My work laptop was recently upgraded from a 13" 2012 MacBook Air to a 12" Macbook. More than enough for me to do my day-to-day work on and it is incredibly portable.
However, with only an integrated GPU and no built-in fan, the MacBook was not going to be able to do a lot for me when it came to playing videogames.
I'd been thinking of building a Windows-based computer for home to use primarily for videogaming. Something that would allow me to play some non-macOS games in my Steam library, and something with enough oomph to run some of the bigger upcoming games.
I talked with some of my coworkers that were more knowledgeable about Windows-based computers, about what my requirements were and what my budget was. With their advice, the components I finally decided upon were...
| CPU | AMD | Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor |
| Motherboard | Asus | PRIME B350M-A/CSM Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard |
| Memory | G.Skill | Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory |
| GPU | EVGA | GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card |
| Drive | Samsung | 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5” Solid State Drive |
I purchased all the above parts from Memory Express, using PCPartPicker to have them price-match the lowest advertised Canadian prices. All together after taxes, the lot cost me under $1000.
The power supply and the computer case were donated by generous co-workers. I already owned a USB mouse, a USB keyboard, and an Xbox 360 controller. We downloaded a copy of Windows 10 from the Microsoft site.
The majority of the time, the new game in rig is hooked up to my 50" Sony television. I have the rig configured to boot up into Steam's big-screen mode, and I play games on my couch with the controller. For all intents and purposes, I now have a new console machine that can access my growing Steam library.
As of my writing, I have been having great fun indulging in...
