My Son's Recent Gaming Computer Build

[Qs Laptop]

Computer aficionados. Take a look at the components going into my son's most recent computer gaming build. Some of the components were bought used from crypto miners that are flat broke. For example, he originally had a GE Force RTX 3090 GPU lined up but it fell through so he had to "downgrade" to a 3080.

Motherboard is preowned but never used, box was sealed, and he got it for $100. Same thing with the insane 1,300 watt power supply which he got for $125.

 

[street]

Wow!

Way over my head but sounds very intriguing. Keep us posted on build.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

It's a cool hobby for those that are up to it (not me). A while back, I ran across a YouTube video of Superman actor Henry Cavill building his gaming computer himself. I thought it interesting that a man of his wealth would do that, but apparently building it is half the fun for him.

 

[jimbee]

Looks like fun to me! Your son is going to have a great holiday season with that setup.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Here's the finished product.

 

[plex]

Looks good. I'm glad prices went back to sane levels recently after over two years of insane prices that made custom building almost entirely not worth it, and caused a huge spike in stolen computers/graphic cards. I would be a little careful using an old mining card, mining maxes out the card non-stop, and wears it out faster than anything else, but, since the crypto winter occurred this year, perhaps this one did not get sold on its last legs.

 

[calmloki]

Computer aficionados. Take a look at the components going into my son's most recent computer gaming build. Some of the components were bought used from crypto miners that are flat broke. For example, he originally had a GE Force RTX 3090 GPU lined up but it fell through so he had to "downgrade" to a 3080.

Motherboard is preowned but never used, box was sealed, and he got it for $100. Same thing with the insane 1,300 watt power supply which he got for $125.

View attachment 44317

Umm... why? Other than making your power meter spin why a power supply pulling 1300W (like running a hairdryer or small heater nonstop)? Is this the modern equivalent of 550HP in a car? It pulls much much less normally, but if you need it it causes the generators at the dam to all kick in? What pulls so much extra power?

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

My youngest son also builds his own gaming PCs.
He is currently on the watch for an upgraded graphics card. The current price is $1500 [emoji15].
He is waiting for it to go down to a normal level.
I sure would like to get him one for Christmas but not at that price.

 

[Jerry1]

I was looking to help my grandson upgrade his pc with a new graphics card, but that turned into also needing to upgrade the power supply. Doable, but not for the budget I had planned for Christmas. I’ll just hold off and help him with a car. He’s about to turn 17 and it’s that time. Instead, I’m thinking of getting him, and the family in general, a 3D printer.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Umm... why? Other than making your power meter spin why a power supply pulling 1300W (like running a hairdryer or small heater nonstop)? Is this the modern equivalent of 550HP in a car? It pulls much much less normally, but if you need it it causes the generators at the dam to all kick in? What pulls so much extra power?

He got the power supply for ridiculously low price. He doesn't "need" a 1,300 watt power supply, but it's gold rated, fully modular, and comes with a 10 year warranty. He'll likely never get it to pull over 700 watts and that would be if he were really pushing his computer with intense graphics for an extended period of time.

 

[Qs Laptop]

My youngest son also builds his own gaming PCs.
He is currently on the watch for an upgraded graphics card. The current price is $1500 [emoji15].
He is waiting for it to go down to a normal level.
I sure would like to get him one for Christmas but not at that price.

Due to the collapse of the crypto mining market there are tons of good, used computer components out there. A used GPU could be an option for your son. Crypto mining computers get pushed to their performance limits so it is imperative to know the history of any used GPU.

 

[street]

That is great!! Way over my head also but what a project.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Pic of the interior: