Afternoon all. So at home (the flat) I have two gaming PCs. This one.
Which is set up at a desk and I mostly play PUBG and anything needing a KBM. I also have my old PC I used for TV gaming. It's a pain being where it is, and very large. I've had it for many years now too. Originally a 3950x and 2080ti I changed the board and CPU to a 12700kf and Z690 Aorus DDR4 a long time ago, and at the end of covid I changed out the GPU for a 6800XT LC Strix I got from OCUK B grade for 700 pounds. Which at the time was a steal tbh.
That said it is annoying having it blocking off my TV cabinet. I've fancied a new GPU for a while but haven't pulled the trigger. Mostly due to knowing that when I change out the GPU if it is not water cooled or AIO cooled with a 240 rad it won't work. The case it is all in (Lian Li 012) is water cooling only.
Well on Friday a mate came over and managed to part me with one of my rare BMX bikes. I have 15 in total, most at mum's. Any way that left me money to buy a GPU. I got this from the MM for 700 quid which was what the bike sold for.
It shipped out today and will arrive tomorrow with RMSD. So now I started planning. "Do I need to upgrade the CPU?" no. A 12700KF is more than good enough. I did, however, want to drastically downsize but not use an ITX case. I've used three now and every single one has been a hot box. Started looking at cases and the new Cooler Master 200P looked about right. And then I came across this.
Which was actually cheaper. So I grabbed one of those and this for 10 quid from OCUK.
Board choices were limited and very difficult. I needed MATX or preferably ITX. Now I may sound stupid, but I put an ITX board in one of the biggest cases ever made.
"I used to be a hot box but I'm alright now"
I like how it leaves lots of space inside to work around. What I didn't particularly like was the board price lmao. 185 quid. That said it saves me buying a new CPU...
The only sod is that it's DDR5. However, at 83 quid I didn't mind as it should provide some gains at least.
Aye same as my desktop. It's gorgeous memory. OK so case board and RAM got. Obviously I could fit the old EK cooler (360) but it's old now and would make it very tight in there. Instead I decided to go air.
39 quid. Now my "fan plan" was to use two of the old black Noiseblocker Eloop in the roof. Mostly as they were "free". I also had a Lian Li fan that I was going to put in the cooler but the end clamp wire thing stopped it being held in. So that went to the rear.
I do want intakes in the bottom. But, I have heard if the GPU is big they may foul. So I got these for 6 quid each.
Grabbed this for a tenner. Its plastic lol but it seems to work OK.
For the PSU I am using my Strix 750 gold. It's basically a Seasonic, so no need to replace.
So I started stripping out the old PC, with the intention of either selling it as parts or as an incomplete lump. Then I realised I had a Z590 Tachyon, 11700K and 32gb of Klevv DDR4 in the closet lmao. So all that rig misses now is a PSU and I have this at mum's.
So I rebuilt that first due to waiting on deliveries.
OK so Saturday DPD showed. So did the RAM from elsewhere and the contact frame and cooler.
That is with the frame installed, cooler mounted etc. I then went to the case and started playing with fan arrangements.
I was perfectly happy with that. I also decided to fit my PA3 and Splitty so all of the case fans behaved. So in it went along with the board.
And.
I routed the cables around the front of the PC, into the top and then tied and ran to length into the PA3.
Obviously no onboard but I did power test it and it started OK. RAM RGB sprang into life which is usually a good sign IIRC.
Slim fans arrived at 9pm last night. I wish that was a joke.
And this is where I am now at.
You can see the PC it is replacing. This is the other side of said PC.
Overall I love this case. It's a dream to work in. Someone on the OCUK reviews said it was bad because the bottom slot was blocked on the MATX GPU, but that's not the cases fault it's just how GPUs are these days.
I will update tomorrow when the GPU arrives. I also ordered this.
It is literally for my PSU and will save a load of peeing around.
Which is set up at a desk and I mostly play PUBG and anything needing a KBM. I also have my old PC I used for TV gaming. It's a pain being where it is, and very large. I've had it for many years now too. Originally a 3950x and 2080ti I changed the board and CPU to a 12700kf and Z690 Aorus DDR4 a long time ago, and at the end of covid I changed out the GPU for a 6800XT LC Strix I got from OCUK B grade for 700 pounds. Which at the time was a steal tbh.
That said it is annoying having it blocking off my TV cabinet. I've fancied a new GPU for a while but haven't pulled the trigger. Mostly due to knowing that when I change out the GPU if it is not water cooled or AIO cooled with a 240 rad it won't work. The case it is all in (Lian Li 012) is water cooling only.
Well on Friday a mate came over and managed to part me with one of my rare BMX bikes. I have 15 in total, most at mum's. Any way that left me money to buy a GPU. I got this from the MM for 700 quid which was what the bike sold for.
It shipped out today and will arrive tomorrow with RMSD. So now I started planning. "Do I need to upgrade the CPU?" no. A 12700KF is more than good enough. I did, however, want to drastically downsize but not use an ITX case. I've used three now and every single one has been a hot box. Started looking at cases and the new Cooler Master 200P looked about right. And then I came across this.
Which was actually cheaper. So I grabbed one of those and this for 10 quid from OCUK.
Board choices were limited and very difficult. I needed MATX or preferably ITX. Now I may sound stupid, but I put an ITX board in one of the biggest cases ever made.
"I used to be a hot box but I'm alright now"
I like how it leaves lots of space inside to work around. What I didn't particularly like was the board price lmao. 185 quid. That said it saves me buying a new CPU...
The only sod is that it's DDR5. However, at 83 quid I didn't mind as it should provide some gains at least.
Aye same as my desktop. It's gorgeous memory. OK so case board and RAM got. Obviously I could fit the old EK cooler (360) but it's old now and would make it very tight in there. Instead I decided to go air.
39 quid. Now my "fan plan" was to use two of the old black Noiseblocker Eloop in the roof. Mostly as they were "free". I also had a Lian Li fan that I was going to put in the cooler but the end clamp wire thing stopped it being held in. So that went to the rear.
I do want intakes in the bottom. But, I have heard if the GPU is big they may foul. So I got these for 6 quid each.
Grabbed this for a tenner. Its plastic lol but it seems to work OK.
For the PSU I am using my Strix 750 gold. It's basically a Seasonic, so no need to replace.
So I started stripping out the old PC, with the intention of either selling it as parts or as an incomplete lump. Then I realised I had a Z590 Tachyon, 11700K and 32gb of Klevv DDR4 in the closet lmao. So all that rig misses now is a PSU and I have this at mum's.
So I rebuilt that first due to waiting on deliveries.
OK so Saturday DPD showed. So did the RAM from elsewhere and the contact frame and cooler.
That is with the frame installed, cooler mounted etc. I then went to the case and started playing with fan arrangements.
I was perfectly happy with that. I also decided to fit my PA3 and Splitty so all of the case fans behaved. So in it went along with the board.
And.
I routed the cables around the front of the PC, into the top and then tied and ran to length into the PA3.
Obviously no onboard but I did power test it and it started OK. RAM RGB sprang into life which is usually a good sign IIRC.
Slim fans arrived at 9pm last night. I wish that was a joke.
And this is where I am now at.
You can see the PC it is replacing. This is the other side of said PC.
Overall I love this case. It's a dream to work in. Someone on the OCUK reviews said it was bad because the bottom slot was blocked on the MATX GPU, but that's not the cases fault it's just how GPUs are these days.
I will update tomorrow when the GPU arrives. I also ordered this.
It is literally for my PSU and will save a load of peeing around.