Ming Mecca Build



I finally did something that I've been wanting to do for about 11 years.  I built a (relatively) powerful desktop computer on which I can play all my old man games on the highest graphics settings.  I've never built a computer before, but it was astonishingly straightforward.  Here's the photo of all the components as laid out.



 

 

And here's a build sheet from PCPartPicker.com

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor	$227.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler	$39.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI Z170-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$109.50 @ OutletPC
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	$74.99 @ NCIX US
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$157.30 @ Newegg
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB NITRO+ OC Video Card	$278.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case	$39.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$87.98 @ Newegg
Optical Drive	Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer	$16.88 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$84.88 @ OutletPC
Keyboard	Cooler Master OCTANE Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse	$34.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1203.48
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$1153.48
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-10 12:33 EDT-0400

 

 I also bought a 23 inch acer monitor in person from Best Buy since I was wary of rough handling and complicated online return policies.  It was like $130 including tax.

Back to the build:

After reading a couple how-to guides online, I jumped right in by installing the I/O shield of the motherboard into the case.  Apparently this is an oft-forgotten step.

Next comes the delicate procedure of installing the processor into the motherboard.  Here's the mom, arms open for her little quad core processor.

 

  

And here's the little guy all snug in his new home.

 



 

Next I mounted the CPU cooler.  It was a little awkward, and I had it completely installed before I realized that it was oriented 90 degrees from correct. So that was a little embarrassing, but an easy fix.  I had plenty of thermal paste to wipe it off and start over.  Here you can see the cooler and my 16 GB of RAM (those fancy red sticks).

 

 

Next I installed the board into the case and wired up the fans and case LEDs.  Then came my sexy Sapphire graphics card, the CD drive, my 500 GB solid state hard drive, and the power supply.

 

Side note, I was blown away by how small and light 500 GB of storage is these days!  It was significantly smaller than my smartphone, and lighter as well.  Next came the wiring of the drives to the motherboard and power supply, and the power supply to the graphics card, CPU, and motherboard.  You can see here my bush-league wire management, but in my defense I wasn't sure this thing wouldn't burst into flames when I first turned it on, so the aesthetics of wire bundling were low on my list of concerns.

 

I totally forgot to install the wireless networking card, but that's a 15-minute job if I ever want to connect wirelessly for some reason.  I almost didn't even buy one, since this is a huge desktop and videogame snobs will lecture you without mercy for using Wi-Fi for gaming (I don't typically play multiplayer games, so calm down), but I'll slip it in one day when I'm bored.  I closed up the case, wired up the peripherals, said a quick prayer, and booted her up.  You can see here the glow of her innards.

 

The motherboard's BIOS came with a neat little overclock genie that safely (presumably) gooses the CPU from 3.6 GHz to 4.1 GHz.  I know this chip could theoretically be pushed further, but I'm a man of simple tastes and 4.1 GHz on a $230 processor seems great to me.

I installed Windows 10, downloaded Steam, and played an older game that I own as a test, and it was beautiful.  I haven't decided on what game to buy to really stretch her legs, but I am confident she'll perform well.  The fans (two in the case, one on the CPU, and two on the graphics card) were all whisper quiet.  All that remains is to let my daughter apply the intel sticker to the case.  Interestingly, they provide you a sticker expressly for this purpose but it comes ensconced in legal language about authorized and unauthorized use of their sticker.  What a world.  So I rate this as an overwhelming success, a great first build, and an item off my bucket list.

EDIT 10/24:
I installed the wireless network card a couple of days ago because I was moving my station and didn't want to string 20 feet of Cat5 cable from my modem across my living room.  It took probably 10 minutes to open the case, plug the card into the motherboard, screw it in, boot up, and install the drivers.  Piece of cake, and the wi-fi works great.