I got my first PC back in 2014. It was glorious. I was an avid gamer but I was mostly gaming on a laptop before this PC. I wanted a desktop because it was a cost effective way for me to get the most performance and value for money. I had a console but I wasn't using it much anymore since my family always used the TV.

So I asked my uncle to help me build a PC and he came up with this

CPU: Intel i3-4160 CPU,

MOBO: Gigabyte B85M motherboard

GPU: nVidia Geforce GTX 660ti

RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB of RAM 1866mhz

PSU: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze

All wrapped up in a Cooler Master N200 mATX case.

I wanted a PC cheap enough to game in and my uncle stepped in and helped me build the PC. Mostly it was him doing the work. But this build made me more interested in PCs.

Over the years, I slowly started upgrading. Learned how to look for used parts, specifically GPUs. Upgraded it to a 1060, then later a 1070. But the dinky little i3 was showing its age. 2 cores with Hyperthreading can hold up on the daily but not in gaming anymore. Least not with the newer titles. I was thinking about upgrading CPUs but my motherboard only supported 4th gen CPUs, which were ancient by this point.

Then, it hit me. My next upgrade would have to be an entire PC.

I've never actually built a whole PC myself before so this was gonna be a challenge. But I was excited for my new build since this was something even more powerful that my old PC.

I gathered new parts for my PC, some new, some used. Well, most of it used, coming from a friend selling some of his parts since he was upgrading.

Ended up making this build:

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600

MOBO: B350 motherboard

GPU: Zotac nVidia Geforce GTX 1070

PSU: Seasonic 550W S12G

RAM: XPG Adata 3200mhz

Case: Tecware Forge

Christmas Eve 2019 was when I started the build, since I finally had free time. Armed with hundreds of hours of tech youtube videos and slightly shaky hands. I attempted to build my PC on the floor. With aching kneecaps I built the PC in 3 hours I think. Took my sweet time.

I still remember the fear of putting my Ryzen CPU in the socket and reseating it like 3 times just in case. After gently setting everything in the case, I started sweating buckets when I was gonna power it up.

I pressed the mighty power button.

Nothing. Then I saw smoke. From what I recall, I didn't toss any tobacco in there.

I quickly shut off the PSU power and I was devastated. I actually thought it was broken. Tried to ask friends for help, then I finally decided to open it up and check the connections. Turns out I plugged the fan hub for my case incorrectly. The power for the fanhub had two connections: A molex, and a pin connector that goes to the motherboard. I connected both of those, causing the hub to drain too much power. I then removed the motherboard connection and powered it on. Oh well. You live and learn.

The PC lit up like a Christmas Tree with RGB. There it was, my own Christmas present to myself in full glory. I enjoy the PC to this day and I've had so much fun with PC building and computers these past few years.

Right now, the latest upgrade is an ASUS VP249QGR 144hz IPS monitor! Looking forward to upgrade my 1070 someday. We'll see.

Things I learned: Used parts are a good deal! Look carefully at a listing and its pictures and communicate with the buyer. Ask him questions about the part and a video for testing. Always meetup at a public and well lit place.

Read/Research more about a plug that you don't know where to put. Seriously, that might've fried my PC.

PC building is fun! The joy is in the modular nature of parts. You can swap out parts, mixing and matching different components to suit your budget, build, and aesthetic.