AMD Washout

I got into PC gaming back in my freshman year of college in 2017. For the longest time, I was playing games like Fortnite and Minecraft on my 2016 13" MacBook Pro, dual-booted with Windows 10. However, gaming performance was subpar with this; I wanted to be able to enjoy games graphically but also wanted something portable since I was moving between my dorm room and my home a lot. About a year later, in August 2018, I bought an eGPU with a Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580. This was definitely a step up but it was a pain to maintain and keep operational, as Windows 10 updates constantly broke it and caused error 12. Shortly after buying my eGPU, I began doing research on building my own PC and saving up.

I did research off and on for a couple years and then, this past spring after COVID hit and quarantine started, I finally decided to pull the trigger and build my own PC. I did a bunch of research on what the best parts were and how to actually build my computer. After I had my list of parts nailed down, I started watching prices.

I saw my local Micro Center had only one Sapphire Nitro+ RX 5700 XT Special Edition in stock, so I went ahead and ordered it for pickup. I got to Micro Center and decided to look around for a bit, as it was my first time being in one. While I was there, I decided I might as well pick up my case too. However, an employee asked me if I needed any help. Long story short, I walked out of Micro Center that day with everything I needed to build my PC (whoops).

Later that night, I began building my PC. It went fairly well, but I did struggle with getting the motherboard into the case. Being a first time builder, I attached the Z63 pump to the CPU right away-- that meant that I had to somehow get the motherboard in while also holding the radiator and not putting too much stress on the pump. I didn't want to take off the pump, as I feared messing up the pre-applied thermal paste. I was finally able to get the motherboard in and the rest of my build was pretty easy.

Shortly after I completed the build, one of the lights went out in one of the fans on my RX 5700 XT. I took it back to Micro Center to replace, but they did not have the same one in stock, so I just decided to use my RX 580 from my eGPU and save up for when AMD releases new GPUs.

The PC performs great and playing games on it is a blast. The white NZXT case is simple and pleasing to look at. I'm extremely pleased with my choice of parts. I mostly use the PC for gaming, playing anything from PVP games like Fortnite or Warzone, to other games like No Man's Sky or Satisfactory. I am able to run everything on high-ultra settings and get 60+ FPS. I would love to be able to get more frames, but my monitor is only a 60Hz monitor, so I am not too concerned about that right now.

Next to upgrade will be the monitor and then the GPU. I'm hoping to find a nice 1440p 144Hz monitor during Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day. I am hoping to stick with AMD for my next GPU, but would also love to get a GPU capable of ray-tracing.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments!