Image: Adam Patrick Murray/IDG
Hey, you. Yeah, you. You like building PCs, right? Demographically you probably do, if you’re reading our site. But odds are also good that you don’t actually have a full computer’s worth of parts in front of you ready to assemble. Because if you did, you wouldn’t be reading this. So that being the case, why not watch us fill up a PC case instead? PCWorld just built a PC for streaming games and our Full Nerd podcast from the ground up, and you can watch from start to finish on YouTube.
Adam and Gordon carefully selected the parts for this build with Twitch-style streaming in mind — it’s actually going right into our video studio once it’s done! It’s all built around an Asus ProArt X570-Creator WiFi motherboard, with crucial built-in support for 10-gigabit Ethernet and Thunderbolt 4 (a feature that’s hard to find on an AMD-based board). Speaking of which, plugged into it we’ve got a screaming Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, cooled by a beefy Noctua NH-D15 air cooler (in a much more sleek black — sorry Noctua brown stans).
To keep the streaming box running smoothly we’ve got 32GB of Corsair 3600MHz RAM, a 500GB Samsung 980 Pro primary boot drive in the first M.2 slot, followed by a more roomy Western Digital SN850 drive at 2TB. There’s also some external storage, just in case. The GPU is an older GeForce RTX 2070 Super (because we’re not immune to the GPU shortage, either!), all powered up with a Corsair 850-watt RM850X power supply.
We’re putting all those parts and a few incidentals in the Fractal Design Torrent Compact, an enclosure designed for maximum air cooling in minimal ATX space. Since this will be an office machine we’ve passed on a lot of RGB parts, though you should still be able to see a little bling through the tinted glass. Come on and join us if you’re ready to have a little PC building fun by proxy. While you’re there, why not subscribe to the PCWorld YouTube channel? We do fun stuff like this all the time.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.
Recent stories by Michael Crider:
Corsair’s new One i500 desktop is tiny, pricey, and gorgeousJoin us for The Full Nerd episode 300 today at 3pm Eastern!My best desktop organization gadget is a humble carabiner
