--- layout: post title: "Worst First Build - The Sad Saga Continues" author: Ta180m tags: ["Hardware"] --- What a perfect time to build a PC: massive supply chain disruptions, cryptocurrencies driving up GPU prices through the roof, (scalper) bot wars, and a pesky little thing called the coronavirus murdering 2.5 million people (that last one probably sounds completely alien to anyone before 2019). Just perfect! Anyways... for over 40 days since buying an overpriced 5600X (because of insane taxes, that's what), there were a grand total of zero deals. OK, fine, there were a few motherboards that were discounted a little bit, but nothing big. The drought of price drops literally desiccated my hope of being able to complete my build anytime soon at a reasonable price. My build was indefinitely on hold. But then... Yes, I'm trying to build up suspense even though everyone knows what's going to happen. Wait, let me first back up a bit and give some context: I had set up alerts for a ton of motherboards: cheap ones, high-end mainstream mobos, even ones I never though I would buy. I had my eye on the [Extreme4](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zsfFf7/asrock-b550-extreme4-atx-am4-motherboard-b550-extreme4) since it had been relatively cheap when I was planning my build, but the price simply refused to go down again. The days went on, and no alerts were triggered. OK, some of them were, but they were all for really bad deals that only shaved off a few percent. But nothing could have prepared me for a 40% price drop. Yes, it was that delicious. On the night of February 21, the price of the [PG Velocita](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZPDkcf/asrock-b550-pg-velocita-atx-am4-motherboard-b550-pg-velocita) crashed over 40%. Ludicrous! I know! Instant buy! I ended up snagging the mobo at around $132, nearly $90 lower than its MSRP, and even cheaper than the lowest price of the Extreme4. And this is no cheap mobo, with its stellar VRMs. According to reviews at least. I still have no idea how much pain it's going to take to actually get it to boot with the 5600X since at release, many motherboards needed a BIOS update for the new processors. Hopefully the BIOS on mine is compatible... Anyways, AMD is announcing a new graphics card today. Yes, when all graphics cards are being sold at twice their MSRP. Perfect timing.