Tipping point

I am at a tipping point where I am very close to buying all the parts needed to build my very own DIY PC. I think I can safely say that the tipping point for that decision came about when I impulsively bought 2 EVGA GTX 1070 SC Gaming ACX 3.0 GPU at a relatively competitive price on Amazon. I saw a good deal on the website and decided to try my luck to buy and sell it here locally. Firstly, Singapore doesn’t sell EVGA GPUs. There is no official distributor for EVGA GPUs. But (and its a big but) EVGA GPUs are covered by an international warranty and they have pretty detailed RMA instruction from their official website should there be a need to return a defective GPU back to the manufacturer. Coupled with these two factors and on top of the fact that GPUs sold in the US are generally much cheaper, I decided to try my luck to buy 2 of those and hopefully make a tiny profit selling it back on the local market here. And if they do sell well, I might buy several more in the near future. I don’t need to make huge markups, just enough to cover the initial cost and pocket some little extra cash. Nothing lavish.

Personally, I love the EVGA GPU design. I think they have the best heatsink and fan design among the other GPU vendors. It is simple, angular, with little to none of the copper of nickel plated heatsink pipes protruding on the sides of the GPU. Their designs and colours are not too flashy either, but they do come with a very prominent LED-backed wording panel that displayed the EVGA brand and type of GPU that you are using. This is especially prominent if you have CPU case with a clear side, allowing you to show off your new GPU.

But that aside, the very fact that I purchased those 2 GPUs may have tipped my decision in building a DIY PC of my own. I actually spent close to SGD 1.5k just like that. In addition to the GPUs, I also bought 2, 480GB SSD, from OCZ, a subsidiary of Toshiba. Again, after much research, retail prices of SSDs here were surprisingly very expensive. And the variety of SSD brands and models were surprisingly thin. The SSD I bought is suitable for entry level, budget conscious users, like me, who wishes to just simply instal and boot up my OS and use it as a day to day storage device in my PC build. I realised that I did not need extra performance or speed in terms of read and write speeds. SSDs are naturally much faster than traditional hard drive. So unless I am using my PC to move large files, process thousands of images or various 4K video files all at once, I wouldn’t be able to notice any substantial improvements in a more professional grade SSD than what I would ultimately use for my PC, just a simple decent one for a fraction of the cost. This cost savings would then allow me to invest in other parts of the PC that I may find it more useful.

I have spent months researching about all the PC parts that are needed for my newly built DIY PC. I have reached a point where I know in detail most parts, devices and peripherals that would suit my needs and the variety of choices present in front of me. I know what to look out for in terms of cross compatibilities, and I now have the knowledge and technical know-how to confidently build my own PC and even make informed choices on which parts are the best for my current needs. The choices are endless, the permutations of parts you can select are infinite. But looking harder and studying the technical aspect of each computer part, all boils down to just a handful of items that not only be useful for me, but comes at just the right price. Everything else is just noise. At the end of the day, its not about investing in the best in the system, but investing in a system and suits you best.

Right now I have multiple builds written down in great detail, down to the exact costs that is going to take to build on. And I have even created multiple builds based on my numerous needs and wants. From HTPC setup, to mini ITX builds, each with various components mixed and matched (like I said, the permutations to mix and match are endless), each with its own set of pros and cons. But looking closer, a number of parts listed in those builds don’t differ much and that, by setting a budget and listing down your needs, you simply have to set your mind to listing the components you need to just a handful of them.

I have just listed my final build for my PC. I have already purchased some of the components listed online and should arrive in the later half of August. As for the rest that I intend to buy locally, there is no rush. I should be able able to start building my PC towards the end of August. I will post my final build soon and perhaps show pictures of all my purchases in future updates.