This build has been a long journey, and a cool story to tell. It started at my local recycling center, where I found most of this build. It had the case (with a shattered side panel), motherboard, CPU, AIO, 2 NVMe SSDs (which I could not see the capacity of), and the case fans. I ended up getting the whole thing for $20. I didn't know at the time what hardware was in it when I got it, so when I got home, I took off the cooler to see the most powerful CPU available at the time I bought the system, the 12900KS. I also found the heat spreaders for the SSDs, which were in the bottom chamber of the case. I discovered they were two 2TB Corsair MP600 SSDs, which I was delighted to see. At the time, I didn't have any DDR5 or an extra power supply to turn the system on to verify that it works, so I set it aside.

A month later, I went back to the recycling center and found yet another PC in the pile that immediately made me want to purchase it. It had everything in it to be functional, including a Noctua NH-D15, 32GB of DDR4, and probably the coolest part, a GPU with a waterblock connected to a 360mm radiator at the front of the case. I had to buy it.

I ended up purchasing that system for $60, bringing the total amount out of pocket to $80. I got home, turned it on, and discovered a working system with an i7-11700K, and even better, an RTX 3080 Ti. I could not have been any more happy.

A week later, 32GB of Corsair RGB DDR5 showed up at my house. I took the ram and the GPU and put them into the system with the i9, added the 850W RM850x that came with the $60 system, and turned it on. To my absolute surprise, it worked. I could not comprehend why someone would throw away a system, let alone 2, that were perfectly functional, within 2 years of these parts coming out. Surely they would've sold the parts. I had a system worth roughly $3000 at the time I built it that I bought for a total of $170.

The rest of the build just kept developing over the 2 or so years that I owned the system. In December of 2025 I got a 5070 Ti to put in the system. I also got an add-in card that allows me to turn it on from wherever with an app on my phone. Now, I look back and realize how lucky I was to literally discover this computer, and to get it for so cheap that it probably would've been about the same value if the recycling center were to scrap it.

If you didn't read all of that, I don't blame you. Basically, I found a top-of-the-line system at my local recycling center for $80 and kept upgrading it until it reached the level of what it is today.

PCPartPicker List: PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-12900KS 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($478.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.99 @ GameStop - OOS)
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($229.00)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($439.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Corsair MP600 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($249.99)
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE SFF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card ($1119.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.99)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Case Fan: Corsair iCUE SP120 RGB ELITE 47.7 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack ($60.97 @ GameStop - OOS)
Case Fan: Corsair iCUE SP120 RGB ELITE 47.7 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack ($60.97 @ GameStop - OOS)
Total: $2864.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-06-01 14:30 EDT-0400