The problem.
Back in 2022 when i was still 100% focused on finishing my family medicine specialization, my old 2013 PC decided to die (probably due to faulty RAM, looking back) which gave me the perfect excuse / opportunity to learn how to build my own. i had no idea how i was going to do it, but i have never been one to shy away from a fun challenge.
The build.
My current PC is two years old as of 2024. i reused my old power supply and my recent RTX card that i managed to get before the pandemic drought. Most components were from PCComponentes; i initially bought most components from PCDiga which proved to be a liability when i had to return a faulty graphics card (complete nightmare to get them to refund me). i ended up swapping the case as well since i wanted better cooling.
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B660M DS3H DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700
- RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory
- SSD: Western Digital Blue SN570 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME
- GPU: Zotac Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB Video Card
- Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX ATX Mid Tower Case
- Power: XFX TS 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX
i used PCPartPicker which is a god-send since it checks for incompatibilities between all the components.
The building process
i started by testing everything works before unassemblying and reassemblying it all inside the case.
This video covers all the bases and made the process of learning how to build look (almost) effortless:
The hardest part was probably applying the thermal paste as i was worried about over or underfilling and getting my new CPU fried.
The review
Booting up.
i am beyond pleased with the results. It’s blazing fast to start, i have my Arch setup on it to program and i also dual-boot with Windows for (mostly) gaming. It fulfills all my needs and i don’t see myself upgrading for the next 7 years.