The Building Of A New Beast (Phase I)

Wow.. it's been a while since I've done a blog in here.. 2014 by the looks of it! How the time flies. So what now? Well it's high time I got a new computer, and it's been a long time in the making - for those who are mindful of such matters this has been in the pipeline since the X99 platform was brand new.. coincidentally as long as the time since the last blog.. funny that. Anyway I imagined that if I were ever to do another blog it would be a little something to share the exploits and pitfalls of this long besieged project - my first PC build. I've owned a couple of pre-built computers, each quite sufficiently capable for the tasks at the time. Still even for those readers whose own interests in computers are merely cursory, it is well known that things move on quickly and user skills and demands broaden, so unless I was destined to renounce computing altogether then this was pretty much inevitable. I have to say though it feels as if it's taken forever to get to this day.

There have been a number of interventions and setbacks between that original dream and the present. As I struggled on with my old AMD PC, which knocked the socks off Intel when it was new - yes it's that old (ten years for the uninitiated), dedicated to music production and precious little else, the plan began with the dream of the aforementioned X99 platform and the intended Intel processor of the time - the 5820K. Then the project stalled, time passed and it evolved into the Z170 platform and the reasonably priced Intel 6600K processor, before stalling yet again and finally coming to land in the present, with irony to spare. Tech has moved on quite a bit over the intervening time. Now thanks to a twist of pricing fate which pushed me into action (the CPU of choice appeared from it's £219 RRP, and more nominal £175 selling price, down to an undeniably outrageous £136 for one weekend only as the saying goes) the system is now forced into the light, and the first of my internet parcels arrived today. Somewhat lacking in obvious glamour but nevertheless quite important and underappreciated - the power supply.

Yes I know it's not all that exciting on the face of it, but to be honest there is something really inspiring and cool (aka geeky) about receiving something even as simple as a PSU in the flesh as it were. When you finally get your mitts on something you've only ever known as photos and spec sheets, it all becomes more tangible and interesting. Still after spending so much time pouring over the possibilities and promise of innumerable incarnations and permutations, something which at least a couple of my friends can easily testify to, all is now coming into focus - no bad thing for a project which has been ongoing in earnest and sufferance for a little over three years.

So with a foot now planted firmly on the path this concludes the first of several reveals, which will build upon the choices, progress and assembly as we go. As I stand right at this moment roughly 80% of it is settled, bought and en route though the various couriers, somewhat sooner than I'd intended due to said CPU bargain. The two concessions which I have to make at this point are knowing neither which graphics card nor which case I'm finally going to settle upon. The card will almost definitely be a GTX1070 variant to meet the demands of the 1440p resolution I'm running (not to mention driving two screens), though which model remains a mystery even to me at this point thanks to the inflated costs incurred as a result of the scourge of cryptocurrency mining. Nor am I at this point going to divulge the remaining components. Like a fine wine or pleasant meal it's not to be consumed or revealed in a rush, and makes the blog a bit more fun. So we'll be back with phase II just as soon as the next part(s) assemble.