# Building My First Custom PC <span style="font-size: 13px;"> <span style="color: var(--tx2);">Planted:</span> <span style="color: var(--tx1);">22 June 2026</span><br> <span style="color: var(--tx2);">Last tended:</span> <span style="color: var(--tx1);">24 June 2026</span> </span> Many moons ago, I sat down with some of the guys from the IT department at the company I used to work for previously, and got some help on finding parts for my first-ever custom-built PC. Though, for some reason, I kept procrastinating this endeavour until I found myself in a timeline again where the initially planned RAM kit costs five times as much; Sam Altman be blessed. <div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:84%;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/dCLbnsZVBdeGB9rBma" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/Friends-friends-season-5-episode-106-dCLbnsZVBdeGB9rBma"></a></p> Nonetheless, although the timing couldn't be worse, I didn't want to indefinitely wait, and instead decided to pursue this plan now. For the past seven years, I've been working exclusively with Macs in my personal work, having always despised Windows (which I, in fact, still do). Although I adore Apple devices and their ecosystem, I began facing limitations in regard to my work as a 3D artist, be it just the freedom of choosing specific software, or actual hardware / OS confinements, especially in regards to gaming. Ever since I began working with high-end Windows and Linux workstations professionally, I've been yearning to own a system like that myself. Thus, I decided to build one of my own, aimed at both my 3D artwork and gaming, running both Linux and Windows. # Parts For my build, I aimed for higher-end components, as well as the desire to stay as future-proof as possible, especially considering the investment. | **Component** | **Model** | | ------------- | ------------------------------------- | | Case | Fractal North XL TG Dark | | PSU | Be Quiet! Dark Power 13 1000W ATX 3.0 | | Board | GIGABYTE X870E AORUS Elite WIFI7 | | CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D | | Cooling | Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE | | RAM (*) | 32GB DDR5 6000 | | GPU | RTX 4090 | | SSD | SAMSUNG SSD 990 PRO 2TB, M.2 | <span class="caption">*The initially planned 64GB DDR5 kit went from 234€ in 2023 to 1,228.90€ as of writing this entry (June 2026). Thus, for the beginning, I'm settling for 32GB.</span> I definitely don't aim to build an RGB Christmas tree for under my desk. I like the minimalistic and sleek design of Fractal North XL, which also happened to fit perfectly to my interior design, as it has almost exactly the same colour combination as my furniture. As for the GPU, I'm still pondering which model to go for. The RTX 4090 was the initially planned GPU for the build, which I might go for in the end, regardless of the latest lineup. Additionally, I also wanted to put my trusty *30" Apple Cinema Display* into its well-deserved retirement, which held up fantastically considering it's 20+ years old. Nonetheless, it's time to upgrade to 4K, and after some research, I decided to go for the **ASUS ProArt PA329CV** for now, a 32-inch 4K UHD HDR monitor.