25) from microcenter.

After this upgrade, the build became my gaming pc for Battlefront, Modded Skyrim and other titles that I had picked up after my first Steam Black Friday sale.

 

With the sudden Launch/announcement of GTX Pascal, I was suddenly revitalized into PC building etc.  I wanted to learn as much as possible, and without an end goal of simply purchasing parts and building I wandered the vast expanse of PC parts.  I started following LTT, Paul's HW, Jayztwocents, and Kyle-Awesomesauce religiously after Subscribing to all and watching them digest the news of Pascal and its impact on PC gaming.  After watching moving Vlogs from both Jay and Linus, I felt the need to upgrade my PC work space from a couch and old HDTV to a desk and proper monitor.

 

Copying Jay and Paul I found a used IKEA Galant Desk for my set up.

 

The Next step in my evolution was Submitting my PC to a "PimpMyPC" this last week on AwesomeHardware.  Surprisingly they did comment on it.

 

 

This gave me the motivation to revisit the my cable management which was described by Paul as a "Nightmare." 

 

Thus I was able to produce the following results:

 

 Which after tagging Paul and Kyle on twitter, Kyle was very gracious and gave me the Praise and reassurance I was seeking! #namedrop

 

 

And if you have made it this far in reading my journey, I thank you.  I hope to continue more into the software side of things now that I have my PC straightened out.  But plan on upgrading to a Modular PSU and Windowed case in the near future so I can admire my build rather than let it hide in plain sight.

 

Here is a link to my current PC build on PCPartpicker with purchase prices.

 

 

[Cela1]

Sweet

[EPPHO]

Nice setup

[SLAYR]

I like the rims on that m3.

[srmarkovic]

Great build!