The last (and first) time I built a computer was maybe in 2006. Since it was my first attempt and I’d just graduated from college, I went fairly budget. It still lasted me about 3 years with minor upgrades which seems to be the average lifetime of PCs before they become obsolete (I actually have no idea what the average lifetime is). In 2009 I purchased a gaming-style laptop (number pad required) in order to game/work while hanging out at Trent’s place, so at that point my desktop got phased out. With 2 years on the laptop now I’m feeling the need to have a full desk setup once more. How fortunate that a friend of mine built his own computer literally 1-2 weeks ago so I’m more or less referencing him & his build, which saves me a lot of time on the tech-catch-up research part.

Purchased the CPU & monitor yesterday for in-store pick up from Microcenter. Love that instant gratification feature, by the way. Set up the monitor and laptop in a way that allows me to pretend I’m using a desktop until the full computer’s built. If only I had a USB keyboard :|

Don’t mind the ziplock change bag and plastic fruits…