I built this around my hobbies. I game for sure but I also do 3d modeling and video editing. Would be a blast to blow $500 of Micro Center's money on this 🤣
I included some parts I already had but I chose the motherboard, CPU, and ram because of the really good offer combo they have and I would love to get a new cpu and motherboard and donate the current ones to my brother, he keeps wanting a MacBook but i'll show him why custom PC will always win. I also chose this specific power supply because there's nothing better than looking at how much happiness will cost you.
My, if money were no object build, is this: https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=d80f7701-a1d1-438d-8243-c0d642579a85
I work from home, I do photography and editing, and I game. And I'd like to build something that could last me about 10 years before I need to upgrade. I enjoy Be Quite products so I use them whenever they are available.
https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=f7029b97-39cc-465b-9a9d-73e3c109330e - I think this is optimal set-up for this price
I put in all the parts as if I was building it all from scratch with nothing else around the house for my gamer son.
Since a lot of games are single threaded, I did not see much point in paying for a lot of cores. The 3xxx nVidia cards are readily available at the moment. My intent was to build a lower cost gaming rig with some capability to grow. The problem now is that PCIe 5 stuff is almost unavailable. I looked for good quality gaming parts for the build. I put in a fairly high end power supply and case and some other parts because the warranties were really good and the headroom and protection were likely to be used. The keyboard and mouse were on the lower end because I like simple ones and they are wired because that is more reliable than wireless. The headset was wireless because that is more likely to cause issues being wired and attached to my head, plus it allows connections to other gaming gear, a phone, and walking around the room to stretch. More important than the utmost speed is the utmost reliability. I don't want to overclock or do other things that might make the system less stable, less reliable, or last for less time.
I always want to protect critical gear with a UPS and appropriate utility and security software. I didn't like what was on offer for the PC builds.
I filled in the extra non-PC options as an example of what I would get. The Epson Ecotank isn't inexpensive to buy, but it is very cheap to operate and built pretty tough.
https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=4325b2e9-7990-4858-8cd9-14b38a8848dbAs a software developer, I am always working with cpu/gpu intensive processing and having a setup at home that I can use for my personal projects would be an absolute blast. Choosing these parts models a similar build to which I had before with an AMD CPU and an NVIDIA GPU allowing for the results I need.
Having the 6 core CPU provides unparalleled paralleled processing that I need and the 4070 will provide a fantastic gaming experience for when I am on break.
This build would actually be for my wife. She is a music teacher at a private school as well as running her own music studio. The build is geared towards the ability to not only hear students during online sessions (this includes great fidelity of the instruments through the speakers) but also the ability to write and edit music. The idea behind this build is to allow for easy upgrades as well as possible expansions as her studio and school classes expand.
My only issue with this is, I did not see an option for an audio card, which is a MUST for my wife's profession. The motherboard audio will be ok for now but, while getting these parts, I would start to look for an audio card, such as a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 or a Behringer U-phoria. Granted, a typical gamer (such as myself) may not need these but this would be a must for professional musicians like my wife.
https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=6085a57b-6645-4255-8891-00c40fb7f366
My most recent build was probably in 2009. Since then, I've just used sell and swap type marketplaces to upgrade pieces as needed - this helps me fund my unnecessary habit of upgrading needlessly and also, upgrading needfully at times. This works for me and outside of builds for charity purposes, this is the first time I've ever created a "nice to have build" for funzies since probably 10th grade (that was 20 years ago.... thanks for making me realize this *insert cry moji here*).
My main rig at home is fine. Certainly no 4K gaming setup, but works for me since I have ~responsibilities now~. THIS one, would be for our church. So, why these parts? MicroCenter is asking me to dream here, ok? We are growing and transitioning to a lot of CPU/GPU intensive tasks and the ol' Dell just isn't working, so I'm actually going to be pulling the trigger in a few months on a PC build.
Also, just a shout out to the folks at Micro Center - You guys did it!!!! Indianapolis location? Seriously?! Saw the job ad this morning and haven't stopped telling everyone I know. My mom is already tired of hearing about Micro place, so great job to the team for making this happen. If I win the gift card, it's going to be used here.
I figure I am due a new gaming rig. My i7 7700K with a GTX 1660ti is getting old. So I went with the i7 12th gen, always an ASUS motherboard. Then I switched from my normal G.Skill to Corsair for memory. Also an ASUS GPU, the RTX 3070ti Tuf to go with the Tuf motherboard. It will all go nicely into a Lian Li 011 Dynamic EVO case, always wanted to try a Lian Li case, usually use NZXT cases. Figured might as well try a liquid cooling setup too.
I threw together something more realistic. My wife is having issues with her crazy old PC (the DDR 3 sticks are fizzling out ... yeah), so if I gave her mine and built something anew, I probably would go this route, though I can't believe the price still. Guess this is why I don't "Build new computers" and just upgrade pieces at a time.
This was fun and also painful.
I edit videos, game, stream, and a system admin to boot. if i was to make a dream machine completely decked out for making videos I would make this.
Ok, last one. Here's likely what I would actually build as a replacement computer for my wife. Googling doesn't take a lot of desktop pc resources...
Not only is this a pretty dreamy PC, it's one that Microcenter makes much more affordable and simple to put together thanks to excellent deals and a wide selection of items. You don't need the newest or most expensive parts to have an excellent gaming experience, and this build is proof of that. This baby would make anyone happy for years, and anyone can piece this together over time as most of these parts are readily available and on sale right now!
Can't post link because new account.
Here's a screenshot of the link instead
unrealistic but if I didn't have to worry about the cost it would probably look something like this https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=72bd9e7d-3528-4aba-a301-151f2c9cf614 I use my pc for both work and gaming
I went with a white build because I like the way it looks with rgb and really like building in the lancool cases
This would be an upgrade to my current rig which I would swap out the CPU, motherboard, GPU, power supply, and M2 drives. NVIDIA for both gaming and rendering!
My goal was to create a high end build with the highest value given the incredibly high performance level. Hopefully I can build a system similar to this, it's a great time to build. Very cool to have a contest like this, hopefully the winner will be able to get into a great build who otherwise wouldn't be able to right now. Good luck All!
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