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A new year, a new computer, and a lesson learned

So it's 2014 now, and near the end of 2013 I decided it was time to build a new computer since my current one was...well...not up to par (for me at least). I was running on a 5 year old motherboard and processor, a small 60GB SSD, and a 4 year old video card and I was reaching the limitations of what I could upgrade on it.

So once I decided it was time, I did the usual shopping around and found some deals on the parts to build a new one online and in some actual stores. The parts I used were as follows (with links to NewEgg for more details):

Of course after putting it all together I had to go and install the OS on it, so I of course used my handy dandy flash drive here to install Windows 8.1 from USB, which took MAYBE 30 minutes total:

USB Homer to the rescue

It all worked flawlessly from the get go after the install of OS and now when I turn it on, it's at the login prompt before my monitor has even finished turning on, which ends up being under 3 seconds (3 SECONDS!!!). Also, thus far every game I have thrown at it can be played flawlessly at the highest settings available in full 1080p and has no lag in loading or anything. AND, even when I am pushing its limits, everything is still as quiet as can be and is not overheating in any way. I have been blown away to say the least.

Buuuuut there is always the eternal question when you build a new computer to play games on....Can it play Crysis??

Well yes...yes it can, just fine as you can see here (make sure to pick the 1080p option for all the details):

And since Crysis came out quite a while ago, I figured it might help to see some other newer games (not the newest but made within the last year or two) played at 1080p to prove that it can play them in full detail, like so:

So the lesson learned from all of this is don't wait forever to deal with a slow computer. Fix it now! And if you have ever thought about trying to build your own, I suggest you do it. It can seem like a daunting task at first, but there are plenty of resoures online to help you, and sites like Lifehacker will even show you sample configurations that you can build, along with how to actually build your own desktop computer.