Hobby

PC Building & Hardware

AOL era, late 90s - ongoing

My first computer was an old Macintosh PowerBook. I bought a PC card modem for it and learned all about phone lines and modulating/demodulating just to get it online. The Mac had compatibility problems with almost everything at the time, so I looked at buying a PC instead - they were too expensive, so I researched, asked around, and ended up building one from scratch. That was the start of it.

It's stayed a running hobby ever since - new builds, upgrades, chasing down whatever's causing a bottleneck, and yes, RGB lighting for its own sake. A hobby I am able to enjoy with my oldest son who I helped build his first PC. The rig here is a Gigabyte Z390 board that's been photographed across several years, same case, evolving each time - liquid CPU cooling throughout, and at one point bathed entirely in red LED light with a Darth Vader figure standing watch next to the radiator.

Inside the same PC build, an earlier shot showing a Gigabyte Z390 motherboard, a lit liquid CPU cooler pump, and a Gigabyte GPU

An early look inside - Gigabyte Z390 board, lit AIO cooler pump, Gigabyte GPU.

Inside the same PC build bathed entirely in red LED light, with a Darth Vader figure standing next to the radiator

The whole case lit red, Darth Vader keeping watch by the radiator.

Inside a PC build showing a Gigabyte Z390 motherboard, an AMD Radeon GPU, an NZXT liquid CPU cooler, and RAM sticks

Later - a Radeon GPU swap, liquid CPU cooling.