I’ve built a handful of servers in the past decade, but I can’t remember the last time I built a gaming pc. Mayyybe 2003? Somewhere along the way, I got sucked into laptops (powerbooks and macbook pros) and gaming consoles (xbox 360, ps3, ps4, switch, etc).

I think a big part of why I haven’t built a gaming pc is a lack of space. There just isn’t a lot of space in the dorms, small apartments, and small townhouses that I’ve lived in the last decade or so. Not only is space an issue, but a lack of all the necessary peripherals: a desk, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. In addition, I suppose that over the years I simply became accustomed to the limited size/power of my laptops.

Now that I’m working from home, it didn’t take long for me to realize I had everything necessary to support a PC gaming habit again. What did I do? Research, of course!

I won’t bore you with the details, but r/buildapc and r/sffpc were quite helpful. It only took a few days of lurking on r/sffpc to find my inspiration.

I have a large backlog of games that I need to play in Steam, a bunch of games that I’ve watched others play on Twitch, and oh. my. god. I really want to play Rimworld.

Alright. I know that the only thing anyone really cares about are the specs.

Here you go!

Gaming PC Specs

PCPartPicker Part List

Type Item
CPU AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler Corsair H60 (2018) 57.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard MSI B450I GAMING PLUS AC Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard
Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory
Storage Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card Sapphire Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB PULSE Video Card
Case Silverstone SG13 Mini ITX Tower Case
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA GA 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

I have no idea what I’m talking about, but it’s my understanding that I will likely be able to upgrade the CPU at least one more time before the AM4 socket is dead. Time will tell. If anything, maybe I’ll get shove the next generation into my sffpc and upgrade my aging Xeon E3.

Later!