R&D

BUILD IT

66 MAXIMU MPC APR 2022

where dream rigs come to life

GUY COCKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL first month at the helm of

Maximum PC, I was alerted to the ‘situation’ in

our stock room, where graphics cards, RAM, and

keyboards (so many keyboards!) were pouring out

of the door. As I got to cataloging everything and

trying to match motherboards with their boxes, the

idea struck me—why not try to turn some of these

unused and unloved parts into my first build?

The result is this marvelous Frankenstein of a

computer, a triumph for gaming and productivity

built from parts otherwise going to waste. That

meant that the difficulty and length of the build

went up slightly, as we had to search high and low

for the right cables, while some parts were too

big for the case and other parts didn’t work at all.

There’s also more RGB than we’d expect to find in

the average attic, but the challenge was to use what

was to hand, and we had an abundance of lighting.

This wasn’t an exercise in showing off how much

cool stuff we get to play with on Maximum PC

(although that certainly is fun), but rather a chance

to make something functional out of dormant old

parts. You too might have components lying around

that you could repurpose, either for free or with a

little outlay on missing items. In just a couple of

hours, you could make a media center PC for the

living room, a gaming PC for a friend or relative,

or an office computer to donate to a local charity.

We’d love to hear your stories on repurposed gear,

so if you’ve built something similar, let us know and

we’ll feature the best in an upcoming issue.

But without further ado, let’s get on to how we

put together our rather attractive Frankenstein PC,

and how I tackled my first build for Maximum PC.

THE CONCEPT

LENGTH OF TIME: 2-3 HOURS

Frankenbuild!

Turn Old Into New

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM

It’s alive! Raiding the Maximum PC stock room