system
A chat on subreddit /r/pcmasterrace
human
We threw money away for blocks of silicon, not because it was the clever option--but because it was fun.

I can't be trusted with millions if I had them, because my house would be nothing but PC cases with various dumbass builds lining shelves.  


"Here I have a Pentium with a RTX 4090. I made like three of these because I wanted literally a Red, Green and Blue one. Gonna auction these off for charity so I can make room. Lian Li has their '3 PCs in 1' case coming out soon and I might do something in that later."
gpt
In 2017 I bought my current pc on marketplace (i5 4670, gtx980ti ssc, AIO cooler, SSD) for $425. I went to pick it up on a college campus, I walked into the dudes tiny 1 bed apartment and it was exactly how you just described. Immediately you're met with 3 or 4 test benches and build stations, look around and every wall has a shelf, and every shelf is full of assorted parts from the mid 2000s upward. He was an asian exchange student majoring in computer science, and that was how he paid for university. He barely spoke any English, all of our conversation was single words or using Google translate on his phone. Super cool guy, I've upgraded the pc a few times and it's still kicking like new. I always wonder if he kept his prices low in the crazy market

Edit: I should clarify, to make money he didn't only build PCs, he would trade hardware, refurbish broken parts, computer repair, basically anything related to computers