Building a computer in today's market is a bit of a nightmare. That's the sad truth. The computer enthusiast market has really changed over the past decade or so, but with the global pandemic and work stoppages added to the mix, parts are now rare, often out of stock, and sell for a much higher price. Added on top of that are the new tariffs which are as much as doubling the cost of many core components. Not to give them too much due, but there are also the bot-wielding scalpers who are doing their best to tamper with supply and demand for their own personal gain.
These factors have conspired to make a market where an unwary consumer can easily be taken advantage of by a wealth of unscrupulous vendors. Even a wary consumer is often faced with a choice between accepting unfair terms or abandoning the project entirely.
With these facts in mind, but also with my bravery bolstered by necessity, I spent a great deal of time trying to find a decent collection of components to build my new and hopefully more reliable computer from.
I started with a search for a video card. The pre-built computer utilized a GeForce 3070, which was amazing, but I rather suspected the 3060Ti would be more than sufficient for my needs. I spent my share of time monitoring falcodrin and failing to beat the bots when cards came back in stock. But my luck changed with a Newegg Shuffle. This much-maligned vendor tool actually came through for me in a big way. I wasn't able to find the 3060Ti I was hoping for (because it is cheaper) but I did land a 3070 for MSRP, which was still much more than I would have liked to spend. Don't pay attention to the current price, though, it has been inflated even more.
After the video card, the most important consideration for me was the power supply. A bad PSU can ruin a system, so I've definitely developed some very prejudicial thoughts about the PSU market. I won't spend a ton of time talking about the manufacturers who have let me down (*cough* EVGA, CoolerMaster, Corsair, Thermaltake, Enermax) but rather just a line or two about the manufacturers who currently hold my loyalty: PC Power & Cooling. That's it. Those are the best of the best in my humble opinion. Sadly, I cannot acquire such a PSU, so I opted for a relatively inoffensive cousin, Seasonic. Oddly, the market demand pressure on PSUs has created a circumstance where low-power alternatives (550W 80+ Bronze - too little for my build) have had their prices inflated to the level of their more capable counterparts, yet the higher power alternatives (850W 80+ Platinum) haven't changed in price at all. While all of the other components were busily fading from available to sold out on a daily basis, this PSU remained available throughout, including its 10 year warranty.
The PSU isn't necessarily the most compelling portion of the build, but the CPU is much more exciting. I went back and forth on which model I should get in the end, eventually resolving on the Ryzen 7 3700X. I did not want to go up to the 3800X because the power profile changes from 65W to 105W. This probably isn't a big deal, but I wanted to stay as low as I could. I briefly considered attempting to acquire a 5600X, which benefits from the newer Zen3 architecture and reportedly outperforms the 3700X in most scenarios despite having 2 fewer cores to throw at large problems. However, the 5600X is something of a rarity as well, and I was not able to acquire one within an acceptable window.
I was very interested in moving up from the classic 16GB RAM profile to a more luxurious 32GB RAM investment. I found a good kit at a very, very good price. Sadly, that price crept upward continuously while I waited for the means to make the inevitable purchase, until it reached its current height. Even at the higher price, it was still a good deal.
For the motherboard, I wavered between two options. I initially leaned very heavily into the
Asus TUF X570 model, which I've built a previous system on. I know that motherboard is very good and comes in at a great price. It's price varied wildly, from $160-$320, but I was thinking I would probably be able to snag it during one of the dips. I couldn't say what exactly convinced me to look elsewhere, but eventually I decided to aim at a B550 option instead. I am still not entirely convinced this is the best route. The X570 platform is still more capable at the end of the day. However, most of the feature difference is irrelevant to my scenario. In the end, I decided to go with the popular Asus Strix B550-F.
Thinking about which hard drives to put into the computer gave me fits. I went back and forth on the many different configurations I could choose from. At the end of the day, I am not terribly concerned about space on my main PC. I don't really use it for storing files (that all happens on the fileserver computer). The only space I need is for Windows, the programs I use and the games I play. Alas, that last one is a bit of an issue as it's cramped the 250GB drives I've used in the past and even challenged the 500GB ones I thought were going to be so much more space than I needed. I am not terribly interested in keeping my games on a mechanical drive, as I thoroughly enjoy the extra loading speed afforded by the typical NVME setup. So, I decided to use an ultra-fast 4th generation 500GB NVME for my main drive (Samsung 980 Pro) complimented by a slower 3rd generation 1TB NVME for games (Western Digital Blue SN550)
I like to use a watercooling AIO as a CPU heatsink for any of the modern builds I have done as their performance, silence and pricing are relatively unmatched by other options. For years I have been leaning on the Corsair H60 as my go-to option for HSU. However, this part was out of stock for quite some time and then in stock at unreasonable prices. So, I thought I would give something else a try. This led me, after a long search, to the CoolerMaster ML240L RGB V2 cooler. It meant moving up to a dual fan setup and, in my mind, much better cooling as a result.
Sadly, I could not have been more wrong. I distinctly remember the prior Ryzen 7 3700X build I worked on running idle at 32 degrees celcius and under load at 50 degrees celcius when paired with the classic Corsair H60. This build with the CoolerMaster option is running idle at 50 degrees celcius and topping 100 degrees celcius when under load. Simply unacceptable. I checked the seating and thermal paste application, both of which are good. It seems that the unit simply doesn't have enough cooling to keep up with the demands of my system. My frustration with this led me straight back to the comforting embrace of Corsair. I haven't received it yet, but I spent the extra money to replace this underwhelming part with the Corsair Capellix H100i which I very much hope will solve my cooling woes.
Lastly, the computer case. I like a more reserved look for my system, since it will sit at my office, just off the entryway and in our living room. I don't want a blinking light display to greet me when I am relaxing on the couch, spending time with my wife. However, I would still love there to be lights to see when I feel like seeing them. Another concern which I could not shake is the weight of modern video cards. The three slot cooling solutions make the cards bend and droop with only the slot and retention bracket to hold them in place. It doesn't seem like this is as major of a concern as I am thinking, but I just couldn't be comfortable with the prospect of potentially losing such a large investment to something so simple. Therefore, I highly prioritized cases with built-in brackets to hold the back end of the video card aloft. These parameters led me to the DeepCool Macube 310. I initially intended to get it in black, but stock issues forced me to settle for the white one instead.
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