Heart of Gold - Build Update 2
IT'S ALIVE!
Yesterday I bought the last pieces of my PC build that I needed to make it boot: the SSD and memory.
SSD
I love Crucial SSDs. They are cheap, reliable, and fast. My current media server (the NUC) has one, my computer that I built for my parents years ago has one (not when I built it, I added it later). So for my build, I got a Crucial MX300 275GB SSD. Like all the older Crucial鈥檚, it鈥檚 quick, reliable, and cheap. It may not be as fast as some of the higher-end drives (Samsungs, basically), but it is still very quick and considerably cheaper.
Memory
Memory is difficult to research. For one, there are so many different options, even within brands and model lines. I eventually settled on some 16GB Kingston DDR4 sticks. They are not the flashiest, but they were the cheapest DDR4 memory that I could find.
Bringing It To Life
Windows 10 can be installed without a license. You get 30 days of light nagging and a few locked features before it starts getting really nag-y and annoying. Essentially, I have 30 days to go buy a license, which is fine by me since I鈥檓 trying to spread these purchases out. I used my wonderful Surface to create an installer flash drive, popped it in one of the USB ports, and it booted and installed in minutes. Remember when installing Windows was a weekend-long ordeal?
What Next?
Well, I鈥檓 still missing a GPU, and of course I need to get a Windows license. I also want to get another case fan to keep the whole thing cool, though without a GPU the fans that came with the case do more than enough. I also want to look at a few other accessories. For instance, I鈥檓 using a really cheap keyboard and I would like something better. It doesn鈥檛 have to be super crazy, but something nicer would go a long way.