PC Set Up For Engineering Students

Since I was 13 years old, I've dreamt of building my own PC.

With my brother hogging the PS5, the PC master race was my last resort.

I would go down rabbit holes of what would be the best monitor, how I would want a 1440p set up, but 1080p was something that I could only afford.

Did I eventually build a PC in my youth?

No.

I settled for an M1 Macbook Air recommended by a friend. I have not been disappointed by its ability to stay silent while performing everyday activities like web-browsing, a bit of light video editing and school work.

The dream of having a PC got shelved.

If you don't know me, for the past couple of years I've been building up sales experience in retail, automobile industry and now in banking.

While at my last job as a car salesman, I was spending 55 hours a week talking to customers. And I've realised that my life will not be facing the general public.

Although I graduated the top 3.05% of students in my cohort, I did not go to university. I explored career curiosities in the effort of gaining skills that will compound later into the future.

Having enough of customer facing roles, I've decided I wanted to do an Engineering degree.

Looking at all the possible degrees I could do, Engineering still opens the doors to many industries.

Although I never liked the Sciences, I was good at Mathematics and the Humanities. So, why choose Engineering if it is applied Science?

Well, I actually wanted to become an investment banker and get a Business Commerce Degree. But, I decided actually working in the workforce and selling for a living would give me more experience that learning in the classroom.

With the experience I have, I can safely go back to the classroom to pursue more highly technical fields. And people around me tell that I am extremely analytical which is great for Engineering.

Also, due to degrees ability to alter my ability to think, from my understanding, employers would see an Engineering degree as more desirable as it's much more difficult to attain and the same concepts taught in Engineering can be applied to any field.

Hell, the current Diploma of Project Management I'm doing is helping get the entry requirements for university is an extension of content taught in Engineering.

So, you might be asking what does this have to do with building a PC?

You see, my brother is currently doing his first year of Engineering.

The laptop we bought for him is great for study and taking notes. But not necessarily for the 3D modelling and simulation work needed for second year content.

Then dear reader, you might ask why not get a gaming laptop if it has a dedicated GPU that can help with rendering and productivity?

A friend who does Engineering advises against such proposition.

The ideal University set up for an Engineering Student is a laptop for when he has to attend lectures and study, and a Desktop for when he completes his assignments.

What has become fulfilling a lifetime dream of building my first PC is a response to the market's value in RAM.

(I don't want to get into why, but let's say the best time to build is NOW)

So, with a brother who is doing Engineering, and myself who will be enrolling into Engineering into the future and does a bit of video editing, I had to build a PC.

Before I ultimately list out what I chose as my PC parts, I will outline the philosophy behind.

Disclaimer

I'd like to note I do not build PCs for a living. This article is an amalgamation of a Sunday's worth of research going into pricing and what would be the best set up for an Engineering student such as my brother and my future self.

I kept looking up,

"The best PC set up for an Engineering Student"

And nothing came up!

So, let this be my documentation of knowledge that can help a fellow future Engineering student.

The Purpose of a PC for an Engineering Student

It is NOT for gaming.

I want to make it clear in that we're aiming to use this piece of technology to enhance our abilities to learn within the subject.

The added benefit for myself is the set up makes it great for content creation as a way to combat social media addiction.

Be a creator, not a consumer.

The programs you will use for Engineering will utilise more of the CPU and RAM component of the PC.

GPU does help supplement the graphic processing of certain programs. But if you were someone who was more concerned about the Frames Per Second (FPS) you were getting inside a game, then you'd lean your resources more towards this component.

But, because you're not going to be using this for gaming, allocate budget more towards the CPU and RAM. And when you're getting a graphics card, look at the amount of VRAM the card has to help with graphics processing.

What Part Would I Look at Buying First?

In this economy, I would be looking at buying the RAM. Whether you want DDR4 or DDR5 memory.

I went with DDR5 as it provided greater writing speeds. Also, due to the fact that the only PC shop in my town had unbought 32gb RAM (2 x 16gb) that were below online prices.

Still, I bought for over $500 AUD.

As RAM shortages become greater, the price will become much higher. Simple supply and demand.

Even if this will be an ongoing project for you, at least you will have bought RAM for a cheap price compared to the rising prices of the potential future.

Amazon will sometimes do special pricing on certain components. I know I got some of my parts discounted because I also work casually at a retail electronics store.

Parts

• Intel S1851 Core Ultra 5 245K 14 Core 5.2GHz CPU BX80768245K
• Gigabyte RTX 3060 - 12gb
• XPG Lancer RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5 6000MT/S CL30
• MSI B860 Gaming Plus WiFi Motherboard
• CORSAIR RM750e (2025)
• Crucial T500 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD
• Samsung 990 PRO 2TB NVME SSD Heatsink
• Antec Flux
• CORSAIR Nautilus 360 RS ARGB Liquid CPU Cooler – 360mm AIO

The total price (for me) was close to $3000 AUD.

If you took out the 2TB Samsung SSD, it be $2600 AUD.

Enjoying The Journey

For me, it's not necessarily the completion of the PC that will bring me joy.

It's the journey of researching, gathering, assembling and building my first PC.

Because it is not used for gaming, I can soundly sleep at night knowing the money I have spent on this PC is being put to good use.

For that is the trap I believe we can fall into if we build in mind of a final end goal.

Once you reach the top of the mountain, you will realise that there's nothing much to it. The climb up was what made the experience enjoyable.

There's going to be another mountain to climb.

The fact I can use this PC for future projects for school, study, my own marketing, I use it as a tool for my own conquest rather than wasting time on video games.

So, when the day comes when you have all your components...

Take your time.

Block out a whole day for building.

I remember when I was younger when my parents bought me the Lego Batman Tumbler.

It took me all of Christmas Day to build the thing.

You don't want to regret spending time hastily assembling the thing. Enjoy and savour the experience like a good tasting meal.

(I'm a fast eater, so this is more of a reminder to myself)