I have been a gamer longer than some of you have been alive. I started back in the old nes/master system days and kinda always stayed in the console space. There were a few hurdles for years that detoured me from wanting to enter the PC Space. I preferred the exclusives on Consoles while loving the whole just turn on the button and play. It will happen to you too but after a long time one gets sick of playing the same experiences over and over again. I will show a list of my experiences as a console owner:
Here is the list of consoles I have owned at one time or another in my life time:
NES
Master System
Genesis
SNES
Turbo graphix 16
3DO (bought it used at a pawnshop in the late 90's for under $100)
PSX
Sega Saturn
Sega Dreamcast
Nintendo Gamecube
Xbox (one of the first Xbox live members)
Xbox 360 ( Microsoft nailed it here and believe corporate greed has ruined the Xbox brand)
PS3
PS4
PS5
Quest 2
Quest 3
Nvidia shield
Oyua
As you can see I have a long and extensive history with console videogames. Making a change to PC was not an easy decision because Time is always a factor as well. Between life, family, job, study there is so much time in the day and prioritizing that time is becoming more and more valuable. The problem I was having is that when I would have free time there was nothing that was really drawing me to play my PS5. I rarely like to replay a game so having a long library outside of collecting does not mean much to me. I just needed a change from the console space because it is leaving a sour taste in my mouth. The constant updates, the constant unnessary remakes, the price gouging on the service requried to play online for the rare times I want too, and just lack of diversity to play. So I made up my mind and It was time for me to leave the console space and enter the PC world. It was the last gaming frontier I have not been on so the journey would be fun.
Cost: This was a factor for me because with all my responsibilites combined with low income most of my life has been a major factor why I was scared of PC. Sure I could build something minimal but my mind does not work like that. I would instantly regret playing games at low settings or have to tweak settings just to get a good framerate. So I knew that if I went this route that the rig had to be decent spec that matches or even exceeds current consoles. My plan was to acquire the parts slowly. Find parts that are onsale and even even refurbished if necessary.
Research: I even consulted this very forum on pc parts and did a ton of own of research. I knew I couldn't listen to all the rich people telling me to get a 4090 or 4080 because I simply do not have or simply do not wish to spend those type of funds on a single component. I used sites like PC parts picker, I compared benchmarks, I listened to what the people on the forums were sayinig and also used my common sense to find out the rig I was going to build. I figure I would acquire the parts slowly and then when I get them all together I would build the PC.
As the months Went on I slowly was getting my parts. I found some that was on sale and even Acquried my GPU like new in box for $445 shipped (MSI VENTUS 3x OC 4070 12gb) . I am going to school for IT Support and Getting my A+ certification so this rig was going to be both for work and play. I wanted a rig that was on the smaller side because I live in a smaller place yet stylish. I did a bunch of research made a plan and over the course of 4 months got th parts together to build the rig.
Chirstmas Day the Big day: My family knows that I have been busting my ass with working and going to school to try to better myself. They were very good to me this year and got me all the remaing parts I needed to build my PC. My mobo, my Ram, my CPU Cooler and my premium keyboard. I was super excited Christmas day because I had all the parts and figured it would take me and hour or two to build Christmas night. WRONG! I started building this rig around 7pm and didn't finish til around 2am due to many reasons. I will explain why.
THE BUILD:
Parts list:
Okinos Aqua 3 mico atx fish tank case RGB fans with hub built in ( I put a clean cable management job on her and she is really appealing to look at)
i5-13600kf (underrated beast/value of a CPU that is scoring over 22,000 stock on Cinebench R23)
Thermalright RGB Assassin Cooler
RTX 4070 ( I was flirting with AMD but Nvidia's software and compatiblity is just too good)
32GB DDR5 6,000mhz Ram RGB
1TB Super Fast NVME on boot drive and a 2tb slightly slower nvme secondary drive
MSI Mag Wifi II b760m mobo
750w Power Supply gold rated 80
Epomaker Shadow X keyboard with built in screen RGB
coolermaster honey comb light weight mouse
So I watched countless you tube videos and they always say it's easy to build a PC it's like legos. Maybe for someone experienced that is true but for a NOOB that is complete bullshit. It is not as easy as they say and there is a ton of modern problems one runs into and doesn't know until they experience it how to deal with it. My second time around it will be much easier because of the bullshit I went through but for these arrogant assholes to come online and act like putting a PC together for your fist time is a synch is a complete Joke. Here is problems I ran into that I didn't see many people posting about and had to figure it out on my own
Examples:
-How about when you install the entire mobo in the case, start hooking up all the cables and then realize that your fingers are too fucking fat to put the CPU connector in so the only solution is to remove the whole motherboard to
-You plug it the computer after the build and ready to see the fruits of your labor to see the Unit is receiving no power. Only to google search and realize the 24pin power connector was just a fraction of an inch loose or the front panel header polarity was reversed because it is not marked clearly on mobo or cable
-Those small fucking itty bity front panel header cables are a real pain in the ass to put on properly
-Realizing when I am about 85% of the build that MSI sent me a mobo with USB 3.0 header that has mutliple broken pins (it was new) I fixed it with a PCIe to USB 3.0 front fanel hub connector
-Hearing a weird noise to realize my CPU power connector was hitting the top fans on my case but that is becuase I only had maybe 2 inches of clearance so I had to figure out how to manage the cables just perfecly d
-Getting a flashing red light on my mobo only to tell me my Ram was not seated properly (reseated and fixed it but it looked an felt the same as I originally installed it)
-Needed to unplug my graphics card but couldn't reach the PCIe 16 release connector (Solved it the old fashioned way, pulled and broke the clip but it works 100%)
My point being for a first time builder it is not as easy as they make it seem but many lessons learned. My advice to anyone doing it for the first time to consult a friend or someone who has previous experiences because a lot of minor problems pop up that a google search always does not solve. Around 2am I turned it on, Seen the sweet Bios, installed windows from my usb drive, updated the drivers, updated firmware on mobo, installed my game clients, let it download many games and then went to bed.
The Results: Stock and not OC 17549 gpu and 17323 CPU Timespy
My goal target was a 1440p machine. I play on my 32" 1440p monitor and my 65inch oled that has VRR. I can't quite put my finger on it but games just seem sharper and more crisp than on my PS5. Prime example is Cyberpunk 2077. I play this with Ray tracing Ultra and Path tracing on, DLSS Quality with frame generation and getting around 70FPS. It is just mind blowing to look at. I played this same game updated for the PS5 but the PC version seems like it was made on the PS6. Love the options that many games with one click will tune the games automatically for you. Many games I am getting 120fps and that is new to me. Just the Sure diversity of games combined with the basement prices are really nice. The $129.99 a year I was paying on PS plus will not be missed. What is even better is the console exclusives I use to miss out will release on this platform and will be superior in most cases. The mods are also extremely cool. I love the fact that most mods are free versus every little thing on the console they nickle and dime you for. It's such a dramatic change from the Console ecosystem it feels like Moses leaving Egypt. I broke free from the console state of mind and not going back.
The Cheap Games
The Free Mod Community
The Game Variety
The various options for various system games can scale too
Amazing!
Here is a few images of the build: