Steve the Computer Guy

12/08/2018

December's first custom build is here, and I'm proud to introduce... The Punisher.

After seeing so many people go out on Black Friday and grossly over-spend on mass produced Gaming PC's that they thought were good deals, I've decided to run specials throughout December where I'll be frequently posting new custom builds that I'm selling for significantly less than comparable prebuilt systems.

For tonight's build, we have The Punisher. A white and black themed build based on the Phanteks Eclipse P400 case (a personal favorite of mine). Named after the Marvel comic where the anti hero Frank Castle wages a brutal one-man-war, this build doesn't pull any punches.

This is a mid-range build designed to be able to play most any game at medium to high settings.

Here's the key info about this build:
- 7th Gen Intel i5 Processor
- EVGA GTX 1050 ti Graphics Card
- 240GB SSD
- 1TB Hard-Drive
- 8GB DDR4 Memory
- Windows 10 Pro (1809 | Dark Theme)

The following Adobe software comes pre-installed:
- Photoshop CS6
- Premier Pro CS6
- After Effects CS6
- Illustrator CS6
- Acrobat Pro
- (several others are included but the list is too long)

Next comes the aesthetics. For starters, it has to have The Punisher skull front and center, Right? This solid metal emblem was designed to stick onto cars, so it's safe to say it won't fall off. Next, it has the tastefully tinted tempered glass side panel so that you can show off your build. On the inside all of the components are color matched black and white to stick to the theme. Even he Arctic e-sports edition CPU cooler follows suit. In the top right you can see the Velcro mounted (for convenient access) 240GB SSD was stripped and now dons The Punisher insignia as well. Next we have... the RGB of course. The case has a dedicated button in the front that controls an LED strip located at the bottom of the front panel (creating a soft under-glow in the front), the LED power button, and the LED strip that lights the interior of the case and keeps all 3 lighting zones in-sync. Lastly, in an attempt to keep the build tasteful and well-lit, I added a 5-pack of RGB fans that I feel ties the build together nicely.

Asking price is $900 | Keyboard, Mouse, and any necessary cables included. (and it comes with a box if you want to wrap it up for a Christmas gift

I'd love to hear y'alls thoughts on this mid-range build! Also expect an update in 2-3 days for December's next custom build that I'm calling... "Sleepwalker".

12/08/2018

December Build 1

11/23/2018

Happy Thanksgiving!

Send a message to learn more

09/19/2018

Ramping up for the Fall building season in style! Just finished up the first build of the season named "Vulcan", which was built into one of my favorite cases, the Phanteks P400 (Black & Red edition). The tempered glass side panel's slight tinting works beautifully when you want to show off what's under the hood without being too bright or distracting.

"Vulcan" was a special commission I received from Sean (a previous customer of mine) as a surprise for his son's birthday. He actually had his son believing that his main gift was the new computer desk he was putting together for him when I arrived with a big brown box. I was told he's really into black and red color schemes, gaming, streaming, and that he wanted to actually get into video editing to make his own content. With that in mind, I also loaded Adobe After Effects CS6 and Adobe Premier Pro CS6 onto it to give him the same tools that the pros use as an added bonus 😎.

All-in-all the value of this machine for re-sale falls around the $1200 range (which is not even counting the value of the software that was added for free). With that in mind, this build's final cost to the customer was $875 total. This build is the definition of high-performance, has premium aesthetic components, and it all came together on-time & on-budget. This has been a great start to the season and I'm excited to see what's to come!

04/07/2018

Gaming PC 101 - Lesson 1: LEDs!

We just finished up refurbishing another gaming PC for re-sale and thought "this computer is powerful, but how can we make it look as good as it runs..."? The answer of course is LEDs! When it comes to selling your old PC, you can greatly increase customer views and sale price by just adding a few dollars worth of LEDs.

(NOTE: People often refer to LEDs as "RGB" which stands for RED GREEN BLUE, which simply means that the component has LEDs that can change colors)

When it comes to LEDs in a computer, there are several essential things to keep in mind:

First off, LEDs of all kinds come in one of two ways, WITH or WITHOUT an LED controller. Those without simply need power and then glow a solid/single color (these are great for if you're on a tight budget but just want to add a little color). Those with a controller have WAY more features such as variable-color, variable-brightness, and even a variety of light show modes (like strobing, fading & out, marquee modes, rainbow spinning, etc.). When you pick LEDs with a controller module, they can be controlled either by a physical button/remote or by software depending on the manufacturer. In our build we decided to go with a physical remote due to the inexpensive cost.

The next thing to decide is what do you want to light up? Believe it or not, every single major component manufacturer has an RGB variant out there now due to customer demand. This includes Motherboards, Fans, RAM, CPU Coolers, Graphics Cards, and even Power-Supplies. In this build we decided to add 2 simple LED strips to the top and bottom of the case to show off the components and 4 LED fans to be visible through the front panel mesh and the rear.

The last (but certainly not the least...) thing to consider is how to get power to all of the LEDs and how to keep all the extra cables from looking messy. This is crucial when it comes to picking out what to buy because not all manufacturers use the same type of power connectors. To make things worse, many popular brands use proprietary connectors (i.e. Corsair's, Phanteks', and Thermaltake's power/lighting hubs). Some RGB strips might use SATA power connections, but then your fans might need Molex power connections. It only gets more convoluted from there as you're mixing brands and devices, which ultimately leaves you in a place where you need 2+ different types of spare power cables, maybe a few converter cables. Talk about a big mess of cables...

If you'd like to retrofit your existing computer with LEDs or build a new PC with them, I'm here to help!

Steve
(832)797-4575

03/30/2018

Is your computer old and running slow? Maybe you need a RAM memory upgrade! I give free diagnostics, and make sure you know all of your options. (832) 797-4575

12/23/2017

Happy Holidays from Steve! I'll still be working on whatever you need this holiday season, so don't hesitate to call.

11/25/2017

Today is Small Business Saturday, and Steve is offering discounted services for custom gaming PCs this holiday season. Contact Steve for a plan, and a quote for your future build! (832) 797-4575