Build Showcase

This thing is like if you threw a V6 turbo engine in a Mazda Miata. Runs VR like a champ, and AAA games on mid-high settings at 1080P look amazing. Would have broken hearts and blown minds circa 2017. The outside of this Optiplex 7050 case is a mere shroud to hide the serious fangs of this build. Like the demon of Babylon hiding in the coat of the righteous, even the inside seems unassuming and rather lackluster. But for those who care not about brute force of PC's ten times the price, this stealthy competitor holds it's own. With a total cost of $310 to raise this Lazarus of PC's from the bargain bin to the arena of gaming, there's no doubt of the value for output for such a reanimated creature. This thing hangs out with builds triple it's size physically---the Small Form Factor case and 9lb weight making this lightweight all the more deceptive. Running off of the thin meager sustenance of 180W, it performs to par with PCs with PSUs 10x that wattage. The GeForce RTX 3050 only draws 70W, sacrificing no performance in it's grinding sprint of raw gorgeous output. Ray Tracing in VR never cost so cheap and required so little. Is it stuck in Windows 10 Pro cause of the CPU? Yeah. Does the GPU fan howl? Yeah. But that's how under this sheep's wool, you know this wolf is still alive :) ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Theatrics aside, this was a really fun PC to build. There are SO many constraints you'll face if you ever try building a mid-tier gaming PC out of a SFF (Small Form Factor) office pc. Wattages, physical constraints, and compatibility issues make up most of 'em. Finding parts that fit the case was so annoying, but part of "the game". The Optiplex 7050 I picked up for $25 with working SSD, 16GB DDR4, and a not entirely horrible CPU (i5-6500). It came with a NVIDIA Quadro K1200, which had surprisingly good performance for a 4GB card from 2015, but I knew for more intense stuff, It wouldn't cut it. Finding a good GPU was paramount, as the onboard graphics are... definitely not enough for anything I had in mind; VR was the end goal, perhaps originally optimistically. While the Quadro K1200 COULD---by a miracle---run VRChat, it would start to throttle quite seriously after about 20 minutes. Having a CPU not rated for VR might have certainly been a bottleneck too. I came across possibly the best Low Profile GPU currently on the market, the Yeston Geforce RTX 3050 (6GB). It's realistically the ONLY decent quality GPU that will fit the a SFF case, and also required no new PSU---another component I really wanted to avoid replacing. By the grace of the Lord, the 180W stock PSU worked just fine. I found a used i7-7700 (the highest compatible CPU with this motherboard) for $50, and installed it with no issue. I COULD get a i7-7700K, but those are still super expensive for frankly not a huge uptick in performance (near DOUBLE the price... for a quad-core). I bought two more 2133MHz DDR4 8GB RAM sticks, boosting the system RAM to a nice and respectable future-proof 32GB. It's compatible with 2400MHz too, but I wasn't hard-pressed to milk the 267MHz more out of the slightly more expensive RAM of the two options. And that's it. That's where the build ended. New CPU, RAM, GPU and nothing else. I could have dolled it up or stuck any RGB junk all over it, but I decided to keep it's biggest appeal; the surprise factor most sleeper builds have. It looked the same on the outside, and even on the inside, you'd be hard-pressed to notice any difference, minus the bright pink shroud of the GPU. In regard to performance, it gave me all I'd wanted and more. It runs VR at 90FPS, and with a Oculus Quest 2 Airlinked to it, it's all I dreamt of. Yeah, it's loud especially when running modded VR, but given the price of the whole setup for such little input, it was worth it. I came into this with zero experience in anything PC, and I'm happy to say I learned a lot from this process. If you're not doing anything VR for gaming, I'd still suggest simply get an Xbox Series S. 120fps 1440p and upscaled 4K for $265 is such a deal (at least it was in 2024, idk what it is now). But for multitasking and fun stuff like VR and rendering, a small DIY build like this is the way to go. Proud to have made this, and I hope this build inspires others to make the most with the least!

Everything works as new. PC has been used very little as it has been the PC for my racing sim.

This build has taken me years to get all of the parts together, and smartly pay as I went. Crystal has replaced my old 10-year-old computer, Sapphire, for the last 3 years. It started as just the CPU, Motherboard, RAM and PSU. Since I didn't have a new case, I had to take Sapphire out of the Rosewill Destroyer and install Crystal into it. I had no intention originally to buy a new PSU, but there was an incompatibility with the new mobo and the old 650W corsair. The two spinning disks are from Sapphire, but the two M.2s are new to Crystal. I always knew that I would replace the case, but I intended to buy a chassis and video card together. When I couldn't buy it because of the video card shortage, I instead bought the Cintiq and the stand. Once I paid those off, suddenly I received a call that video cards were in stock at the BB nearby. The card was almost too big for the Destroyer, and I knew my air flow would choak. So, I bought the Torrent case and then decided to get an AIO as well. I'm going to get custom power cords for my modular PSU. The reason being, the PSU is located up top and the current cords will have different travel lengths. Besides, there is also a glass pane for the back. But I have to measure it all. I'm also planning on getting a mini sensor monitor to install inside the back of the case. Since I have no traditional form factor SSDs, I'm considering using the plates that those are supposed to adhere to, to adhere the monitor to. I also came into the problem where the Pro Carbon Wifi mobo does not have a front I/O for USB C. so that port is currently not functioning on the case until I either adapt a USB-3 slot, which I then can't use it to charge items, or get a mini PCIe card to compensate. I'm not certain what direction I want to go with that yet. So far, because the torrent has so much positive airflow, my exhaust fan barely spins. These days that exhaust fan now spins like the rest, but the GPU fans don't seem to feel the need to spin most of the time. It's so powerful, I have to clean the dust filters, 2 months later. I did something a little different with the storage. For the most part, the OS is located in the NAND M.2 250 GB drive, and all of the programs are located on the NVMe 1T M.2. All of my games are located on the hybrid spin and documents are on the normal spin disk. I also have a NAS externally for really old archival items. I think she functions pretty well. I want to mention, just how good the hybrid has been, but it has always been my dedicated game storage for the last 7 years. The WD 1TB spin disk used to be my C drive for Sapphire, so there may be some corruption in it. However, it has been wiped clean and does well as my pc attic. I was gifted an Omen 27i.

This was built for gaming.

Intel, gosh how dare he. Indeed. How dare I. Thought long and hard about Intel vs AMD, and eventually focused on Intel for the reason that this is my second build and my first was now 11 years ago and was an AMD, I promised myself the next build would be Intel, and I own an Xbox Series X which is on AMD hardware. So the choice was between the i5, i7, and i9 variants. Eventually settled on the i5 14600k as I believe the performance more than accommodates my needs and gaming and the i9 being nearly $250 more made that choice easier. It became a game of where to save money on each part and the CPU was a reasonable starting point as the options are grand. Now, the graphics card choice was another difficult one. Nvidia vs AMD, I aimed for a Nvidia card all along so as much as I wanted to cheap out on a 9060 xt I decided to go for the 5060 ti as I wanted to see the difference that ray tracing and other Nvidia tech can make on games (which has been cool). I was lucky to find an Asus Geforce RTX 5060 ti for 469.99 open box and brand new. Highly impressed by its performance, though I haven't enjoyed anything higher just yet. The water cooler AIO is overkill no doubt. I even found that my CPU was running too cold. Whether that's because I am a nut about spreading a lot of thermal paste, or the AIO itself being so powerful, or both - I decided to overclock by default and am seeing better temperatures. I decided to go with a Z790 motherboard because I wanted to be able to upgrade to an i9 14900k if I decide to later, or another processor which would mean I'll need to upgrade the motherboard and CPU towards whatever direction I go next. So overall great parts that I can swap into a new system or build upon and enjoy for the next 5-10 years. I like computers that last a good 10 years if possible. Overall the system performs incredibly well. It easily beats the Xbox Series X with its graphical capabilities and it has been fun to add to. Just recently ordered a 7.1 sound card so look forward to the audio enhancement. I even fished an HDMI line downstairs from my office to my living room to connect to my TV when I want to game in a different setting. Highly recommend even in the face of doubt with Intel's current state and the giant push by the gaming community and Youtubers for AMD. It can run Cyberpunk at max settings with ray tracing and the whole 9 yards at 180 fps on avg. I see very little struggles from the machine in terms of anything let alone gaming and have tried many games so far that all play well and look fantastic. Cheers, thanks for reading.

Work/gaming PC. I would like to hear back from the community

It's been a lot of work and researching to get my computer building to where it is. Although this is my 3rd or 4th build in 15-20 years, I did the homework and extra credit and it was a labor for a hobby in gaming and graphic design. Yes it is fast. Yes it performs better than 98% of most PCs; its not a contest that needs to be won- learning how tune and maintain is part of the challenge when you step into the pro-sumer end of electronics. The monitor makes images look great in gaming, although HDR settings will adversely affect color reproduction in editing programs, it's an emotionally moving feeling to actually squint at bright colors in a dark atmosphere and it creates so much more immersion and fluidity to everything. Coupled with high-end audio 2.0 for music and headphones for gaming, this PC system is very easy to spend hours on. If you want the long review of all the parts, you can find them by cross-referencing the pictures and hardware names and read their individual reviews. A big shout out to the nerds and geeks that keep the PC community alive and in-the-know! ALSO: get the Windows 10/11 ISO and buy a CD KEY for about $20; do not pay more than you have to and yes it's completely legal!

First PC build with recommendations from a friend who knows more than me. Plays a lot of my favorite games at a good graphics level for the price range.

A compact and simple setup

My first time building a PC! I use this for streaming to Twitch and playing games such as Valorant, Repo, Peak, and World of Craft to name a few. See me on Twitch ;)

also got the nzxt vertical gpu mount and the lian li strimers to give it that flash.

Getting around to making a great relaxation corner. Always in progress.

I've been consistently improving this build for about a year and so far it can handle most if not all games I've thrown at it.

Runs cool and quiet. It took awhile to get to this point (Ship of Theseus-esque), but the internal components are mostly where I want them, a few upgrades to storage would be ideal, and I plan on getting an OLED monitor. No complaints regarding overall performance though, the 7800X3D is incredibly fast for gaming and the 5070 Ti was worth every penny- which I obtained at MSRP. I didn't design it around the idea of PC gaming on the go, but the Jonsbo monitor on the front panel works incredibly well for gaming with a very high pixel fidelity display so it can work as an-all-one system with a controller, even with the iGPU of the 7800X3D at the recommended resolution. It's a tight fit with all the added fans (reducing clearance for larger GPUs and secondary PCiE slot use) and cooling- with most cable management being regulated to the area under the PSU, leaving little room on the back side for the fans and header. If there are any questions about the set up or the build, please ask. I know it's far from perfect but I've spent a lot of time on this, so I'm open to all questions and comments for changes that lead to improvements.

What started as a simple SSD swap in an old Dell laptop turned into a full-blown PC building obsession. I planned a modest $1200-$1500 1080p gaming rig. That plan didn’t last long. Soon, I was knee deep in the rabbit hole, comparing GPUs, chasing deals, and flipping parts. I went from an RX 6600 to a 5070… and finally landed on the PNY Epic X OC RTX 5070 TI ARGB. It’s fast, flashy, and solid with a Ryzen 5 9600X (that’ll eventually be upgraded to a 9900X3D). The build? It’s a custom beauty: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 case (awesome airflow!), Lian Li SL-INF fans, 7TB of storage, 32GB of RAM, 27" OLED monitor, Dual Sense controller for gaming and Logitech Extreme 3D flight stick for MSFS, all tuned and clean. Temps stay cool, performance is nuts (up to 200+ FPS avg in BO6!), and everything just works. I honestly call it the SKing because it simply runs things and yeah, I’m proud. I built this myself as a complete noob, watched endless tutorial videos, used a ton of chat GPT and learned a lot along the way. This isn’t just a PC build. It’s proof you can do anything you set your mind to!

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Dream build 2025

10th Gen Build, Last Series before Intel Stumble. Had this RIG for years. I had built with the plans to do custom water cooling eventually but honestly this case was just too big. Super easy to build in but it's monster size just takes up too much room. Great PC and been a solid but it's time to move onto a smaller build and AMD Setup with a 4070TI I picked up.

Check my build guys

Dream Build, Complete.

Bought at Micro Center 1400 which is cheaper than new egg if you have one.