As computer enthusiasts and professionals, we like to build our own desktops. Building a desktop can seem intimidating, but it is not too bad as long as you take things step-by-step by reading the manual and research accordingly. There are tons of resources available to help you reach success, such as parts compatibilities websites, Youtube, etc. Challenges and fear are typical in any hobbies and activities we take on. As an example, Nancy was scared of the computer catching on fire from a faulty wire. This is all part of the fun in hobbies and activities – you learn through experience and various roadblocks as long as you don’t give up.
We recently built a new gaming desktop for Nancy. Her last build was from 2015, and she was overdue for an upgrade to keep up with Call of Duty: Warzone. With a healthier budget and additional resources, Nancy decided on a white build with RGB. Here are the specifications of the new build (running on Windows 10 Pro).
Nancy’s desktop ended up turning on and running as intended. The desktop case looks really sleek as an all-white build. Although there is a slight upmark in cost, it is worth every penny. There were some challenges, which was part of the fun! We worked together to make sure everything worked out. Here are some challenges we faced and how we overcame them.
The GPU will be swapped for a 3080 once Nancy is lucky enough to snag one. Otherwise, a 1660 Ti will do for now. This desktop has twice the CPU cores and RAM. With the same Warzone settings, the frames per second (FPS) went from a solid 75 to 100-110. Once a GPU upgrade takes place, the FPS is expected to increase significantly.
PS. When it comes to FPS, you’re limited by the amount of Hz your monitor supports. If your monitor supports 60Hz, you’re capped to 60FPS. You can try to tune your gameplay 15FPS above your Hz, but your FPS will only render as fast as your refresh rate (Hz). You may need to look at gaming monitors that support a higher refresh rate (Hz). If you’re using your desktop for every day, non-gaming use, you don’t need a high refresh rate monitor.
Once you finish an activity, you have all of the rights to feel accomplished. The time spent overcoming the challenges of all magnitudes should be worthwhile. You learn new things along the way, which is always a positive factor towards your growth. You also get a sense of fulfillment when you create something yourself!
February 15, 2021: After so many visits to Newegg and BestBuy, I (Nancy) finally secured a Gigabyte Vision RTX 3080 via BestBuy! With the type of build I had going on, I wanted to get a silver/white GPU, which limited me to two reasonable choices. This 3080 took two 4×2 PCIe slots, which is new to me. Even though the 3080 costs almost $1,000, it’s worth the money for my situation. I can play Warzone with higher resolution, as well as render multiplayer to 235FPS (I try to set max FPS -5 to the monitor’s refresh rate). I’m excited to run some virtual machines and run some cyber tools.
At this point, my desktop build is pretty much complete. I also added a lighting strip (see right and bottom), which adds to the aesthetics. At this point, the two things I would do is maybe buy another white Corsair fan for the top and two more lighting strips (left and below the GPU). The whole RGB venture can be costly! I had to buy an RGB hub and controller separately to manage my LED, which was almost $100 alone. I tried my best with cable management, but know that I can do better. That’s also on my backlog!
Thanks for joining us on this PC-building adventure!
Many of my friends have built their desktops as well but as someone who doesn’t have space for a desktop and uses laptops, I haven’t tried it yet. I may in the future when I move! Thanks for sharing the process.
Love this!! My dad has worked in IT and is good with building machines, so I’ve overseen the process through him and then my brothers followed suit also. I personally am more about the aesthetics ( I have no idea what the tech is but if it looks cool haha!!) He is my go-to for when I need to know if something will run on my computer. I imagine this is a really daunting topic for those who have no idea, it’s a really good idea to document your process to help others!! I will have a new post up today (hopefully, or tomorrow)
Have a lovely weekend!
Hayley || hayleyxmartin
I’ve always wanted to do this but was scared off when I started to think about compatibility issues. Will this CPU work with this graphics card? Maybe this will inspire me to try again next time I need a new desktop.
Great post! I’ve heard of building a desktop before and it’s really cool! Thank you for sharing this!
This post made my smile! My dad works as the Manager of Technical operations so me and my siblings all have a little love of computers in us. My brother recently built a PC for his gaming purposes. It was quite the process and he put a lot of research into all the parts he ordered. His end result looks a lot like yours, except he went for changing neon lights . . . 🙂
Thanks for sharing this! I am loving seeing new topics and writing here.
Wow kudos to you for pulling this off! I have the iMac it is all included lol
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
Such an intriguing and helpful post!!
Divya,
https://dstylebook.com/
It is indeed fulfilling to create something yourself. You’re so sweet building this desktop for Nancy. To be honest, I’m not really technically inclined. My hubby, though, has built his own gaming desktop before. He likes the idea of that Intel CPU combined with the ASUS motherboard. Thanks for sharing your tips.
My husband custom built all our computers, including my gaming computer, it makes the world of difference having control over yourcomputer and what goes into it!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
Very cool, enjoy that new machine! In my 24+ years working in tech I never built a pc, maybe I’ll give it a shot next go round. For the record I’d go with the white housing as well. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Nancy and Mario. Exciting stuff. I’ve often thought about building my own desktop … but have never been brave enough. With a pre-built one, if it doesn’t;t work yo can send it back. If you build your own you are on your own. I am full of admiration for you but I’m still not sure that it is something that I would take on 🙂
This looks lovely! I haven’t had a desktop computer in quite a while – although I’ve got my laptop permanently fixed on my desk in the home office now for working from home so I could probably look at it when it’s time to upgrade this one! It’s not even 4 years old yet though, plenty of life left in it!
Hope that you are having a wonderful weekend! We started putting up the Christmas decorations yesterday 🙂
I’ve helped my boyfriend build his gaming PC and he built my WFH desktop for me. He said he approves of your build! Although, I think you need a matching RGB keyboard and mouse. 😉
Valerie | https://avecvalerie.com
It’s definitely not for me;)
I built my desktop with the help of my husband and it’s such a great feeling! Your new pc looks great xx
Violethollow.com
As a non-gamer & person with basic-moderate technical proficiency, the description of this build was quite eye-opening. Much admiration to you guys for this mix of skill, curiosity & passion. Enjoy your new equipment!
Wow, that is amazing to read you’ve built your own desktop. I honestly wouldn’t have a clue where to start! At least if things go wrong with my laptop I know I can take it in for repair and it’s not my responsibility, haha. Seriously though, this is so impressive!
I would not know where to start with building my own PC. My dad is the tech person in our family, he did an evening class for building computers about 20 years ago and he has built his own ever since. It is crazy how expensive individual parts are, but they are worth their money, aren’t they? Well done on building your own…its a great achievement!
Aimsy xoxo
https://www.aimsysantics.co.uk
This is a great skill to be able to build your own desktop, it is great as you can have it exactly the way you want it. I found this post so interesting Nancy! Thank you for sharing.
Lauren
Oh wow! That is so cool that you built a desktop yourself! Thanks for sharing the process!
This is so cool! I’ve never seen a post explaining how to build you own computer, and it’s certainly something I’ve ever done before, so this was really interesting to read. Thanks for sharing! ☺️
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
Love this, I would never think of doing something like this on my own, tech really isn’t my area of expertise. But it’s pretty cool to see you do it. I think I’d be too worried about setting something on fire x
Sophie
This is truly amazing and I admire your abilities! Yes, when I look at your instructions and the photos, I do feel intimidated. I’m glad there are people who love building desktops from scratch so I don’t have to, lol.
This post is so helpful and interesting! I always wanted to learn more about building desktops like this, so thanks for sharing all of this information!
This is such a cool post. We never considered building a desktop before, but you explained it really well. We might have to try it in the future.
This was a really interesting read! I’m not sure building a desktop is something that I could do myself but I really enjoyed reading about how you built one 🙂
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
It’s so much fun understanding how things come together, so I really enjoyed reading about your new desktop built project. I learned so much. And… creating something is always so much more gratifying that just buying it at the store!
I have never even considered building my own desktop before, however, it looks like it would actually be a fun learning experience. I laughed a little when you talked about the risks of just ‘putting wires where they fit’ because that’s totally something I would have done haha! If I decide to take this on in the future, I’ll make sure that I’m doing it with my husband – he’s a little more skilled when it comes to things like this, so he can make sure that I don’t burn the house down in the process! lol
This is so cool! Thanks for sharing!
This is such a cool post! I’ve never done this before myself but this makes me less afraid to try. Thanks for sharing!
Wow – you’ve got skills!! I couldn’t even begin to tackle such a project! Impressive!
This was so interesting for reading and watching photos. You are true professionals.
New Post – https://www.exclusivebeautydiary.com/2020/12/babor-hsr-lifting-cream-filorga-hydra.html
Oh wow that is so impressive!
https://www.mariannyc.com/december-2020-goals/
My boyfriend built his desktop and I’d like to say I helped out but I didn’t help with much haha. He definitely felt quite accomplished afterwards as well, and it’s pretty cool seeing the end result! xx
This is so cool that you can build a desktop! I am so overwhelmed with technology without actually breaking my computer apart haha! My boyfriend loves playing call of duty. He is so addicted to the new game! I’m not very good at video games either lol. This is amazing!
Jill
https://jilliancecilia.com/
I’d love to have a go at building my own desktop – both my dad and boyfriend do it regularly but I’m not sure I’d be any good at it!
Tash – A Girl with a View
I know a couple of people who have built their own PC but I personally have never considered it. This looks extremely fascinating!
I’ve recently won an 10th gen i-5. I’m looking to use it for my first build and this article has definitely motivated me to get on with it!
This is so cool! Machine building is such a foreign concept to me, I would be very intimidated by a project like this, but I love how doable you two make it! I think my husband would love to attempt something like this. I can’t wait to share this post with him!
Wow, very interesting! This is definitely a blog topic I’ve never seen before I’m not much of a techie or fix it type person (I’m much more interested in how the human body works), but I dated a boy in highschool who built his own computers and he absolutely loved it! Very impressive, thanks for giving me a glimpse of your world!
I have never thought about building my own desktop but this idea sounds so amazing! Have a great day!
Rampdiary
Beautyandfashionfreaks
You guys are geniuses! I honestly don’t have brains for building a desktop, but am sure that many readers will find this article helpful! xx
Naya
http://www.nayatilly.com
This is so interesting I’ve know of a few people who have built gaming computers but I never knew how much work went into it! Thanks for sharing x
oh wow this is amazing Thanks for sharing this tutorial Cris
http://www.photosbycris.com.au/?p=11384
Oh wow as a technophobe this post gives me anxiety haha! But it’s so interesting to see how you guys can actually build a desktop- such cool skill to have!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
I would love to build my own PC, but I don’t want to have specific needs right now. I can just get by with a cheap laptop with what I do. It’s something I want to do though. I just have to way too many things going on right now. Sigh. xD
That’s very cool y’all. I’ve known some people who had build their own computers but I have never thought it was something I could do myself. Even though I have repaired my own laptop. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully one day I will try. 🙂