My most favorite DIY project is…

I’ve done a lot of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects over the years but one stands out as being my all time favorite. It’s probably given me more satisfaction than any other project. My all time favorite DIY project was building my own desktop computer! In fact I’m using it to write this blog!

I’ve been involved with computers going back to 1977 when I began my career as a programmer. But back in those days the computer was a HUGE IBM mainframe that took up a big room. I got my first desktop computer around 1990 and really didn’t know a thing about what was inside for many years. When it needed repairing or upgrading I brought it to the “experts” as I was afraid of opening it up to tinker with it.

After a while I got more curious about what made a desktop work and started reading forums about people that built their own desktops. Like a lot of my other projects, once I did some research I realized that it really wasn’t that complicated and was something I wanted to try myself!

The first thing that surprised me was that there are only seven components to an average desktop computer and that includes the case! There are many, many companies that make all of the components and reading the forums helped me figure out which ones made the most reliable parts. I ordered the parts from Newegg.com and laid them all out on my office carpet when they arrived. I must admit it was a bit intimidating thinking about how they all went together but I took a deep breath dove in. Taking my time, in about two hours I had a working computer!

The computer ran wonderfully and I it gave me so much pleasure knowing I had built it myself. My wife was so impressed that she asked me to build one for her, which I gladly did. Three years later she is still using it and loving how fast it is.

After several years, even though my own computer was running like new, I got the itch to make a new one so I did. This time I added a little “bling” to it with red illuminated fans, keyboard and mouse plus a motherboard that cycles through a rainbow of colors just for fun! The case has a window on the side so I can see it! It’s so much fun to use with this added bling plus the computer is very fast and rock solid.

Some people don’t understand why someone would want to build their own computer when they can be purchased fairly cheaply already assembled. One advantage is when you build it yourself you get to pick EVERY part. You end up with a high quality computer made exactly the way you want it. Windows 10 runs very smoothly on these computers too. One other big advantage is that you can repair it yourself more easily since you built it and know what’s inside, not that I’ve had anything go wrong yet.

So that’s my story about my favorite DIY project! I hope that I have peaked the curiosity of some readers about making their own computers. There are many helpful forums and YouTube videos explaining how it’s done. Maybe you know some people that have built their own computers or have done it yourself. I’d enjoy hearing from you!