Building PLSWORK2024

May 25, 2026 8 min read
Close-up of a custom-built PC

From the name of this computer, you could probably assume that I had some trouble building it. That would be a serious understatement. This was a genuinely torturous process for me that ate up months of my time and lost me quite a bit of money as well. This is the story of what happened.

It all started in the summer of 2024 which was right before I was about to leave for college. I knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of space in my dorm to keep a massive tower so I decided I would shrink down my pc and build a new SFX computer. For those who don’t know SFX is a term that refers to the size of a computer, this one being quite small. I thought it would be a perfect fit since not only would I save space in my dorm, but I would also have a smaller and cooler looking computer. This ended up being a horrible idea.

The Parts List

My previous computer wasn’t that old or underpowered at the time but I decided that since I was going to have to get a new motherboard anyway, I might as well upgrade everything. I spent a couple days curating the parts that I would use and settled on this list:

  • GPU: MSI Ventus 3X OC RTX 4070 Super*
  • CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
  • Motherboard: MSI B650I Edge WIFI
  • RAM: 2x16GB GSkill Ripjaws DDR5-5200 CL40
  • SSD: 2TB Samsung 990 Pro
  • PSU: Cooler Master V SFX Gold 850W
  • Case: Cooler Master NR200

*For those of you with a keen eye and knowledge of GPUs, you might have recognized that the image above is of a 4070 Super FE, not the MSI card. That would be correct, but I’ll get to that part of the story later.

I Got Scammed...

After putting together this parts list, I was so excited to buy all the parts because who wouldn’t be. I bought the CPU, cooler, motherboard, and PSU all from Amazon while I tried to get other stuff used to save money. I picked up a white NR200 used from someone in Oakland, bought the ram on OfferUp for only $50 (back when it wasn’t $1000+), and couldn’t find a good deal on an SSD so I picked that up at Best Buy later. All I needed was to put everything together and find a good deal on a 4070 Super. This is where my luck ran out.

Lets start with the GPU since this was the most tragic part of the whole situation. I found a guy who was selling an MSI Ventus 4070 Super on ebay for $450 which is $150 less than the retail price of $600. Zero red flags went off in my head as this guy told me a story about how he picked it up to build a pc but then ended up buying an Alienware laptop instead and couldn’t return it because he had waited too long. All seemed legit to silly ol’ me and I sent the guy $450 OVER APPLE PAY and waited for my shipment to arrive. To no one's surprise, it did not arrive, and I could not get a refund. I was destroyed. That $450 was gone and never to be seen again. I couldn't not get a GPU though since I had already purchased everything else, so I eventually picked up a 4070 Super FE straight from Nvidia themselves to ensure there was no funny business.

The Build Nightmare

While all of the GPU shenanigans were going on, I tried to assemble my pc and boot it up for the first time. It did not boot. I spent quite a while trying to figure out what the issue was, and I realized my motherboard had missing pins! I returned that one to get a new one and wouldn’t you know it, this one was missing the extension for the HD Audio connector! So I returned that one and finally got one that was working. Next time I tried to boot it up it still wouldn’t post. Turns out my PSU was broken (or so I thought), so I bought a new one. At this point I was fed up and didn’t feel like returning the old PSU so it just sat under my bed. A second PSU showed up that worked, only to find out that it wasn’t the power supply giving me issues, it was actually the RAM I had bought off of OfferUP. At this point I was desperate to just see anything appear on my monitor, so I drove to Best Buy right before they closed and bought the only RAM they had in store which was MSI RGB ram. I installed it, and it finally booted!

I don’t think I have ever been more relieved in my life than at the moment I saw the MSI logo pop up on my screen. IT WAS ALIVE! You would think that after all that, I would be free of the evil curses this pc had brought me. WRONG! I continued to deal with boot looping and issues installing windows for an entire day which is where the name “PLSWORK2024” came from. Once it finally was working and running well, I tried to close up my computer but the side panel wouldn’t go on. Unfortunately the fan on my CPU cooler sat on top of the ram (which was extra tall because of the lights) so it poked out and wouldn’t let the case close. I was so sick of everything so I ended up leaving it like this for a year, eventually choosing to remove the heatsinks from the ram which allowed me to close the side panel.

About half a year down the line, my power supply started randomly shutting off with no indication of what was causing it. I had to buy a third power supply to replace it, but since then I have had zero issues. I really love this computer but oh my god it was such a bad experience to build.

Final Score

Let’s tally up the final score! I went through 3 motherboards, 2 sets of RAM, 3 power supplies, and one non-existent graphics card. I am never building an SFX pc again. NEVER!