IT Ben

Cooper D. Fine

IT Ben

Some people think that operating on computers is a nightmare of a job that is incredible complex. For Ben Elliot however, it’s an exciting hobby that he has been doing since he was young. Ben is apart of a community that works on and builds computers. It’s a combination of electrical and mechanical work that people have been doing ever since the first computer came out. These people boost computers beyond their capabilities. Most people work on it for a video gaming hobby and when playing on a PC, you can customize them more to make it your own personal machine as compared to a standard console. Also, the games can be played at a much higher quality compared to console, making for a better gaming experience. People are starting to realize this and are beginning to switch to PC.

Elliot first began working on computers when he was about 5 years old. His dad owned a computer repair company and whenever they were backed up with orders, or needed new hardware to run new software, his dad would bring them home to work on.  Elliot would help his dad out when he could and found he not only liked it, but he had a knack for it. The older he got, the more he decided to experiment with different electronic parts. He would see if they were compatible with each other and whether it would make the computer more powerful and faster.

Before you can start building, you need to know what a computer needs. Brendan Nystedt wrote in Wired Magazine that “it's important that first-time builders understand the anatomy of a system”(Nystedt 2018). There are six main components to building a computer: the processor, the motherboard, RAM, power supply, storage, and the case. The processor is the brain of the system.It analyzes all the data and the better the processor, the faster the computer will be. The motherboard is more or less the spine of the computer and is the chip-set that connects everything. RAM is where the tasks are stored while the computer is running. Once the computer is turned off, it goes away. Power Supply simply converts electricity from the wall outlet to the computer and the bigger the power supply, the more power can be converted with less stress on the processor. Storage is the long term memory for the computer, mostly consisting of documents, pictures, and items downloaded. The last part is the case. The case holds all of the hardware together and it doesn't improve the computer's ability, but is more of a personal touch and whichever the builder prefers. Another part, that is mostly for gaming purposes, is a graphics card. Most PC’s come with a standard graphics card installed into the motherboard but, one can purchase a separate one that will help run games that require more power to run smoothly. Once one understands how everything works, it is simply a question of how powerful of a computer someone could want, and how much you are willing to spend.

Once Elliot was old enough and had a well enough understanding of what he was doing, he began working on his own computer projects. “I wanted to make something that I knew would not be laggy in any way and that could run anything smoothly” Ben said. “My current build was definitely my most difficult to date.” He wanted to use it for everyday school work, but also for gaming.“I thought the best way to do this was to install a water cooler, so I could push the processor without it overheating. I had never done it before but I knew it was going to be difficult,” he said. “When running multiple programs on computer at the same time, it’s gonna generate a lot of heat. So instead of just using fans to cool down the processor and graphics card, it generates heat into a water tank. The water cooling system then filters cool water into it. This cools down the system a lot faster than the fans can,” he explained. Water Coolers are not usually found in the average gamers PC. Mostly they use fans because the water coolers are more expensive and not necessary. “It was quite tricky to install too and I had to be very precise with it. All in all it took me a couple days to get it all together and working properly.”

Nowadays, Elliot works on computers for Stallard Technologies, Inc. His daily routine consists of grabbing orders that the inventory guys have already pulled the parts for and then building up those systems. “The hardest part of building a PC, is that it’s easy to get lazy with the cable management,” he stated. “Other than that, they are mostly just like putting together giant [LEGO] projects.” He loves to talk shop with his gaming friends and coworkers about new hardware or builds that they are working on. There are also many of places to chat online, such as reddit and other online chat rooms. For most people, the idea of operating on a computer sounds like it would be one of the scariest things in the world. Very few even know where to begin. Elliot however, has been working on them ever since he was a kid. Him and the large community of PC builders work on their computers, turning them into beasts beyond the normal capabilities. It has become a hobby for many to toy around with their computers and Ben is lucky enough to be able to do it for living.