<p>Admittedly,abitoverkillforthe65-wattchipit's attached to. I bought it because I was getting thermal throttling with the stock cooler, but when I took it off to put the new cooler on I discovered I hadn'tmountedthestockcoolerproperlytobeginwith.Thestockcooler,mountedcorrectly,wouldprobablyhavesufficed,butfranklythatmountingsystemwasdogshitanyway.SecuFirm™gang4lyfe.</p>
<p>Irecommendthismotherboardifforsomereasonyou're building an AM4 gaming system in $CURRENT_YEAR, but be warned that the screws holding the M.2 heatsinks down are made of cheese and <em>will</em> snap off if over-torqued. Don'taskmehowIknow.Also,theincludedWi-Fiantennaisfuglyandhasanabsolutelypatheticmountingmagnet.</p>
<p>GoodRAM.Nocomplaints.IthoughtforawhilethattheXMPprofilesweren't compatible with my CPU or something, but an update to my motherboard'sBIOSsolvedthat.</p>
<p>UsedsolelytostoremyOSandprograms.Farbiggerthannecessaryforthatpurpose,butnoissuessofar.Plentyfastandallthat.IinitiallyassumedithadDRAM,thenIlearneditdidn't, <em>then</em> I learned that it'soneofthosedrivesthatleechesoffofyoursystemmemoryinsteadofhavinganonboardcache,somakeofthatwhatyouwill.</p>
<p>Thisdriveismountedas/home,forconvenientOSreinstallsandsuch-like.It's a fairly new addition, so I can'tremarkonitsperformance,butitcertainlywasn't DOA. This one also uses your system memory as a cache, but that'sfine.I'vegotplentytogoaround.</p>
<p>Fine,enoughedging.Iknowthisistheparteveryonecaresabout.It's a fine GPU, it performs admirably at 1080p in all my favourite games but can get a little overwhelmed at 1440p with all the shaders on in Minecraft, the encoder is what you'dexpectfromAMDandtheBlenderperformanceleavessomethingtobedesired.I've had some odd stability issues with it in the past but that might have been due to the apparently faulty power supply I was running. It certainly isn'tathermalissue.</p>
<p>IwantitonrecordherethatifIeverbuya3090orwhateverthebiggestbaddestnew$1000+AAA-cruncherisandIhaven't won the lottery, I am to be taken out back and shot like a lame horse. Frankly, I probably need some sense beaten into me if I'mbuyinglotteryticketstobeginwith.</p>
<p>Chosenmainlyforthe5.25" optical drive bay. Adequate airflow characteristics and workable cable management, but cramped to build in, especially if you're running an ~exotic~ setup like a modular PSU with a 3.5"HDDatthesametime.ServicingthePSUisinfuriating,anddon'tbuythisifyouhavebighands.Ialsonoticedafterbuildingthesystemthattheglasssidepanelistinted,requiringtheuseofinternallightingtoseein.</p>
<p>Thispowersupplyis,bluntly,<em>comically</em>over-spec'd for the system it'sin.IcouldruntwographicscardsoffofthisthingifIwanted.Icouldruntwoofmy<em>entirecomputer</em>offofthisthing,itevenhasasecondCPUpowerconnector.</p>
<p>Itwasreallyimportanttomethatmycomputerhaveadiscdrive,andthiswasthecheapestunitonPCPartPickerthatsupportedallthemajorformats.Likemostofthepartsinmycomputer,itfunctionsreliablyasadvertisedwithoutsignificantissueandIdon't have much to say on the matter. I'vegottenplentyofuseoutofit—IhaveadecentlylargecollectionofCDsthatI'verippedusingthisdrive.</p>
<p>I've had this mouse for something like six years. I'vehaditforsolongI've forgotten how long it'sbeen.High-quality,long-lasting,anditprobablyhelpsthatittakesAAs.IwishthesoftwareforitworkedonLinux,though.</p>
<p>Iwouldhavejustgottena100%keyboard,buttheydidn't have it in the chassis colour I wanted so I ended up with a TKL and separate numpad instead. I'mahugefanofboth,whatwiththeopen-sourcefirmwareandhot-swappableswitchesandall.IespeciallyliketheextraincludedkeycapsforusewithaMac,notbecauseIintendtouseitwithamac,butbecauseitletsmefinallygetridofthefuckingWindowslogoonmykeyboard.</p>
<p>IboughtthisseveralyearsagowhenIwasstillrunningWindowsbecauseIwantedmaximumcompatibilityforminimumeffort.ItstillworksnowthatI'm on Linux, using bluetooth and with xpadneo installed. It'sdecent,nocomplaints,I'm sure it could be better but I don'tuseitenoughtojustifycaring.</p>
<p>Another"endgame"purchase.Verygoodmonitors,ifIreplacethemit'll be because they broke. I truly don'tcareforOLEDs—theygetburn-in,forgod's sake, I thought we moved on from that in the early 2000'swhenLCDsbecamecommonplace.</p>
<p>I'm also rocking aftermarket cat ears. I just don'ttrustthequalityonthecheapnoveltyheadphonesthatcomewiththembuiltin.</p>
<details>
<summary>Photo</summary>
<picture>
<sourcesrcset="images/cans.jxl"type="image/jxl">
<imgsrc="images/cans.jpg"alt="A pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones with a removable mini XLR cable plugged in, a custom green headband wire, and aftermarket cat ears.">
</picture>
</details>
<h3>Webcam—LogitechC925e</h3>
<p>It's a USB webcam. The picture is good enough — better than most laptops — but it does some annoying auto-adjustment stuff that makes chroma-key shenanigans difficult at times. Standout features are the privacy shutter, indicator light when the camera is in use, and screw mount. I'msurethemicrophoneisadequateinapinch,butIhavenoreasontouseit.</p>
<p>Verygoodmicrophone.ProbablyasgoodasI'll ever need. Superb sound quality; my friends in voice chat complain whenever they hear me on anything else. I'dhavegottentheXLRversionbutIdidnotyetownanaudiointerfaceanddidn'twanttoshelloutjustforthis.</p>
<imgsrc="images/pc1.jpg"alt="My computer tower. The CPU heatsink, graphics card, and RAM are prominently visible through the glass side panel. An optical drive is also visible on the front.">
</picture>
<picture>
<sourcesrcset="images/pc2.jxl"type="image/jxl">
<imgsrc="images/pc2.jpg"alt="Closer shot of the inside of my compter with the glass side panel removed. My shoddy cable management is on full display.">