PC Builders

I've been building PCs since 1993, when my cousin and I saved literally every cent we could from paper routes, mowing lawns, washing cars, etc to build an i386. If I recall correctly, it was similarly priced to modern mid-range PC.

I don't really play games nowadays, but I do some modeling and work on a computer all day - so I still build a 'top of the line' type rig.

My most recent build and my Stealth Labs desk:














I have a few other desktops in the house that do various things (son's computer, CPU mining Raptoreum, GPU mining Eth, entertainment center/emulator, media server).

I'm typically the go-to for friends and family when it comes to buying, building, and tech support.. Wish I had been charging all of these years.

 

I am sure it wont be a problem for you, but I had a terrible experience with a MSI Tomahawk MOBO. I built mine and it never acted quite right, especially when I would stress it.

Turns out, the processor pins bent somehow. I sent in all my MSI parts for a warranty service and they sent them all back with no information. Swapped to an ASUS board and havent had an issue since...

Good luck!

MSI MOVO build:



Current config:


Mounted:

 

missed quoting you earlier, but the first part above was in response to this.

 

Slick setup Mike! Ever dabble in hard line water cooling? Always wanted to but 1) I'm not rich, and 2) I'm not rich. There's a 3rd reason too but I forgot it

 

First I've heard of an issue with the Tomahawk mobo, and I hope you don't hold it against the brand because they do build good stuff imo. Ironically, I got my hands on an ASUS mobo that didn't work for me. Instead of swap it out for me, their customer service started me down a troubleshooting rabbit hole I didn't wanna go down nor had the time for. I went back to MSi & and Gigabyte. I looooove Aorus hardware.

 

I will most likely never buy one of their MOBOs again, but I love their GPUs. I am pretty annoyed with their RMA process too. I packaged and paid for shipping, sent it in, never heard back from them, emailed them repeatedly for updates, nothing... then it all showed back up with no notes... when putting it back together I saw the pins and now it is scrapped.

I say that, but I will probably use it as wall art in the nerd corner... who knows...

 

They sent it back fixed or just sent yours back? I'd be pissed too.

 

I have not, for similar reasons as you. Always wanted to though!

 

Is this an AMD build? Pins on the AM5 are incredibly sensitive. I had the same issue with an AsRock X670e mobo and I've never bent CPU pins in my life. I've also never had problems with an AsRock board before, but ASUS has been my go-to for 25 years.

I went with the AsRock in large part because of the color scheme. Swapped for the ASUS X670e after that experience.

 

@Florida AF I should clarify that this post was not a "prove it" but rather a "teach me" tone. This is my first ever PC build so I'd like to know what to look for when I inspect the motherboard.

 

LOL, I will post the wall art when its done. I have a couple pictures posted up above of the actual PC. I can post more if you want.

No notes, like nada, not even a packing slip. So no idea if they even looked at it. I do know nothing was different than when I sent it and they did not call out the pins.

Intel, i7. Never bent pins before and I like to believe I would have caught this during the original build or the tear down, but now we will never know.

 

Luckily, I've yet to bend any pins on either Intel or AMD...../knock on wood

 

I was meaning of the pins. You're talking to a guy that's never seen a MOBO in person, so pics of actual issues will help me ID them if I get a crap board.

 

I am not into gaming, my kid is and he built his first PC at 10 years old. For his eagle scout project he built 25 PC's for a retirement home, delivered them , installed them and trained the folks there. It was an awesome project and it took him a year to collect various donations.

As for me a built servers, professional / enterprise grade hardware I also automated my own home and run my own VoIp PBX. And the list goes on.

 

Ah ok... I will see if I took photos.

 

Much appreciated.

 

@GODZILLA
Build day:





This one shows the pins exposed.

 

This is my little pc that likes to collect dust and help keep me warm in winter lol. Recently got this MSI 4k OLED monitor and I've been loving it.

Case: Lian Li A4-H20
Power Supply: Lian Li SFX 850w
CPU: i5 -12600K w/ ASUS 240mm AIO (replaced stock fans with noctua nha12s)
GPU - RTX 3080 FE
RAM - Crucial 32GB DDR5 5200
MOBO: Gigabyte Z690 ultra lite mini itx

I run a mild overclock on my CPU for the P cores to stay at 5 GHz @ 1.315V it helps out in AutoCAD making everything run smoother. The graphics card needs help staying cool due to the case design letting gpu exhaust recirc into the gpu intake hence the ghetto masking tape job. After all the mods this thing runs like a chimney when playing games or under load, all the hot air rises up and out thru the cpu radiator and cool air enter from the sides and bottom. I used to have a EKWB 240mm AIO but the pump started failing after a year or so and started making all sorts of grinding noises and cpu would hit 100C at idle so I swapped in a ASUS unit and man the pump is barely audible.

 

If I could love this I would. I went loud and obnoxious on mine because it was my post divorce bday present to myself. If I build one again (when I do) I want to build a mini and love the theme on yours!

 

I actually have my son gaming rig for sale He is using hos school laptop for than now

 

Your build is gonna keep that 13700k in check lol I love it. I love bigger pcs but the compact nature of mine and the portability is something I planned my build around but I had to sacrifice some thermal headroom for it and building in a tight case was a pain so many little cuts on my fat fingers

 

Those are the same reasons i want one.... QuakeCon ruined me lol

 

I miss playing Quake with my HS engineering teacher, he would beat my ass every single day after school man legit had the reflexes of a navy seal and knew the maps better than the course curriculum lol I miss Quake and never thought I would find someone in the Tundras forum that plays Quake. We need to get in a lobby once your build is up and running

 

on a work call, so I will expand on this in a bit... but here is what I was talking about: https://quakecon.bethesda.net/en/

 

Started as a mini ITX build...and now we're here. Hahaha. Have a 4ft Great Lakes wall mount cabinet waiting to be refurbed. Then it's rack mount everything from here on out.

 

Wow did not know this is happening in Grapevine, thank you for sharing!

 

What are those stacks with ethernets? Arduinos?

 

8GB Raspberry Pi 5s. Currently have to do a bunch of dev-opsy stuff for work/also host a bunch of services. Three are currently running a K3s cluster and the other three an Apache Druid cluster. The tower behind my bastardized PC is an old workstation turned "AI server" (it has a decent enough GPU for local LLMs). Waiting for Nvidia to release Digits so I can grab a few of those.

 

Looks like it. A shelf of Raspberries