Background for this build

 Hello reader!

*DISCLAIMER: This build thread provides a comprehensive breakdown as to the background of my technology usage, my research into building, and the build itself. If you are interested in JUST the build thread, please skip down to post #2!

I am a Mac user. My first computer was a 2004 Core II Duo iMac G5, back in 2006. Since then, I've owned a 2012 13 inch MacBook Pro (non-retina) that essentially got me through my first two years of college. Its factory-issued, locked, 2.4Ghz Dual Core i5, 500GB SATA mechanical drive, and 4GB RAM was nothing to write home about, but it did the job for a Communication Studies major in preliminary courses. Between 2017 through present day, I seemed to develop an interest in knowing a little bit more about how my machines functioned. I didn't limit myself to computers; my car, lawnmower, skateboard, and even my home (with the ever progressive home-automation push) fell punishment to my mechanical-bound curiosity. My MacBook Pro was eventually upgraded to SATA Solid State Storage and 16GB of RAM, breathing fresh life into what many would consider an 'old' computer.

Somewhere in this time period, I also found a new hobby in playing video games. I purchased a new (used) XBOX One S from Craigslist (after many months of finding out the hard way on the taxing specifications required to game on a portable computer). Being my first game console, I was excited to find out how I could push the limits of user-upgradability and get the most out of my console. With my MacBook Pro and XBOX chugging away beautifully, for the time being, I had the ability to get work done efficiently, and gaming on the side. 

In December 2019, I treated myself to a new (used) computer: a late 2013, 15 inch, Retina MacBook Pro. With upgrades to display, storage, graphics, and RAM compared to my 2012, it massively outperformed its elder. (even with only one year separating the two machines). This is the computer I type to you from now, as my portable workstation. It's fantastic for light video editing, photo sharing, word processing, spreadsheets, etc, even being a 7 year old computer. And with plenty of ports on the I/O it remains versatile for any plug and play scenario I run into (2 USB, 2 TB, 3.5mm jack, 1 HDMI, and even an SD Card slot). 

But with my work machine up and running, of course I started running into issues with my now almost 4 year old, used, XBOX One S. Maybe I started playing more video games? Or binge-watched too frequently on Netflix? Either way, My XBOX eventually started repeatedly going through the boot cycle, even mid-game or stream. On power up, it would sit at a black screen or XBOX One S loading bar for however long it was connected to power. At first, I approached this with satisfaction as I was ready for my next project to start in ripping out the guts of my XBOX.

I started, of course, with troubleshooting the operating system and user data. Erasing the entire XBOX to factory settings, re-downloading all games and apps, and making sure not to import user settings (in case I had a case of data corruption). I found this to be successful, if not only for a moment. I attempted creating an 'offline system update drive,' as Microsoft recommends, to update my system via USB. However every few days, I would see the same boot error. I probably went through a dozen erase and installs before I was fed up with the ease-of-use factor XBOX was supposed to be known for. I started to believe I had a hardware problem, and taking a wild guess on what parts seemed to be prone for failure, my first guess was the hard drive. I thought then this would be a great time to replace my internal hard drive (a 500GB SATA spinning disk) with an updated SSD. This would not only be more reliable, but even [maybe] speed up boot and read/write times. I ordered a Crucial branded 500GB drive and started my teardown.

Now, before I started just trying to 'plug and play' my new drive into my XBOX, I did all necessary research to navigate the process in creating a drive with Microsoft's proprietary XBOX OS. I did this through a disk cloning app, where I successfully 'cloned' my old xbox hard drive onto my new SSD I would replace it with. This not only would save time in navigating a troublesome process in downloading a ripped version of XBOX's OS via XBOX Modder forums, but could be done using my MacBook Pro and OS X (which would be the only machine, Mac or PC, that I owned at the time). With my new hard drive in and ready, my XBOX worked successfully! 

For 2 days. Then, I would see the same startup error I had seen before a million times.

At this point, I had wasted time and resources on attempting to salvage this XBOX, and for what? Sub-par, 60FPS, console gaming? I wanted to trace the issue, but was starting to understand that I had either an actual firmware issue, or possibly a motherboard issue. In both circumstances, I did not want to jump down a rabbit hole that would put me even further away from starting to game. With Microsoft making XBOX almost completely proprietary from the ground up, I felt like I would run into even more problems than perceived just to get this old thing up and running again. I started looking into what replacing or upgrading the console would look like. On one hand, I could just purchase a NEW (that’s right, actually NEW) XBOX One S for just over $200 USD, or even upgrade to an XBOX One X for around $350. But with their new product coming down the pipeline, the XBOX Series X (Don’t confuse it with the XBOX One X; thanks Microsoft marketing), I felt I would start to get further off the curve of new technology very fast. I’m already using a workstation that is now over 7 years old in 2020, and don’t plan on shelling out 3 grand for another, newer, OS X machine.

So I started doing some research on what PC gaming would look like. I figured it should be easy enough to buy a pre-built PC that’s ready out-the-box for gaming, streaming, home entertainment, AND it would be the first Microsoft based machine I would ever own. The possibilities in replacing my XBOX with a PC seemed endless, and a pre-built machine would be quick and easy to get up and running! Of course, I would be spending much more on a machine like this than I would just buying an off-the-shelf console like an XBOX, but the positives in this case far outweighed the negatives in spending a little more dough. A much faster machine, with more graphics and processing power than any machine I had owned before seemed to be the answer. I did research and decided the machine I wanted to go with would be the NZXT brand H1 ‘mini PC.’ It features a slim case design, much like the XBOX series X soon to release, and included a powerful CPU and graphics card, double the storage my XBOX had, and an easy to use integrated cooling system out of the box. Once I was ready to buy, however, I learned the unit was sold out until around mid-April. Since I was ultimately set on the form-factor and specifications of this particular machine, I figured the wait for it wouldn’t be too bad, as I had plenty of other activities and work/school to complete that could fill my gaming void until it was ready to ship!

And then COVID-19 happened. With my state and local counties putting a shelter-in-place in effect for the foreseeable future, my downtime almost tripled. Stuck indoors and with work and school on pause, I became increasingly bored. And without the ability to rely on my outdoor activities for entertainment (skateboarding, fishing, going to local breweries), I was slowly losing my patience waiting for a gaming system that was on pre-order until mid-April. I fired my XBOX back up and started to become increasingly irritable on performing what turned into daily erase-and-installs just to get the damned thing to function. With almost 2 months before I could guarantee my pre-built PC to even be shipped, I cancelled my order and turned to...

the internet.

I decided to start down a personal journey of assembling components and building my own PC. I’ve worked on Mac computers extensively before, and with our quarantine procedures continuing for an unknown time period, I figured this would give me plenty of time to piece together a complete computer, with the added satisfaction of having built it myself. With my goal in mind, I turned to Reddit, PC forums, gaming blogs, YouTube; every source known to man that could give me the knowledge and understanding of the intricacy of this completely new world to me. My research was extensive, and it had to be!

My original plan was to start from scratch, using PCpartpicker.com, and accumulate parts that I liked and felt were best suited for my needs: gaming and home entertainment. This proved more difficult than originally perceived however, as the PC world has almost every kind of part and spec for your various needs. I decided to stop my random guessing at what kind of components I thought I wanted, and instead looked at the original prebuilt PC from NZXT as inspiration. 

The NZXT H1 mini PC was designed as a gaming and streaming computer with a catch: it’s very small. So small in fact, it rivals the dimensions of the newest XBOX Series X; with much more processing power and capability, being able to run a full desktop operating system such as Windows. This is extremely important to me as I have limited space in my current living arrangement and want a combination of form and function for my newest computer. Being used to laptop/portable computers, I wanted something that would be as functional as possible while still only taking up very little real estate in my space. 

So I used the blueprints of my original pre-built computer from NZXT, and instead of going with the original case I intended [the H1], supplemented another small form-factor case from the same company, the NZXT H201i. Choosing this case would be simpler for many reasons: while still being a small form-factor case the capacity was larger than the H1 [making installation much easier for a first time builder], it was readily available to ship, and included RGB lighting and dual fans pre-installed. I ordered the case from NZXT’s website and started going through my list of components needed. Since I was essentially copying the same build from one of NZXT’s prebuilt computers and ordering/building myself, I was able to save money here and there by getting parts on sale and avoiding the ‘building’ fee from NZXT. 

Finally, I sourced all parts I believed I needed and began my journey in building my first Windows based machine! Below I will list the parts I originally purchased from various vendors to get an idea on the direction I was going in, as well as pricing for components if you are interested in sourcing or building a similar build for yourself. With that, I will wrap up this post and start my installation thread. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

ORIGINAL PARTS LIST ORDER (this obviously grows as I find the need to upgrade peripherals and add other components): 

• MOTHERBOARD: Asus ROG STRIX Z390-I GAMING $198.44, eBay

• CPU: Intel Core i5-9600K $199.69, Amazon

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Founders Edition $604.99, Amazon

• RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3600, $99.99, Amazon

• STORAGE: Intel Solid State Drive 660P Series, 1 TB $129.99, Amazon

• COOLING: Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT $119.99, Amazon

• POWER SUPPLY: Corsair SF Series SF600 80+ Gold $134.99, Amazon

• CASE: NZXT H201i $109.99, NZXT.com

ESTIMATED COST PRETAX (without peripherals): $1,598.07

*NOTE: Because of price fluctuation due to coronavirus supply/demand, you may be able to find these components less expensive/more expensive depending on when you research them. I took time to verify I was getting the best price available with the most reasonable shipping, which is why most of these components were purchased via Amazon.com’s Prime. Many vendors are hiking up pricing due to this demand, so always research pricing across multiple vendors before you buy to ensure you are not overpaying for your components!