Hey guys! So rather than trying to salvage something together, as some may have noticed, I have decided to just build something new. Problem is, I have been out of the PC game for so long, most of my knowledge does not even begin to apply in today's world so I am hoping to bounce ideas off you all, and avoid pitfalls by learning from your experiences. I know there are some VERY knowledgable people on here, and I am hoping to tap that brain trust.
So here we go.
I am picking things up piecemeal, part by part with the intention of having all the parts I need by the end of February, middle of March at the latest. I figure that if I can spread out the financial burden over a bit longer, I can get some better parts. I have already picked up my new case, a Lian Li 011D XL in white from Memory Express. I chose this case as I think it will be pretty future proof, has an insane amount of interior room for larger parts and lots of space and options for cooling. In checking out resources on YouTube like GN, Jayz, and others, whether they like the case personally or not, they all gave it really good reviews and it seems to be one of the best cases on the market right now. So this will be the build platform I will be using.
Things I will be doing with the PC are:
Web browsing
Gaming
Streaming
watching videos
Minecraft server
and maybe even acting as a media server, although, this priority is at the bottom of the list.
What we want:
We are magpies. We are absolute suckers for shiny things. We want that bling. We want addressable RGB lighting on the Ram, fans, etc... While we are not hardcore gamers, having good performance is key. The ability to stream and game all while having the kids minecraft server running in the background 24/7 is pretty much top of the list. The minecraft server will always be running for my kids and their friends, so no matter what I am doing at any given time, that will also be running.
Parts I am considering right now are:
Power supply - Corsair HX1000 - 1000 watt I think will be plenty to power everything I was envisioning. I was originally going to do a 750w, but thinking about future proofing, decided a 1000w would be better. Trying to decided if I really care about the 80 standard thing. This is something new to me and I don't fully understand. This PS is a platinum rating which is good, but I am wondering if I should save ~$50 and just get the gold rating. Is this rating a big deal?
Cooling. I am wanting to fully watercool everything, but, as to do this would require a large investment, I have decided to delay most of it, and just do an AIO to start. I forgot to mention at the start that the kids and I all like bling and we want to incorporate some flashy stuff and RGB. The purists are all cringing, I know, and I am too but only a little lol. The AIO I think I want to play with is the NZXT Kraken Z73, or Z63. The little LCD screen on the AIO head is awesome, and I love me a cool gimmick. Also, being able to see the CPU temp at a glance is a big plus to me. I do have an irrational and OCD fear of high temps, so being able to monitor it is a big plus to me. Which one I get will be determined by which CPU is decided upon.
Motherboard and CPU. This is wildly open and up in the air right now. I was thinking about doing an Intel build, but after seeing some videos on GN and Jayz channels, the new AMD lineup seems to be the biggest and baddest bully on the playground right now. Even the "budget" 5600 is slapping the top teir Intel chip. I may not be refrencing the model numbers right, but, those of you who know things will know. HAHA. I am wide open to suggestions on this combo.
Ram. - Ram has always stummped me. I don't understand it at all. I mean, i know what it does, but that is it. What all the different numbers mean or indicated is greek to me. I do know that it will be dependent on which mobo and CPU is picked, so this will probably be the last thing I grab.
Storage - I will be going the NVME route for the OS, so probably just a 500gb stick, and then something like a 1TB SSD for storage.
Video card - This one I have "some" idea on. I don't think I need the biggest, baddest beast on the block. So I think things like the 3080 are not in contention here. I am thinking more in the 3060 range. something in the $5-$600 range. Open to ideas on this. Something that can be water cooled in the future fairly easily. It may not "need" to be, but, it is something I want to do later.
So this is where I am at. I will be buying the PS next week, and the AIO shortly after. Once the MOBO and CPU are sorted out, I will buy the ram, and lastly, the Mobo/CPU/video card will all be purchased together and then the build can commence. I am really hoping that by the end of February a lot of the supply issues will be sorted and I can get what I want.
Anyways, these are my ideas. Please help me and collaborate with me to find a system build that suits me!
TIA!