A recent interest of mine has been computer hardware. Until recently, I played video games and did homework on a laptop from 2014. Don’t get me wrong, this laptop was very good for it’s time. But, it’s time was several years ago now.
Last year, I ventured to learn more about computer building. I knew a bit about software and figured it would be prudent to learn about hardware as well. Using my plethora of computer geeks as resources, I gave myself a solid foundation of knowledge. I learned what brands were to be trusted, what compatibilities and incompatibilities to be aware of, and where to score good deals on PC parts. Ultimately, I used pcpartpicker.com to theorize my build – it was to be reasonably affordable and perform in the upper-mid tier of current gaming pcs. Over the course of several months, I kept my eyes peeled for deals on the parts I wanted (Knowing someone working at BestBuy helped a lot with this). I happened to pick a very opportune time to upgrade my pc, with the RTX 30 series GPUs being unveiled towards the onset of my search. These proved to be difficult to obtain, but well worth the wait.
Putting the parts together was an endeavor I was not brave enough to pursue on my own, so I again reached out to my more tech savvy friends. Through some fun collaboration and sweaty palms, we managed to get all the expensive parts where they should be. More importantly, we got the PC to boot on the first try!
PC specs – https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mL7RZZ
P.S. For those interested in getting an RTX GPU in this scarce market, I highly recommend using EVGA and signing up for the waitlist. This saves you from the scalping bots on other websites and guarantees you pay no more than the price observed when you signed up, protecting you from market fluctuations.
