A couple of weeks ago, I learned that my laptop’s processor and the motherboard had fried. It might have sounded like a surprise to someone in my place, but to me it didn’t.

I have been using that laptop for over four years, spending extended hours on it every day. I knew I had it coming. As a result, it was about time I built a PC.

After spending a few exhausting days researching the hardware, comparing various benchmarks, choosing the components, looking for compatibility issues, and on and on, I finally placed the orders. It took me a lot of work to get through this step, but like they say:

All’s well that ends well.

Parts

When choosing the parts, my goal was to get better performance while staying within the budget of an average laptop. I was able to accomplish that with the following components.

UPDATE: Within an year or so, I replaced it with a RTX 3060 Ti along with a few more additions.

Assemblage

After a whole week of anxious waiting, I finally received the orders. Since this was my first time putting together a computer, I made sure I had everything ready before I began. Surprisingly, that “everything” included only a Phillips #1 screwdriver, that’s all. That’s all one needs to assemble a PC. Also, another thing that goes without saying is “a great deal of concentration.”

I took my sweet time going through the manuals in the boxes, and then everything started to come together (pun intended).

After having assembled a PC by myself, I can confirm that it is simpler than it sounds; still, I did mess up once, which led to a series of unfortunate events.

It started with the way I inserted the AMD heatsink; they have this projection for the logo on one side which blocked a RAM slot. As one would expect, I tried removing it, but the thermal paste adhesion was way too strong. I could have looked up the internet for answers, but for some reason, I was wholeheartedly focused on removing it by force. As a result, the CPU came off with it even though the motherboard’s CPU lock was intact. Thankfully, neither the CPU pins nor the motherboard were damaged. And again, it was a case of all’s well that ends well.

Final Thoughts

I recommend building your own PC if you get the chance. It takes a little research and time, but it’s incredibly rewarding. As a final note, I am glad I decided to embark on this journey.