Completed my first build!

[Stoneghost01]

Thanks to Linus and the crew at LTT, I was able to muster the courage to build my first computer. I spent several months researching components and watching the reviews on the LTT YouTube channel and as soon as I got home from Afghanistan I was able to assemble my build for Christmas. I will include a parts list then will just make some comments about my experience in noob PC building.

 

This computer build might as well have been sponsored by Corsair considering most of my components were manufactured by them:

 

Case: Corsair C70 Vengeance (military green).

 

Cooler: Corsair H100i liquid cooler.

 

PSU: Corsair GS800.

 

Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0

 

CPU: AMD FX 8350

 

GPU: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3Gb

 

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 1600 (8Gbx2)

 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 128Gb SSD, WD 1 TB Black, WD 3TB Green

 

Optical Drive: ASUS Blu-Ray read/write drive

 

 

I am also immensely happy with my peripherals. I purchased a Corsair mouse in military green to match my case, a logitech wireless headset (an absolute steal, great product) and A Tesoro mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches with Red LED backlight. This is my first mechanical keyboard and I could not believe what I have been missing. I look for excuses to type things now just so I can take it for a spin. 

 

Before anyone asks, no I have not overclocked anything up to this point as I have not felt the need just yet. My CPU out of the box is running a flat 4Ghz so I am very pleased with that, especially paired with my SSD as a boot drive. I am just getting into gaming and have not encountered a situation that I need to overclock. Plus I want to take it slow and ensure everything is running smooth out of the box before I start pushing it, especially with my inexperience in doing so. I just left my job in order to spend time with my family and finally go to college so I can't spend money replacing parts due to my own incompetence just yet. 

 

Some thoughts and possible encouragement for potential first timers who may be teetering on building due to how intimidating it can be. Starting off I was eager to get started and just ripped everything out of the box and start putting it all together. THIS IS ILL ADVISED!!!! The excitement is understandable because you usually put a lot of thought into your parts and are a bit anxious to get started. I found myself staring at a pile of parts and pulling my hair out trying to determine which bag a screws went to what part etc, etc which delayed me in getting everything build my almost a day. Taking it slow is a best practice because it gives you time to examine all your components to ensure they were not damaged during shipping but also read the included literature to learn more about each individual part to better understand your system.

 

The biggest thing I found though that interfered with my build was my own fear and hesitation, whether it was biting my nails worried about static shocking my parts into oblivion, getting your fans in the right place or, what turned out to be the biggest problem for me, getting the PSU routed to all the appropriate ports. Ultimately, the biggest and best thing I learned throughout this was to just relax, take a breath, read the instructions and JUST HAVE THE CONFIDENCE to plug your stuff in and go for it! I found myself just worrying about hooking the wrong thing to the wrong other thing, all the time having done all the research, watching hours of video of other builds, my lack of confidence in myself cost me hours upon hours of time which made for a frustrating time to say the least.

 

In closing, I apologize for the rambling but I just had to get those thoughts out there and if anyone can benefit from it then it wasn't for nothing. Again, I want to thank LTT for inspiring me and all the members of LTT forums for their support, recommendations and encouragement. I could not be happier with my build and am not excited to see what I can do with my system and what else I can build. See you around the forums!

 

Stay frosty,

 

D.

[brob]

Can you post more pics?

[eX.Drunk]

That's a pretty Good build mate.

btw the casing isn't military green

[jscho]

Excellent work dude Building my first PC was a huge achievement for me, and I guess I can speak for a lot of others here on the LTT forums.

Congrats on the new build

[jscho]

That's a pretty Good build mate.

btw the casing isn't military green

 

It is. The case only comes in 3 colours. Black, white, and military green.

[Qtip1318]

vary nice job I love to see new people build there first computer 

[Stoneghost01]

Can you post more pics?

Sure thing, I will be away for a couple days but first thing when I get back.

[Stoneghost01]

Excellent work dude Building my first PC was a huge achievement for me, and I guess I can speak for a lot of others here on the LTT forums.

Congrats on the new build

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it. 

[LinusTech]

Got your PM. Welcome to the PC Gaming Master Race.

 

Now that you've joined, we will give you cake.... and lasers.

[DoubleY]

Looks like a pretty good PC. I hope that you enjoy it!

[Stoneghost01]

Got your PM. Welcome to the PC Gaming Master Race.

 

Now that you've joined, we will give you cake.... and lasers.

 

Uhhh....Cake please.