Image taken from knowyourmeme.com
Hello there coffee lovers! Dane here taking over Nat’s blog for a bit. Hopefully I didn’t bore you last time with declaring how much I needed to get a virtual reality headset with a gaming PC to power it. I had actually planned to follow up the post with a games wish list and things you need for VR but there really isn’t much point in that now because…
I got myself a new PC! I know only a few of you may actually be interested in reading this post and I do apologise for its subjectively boring topic.
By the way, my jimmies have been rustled by the cost. 😉
I just couldn’t wait any longer and I had to make the jump to get everything I needed. I had already bought a couple of the items like the PSU, case and so on. These were all things I could test out before hand to prove worked just so I could send them back if needed. It is always wise to get everything together as you wont know if there is a problem until you power them on, and with a computer you need everything together to make sure it works.
Sadly in my excitement, I didn’t get many photos of the build. I just had to build it, and yes this was built by myself. Nothing was pre-built and it is much easier than some people may realise.
The PC isn’t the most powerful workstation in the world but it’s certainly enough to play the current generation of games.
If you’re interested here’s the specs:
- Ryzen 5 1600 Processor
- 16GB Corsair vengeance 2666MHz RAM
- Gigabyte B350 Gaming 3 Motherboard
- Asus GTX 1070 Expedition Graphics Card
- NZXT S340 Case
There are many reasons I went for this set up. After looking at components for over a year, seeing how the market has changed and the right deal for me came up I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
I have wanted Ryzen to succeed since it launched because Intel have been the dominant processor producer for several years and competition always helps the market. After it got released and the major players recommended using it I knew this would be the direction I would head. It has been commented that Ryzen is better at handling streaming and other multicore applications, it lacks the pure power that Intel produces but is a cheaper alternative for those who still want to game. The 1000 series is actually out of date already, Ryzen has in fact released APUs (CPUs with Vega Graphics embedded) and even released the full second generation 2000 series. This caused prices to drop for the 1000 series processors and I had to snap one up.
Buying a motherboard these days is somewhat of a simpler purchase. There are 3 options that you can go for with Ryzen processors (AM4 Chipset) A320, B350 and X370 which are the budget, mid and enthusiast levels respectively. I went for B350 as I want something which has some of the fancier bits of the higher end X370 but a more reasonable price. Someday I may end up overclocking the processor which the B350 will allow me to do. Other than that aspect it is just brand preference, aesthetics and price that you need to look for. I chose the Gaming 3 for its red and black theme and little bit of RGB.
The graphics card was a slightly different story. All along I was going to go for an MSI GTX 1060 6GB, this changed for a few reasons. Since last year prices for GPUs have been astronomical due to bitcoin mining and ram shortages, prices started to decline about a month ago to a point where I felt it was time to purchase. A 1060 6GB is supposed to be more than enough for 1080p gaming and VR but as my monitor is ultrawide and I wanted a little bit of leg room for if a game became extremely taxing in VR I decided on a 1070. It just allows that extra bit of comfort and you definitely know the component is VR Ready. I chose the Asus 1070 Expedition on a bit of a gamble. It has a red accent which is quite nice but no RGB, there weren’t even many (if any) reviews on it. If you search Asus 1070 it doesn’t even come up! The main reason was the price though, it was on sale at Overclockers.co.uk and was cheaper than the 1060, for the power I could not pass up on that opportunity (not for the second time as a 1070ti was actually on sale at Scan.co.uk which I did miss out on).
So there we have it. I made the jump and have given you my reasons for doing so and I have no complaints whatsoever with everything that I have. I can happily play all the games I have at very high/ultra detail and I love it. There is still a few bits that I want to get to make it more aesthetically pleasing, increase the disk space and I may even overclock it in the near future. All in all I am incredibly happy with what I have, and the day it arrived I was like a little kid at Christmas.
SO if you have made it this far through the post, well done! I know this post wasn’t the most exciting in the world and as I said above, only a select few may enjoy this post. Nat asked if I wanted to have a go at writing on her blog today whilst she suffers with her hayfever, and this is what I came up with.
If you’re interested in getting your own gaming PC but don’t know where to start then I’ll leave some links down below of where you can buy any parts for your gaming PC if you want to build it yourself, like I did AND I’ll also be sharing where you can buy a gaming PC built for you.
SCAN UK – Decent prices, they offer finance, their returns policy is brilliant (they’re understanding when it comes to PC components) and have incredibly friendly staff in their Bolton store.
Overclockers UK – They do pre-built PC’s so if you don’t want a gaming PC then you’re good with going here and the prices are reasonable and like SCAN UK they offer a brilliant returns policy, they also do finance. The delivery from them is secure and you feel good in the knowledge that your goods are arriving safely, and very quick delivery too!
So from buying my gaming PC it has also allowed me to use this…
Yeah. I did it.
BUT MORE ON THAT LATER!
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my post today and I am so excited to talk more about the above very soon!
I hope you’re all having a lovely weekend and until next time, take care all.
There Might Be Coffee 