Submitted Photo: Adrien Qi

What made you decide to build your own computer?

I have a friend who got me to download Discord, a voice call and text platform. Originally, I had Discord on my parents’ work computer, and that wasn’t really cutting it because my friends played video games a lot, which my computer couldn’t run. Later, they told me about a personal computer) building community, so I decided to build my own PC.

When did you build it?

My first build was around late sophomore year. I’ve only built one, but I’ve upgraded it a couple (of) times.

What are the steps that go into building a computer?

First of all, you have to do lots of research. A big part of building a PC is understanding (the) price range because (the) budget is a big part of getting a good deal for your PC. Once you have prices and parts, you have to figure out what you want your PC to do, as in if you want it for gaming or if you want it for homework. You want to understand what you want your computer to do before you buy parts. Another big part is asking friends and communities to help. You can join a PC building community with friends or even an online community. I’ve found that friends and online communities help a lot with getting a cheap PC that runs well. One online community I recommend is r/pcmasterrace, they helped me a lot.

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Submitted Photo: Adrien Qi

What hardware is in your computer?

My CPU is a Ryzen 9 3950x, my GPU is a NVIDIA GTX 1070ti, 32GB RAM, 2 TB SSD, and my motherboard is the ASRock X570.

How much did it cost?

Originally it was 1.4 grand, but I’ve upgraded a couple (of) times. I’m not sure how much it’s worth right now.

Are you planning on upgrading or building another PC?

I just got a new monitor, so I’m planning on upgrading my GPU to support it. I’ll probably be buying it in the next month or two.

To read more on how to build your own PC, click here.