My latest project, building my first computer. As I was taking the Veterans Career Transition Program class for the A+ Certification, I decided to build my first computer as a practical exercise. It's been a lot of fun and the machine is pretty awesome. Some people work on cars, I like working on computers! Here's what it's made of:

Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower case

Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0 GHz Quad Core processor

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Windforce 3X OC Edition GPU

Toshiba 256 GB Q Series Pro PC Internal Solid State Drive

32GB G.Skill Ripjaws X Series DDR3-1600 RAM

(2) WD Blue 2 TB SATA HDD

LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer

This build is a VERY capable gaming computer, but I'm not a big gamer. It is fully VR capable (I need to add a USB 3 controller card for an Oculus Rift) mostly because I am really looking into some VR development. My big fascination right now is Microsoft's HoloLens because I think that there is a huge potential in mixed-reality applications; plus you don't have to worry about taking out your coffee table. I also purchased a couple additional case fans to deal with the additional heat I'll be getting off the GPU. It isn't completely finished yet, but when it is, I'll post how it's working!

So after installing the fans, powering this monster up sounded like a jet engine taking off! I installed a Thermaltake Commander FT Touch screen Fan Controller and set it for auto temperature. The fans operate at a lower RPM and greatly reduce the noise while keeping the temperature inside the case around 22degrees C. Even when the GPU is working a little bit, the heat is not an issue.

I'm really happy with the final product, but if I were to do it over again, I would definitely use a modular power supply. Cable management with the current one is not as good as I would like it. The main Mobo power cable is quite short so it lays across the GPU which I don't like. Also, having a modular unit would allow me to customize the cable lengths for other power cables keeping it much neater!