gaming – paulvanderlaken.com

I recently decided to buy a new computer.

While looking for laptops, it struck me that they can be so expensive for the hardware you get. I actually don’t need to my computer to be mobile, as most of the time it just sits in my study.

Hence, I opted for buying a desktop. And even better, I decided to build one myself!

I thought building a PC was going to be all complex and technical, but it’s actually really easy! I hope I can inspire you to try out for yourself as well.

Basically, you need only need 6 parts to build a computer:

Casing
Power supply
Motherboard
Processor (CPU)
Hard drive (SSD)
Memory (RAM)
Optional: Graphics card (GPU)
Optional: (extra) Fans

Desktop Computer Components (With images) | Computer history, Old ... — Via Pinterest (look at that old school case & speakers)

So I did some research into what hardware to buy. Specifically, I wanted a PC that could handle some deep learning and some of the newer video games. Hence, I decided on this setup:

Casing: Be Quiet! Base with pre-installed fans
Power supply: Cooler Master V550 Gold
Motherboard: MSI B450-A Pro Max
Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Hard drive (SSD): Crucial P1 1TB
Memory (RAM): Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz 2x8GB (I got grey ones)
Graphics card (GPU): MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super Armor OC

Note: these are affiliate links.
If you buy a similar setup, it will generate a few bucks used to keep my website live!

My setup totalled to about €1100 or $1200, but it may depend on the vendors you pick. Nonetheless, the CPU and the GPU are definitely the most expensive (and important).

I did not buy any additional fans, as the Be Quiet base already had some pre-installed. However, I think it might be better to install extra’s.

Actually, it’s very easy to upgrade (or downgrade) your system. You can easily switch out modules to decrease or increase the performance (and cost). For instance, you can install another two memory cards on your motherboard, or simply spend more on a GPU.

After everything was delivered to my house, I thought the hard part started: building the desktop and putting everything together. But actually, this only took me about an hour or two, with the help of some great tutorials on Youtube: