Introduction
The adage “you do not know until you have tried it” certainly applies to my computer building experience. One unexpected side effect of building a new computer was that I learned a lot about myself through the building process. The experience challenged many of my previous assumptions about the person I am and how I make decisions. When I looked back at why I made the decisions and the end result, I realized the way I made these decisions were far from as “rational” as I had liked to believe.
Other lessons are applicable to other aspects of life as well. One of my epiphanies was the realization that there is a lot more going into building anything than just buying the components and putting them together. Details are sometimes lost amidst the dazzle of spec sheets and visual spectacles. Usability and the ease of maintenance, such as case ventilation, turned out to be far more important than how much gigahertz a CPU can clock.
Overall, building my new computer had been a painful learning experience that challenged many of my prior assumptions about myself and my understanding of how things work. It taught me some surprising life lessons. Computer DIY is a hobby I would recommend to anyone who likes to build their own tools and then enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Use Cases and Planning Ahead
One of the most important life lessons I learned from the experience is the importance of defining use cases and planning accordingly. If the use cases are not defined beforehand, then be prepared to waste a lot of money on useless or overpowered tools and products. In my case, the computer I built has computing elements that are far more powerful than what I really need for work and play. On the other hand, my decision to cheapen out on components that I had deemed “not important” created extra cost, as I had to eventually these cheap components anyway. This was partly because they could handle the powerful components and the heat they generated, and partly because I eventually could not resist the allure of “newer and better”.
Overpowered CPU choice
Nowhere is this lack of planning and resulting waste more apparent than my choice of going with the AMD R9 5950x CPU. This CPU, which cost $1000 CAD at the time of purchase, was the most powerful line of CPU at the time of purchase. I went with the 5950x with the justification that starting with so much computing power would allow me to avoid upgrading my computer for the next 10 years. I also justified my decision by convincing myself that I need to run virtual machines for work, such as programming and website design.
However, as I looked back, I realized the CPU choice was the biggest source of wasted money. This waste primarily stemmed from the CPU being more suitable for intensive, multi-core “production” workloads rather than the average work/coding/gaming platform I would use my computer for. CPU intensive production workloads are tasks such as rendering, video editing, and scientific calculations. By contrast, most everyday applications, even gaming, do not use that much CPU power or can take advantage of all 32 CPU threads that the R9 5050x offers. In summary, the 16-core R9 5950x CPU is massively overpowered for the use cases I set out. I could have saved $300 CAD or more if I had gone with a lower-powered CPU.
Computer Case
My computer case experience is a case study of me trying to cheapen out on “non-essential” components but then spending even more money on upgrading. I went into the DIY computer space without doing significant research on how computer cases impact component cooling and performance. Instead, I was overly preoccupied with the case’s aesthetics. I was going for a clean minimalist and office like design and disregarded other important features such as air intake location or cooling support. Both my lack of understanding of what makes a “good” computer case and how components fit inside led me to spend money and time on buying new cases and cable extensions that later became useless when the case I brought turned out to be not good enough.
Had I done my research, much of the waste created by my computer case replacement could have been avoided. My initial attempt to fit my new, power-hungry computer inside an enclosure from a decade ago was a miserable failure. The designers of the Ultra-X Blaster back then did not anticipate computers will consume 100W+ of electricity and generate the corresponding heat load. Like with my decision to go with the R9 5950x CPU, I was guided by “newer is better” when it comes to cases. This led me to buy the Thermaltake V100 case, guided by the “gaming and ventilation” marketing. But after I bought the case, I realized the Thermaltake V100 also cannot handle a CPU as hot as the R9 5950x. I had to buy another case with a proper mesh front panel, consigning the Thermaltake V100 to the closet and the growing pile of waste.
A tangent to my experience with computer cases was cable extensions. Many of the additional cable extensions I bought were meant for one of the three configurations my computer went through. Unfortunately for me, many of the extensions I brought became useless once I decided to move my computer to a new enclosure. For instance, my original plan was to reuse the Ultra X-Blaster case from 10 years ago with the old CoolerMaster PSU. The Ultra-X Blaster case lacked cable management cutouts, which made many cable routing awkward. The old CoolerMaster PSU also had fewer SATA and PCIe connectors (but a lot more Molex) than what a modern system needs. I brought the necessary SATA and ATX power cable extensions to make the configuration work. But the additional cable extensions became useless after I replaced both the PSU and the case in the next iteration.
CPU Cooling
Finally, cooling is another area that I could have saved money if I had planned out the new build. For my CPU cooling system, I ended up switching from a 120mm liquid cooler to a tower air cooler, and finally to a 240mm liquid cooler. The reason for so many coolers was because, with each cooler, I discovered something that caused me frustration down the line.
For starters, I replaced the 120mm Corsair cooler because I had initially overestimated the effectiveness of liquid CPU cooling solutions. The 120mm Corsair was more than adequate for my old A10-5800K CPU in my old computer. As a result, I mistakenly believed the 120mm All-in-One (AIO) liquid cooler would be good enough for the R9 5950x. But as my CPU temperature kept climbing, I realized the existing 120mm AIO is not good enough. So I decided to look for a replacement.
I decided to switch to an air-cooled solution to replace my 120 Corsair AIO. This was after learned that 120mm All-in-One (AIO) liquid coolers are not better than similar-sized air coolers. I reasoned as liquid coolers are not necessarily better than air coolers, and that air coolers are much safer than liquid coolers. I choose the Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo because, according to the product pages, it is the closest cooler to the highly acclaimed Noctua NH-D15 in terms of performance. However, the Arctic Freezer 34 eSports has the advantage of being shorter than the 160mm height limit imposed by the Thermaltake case, something impossible to do with the Noctua cooler. But after installing the Arctic Freezer did I realize that the tower blocked the case’s left side fan intake, which drove me to look for an alternative.
The alternative I found was to switch back to liquid coolers. I switched over to the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240mm AIO so can mount another intake fan on the computer’s side panel. The 240mm Arctic AIO works very well. But to reach this final state, it left me with an unused $100 CAD fully capable CPU cooler sitting in my closet. Once again, I am reminded that bad planning resulted in this waste.
What did I learn?
As one can tell, a lot of the duplicate efforts could have been avoided if I had done the measurements beforehand. In my attempt to save money, I ended up buying cheap components that I had to later replace as their weaknesses were exposed later. This waste could have been mitigated had I planned for the type of computer I want, sketched out what the computer will be used for, and assembled the machine accordingly. Instead of planning ahead, I decided to buy the most overpowered computing components (the CPU) mixed with cheap ones (case, cooler) that couldn’t handle the computing elements. From this lesson, I realized research and investing in quality save money in the long run.
Impulse Buying
As a technology enthusiast, impulse buying is almost impossible to avoid. What I did not expect was the intensity to which my emotions compelled me to always go for the “Latest and the Greatest” whenever I see it advertised. Through my experience, I realized that my self-image as a “rational consumer” was very much dead.
Diving In without Research
My lack of planning out my build also contributed to my desire to buy components that remediate “problems” created by my lack of planning. One such instance arose after I realized my CPU was running too hot for existing cooling solutions to handle. When I wanted to get a new modern computer enclosure that can keep the Ryzen 9 5950x cool, I dived headfirst into a case (Thermaltake V100) because the case seemed to tick all the boxes for a stereotypical “modern” case. For instance, Thermaltake advertised its case as being able to house the most powerful liquid cooling solutions (up to 360mm radiators), capable of mounting 140mm fans, and a PSU shroud that gets rid of the cable clutter for better airflow. Unfortunately, I did not take too much of a closer look at the case’s front panel and reviews before buying the enclosure.
While the Thermaltake V100 case’s lack of airflow was not fatal, I was constantly tempted to buy a mesh fronted case afterwards. I finally give in to my impulse and bought the Cougar MX-331 case only one month after purchasing the Thermaltake case. However, I almost immediately began to look for another case after finding some of the Cougar case’s shortcomings. I discovered that the Cougar case lacked features such as 140mm fan support (which I bought for the Thermaltake case), and its cable management options are also inferior to its Thermaltake counterpart. Even the front 5.25″ drive bay became a sore point when I found the edges of the installed peripheral does not line up with the concave mesh at the front. Fortunately for me, I managed to resist the urge this time around. Nevertheless, the experience caused me to realize how much I was tempted to throw money at redundant components.
Completionism
Throughout my computer building experience, I struggled with “completionism”. I was almost always tempted to stuff as many components into my computer as quickly as I could, even if it was uneconomical to do so. I had originally planned to keep my computer functional but incomplete, so I can have room for expansion later. I planned to buy newer components over the next couple of years to complete the computer build instead of finishing the computer in one go. This way, I can spread the cost of the computer over several years. Additionally, I was hoping as market conditions and technology improve after the COVID pandemic, I would be able to get better components at a cheaper price compared to what was available in July 2021.
However, I quickly succumbed to the urge to complete my computer as quickly as possible, so I can “enjoy” it sooner. I could not resist putting a fan on the side panel (the reason why I went with the Thermaltake and then the Cougar case). As I have previously mentioned, my desire to have a side-mounted fan led me to replacing my CPU cooler in quick succession. I also bought a second stick of 16GB RAM in August 2021, even though my original 16GB RAM was sufficient for most of my everyday workload. Needless to say, none of these cost-saving measures materialized thanks to my impulses. My compulsion to complete my computer build as soon as possible meant I ended up forgoing my original plan to save cost. I ended up with possibly worse components than if I had waited for another year or two.
Painful Realization
Before building this computer, I had believed that I am a rational buyer who does my homework and makes purchase decisions based on a careful assessment of my needs. After building my new computer, I realized that I am really not good at keeping my emotions in check and making rational decisions when it comes to electronics. This inability to control my emotion resulted in me either rapidly buying other similar products in quick succession to replace each other, or not waiting for the price of silicon to come down as I had planned to. All in all, it resulted in a computer that was far more expensive than if I had just waited.
Attention to Detail & Quality of Life
On a less regretful note, another lesson I learned from my computer building experience was that often, it is the small details that matter when it comes to design and usability. Behind the flashy tempered glass and blazing fast specs in most of today’s computers, the small details of computer component design often matter more for how much enjoyment I got out of the computer.
Cable Cutouts
One of the often-overlooked features critical to any computer build is the location of the cable cutouts in a computer case. I quickly found out how essential cable cutouts are to reduce the inevitable frustration stemming from routing cables and plugging in connectors. The first case that I had built my computer in, the Ultra X-Blaster, did not have any cable cutouts at all. This inevitably caused a lot of frustration as I tried to connect the wires inside of a computer while fighting a mess of wires.
The Cougar MX-331 case turned out to be both too narrow and lacking cutouts in key areas. For example, it is impossible to route wires through the cutouts on the PSU shroud after the power supply has been screwed in. More annoyingly, there is no cutout on the upper right of the case. On other cases, including the Thermaltake V100, this cutout is where the CPU power is routed. These shortcomings of the Cougar MX-331 case caused me some frustration. For exmple, I had to to reinstall the motherboard after finding it effectively blocked the power cable cutout after it is installed. Additionally, both fan and power cables have the tendency to be sucked into the exhaust fans because everything passes through a top central cutout. The design also required the removal of the power supply every time a cable must be adjusted for headers at the bottom of the motherboard.
Front I/O Connectors
Another small detail that is not often put onto computer spec sheets, but ended up having a large impact on the overall build, is how the the front Input/Output (I/O) panel is attached to the rest of the computer. For both the Thermaltake V100 and the Cougar MX-331, the front I/O is bolted onto the case’s front panel rather than as a separate “brick” attached to the chassis. I failed to appreciate how useful the chassis attached front I/O brick is is until I had to open up the front IO for maintenance. With the front I/O attached to the front of the computer case, opening the case requires more care to avoid tearing the front I/O board off of the case. Furthermore, the way the front I/O is attached meant the front panel cannot be detected completely. This complicates the process for cleaning the front-mounted fans and liquid cooling radiators. Once again, a feature that is not present on spec sheets has a large impact on the usability and maintainability of the final product.
What Did I Learn?
There are features more important than flashy RGB lighs and test numbers when it comes to products. Sometimes, these “quality of life” features, while not groundbreaking, allow the user to use the product much more effectively. I came away from my computer building experience with a newfound appreciation of user experience researchers and designers. User experience is one of the processes that are often forgotten by both the vendors and the users. So the next time I need to buy something, I will hopefully keep a product’s usability in mind.
Conclusion
I learned many important if unexpected, life lessons from building my new computer. I learned that planning and research are extremely important when buying expensive capital goods. It caused me to re-evaluate the type of person I am and how different my self-image is from reality. And it taught me the value small things that are not immediately obvious but have a massive impact on the user’s final appreciation of the product.
However, not covered above, is the biggest lesson of them. This is learning to compromise and the acceptance of the result. Ultimately, nothing will turn out the way you want to 100 per cent. Whether it is because of price, bad planning, uncontrolled emotions, or just small things that annoy users; no finished product will tick every single checkbox a buyer is looking for.
While building a computer did not necessarily result in a major “life lesson”, it did teach me that, first, one shouldn’t scoff at other people’s shopping habits when modern capitalism is built on manipulating human emotions so consumers will always buy “the next big thing”. Secondly, it is worth paying attention to details and other “quality of life” features when designing and buying, as they might be worth more than you think.