Gaming Computer Build – Old Fart Gamers

Gaming Computer Build 2024

After the one PC was upgraded I of course wanted my PC upgraded.

Nothing is/was wrong with mine but everything was getting some age on it for these new video games and software I am running.

Someone put a fire under me to get this done so off I went and seeing my tower is a Full Case Tower with lots of room I can put anything in it I want.

Motherboard

These are pictures I took and no I did not whip out my Canon Mark IV Camera, I just used my cell phone due to convenience.

I upgraded my Motherboard to the MSI Pro Z790-A Max WIFI to handle what was coming next.

PCU IE Processor

I upgraded my PCU to a Intel Core i9-14900K 3.2 GHz 24-Core LGA 1700 Processor. My old one which is a I9 was doing fine but I am upgrading so might as well upgrade everything.

Take note of the fancy packaging haha.

RAM IE Memory

I needed enough umph to run everything so I got the The VENGEANCE® RGB 96GB (2x48GB) DDR5 DRAM 6000MT/s CL30 Memory Kit is a black memory kit that contains two 48GB DDR5 DRAM modules with a tested speed of 6000 MT/s and a tested latency of 30-36-36-76. Thank goodness I can copy and paste for that is a lot to remember.

PSU Power Unit

I have not had much luck with the 1000x psu’s until this one. It booted right up!

Liquid CPU

I also needed something to cool this puppy down and again went with the iCUE LINK H150i RGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler × 1.

I also added some fans to this build.

Graphics Card

All the upgrades I did was just for this puppy, a Geforce RTX 4090 graphics card.

I do more then just play games with my PC. Now this one did not connect as others I have done. This needed three connectors to power up and run it! Everything was in the box that was needed to connect.

Wrap Thing Up

I almost waited to long to make this post. I am not shy about telling folks I am disabled and my memory does not last as long as it used to.

This was a fun build like the last one. TBH I am glad I dont have to do this but once every 3-5 years for my workspace is not exactly state of the art and picking up, turning over and such a full sized tower kicked my buttocks.

I dont like working PC parts laying around so I might just upgrade a old Full Sized tower I have laying around. That tower still works with a i7 in it. So who knows?

I just took this pic of my upgraded PC. Cord management is all I have left to do, and I am sure I have to install software I forgot to??

Oh and I thought I would mention. I purchased all my parts from companies I have been doing business with for years. Go with who you trust when it come to PC Parts. Your PC is a big investment.

TBH Windows was the biggest pain in the tushy to reinstall.

The bios are super easy to navigate. I am happy with this update! Oh and I may put more color to those fans??

2023 Build

After three years or so one of the computers had issues so time for a new one.

Instead of going out and having someone else put the tower together for us I put the tower together. This is not rocket science.

First things first. We know this build will be used for gaming. Mr has a PS5 as well as his other consoles so I was in no hurry to put his computer together.

Nothing was wrong with his mid sized tower. A Deepcool Matrexx 55 RGB ATX Gaming Case we purchased new when it came out. That was about the easiest chose to make in this adventure.

Speaking to my Mr he wanted everything new since after all he will be on his computer more then some other people use their gaming computers.

So, off I went to the websites I have purchased parts from before. Pricing as I went.

I will make this easy and just dive in.

Motherboard

The Motherboard is just a new GIGABYTE GA X299 UD4 PRO-ATX.

The manual is online and easy to follow. What goes where and all that good stuff.

The lighting was entertaining for they connect way down there at the bottom of the motherboard. The power button as well. I am not caring for the Red lights, and can change them to another color some day if Mr here ever takes a break long enough for us to switch places so I can reach his tower. We have remotes for the lights however we both have similar products and well, push a button and everything changes…. my computer lights even. You get it I am sure.

Hard Drive SSD and Memory

Memory is 32GB 8GBx4 DDR4-3000MHz Quad Channel Memory. We thought about purchasing more, but this should do fine.. knock on wood and all that good stuff!

Nothing wrong with his Hard Drives and I had to tell him nothing wrong with keeping them. Plus who wants to repurchase a windows key?

Processor

We stuck with the Intel Core Processor i9 10920X because, why not?

For such a little thing it sure is important.

Graphics Card

I think the Graphics Card was on the top two of the most expensive parts of this whole adventure and to buy one that would play nice with the other parts.

We chose a MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070.

Simple to install however the case we are dealing with is a smaller tower then what I have. With a little determination and a gentle touch it slipped in.

I had to do a little jig at the back of the tower but it was not to much trouble. This graphics card is a large one.

I believe it was this graphics card in the manual it says to use the supplied cord that came with it or it may not boot….. that I did not catch at first.

Liquid CPU Cooler

Now lets get real, gaming is hard on computers. If you can not keep your computer running cool you might as well give up the ghost and use your tower as a paperweight or for simple applications or to use it to watch tv on as I do with a very old tower I have in the other room.

We went with a iCUE LINK H150i RGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler. The darn thing felt good when I booted it up and felt that nice cool breeze. It was nearing 100 f. when I installed that. The high desert can be a hot place.

The first tower I had a liquid CPU on was the one I gave to the son. It took me some time to get used to liquid in a tower with electrical parts.

I also want one of these inside my tower when I upgrade but I will not say that out loud and do not say anything to my tower!! My computer is doing just fine thank you haha.

I also dont trust anyone who claims they already pre applied thermal paste. That is just my quirk and just assume apply it myself. So I did.

I also installed more fans than the three in front where I installed the CPU, or the three fans on the graphics card, I even replaced the system fan on the back to match the ones I installed on top. Got to match right?

My philosophy is you just can not have a tower that runs to cool when playing games. Plus I am old school and it makes me nervous without fans tbh. These fans even light up like a Christmas tree!

Power Unit

I dint want to over kill this adventure. I recall buying a 1000 watt unit for my tower and the darn thing would not boot up!

So I went and checked out these new parts and what would power the unit without overkill. Come to find out these new parts are power friendly. Who new right?

I chose a RM850x SHIFT 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply. We do have another around here but I think this is the one I installed in this build.

In Summary

There is other ways I could of gone with this build.

I am a firm believer in having parts around just in case. This build works great and the Mr. has been on it since the day I finished up all the software updates.

Gaming towers I don’t like wi-fi or Bluetooth but hardwired, though this build has all that. Someday when my computer needs a upgrade I think I am going to go this route. Waiting on parts to arrive was the hardest thing about this build. Oh, and I never installed a CPU like this one before. So that was a new experience.

Researching all the parts making sure they played nice with each other took some time. I like research anyways so this was no big deal.

All in all looking at the prices out there to buy such a build as this in the summer of 2023 we saved probably $3000, or very close to it. It was fun too!

The images are off the web, where are towers are located at is not a good spot for photography.