FIRST BUILD - WOODEN PC CASE

first build ever. wanted to get back into PC gaming at the worst possible time with the high GPU prices but pushed through anyway. got some parts from Microcenter - particularly the Ryzen 5600x and the B550M DS3H motherboard - all for discounted prices! The GPU was secondhand from r/Hardwareswap.

trying to get the best value from decent gear, which allowed me to budget for a new Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse - and a UPS @ 650VA

Bought a wooden PC Case on a whim from Amazon - "CYBERWOOD Micro ATX Mini Tower Wooden Computer Case" - turned out better than expected! had issues with fitting the panels together but was able to in the end. the cable management was really tricky since the PSU was vertically mounted with the cables coming close to being in the way of my GPU - anything over 300mm will be a struggle.

As i was researching parts i didnt necessarily buy parts for "future proofing" but rather making sure the parts i buy now aren't limited by current hardware limitations. I made sure my CPU/MOBO supported PCIe Gen4, as well as the NVMe SSDs.

overall the researching and building was a lot more fun than i thought and i learned a lot about PC components.