Designed and built a desktop PC for gaming with the ability to run multiple VMs. I picked components that had the ability to be overclocked, so I could experiment with squeezing out every ounce of performance, while forcing me to monitor and maintain the health of components and prevent overheating. Later, a friend turned me onto PC Part Picker and I created the build online to ensure I didn't miss anything. I was pleased that PC Part Picker showed no compatibility issues. I invited an IT professional over to slap my hand if I started doing something that could damage my components when installing each component. For the first press of the power button, I discovered I forgot to switch on the PSU. After resolving this, I was able to boot to the UEFI on the second press of the power button. Next, I installed Ubuntu to gain additional experience in Linux, and started playing games. In playing with the overclock settings, I have found a balance that slightly increases temperature, but drastically increased FPS in benchmarks and game play.

Update: I have installed Packet Tracer and started building networks as prep work for Network+ studies. Parts list