I Finally Did It! (Like a Month Ago...)

After spending months and months fantasizing/doing research about building a new PC, I decided it was time to actually do the thing.  GPU prices were (and are) still on the high side, but I think I saved enough with a few other component deals to possibly offset the additional cost.  Here is a link to my ultimate final build:  7800x3d Build.

Basically it all started because I saw a Paul's Hardware video where he was doing a few build fixes and he mentioned that there were some good deals on motherboards.  Thanks to that tip I discovered that I could get a B850 motherboard for the same price as the B650 one that I had initially chosen.  Since it was a limited time offer...what was I supposed to do with just a motherboard?  I had no other choice but to finish the build (*I definitely had a choice).

CPU: 7800X3D

I'm sure you're thinking...why not a 9800X3d?  It's like $200 more.  If I was going for a fancier, more top of the line kind of build, I would've probably landed there.  I wanted to check out the supposed boosted gaming capabilities of the X3D CPU's and the 7800X3D is fine for the 1440p gaming that I'm doing.  The price appears to have gone up a bit since I bought mine but CPU prices do seem to fluctuate quite a bit.  

Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120SE

I decided to go with a slightly beefier (but still very affordable) dual fan cooler in this build.  This cooler has great reviews and performance for ~$40.  It required a bit of muscle to fully screw it in, but it has worked like a charm and is keeping my CPU nice and chill.  The only major downside was that I installed this beefier cooler before plugging in my CPU power cables to the motherboard--let's just say that I royally scraped up my hand and it was a huge pain the buttocks to plug both of those cables in.  If possibly, I would highly recommend plugging in the CPU cables before your cooler (if it's a beefier one like this one).  It also sits right on top of my RAM--there's zero space, but it does clear it.

Memory: TeamGroup T-Force Vulcan DDR5-6000 CL30 (16gb x 2)

I had originally picked some slightly more budget RAM but this set was on sale for the same price, so I went with TeamGroup.  I am not a big RGB person, so it doesn't have any cool, flashy lights, it's just RAM.  It was easy to install, was the right size, and changing the XMP settings was as simple as enabling it.  

Motherboard: MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wifi ATX AM5

This was the magical motherboard that started it all--it was the same price as the B650 one I had originally chosen but offered some decent upgrades (PCIE 5.0; Gen 5 M.2; Wifi 7).  It's a nice looking motherboard and features a fancy heatsink for the main M.2 slot (which I did not utilize since I didn't buy a Gen 5 M.2--I figured I could use it in the future if I decided to add a Gen 5 M.2) and a few other "futureproofing" kind of features.  I am skeptical of using Wifi and haven't enabled it, but it comes with a nice antenna and seems easy enough to connect and use.  It has some handy features for building like screwless M.2 slots.

Storage: 1x 1TB Kingston M.2-2280 (Gen 4) + 1 x 2TB Silicon Power UD90 M.2-2280 (Gen 4)

When I bought my CPU there was a deal to receive a free 1TB M.2 drive, so I decided to use it for my OS.  I like to maintain a bit of storage because I don't like uninstalling games and having to re-download them (my internet speeds are not great) so I also added another 2TB drive.  I didn't go with Gen 5 despite my mobo having the capability--I've read that the difference from Gen 4 is negligible and not worth the additional cost (at least right now--maybe in the future though).  The screwless M.2 feature on my motherboard meant simply snapping them into place--it was so simple that I confused myself and thought I had made a mistake.  

GPU: Gigabyte Gaming OC Radeon 9070XT 16GB

Even though I was angling toward team green and the 9070XT is probably one of the most overpriced GPU's, I just couldn't justify spending >$130 more for a 5070Ti with basically the same performance.  In the past I've had AMD GPU's and only had a few minor problems with them--namely software related issues (drivers/updates and whatnot).  I've never been terribly impressed with ray tracing so I figured I would go back to team red this time around.  I have noticed that this particular card does seem to run a bit loud (I haven't played anything that's too graphically intensive).  I'm giving 1440p a try and so far it looks great.

The Fractal Pop Air case (cyan version that I chose).

Case: Fractal Pop Air ATX Mid Tower

I did my first build in a Fractal case and liked it, so I opted for another one for this build.  This case includes features like built in zip ties for cable management, magnetic dust filters, and easily removeable side panels.  You can also buy it in a few fun colors--I opted for the blue one.  It comes with three case fans (that I didn't realize were RGB fans) and you can add in several more (if you want to add in a bajillion fans you'll need to buy a more expensive case).  I didn't want to mess with RGB, but this case offers up the ability to control the RGB through a build in controller on the case or to plug it into the motherboard (to be controlled with software...no thanks).  The RGB controller option likely doesn't offer up the variety of options that software would, but you can change the color options and pattern/cycle.  As someone who would rather not deal with RGB, I'm content with the case control. (*not so fun fact--this case does offer up USB 3.0/2 slots but you have to buy extra connectors)

Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850W+ Gold (fully modular)

My 9070XT recommended an 850W power supply and this one had positive reviews.  On my first build I had opted for a semi-modular PSU, but I like the fully modular style.  This PSU came with a special cable for NVIDIA GPU's (you know...to help prevent the melting cables issue), so if you're going with team green, it's a good choice.  There are plenty of extra cables included and they seem nice and sturdy.

Monitor: AOC Q27G3MXN 27.0" 2560X1440 180Hz

I decided that it was time to move up to 1440p and retire my ol' reliable 1080p monitor.  This particular model has been positively reviewed and falls on the more "budget" end of things.  It has a high refresh rate and HDR.  It is adjustable but does lack all the funsies like RGB.  I have been surprised by how much brighter it seems compared to my old monitor.

The build process itself was straightforward and I felt slightly more confident about it than I did with my first build.  Most of the difficulties I encountered had to do with making sure the fans were correctly connected (a bit of daisy chaining), getting the chonky air cooler properly screwed down, and then getting the CPU cables plugged into the motherboard around the air cooler.  The great thing about building your own is that I feel like I learn something new each time.  Installing Windows 11 was easier than I thought it would be--I initially feared that I would have to install Windows 10 and then upgrade to 11, but you can use a Windows 10 key for a free upgrade to 11.  To me, all Windows versions feel same-y and just take time to get used to some of the changes in how things are organized.

I've been enjoying gaming on my new PC since early July and am glad I made the move to Windows 11 before the October deadline.  The only real problem I've had is with the stupid installation issue with the Rockstar Games Launcher.  If you haven't built a PC before and are interested, I would highly recommend checking out Paul's Hardware for his "how to build" series.  Paul's videos are extremely helpful and he explains things in a way that make them easy to understand.

PC Dreamin'

I've spent a considerable amount of time fantasizing about building a new PC.  I've watched numerous videos recommending specific builds or parts and I feel like I've done my research.  There's a bit of non-realistic impetus too--the looming end of Windows 10 support (*although my current PC is capable of running Windows 11 and just requires a BIOS update that would flip the TPM 2.0 switch--BIOS updates scare me a bit, but if worse came to worse, it's doable).  So here's my own mental gymnastics about building a new PC.

First off, here's the build that I'm considering--7800X3D Build.  I'm angling for a high-mid range build that could do 1440p gaming for the next 5-6 years.  With any build you might have some questions.  Why a 7800X3D when there are newer Ryzen 9 CPU's?  For gaming performance the X3D CPU's are basically the best--if I was to go absolute top of the line, it'd be the 9950X3D (currently priced at $699)--the 7800X3D is second on the list in benchmarks for gaming and I use my PC for gaming.  You also might be asking, why the cheap-y air cooler and not a shiny AIO?  Air coolers are absolutely fine for regular gaming--if you're looking to do any fancy overclocking stuff you probably want an AIO--and even air coolers that fall on the "cheaper" side of the spectrum do just fine (I actually had a beefier, slightly more expensive model picked but it seems to be consistently unavailable so I opted for another model that has positive reviews and performance but is cheaper).  And lastly, why no RGB, everyone knows that the sparklies make your PC perform better?  Honestly, I love the sparklies, but I just don't want to mess with all the additional RGB nonsense.  For one, non-RGB parts are slightly cheaper; for another, people with RGB seem to be constantly griping about finding software that manages their RGB the way they want it to.  So yeah, it's just another thing to manage that seems to cause a lot of headaches for a purely cosmetic factor.

(Here's a video from Hardware Unboxed comparing current GPU prices in different markets.)

So what's stopping me from pulling the trigger on my big, beautiful new PC?  GPU prices are one major factor.  I'm angling toward either a 5070ti (*on my build the exact model is interchangeable with the one that has the best pricing--the GPU listed was the one that briefly was the cheapest but has since sold out) or a 9070XT, but both are currently priced about 20% over MSRP.  9070XT prices have been stubbornly high (c'mon AMD!) with that card being the better value at MSRP.  Prices have slowly been creeping down, but haven't gotten anywhere close to MSRP.  Maybe it's wishful thinking that they will actually get there, but other parts of the world (that aren't experiencing tariff nonsense) are seeing prices much closer or at MSRP.  (On my first/current PC I absolutely was not paying attention to prices and am positive that I very much overpaid for my 2070--I'm pretty sure I paid ~$700 for it)

There's also the reality that I don't REALLY need a new PC.  I can still play everything that I want to play and I'm not absolutely dying to play any new titles.  I would like to have a new PC for The Witcher 4 (and maybe GTA VI),  So, realistically, I have some time if I were to do it.

So I'll just continue checking those GPU prices daily and finagling the parts on my list.  That's healthy, right?  Happy weekend with lots of potential gaming to everyone!

Just a Consumer in an Anti-Consumerist World

Lately there has been an undercurrent of pricing ridiculousness.  I've mentioned the insanity that is the current GPU pricing nightmare, but there have also been several discussions about the pricing of upcoming gaming titles.  A new piece of controversy entered the arena when Gearbox's CEO (Randy Pitchford) responded to someone questioning the proposed $80 price of the upcoming Borderlands 4 by stating that "If you're a true fan you'll make it happen." (Here's a link to Rock, Paper, Shotgun's article about the original statement and then the backtracking: article)  Collective jaws dropped at the audacity and there was a lot of internet griping about the smugness of these tech overlords.  (Sidenote: Mr. Pitchford did back off of this statement as the backlash got more and more backlash-ier)

I don't agree with Mr. Randy (although the tariffs are greatly complicating pricing predictions) but we have heard multiple big developers state that the costs of producing these massive games has gone up (should we really call Borderlands massive though?).  For a game like GTA VI, maybe a price increase is a bit more understandable--you get a big, awesome singleplayer game and an online multiplayer world that is continually being developed.  I do not think the supposed $100 price seems realistic, but I guess we will see.

The honest reality of all these situations is that as consumers there's basically only one thing we can do and that is to not pay these high prices.  But--and here's the big BUT--unfortunately, people will pay those prices and that gives these companies zero impetus to actually change anything.  I've seen a ton of anger at GPU pricing...but then you see stuff that is constantly sold out!  (*and yes, pricing right now in the U.S. is very much being complicated by tariff nonsense)  So, sadly, I don't think anything is going to change.

In the GPU market things are even further complicated by the lack of competition in the GPU sector.  You either go NVIDIA or AMD (sure, Intel sort of seems like they're trying to join the fray)--those are your choices.  NVIDIA has done some scummy stuff lately (see video below from Gamers Nexus) that makes me want to opt for AMD, but the pricing on the 9070xt is absolutely nuts.  And realistically, NVIDIA makes only 20% of its revenue from GPU's, so why would they even care about doing better?  I'm still crossing my fingers that pricing drops when the 9060/xt releases in early June.

Maybe Steve from Gamers Nexus is right that gaming is going to become a much more expensive hobby.  Maybe it's just a confluence of unfortunate economic conditions like inflation and tariffs?  Le sigh--all we can do is wait and see.

I don't want to end on a downer note, so everyone have a happy long Memorial Day weekend!

Will the GPU Insanity Ever End?

As the summer draws nearer I have started to feel more (needlessly, let's be honest) antsy about building a new PC.  With the recent news that tariffs would no longer reach the insane 145% threshold and instead be (the still stupid) 30%, I was feeling hopeful that maybe prices on GPU's would level off a bit more, but alas, that has not happened.  Much of my agonizing has been about the exact model of GPU I want to invest in--AMD's 9070xt or NVIDIA's 5070ti.

Initially, AMD looked like it was prepared to make a splash with a range of semi-decently priced GPU's.  It all hinged on supply though and since release the 9070xt has been surprisingly popular (especially since NVIDIA GPU's have absolutely dominated AMD for years--like 80%-20% of market share).  As a result, 9070xt prices have ballooned up.  The supposed MSRP on this card is $600...the cheapest card you can find right now (that is being sold by a legitimate seller) is $850 (probably more like $899).  It's absolutely bonkers!  There are also a number of reports of people with black screen issues related to this GPU.

(Here's a good video from Hardware Unboxed comparing the 9070xt and the 5070--non-ti.  It also includes information about their previous tests with the 5070ti and a nice cost/ratio comparison at the end)

NVIDIA got a lot of grief about its very dicey rollout of the 50 series GPU's--supply was extremely thin, they definitely made a lot of overexaggerated claims about performance over last gen, and they really banked on the whole "AI generated frames."  Since then the supply has gotten better, prices have dropped, and now an NVIDIA card is looking like it might be the way to go.  NVIDIA has also had its own share of driver related issues that seem like they've been ironed out.  (*There's still some shady stuff happening with their lower tier 5060 cards--like them not releasing drivers to reviewers until the card is literally on sale...so basically, no reviews).  The 5070ti was supposed to have the MSRP of $750 and you can now find cards for roughly the same price as the 9070xt--$850-$899.  I guess that's better, right?

Maybe the release of the 9060/5060 cards will help supply even more--I can hope even though the sketchy behavior of NVIDIA around the 5060 cards doesn't bode well.  I wouldn't start building until I'm officially done with the school year (which doesn't happen until mid-June where I live), so I've got a bit to wait.  I'm sort of feeling the pressure around the end of Windows 10 too.  Upgrading my current PC to Windows 11 is likely just an issue of updating the BIOS (not my favorite thing to do) or enabling TPM and then doing the upgrade--a pain in the buttocks, but definitely possible.

I'm very fortunate to be able to build a new PC, ultimately I feel grateful for that.  Hopefully it happens--it makes me very excited just to think of it.  Happy gaming (and building) wishes to everyone out there!

No GTA 4 U!

It was...a somewhat disappointing gaming news week for (mostly console) gamers.  Probably the biggest news of the week was the (completely unsurprising) delay of the greatly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI.  If you are a console gamer and thought you'd happily be looting, shooting, and exploring a sprawling new Rockstar world this year...welp, not so much.  The new release date is in late May of 2026 now.  Sad face.  There has still been no news about the status of a PC release (we all know that a PC date is probably far in the future), so while the news might have been disappointing for console folks, us PC folks can do nothing but shrug.  There has also been some speculation about the potential price of Rockstar's latest and greatest with some projections that it could cost around $100.  As much as it sounds insane, let's be real, people will pay it.

No one is going to be playing this for awhile!

There was a bit of good news this week though!  Borderlands 4 has pushed its release date up two weeks, so at least fans will get a chance to shoot a billion baddies a bit earlier.  Before the GTA VI news rolled out there was some speculation that this was being done to avoid a potential conflict of release dates.  Guess that's not a problem anymore.  I haven't been paying a ton of attention to Borderlands related news largely because the third game was a bit meh.

In "games I actually play" news, Two Point Museum premiered its first big update.  This update features many new cosmetic features like more wall and floor patterns, but also a big batch of quality of life and fan requested features.  I've already completely played through it, but all these changes seem like they're going to make the game even better.  I didn't mess around with some of the features (like establishing patrol zones for security) and know that some of them weren't working as intended.  Hopefully they're fixed and working better.

The GPU/PC hardware news has remained fairly bleak with tariffs looming.  NVIDIA released its spate of 5060 GPU's that seem very lackluster (and, of course, overpriced) and AMD is likely going to release its own 9060 series of lower cost cards soon.  Prices are still well above MSRP and likely to remain that way for awhile.  The prices of non-GPU hardware were on a downward trend for awhile but that also seems like it's starting to move the opposite way.  It's just not a great time to build.

It's a Good News/Bad News Kind of Thing

This week has really turned out to be a mixed bag for me.  I've basically finished playing through Two Point Museum (apparently you can just keep playing your museums forever and gain more stars--I still haven't discovered/unlocked all the exploration locations, so that's a bit of a reason to keep playing) and have been trying to puzzle out what to play next.  Weirdly, I've gone back to an oldie that I felt compelled to play--SteamWorld Dig.  Here's the good/bad that I'm feeling at the moment.

(The above video from Paul's Hardware lays out the GPU pricing insanity)

Let's start with the bad news and just get it out of the way.  I've been hoping and planning to build a new PC this summer and it is shaping up to be one of the absolutely worst times for a couple of reasons.  The first reason is the GPU nonsense that is currently happening.  Both NVIDIA and AMD released new generations of GPU's--you would think that would be great news; new, faster, better hardware!  Unfortunately actually getting your hands on one of these GPU's--or, even worse, one of the last gen GPU's--is an absolute crapshoot.  Both NVIDIA and AMD releases were immediately sold out (and ridiculously scalped) and stock has been very meager with little news about when to expect it to start rebounding.  So why not just buy a last gen CPU?  In anticipation of the new gen, they stopped producing the last gen and people started grabbing up all of those GPU's too.  As a result, the prices on older GPU's is absolutely insane--you're talking a 125% plus markup over MSRP on some GPU models!  Plus, with the announcement of new tariffs (including a 34% increase on the already 20% tariffs on China) it means that this might be the most expensive time to build a new PC.  Maybe I'll just have to keep my 6 year old PC stringing along...this means I'm definitely not going to be playing anything new, but that's okay.

It's always nice to end on a good note, so now for the good stuff.  On April 10th, a new DLC for Dave the Diver is releasing!  It's a crossover story (which they seem to be doing a lot of...and I don't hate it!) with Yakuza and features characters from the series.  I'm not familiar with Yakuza, but I do love me some Dave, so I'm definitely looking forward to scooping it up and spending some more time exploring the Blue Hole with Dave and crew.

At least it's spring and the weather is starting to improve.  Happy gaming (and maybe some outside time) to everyone!

Maybe There's Hope on the Horizon

If you're someone who is interested in PC building--or like me are looking to build a new PC this year--the news around the GPU market has felt...very chaotic and disappointing.  NVIDIA's release of it's new, flagship RTX 5000 series cards has been an absolute dumpster fire.  Stock has been extremely low and actually being able to obtain a card has been almost impossible--as a result, prices have been astronomical.  Then, there was news of issues--melting power cables and manufacturing errors that led to lower performance for some cards.  To top this all off they stopped producing 40 series cards early in anticipation of the new GPU's--basically, it's a very crap time to be trying to get a GPU.

(Here's a Gamers Nexus video where Steve breaks down the official specs for the 9070/9070XT)

Anyone who is interested in getting a new GPU has been crossing their fingers that AMD's 9070 and 9070 XT release will be much smoother than the 5000 series.  Well, we finally got some seemingly good news on that front.  It was announced that the pricing for the 9070 would be $550 and the 9070XT would be $600.  This is...actually, pretty reasonable (with a ton of caveats of course--AMD will need to have enough stock; tariffs on goods from China are likely to increase which will also have an impact).  I'm hoping that all this turns out to be true.

I'm wanting to build to this summer, so I'm hoping it's the perfect time where the cards have been out long enough that there are plenty and that prices have maybe started to dip a little.  I'm still not 100% sure if I want to stick with an NVIDIA card or switch over to AMD.  I'm wanting to move up to 1440p and have very little interest in ray tracing, so I'm leaning AMD.  My current PC has the first NVIDIA GPU that I've ever had in it (and I'm pretty sure that I probably overpaid for it!).  I have felt like NVIDIA's drivers and software have worked more smoothly than when I had AMD GPU's--I had some issues with their driver updater not working, but I never had any major issues with their GPU's.

C'mon AMD...don't screw this up!

Oopsies

The big news in gaming/hardware this week was the release of the RTX 5080.  Most of the reviews I saw for this, the semi-latest and greatest of GPUs, were very underwhelming.  It sounds like these newest gen cards aren't a huge upgrade over the last gen cards (insert sad trombone noise here)--there are some improvements like smaller size and better cooling, but the performance boost from gen to gen is lackluster at best.  If you're interested, here are a couple of good videos explaining the general underwhelmingness of the 5080's:

This Paul's Hardware video also lays out a good comparison of price vs. performance increase from past generations.  It's interesting (but unsurprising) to see that as prices have risen, the performance increase has actually gotten worse--basically you're paying more for less...seems to be the general vibe these days.

If you were someone who was hoping to actually pick up a 5080 on release day, well.....lol.  In a completely expected fashion, they were sold out almost immediately.  NVIDIA of course released a statement along the lines of "oopsies, we didn't realize demand would be so great--we're working hard on restocking."  Yeah, I'm sure that wasn't intentional.  

I'm hoping to build a new PC and it never feels like it's a good time.  These new cards sound like they're going to be difficult to get and the prices of the older gen cards are sort of all over the place.  I'm also not 100% sure if I want to go with another NVIDIA GPU or AMD.  I'm totally unimpressed by ray tracing, so it's not a big deal to me.  I guess I'll just watch and wait to see what the 5070 and new AMD 9000 series cards have to offer.  If the 5090 and 5080 are anything to go off of...I'm guessing the 5070 cards will probably be equally underwhelming.

I Built a PC!

After months of planning, ordering parts, watching tons of "how-to" videos on YouTube, I finally completed my first PC build!  It was extremely nerve wracking and I was definitely worried about hooking something up wrong or dropping something and damaging it.  Fortunately, that didn't happen and I'm now enjoying my new and improved PC (if you're wondering what exactly I built here is the link).  I didn't go for anything that shiny or extremely high-end but did try to spend a little bit of extra money on a good GPU.  Here is a very unimpressive picture I took with my crappy, old phone:

My Fractal Designs case has great airflow.
I only opted for two RGB components (fan and MoBo).

I had only bought pre-built PC's up until this point (mostly Dell branded products,--my last PC was an Alienware) and didn't think that I would ever have the technical expertise to actually piece together a computer that would actually work.  It turns out that building a PC isn't too terribly technically demanding--it's mostly a matter of following directions and having small enough hands to connect some terrifically tiny connectors.  The piece that intimidated me the most wasn't necessarily the building aspect, but was more on the software side--I had no idea how to do a fresh install of Windows on a brand new PC (spoilers--it's actually very easy).

My interest in building my own PC stemmed from playing PC Building Simulator.  Even though it is a game and there's no handy auto-connect tool in real-life to hook up all those tiny wires, the game made me realize that building a PC was definitely doable.  If you're someone who feels like they have some technical expertise, but are by no means an expert, I can tell you that it's totally possible.  I did it...and so can you!

Now that I've actually completed my first build, I can hand out tips like a pro.  My first tip is to use PCPartPicker to start your research into components and build a list of parts.  PCPartPicker is absolutely awesome and includes user reviews, staff builds of PC's at different price points, user generated builds, and great market analysis tools for tracking prices and sales.  Once you've selected your parts, PCPartPicker will check them for any compatibility issues, which is particularly handy.  Then, it's just a matter of waiting for good prices, ordering your parts, and assembling them into working fashion.

Another great tip is that there are tons of very educational PC building videos on YouTube which are perfect for beginners.  I personally enjoyed this series of videos by Paul's Hardware which covered all the bases of building a PC--from picking the right parts, to installing them, and then to finally setting up the software on your new PC.  There are tons and tons of videos to choose from and you should have no problems finding one that fits your own preferences.

Of course, since now I have a new PC, I also have a few new games that were bundled together with the components that I bought.  As part of various promotions, I've received Tom Clancy's:  The Division 2, World War Z, and Wolfenstein:  Youngblood.  (Youngblood hasn't been released yet and I still haven't received my codes for World War Z).  I decided to give The Division 2 a chance and so far have been enjoying it.  My new graphics card is helping to paint a beautiful picture of a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. as my SHD agent runs around gunning down baddies.

Prior to building my new PC I had started a new Assassin's Creed:  Odyssey playthrough with my new and improved warrior Kassandra.  I decided that this time around I needed to notch up the difficulty (to hard...not to the highest one yet) and I've noticed the change--there are more guards roaming around and they tend to be "elites" much more often.  Warrior Kassandra can't stealthily one-shot many of the newer, tougher enemies, but she can definitely fight off the massive numbers that swarm as a result of these failed attempts to be stealthy.  This also means that warrior Kassandra attracts quite a bit of mercenary attention.  I've been sitting on the season pass for several months now and I need to finish the new content...it will happen eventually.

One of the major PC building disappointments of my 2018-19 was my earlier decision to buy an upgraded GPU for my older pre-built.  I had an AMD R290 that worked great--no problems at all, but it was just getting a bit dated and was only meeting minimum specs in some games.  I decided to upgrade to an RX580 and went with a brand that I was not familiar with--XFX.  For the first few months it worked great--I had no problems--then, I started to have problems with the card overheating and forcing me to have to manually shutdown my PC.  The really weird part of the overheating is that it would take place while I was playing games that weren't particularly graphically demanding (Slime Rancher).  It was really frustrating to have a brand new card that was not working great and the fact that I was having to turn settings way down to prevent overheating!  I did some research and discovered that there were some well-documented heat issues with RX580's and XFX cards in particular.  I was left with a couple of options--I could RMA the card and get a new one (which would mean sending the card in and waiting an unspecified amount of time for a replacement) or I could try to look up a faster solution.  One of the possible causes of the overheating problem was possibly linked to low-quality thermal paste that wears out after a short amount of time.  I decided that replacing the thermal paste on the GPU would be the best bet (even though by doing that there was a chance that I would be voiding the warranty).  After a thermal paste replacement (that was very simple...there are also good videos on YouTube about that process) my card did start running somewhat cooler.

2019 is the year of PC failures and triumphs (fingers crossed!) for me.  I would recommend building your own PC--it's a lot of fun to see your boxes of parts come together into a working product and you get a great feeling of pride and ownership in your work.  You can also make it very sparkly if you desire...there are RGB components for almost anything!

A Lot of Nothing and My Upcoming Project

I've been trying to keep an eye on new or upcoming games that look appealing, but so far nothing has looked good enough to buy.  I've been listlessly playing through Borderlands 2 (and having a decent amount of fun) but have been feeling a hankering for something new.  One possibility was investing in the season pass for Assassin's Creed:  Odyssey, a game I enjoyed very much, but I was disappointed to read that it is being rolled out in an episodic format.  That's a nope for me--I'm not a big fan of buying individual episodes and then having to wait between them (and the possibility of delays).  I will wait until the entirety of the content is rolled out (due to this stupid episodic strategy, that will be awhile).  What to play...what to play?  There are so many possibilities in my library--Cities:  Skylines was a game I greatly enjoyed, and I'm thinking about giving it another go (with the hope that my own stupidity and poor planning won't doom my city to failure); Farming Simulator 17 was another game that I delved into briefly and enjoyed the soothing nature of running my little farm.  Decisions, decisions.

Nothing fancy.  Sometimes simple is better.

My gaming indecision has been a bit stifling, but I do have an upcoming project that I am very excited for.  I spent a lot of time playing the strangely enjoyable PC Building Simulator.  Through playing that game, I learned the basics of building a PC.  I decided that I wanted to try my hand at building a PC in real life and have been slowly making plans so that this can become a reality.  I've spent hours researching, picking out parts, and planning for my future PC.  Just this last week I took the first step to making this a reality and ordered my first part--a snazzy new case!  (It's actually a bit plain, but I opted for function over form and something that had good reviews for first time builders-this)

The decision to move toward building came from the fact that I decided to upgrade my current PC this year by adding a new graphics card (which, turned out to be a bit disappointing--I ordered an off-brandish one to save money and have had some problems with it overheating) but found out that my processor is also getting to be outdated for many of the newer games.  Therefore, it's time for something new!

With my new build, I am wanting to try some new things.  I've always opted for systems with Intel CPU's, so I am going to try out an AMD CPU.  Similarly, I've also stuck with AMD for graphics and want to make a departure and try out an NVIDIA GPU.  Even though it's not exactly "new" technology, I've never had a PC with a SSD and want to incorporate a nice one for my OS.

I am hoping that my new computer sets me up for some of the upcoming titles that I'm really looking forward to--Cyberpunk:  2077--and allows me to experience some of my older titles with better performance (I've been pretty bummed about my updated GPU that overheats =/).  If you're curious, here's a link to the build I'm going for:  my build.  Wish me luck!