What does it take to reach “the next level“? In my experience climbing ranked ladders in Apex Legends and League of Legends, I know it’s never just one thing. It’s never just one big breakthrough—it’s a million tiny adjustments, each sharpening the edge just a little bit more. Hitting a wall sucks. Sometimes, the only way forward in gaming and life is to break things down and rebuild from the ground up. Sometimes, we have to be willing to start over.
Just like building a PC, life requires a blueprint. You don’t just throw parts together and hope for the best. You research, budget, and carefully assemble each piece with intention. In the same way, leveling up in life means setting a vision and working step by step to bring it to reality. Would you believe me if I told you I wasn’t just talking about computers or gaming, but about life itself?
I’m probably just justifying my birthday and Christmas gift to myself of a new computer. Well parts of one anyway, as I still had to put the thing together myself. What kind of idiot pays to put their own computer together?? Many people in my situation would pay for something already assembled. But two things stopped me from just buying a prebuilt PC. I’ve always prided myself on my resourcefulness, but you kind of have to be when you’re trying to keep costs down. The second thing is that, well I’m not many people. I’m a weird, nerdy, geek who wants to know how things work and tinker with it myself.
It’s Okay to Be A Nerd
Anyone who has read my blog will know that I have a hard time loving myself. And the truth is, loving yourself isn’t some magical switch you flip on one day—it’s a decision you have to make daily. Some days it’s easier, other days it feels impossible, but it’s always a choice. Only recently I’ve learned to lean into and be confident in the things I enjoy. I often talk to parents with young children and find it weird how normalized gaming and other geeky things have become over the years.
In college and even further back in High School, I remember feeling like one of the weird kids that didn’t fit in the lunchroom. I spent many lunches in the library on the computer, eating alone outside of it, or doing homework I should have finished the night before. Maybe what I should have been doing was learning how to socialize.
Nerds Need Herds
But the truth is, you can’t build something big alone. I had no help getting a career in a creative field, no one to guide my life, and I had to figure it all out on my own. It took me years to realize that no one does it entirely alone—we all need support, mentorship, and community to grow. No one teaches you that finding your place—whether in school, gaming, or life—is just as important as learning equations or grammar.
If I learned anything in my thirty years of life, yikes, is that it’s okay to be a geek. To wear your heart on your sleeve, people who won’t like you will be that way regardless. I still catch myself being embarrassed about some of my hobbies, but it’s okay to wear a shirt that says Orbital Drop Shock Trooper on it. Doing things that Japanese people might call “Dasai” is one way you meet people who enjoy similar hobbies.
What Does Building a PC Have to Do with Life?
To bring a solution to a problem I posed to you, or in other words to answer an earlier question. (I learned that presenting a solution to a problem I posed can help reader engagement) Building a PC taught me more than just how to assemble parts—it was a reminder that success, in gaming or life, is a series of small but intentional steps. When I started, I thought it would be straightforward, but I quickly realized that every step required careful planning and troubleshooting. The process reminded me how small, deliberate actions build up to something greater. And just like in life, the ability to break things down, analyze, and improve bit by bit is what leads to meaningful progress.
PC Building Can Leverage These Skills:
- Project Management, Budgeting
- Setting a realistic budget for components
- Scheduling the build process effectively
- Market Research, Planning, and Cost Benefit Analysis
- Researching components for the best value
- Analyzing performance vs. cost to make informed decisions
- DIY and Technical Skills
- Building and assembling PC components
- Installing operating systems and drivers
- Troubleshooting hardware and software issues.
- Self Learning
- Learning new technologies independently
- Utilizing tutorials and resources to enhance skills.
- Adaptability
- Adapting to new hardware standards and innovations
- Continuously updating knowledge in a fast-paced industry.
- Attention to Detail and Organization
- Carefully following assembly instructions
- Ensuring all connections and placements are correct.
- Wire Management Routing and Organization
- Planning cable paths for cleanliness and airflow
- Organizing tools and workspace efficiently.
- Patience, Perserverance, Mindfulness
- Staying calm during troubleshooting
- Persisting through challenges and setbacks
- Focusing on current task
- Collaboration and Communication
- Discussing ideas with fellow enthusiasts
- seeking advice and offering help within communities.
- Presentation and Communication (I’m Writing About It)
- Writing blog posts to share experiences
- Explaining technical concepts clearly to readers.
- Aesthetic and Design Thinking
- Designing a visually appealing PC build
- Selecting components that match a desired aesthetic
- Integrating RGB lighting and thematic elements.
- Love and Passion for Technology
- Maintaining enthusiasm for tech advancements
- Sharing passion with others to inspire interest.
It Starts Out as A Vision
Writing about the experience helped me to understand how involved building a PC is. I don’t want to get too new age, but at one point in time my new pc was simply an idea. It took a lot of work, time, and planning, but I was able to make it into a reality. All the older people in my life say that Success comes from a variety of small wins and steps you take over a lifetime. Success, whatever that means now a days, isn’t guaranteed. We can take steps to make certain outcomes more likely. If I was able to build a PC perhaps I could build my skills, car, career, and life?
Chosen Components
Case: LIAN LI 011 VISION COMPACT
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z790 EDGE MAX WIFI
Processor: INTEL CORE I7-12700KF
Cooler: CORSAIR iCUE H150i
Memory: CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB 32 GB DDR5-5600
Graphics Processing Unit: PNY NVIDIA RTX 3070 TI SUPER
Case Fans: CORSAIR iCUE AF120 RGB ELITE 3-Pack
OS: Windows 11 Home Edition
Build Photos
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2JZLsp
Performance
While the build is noticeably faster than my other PC, I’m a little disappointed with the CPU performance. Perhaps the GPU isn’t as much as a performance lift that I was expecting, considering the marketing material. I think that I’m being CPU limited in the game I wanted to run a tad smoother, Apex Legends. I’m now thinking that the game is just an unoptimized mess. I did replay Cyberpunk 2077. not only does the game look better, but it performs much better as well. I think most of the performance uplift I’ll see is not in eSports-oriented titles but single-player games. Overall, I’m happy with the way things turned out.
Gaming, Streaming, and Content Creation
I’ve gotten back into Gaming, Streaming, and Content creation. There is a difference between autopiloting League of Legends/Apex Legends and gaming. I’ve taken a step back and started to play games like Cyberpunk, the Outer Wilds, and well yes I still play League of Legends. But my approach and mindset towards the game and improving at has transformed. I’ve seen my rank climb from hardstuck gold to plat 3. I’ve streamed the entire experience to my Twitch.TV channel, where in all honesty, I have to learn to stream again. Like learning to game a new and some of the other skills where I’ve taken a step back and tried to learn skills from ground zero it’s probably a good idea to take a step back and unlearn what I know about the craft.
In my Cyberpunk playthrough, I tried a new build. Instead of going from quest marker to quest marker trying to cross things off of a list I immersed myself in the experience. While I’ve never been a graphics first person, the level of graphics delivered by the new hardware did help to bring the world of Cyberpunk 2077 to life. Wanting to immerse myself in the world, I took more time to soak in the environment, stories, and people in the virtual world. Not wanting to fast travel, I drove from location to location and discovered new bits of environmental storytelling and details lovingly placed in the world. As someone who would like to be in the game development space one day, I felt a deeper appreciation for things like the handcrafted soundtrack, clothing designs, and even fictional brands created for the world.
Creating Content Again
When I was a kid I remember really wanting to a gaming YouTuber/Content creator. At that time video capture software and hardware was expensive. Now that I’m an adult, knowledge, software, and hardware have become more accessible. The only thing that is missing is my fearlessness to create. As a creator I think the most discouraging and gutting thing is spending time, effort, and money pouring your soul into a project to have it not be recieved well.
The ability to face constant rejection and setbacks, and the brutal honesty that your skills or talent aren’t quite there yet is disheartening. I remember the months I spent job searching, sending out countless applications, tailoring resumes, writing cover letters, only to be met with silence or rejection. That feeling of pouring yourself into something only to be met with indifference stings, but over time, I’ve realized that persistence is the only way forward. Every failure is just another step toward refining my craft and proving to myself that I won’t quit. I remember putting hours into one of the best videos I’ve ever produced, but it wasn’t just about the gimbal and camera. It was the pacing, the colors, the sound, and even the connections I made along the way that made it special.
Tortured Artist
I’ve written many times about flirting with quitting, but as a creator, something deeper compels you to express a vision. My friend Dave refers to me as a tortured artist, I think that is a fitting description of me. Eventuall,y you start to create again, and as I get older even the lack of positive affirmation or feedback isn’t enough to shake me.
I found the only thing stopping me from creating content around gaming today was me. What would happen if I got out of my own way?
Getting Started Again
Above is a video I made featuring yours truly doing what I thought was an impressive play. Even more impressive was the editing IMHO. It was the first time I downloaded a third-party program to help out with getting new creative camera angles. While the league director software isn’t easy to use(Gaming companies should really have better built in replay systems) it allows you to add keyframes to things like cameras, fog, colors. It’s essentially an animation tool.
Although the video didn’t get the reception I wanted, the level of editing online is really high. I think the most important thing is it got me creating again. Not only am I back to live streaming, but I’m finally on the road to becoming a Gaming YouTuber. Getting started is harder than keeping the momentum going. Many of my best projects, like the song I shared earlier, are a fever dream of getting out of my own way. My next project will be a Cyberpunk 2077 video.
Creative Content Flow
I built my new pc with the intent of it only being for games. As you can see in the build list above, I opted for dual 2 terabyte solid state drives due to their speed. I built this PC for gaming. Then I broke my own rule. I installed FL Studio on my second drive—the ‘Creative Drive’—and before I knew it, I was creating more than I was gaming. While I was apprehensive about slowing my gaming machine’s registry down with a number of software, I’m glad I did. With proper file management I’m keeping my files organized, and the ease and speed of having these creative software on my faster machine has allowed me to experiment more in all my creative endeavors. I was able to create the video above with a mixture of software.
Getting started again allowed me to let go of expectations for results and just continue to create. The video below was also a result of following the flow of things.
Dodging Mental Roadblocks
As I started to create more, the metal roadblocks and expectations started to disappear. With the feeling of weight lifted, I started to create even away from my computer. After weeks of letting my camera collect dust, I brushed it off and began making shorts, reels, and TikTok’s. It wasn’t the cinematic masterpiece I had in my mind, but it was a step in the right direction. Just like building my PC, the start to a “better life” is small. I started with trying to visualize my life, what do I want to do? Who do I want to be? My vision for myself included creative work and content production. The way to improve at cinematography and video editing was to take action and start.
Getting Ready For The Next Upgrade
Just like my PC was once a set of scattered parts that needed assembling, my journey in gaming, content creation, and self-improvement is a work in progress. But with patience, troubleshooting, and persistence, I can build something truly my own.
To end this analogy it will only be a matter of time for the next upgrade, repurposing of old PC parts, or the chance to build something new. I hope that the next build will use better parts, I’ll have better skills, and—most importantly—I’ll have a clearer vision of what I want to create.
