Hello! I studied Computer Science, and live in Bath. I write code, design games, and occasionally tweet.
Hello! I studied Computer Science, and live in Bath. I write code, design games, and occasionally tweet.

Building my Computer Aug. 7, 2014 in Hardware, Photos

After a couple years using a terrible, old HP laptop, I decided it was time to build my own computer. After completing a computing GCSE, creating games, and studying electronics, I had decided I wanted to study computer science and needed a computer to match. With advice from reddit I chose components, then successfully assembled it piece by piece.

Choosing the Components

With help of r/buildapc I decided on the following components:

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor£160.79 @ Aria PC
CPU CoolerCooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk
MotherboardMSI Z87M GAMING Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard£97.26 @ Aria PC
MemoryKingston Fury White Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory£56.69 @ CCL Computers
StorageSandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5” Solid State Disk£84.95 @ Amazon UK
StorageSeagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5” 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive£52.79 @ Aria PC
Video CardMSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card£359.98 @ Scan.co.uk
CaseFractal Design Arc Mini R2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case£64.95 @ Amazon UK
Power SupplySeaSonic EVO Edition 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply£77.70 @ Scan.co.uk
OtherWindows 8.1 Pro Student£49.99
OtherPioneer DVR-221LBK 24x SATA DVD/CD Burner with Label Flash£12.99
   
 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.Total
 Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-18 14:42 BST+0100£1043.54

Building my Computer

Monitor Box

My monitor came first. Inside it’s not quite that frightening!

Components Gathered

All the components have arrived, time to start building!

Amusing Packaging

Not sure why, but this packaging amuses me.

Installing into the Motherboard

CPU, memory, and fan have just been attached to the motherboard

Rats Nest of Cables

Everything is now installed in the case, but there is a rat nest of cables needing to be tidied.

Cable Management

A little cable management later, now the rear panel can close

Complete

And it’s complete. Time to game.


2017 Update

Unfortunately this winter my GPU died. Since then, I have decided to wait a little while before replacing it, and am currently using my Lenovo U430p for work and gaming. I plan to either replace the GPU, or upgrade my laptop in the near future.

If I was to build a new PC, I would have chosen miniITX as opposed to microATX, picked a cheaper case, and a lower Wattage PSU. This would have resulted in a smaller, cheaper computer that would have been just as powerful. But, considering this was the first computer I ever specified and built, I think I did a good job.


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