Long time no see. Upgrade time.

[ALXAndy]

Oi oi. Not been around a lot because summer. So, I decided to change some things. I've had the same case at my desk now for about 4 years. In it resides a 12700kf and a 6800XT Strix LC. Absolutely nothing wrong with either of those. However, at some point (I don't recall exactly when, about a year ago?) I built a TV PC when the crazy pandemic prices crashed. TBH it is faster. Not in the CPU department, but it has a 6950XT. It also has a very high end board (Z590 Tachyon) a very high end case (Lian Li Odyssey X) and a better PSU and NVME drives (Thor and two faster NVME). It is also much better to look at IMO.

I was due a monitor change about two years ago. I have had my 32" curved Strix for the same length of time (over 4 years) but at some point around two years ago my eyesight got much worse and I could no longer focus on it the way I could before. The only way to see what I was doing in PUBG was to move it much closer to me, at which point it becomes too big. I much prefer the IPS 27" I have set up at my mother's house (Razer 144hz). The good thing in stalling it? 27" IPS are now cheap. I got this for £220.

It's nothing super duper. I will wait until OLED prices become more digestible tbh. It also gives me room for something I have not had on my desk since 2018... Speakers. This is how it currently sits.

The PC to the right is what I will be switching out. With this. Still changing some things around and added a 1tb Samsung SATA SSD I have never used.

It also has a sub ambient cooler. Like I said, I just find it much more attractive. One thing I do not find attractive any more is the Klevv RGB ram I bought. At some point Gigabyte app suite upgraded and broke. So I lost all control of the RGB and it looked horrible. I managed to change all of the LEDs using OpenRGB, but not the RAM. It just sits there farting rainbows and annoys me. So I got a 32gb kit of this.

Which should be here tomorrow. Other things. A pristine set of these in the box I used as rear surrounds for about a year.

An amp.

And some stands and cables.

It will be so nice not to have to wear headphones any time I sit at the PC. I already upgraded the keyboard. Epomaker, kiwi switches and clear caps. I only set that up last week it is brand new

 

[ALXAndy]

I honestly can't use headphones, i need to know what's going on around me. It feels really eery when i have my headphones on and noise cancellation, like the feeling someones gonna grab me from behind .

You thought about wall mounting speakers?

I know what you mean. Thing is I live in a penthouse flat with 3 locked fire doors between me and the world.

It’s my autism. I looooove da headphones. Problem is in summer I get swimmers ear which is an infection on the ear lining. And I’m sick of it.

Can’t wall mount tbh. Well, I could, but I have something going on the wall right there soon.

When I get back later I’ll show you. Nothing PC related but my other hobby and why I’ve not been on here in bloody ages.

 

[ALXAndy]

Maybe. I can quit any time......

Yeah been restoring bikes since March.

Rusty basket case.

After.

And one I am doing for a catalogue competition.

Just add sunlight.

However.... I still have a gen 1 Alienware Predator case. And I have been wanting to mod it for years now, as it got broken when I moved (crack in the side panel). That meant that unlike the rest of my Alienware collection I could not keep it stock as the repair would show. So I am maybe going to paint it with this. Chromacoat fireball.

And again, simply sprinkle in sunlight....

 

[ALXAndy]

OK back from docs. Blood pressure is great, had some blood taken for tests.

So the one annoying thing with the Odyssey X, being a HEDT "show" case is that it has no filtering. With my slight OCD about dust I clean it a lot. More than I want to. Problem is fan filters were stupidly expensive the last time I looked. Like seriously, not even joking, about 40 quid for one filter for god sakes. Thankfully in the time since I built it the gag is now up. £12 for two.

Now obviously they won't stick given the entire chassis is alu. However, bit of double sided tape should sort it. I have it all in reverse atm, due to the way I initially built it. I have changed out the GPU since building it and added the 360 TEC cooler and I did not want to destroy all of my soul by removing all of the fans and starting again. There are a lot of fans and a lot of wires. So it is 3 intakes in the roof, side exhaust and front rad pushes out the front.

So I only need one in the roof there. TBH it should just sit in place, but if it slides around I will use some double sided tape. This is the keyboard I pretty much built. Swapped out the switches for Kiwi, replaced the caps with ones that look vintage but are clear.

Oh and the posh cable. I bought it over a year ago and then chucked it to one side and never brought it back to the flat lol.

Also. I am going to wrap the desk. I noted last year they made forged carbon vinyl that looks hella realistic. So I used it on the decals on a custom bike I built, painted and ride. I have the Ti bike in the pic above, but yeah... This is my Pinarello.

So I am going to use the same vinyl to wrap the entire desk.

The desk was very expensive. It's a proper office desk, and solid as a rock. I also needed it in a custom size, as back at the old flat I only had a certain space for it. Hence I had to have it custom made, as I wanted it as wide as it is deep. Deffo a forever thing, tbh. Amazingly it just about fits in this flat too, and I won't be leaving here until it is in a box.

 

[ALXAndy]

Oh yeah, also. Talking of mum's house. I did a few upgrades to the PC I use there. 5700X3D and some new fans and GPU holder etc.

 

[ALXAndy]

RAM

Danke ocuk. Much better.

 

[ALXAndy]

Well it turned into much more work than I thought it would.

What I had forgot was that I screwed a cable management box to the back of the desk. All of the power supplies needed by the PC and etc and all of the cables are routed through it to stop them sagging down to the floor. Unfortunately I had cable tied it all in, and yeah turned into a whole day's work. I had to pull out the desk and then climb over the armchair to get in behind it. It took 6 hours to get to this stage.

So I packed up at 7pm on Thursday. Even the delivery was a nightmare for the monitor and amp. I got back at it yesterday. First I moved the rig I switched with into position. Much better, given it is almost half the size.

And then went to work digging through my walk in wardrobe.

A few hours later.

A few things left to do. Mainly put my desk mat back on for now. I will tackle the wrap when I return.

Problem is I entered a build off competition (BMX) for a catalogue and thus I have deadlines I need to make. So I have been juggling that and design work.

 

[ALXAndy]

I think I am going to water cool the GPU. Apparently there is a good chunk of performance on the table with the MBA. It is 15% slower than after market models (due to being much smaller) and much slower than when under water.

I bought a rad and flow meter from OCUK. TBH I didn't need the flow meter as I have one identical but it was on sale. I did need the rad though, as I only have 240s.

Currently in talks with Lily at Bitspower about a block. Hoping that -

1. It fits. It is listed for the 6900XT reference, but from what I can make out there is no difference between that and the MBA 50XT.
2. I can get a discount, because it is bum bleedingly expensive

Wish me luck !

 

[ALXAndy]

I bought a rad from OCUK.

Came in yesterday. I have three 240s but no 360s. Oddly the ports are on the ends, which I think? I like?

Just waiting for Lily to reply. It has been slow, as they are 8 hours ahead and of course the weekend came. Should get a reply in the morning, which I can then reply to and wait another day lol.

 

[ALXAndy]

Well I bought it. £225 and that was with 20% off ffs.

When I jump on the PC I’ll put a pic up.

 

[ALXAndy]

OK. So I am a bit confused, but what is new there. I bought the block. The reason why it was so expensive is because it is the Mobius.

IE, their flagship block.

EK did something similar but it was double the cost of this.

However. Unfortunately my GPU access to the forum has been revoked. As such I got a confusing message from Lily saying I would need to mill the casing of the block. This is not a huge issue, as @Cenedd can do it. However, I am scratching my head as to why.

Firstly Bitspower sell a block like my old 2080Ti Aorus one.

It looks the same. It is listed to fit a reference 6800, 6800XT, 6900XT and 6950XT. However, with the Mobius she is saying I need to mill it at the bottom for reasons I don't understand. This is a 6900XT reference card.

And this is a 6950XT MBA aka reference board.

So I am hella confused. Even all of EK's 6900XT blocks are listed to fit 6950XT. Not that I would use EK before, let alone now, but they are also all out of stock.

Ah well. I am sure we will get there. These are some of the bits I will be using from my last WC build.

Only now I have an additional flow meter that I got from OCUK for a tenner. No RGB, but it is a pain on those any way, and I have a complete spare RGB ring if I want to light it up any way. I can machine the backing plates.

 

[ALXAndy]

Thanks !

I went digging earlier looking for the DDC mount for the case. Strange thing happened. The small one slots into the floor of the case. I know this 'cause I removed it because it looked gash just sat there. the other one appears to mount above it on the "rails". Very odd they give you two. Even stranger is the fact the larger one is alu, smaller one steel.

So this is the ten pound flow meter.

My mesh grilles came.

With adhesive strips it seems.

Funny how a £35 rad comes with these.

But a £100 one doesn't lol.

Yeah there is only one on each end. Odd.

 

[ALXAndy]

Here this shows it better. The hole in the floor is from the smaller one.

The larger one with the thumb screws should screw into the rail where the PSU shroud sits. Very odd !

 

[ALXAndy]

It’s not a part problem. IE a component issue being in the wrong place. It’s not the block they say I need to machine but the billet cover.

I’ve mailed you a link to the thread I made here.

I am growing in confidence that this isn’t a 6900XT or 6950XT difference problem. I reckon Bitspower fluffed up the design and it may, where they want me to machine it, foul the PCIE slot on a motherboard. IE it stops you pushing the whole card into the slot.

So yea, a clearance issue rather than any big serious issue.

This was their first time like EK making this type of like, hyper car type CPU block and I think they got carried away

Whichever way you shake it that’s a £400 block with £100 fed ex on it for £220. If I have to make you angry at me for a short time and send me to Coventry it just may be worth it

I certainly ain’t going at it with a belt file lmfao.

 

[ALXAndy]

And this is why I love Bitspower.

If I order from a certain water cooling website (NOT OCUK !!) it takes longer from the UK.

Start the coal loading boys, the hype train is about to take off !

BTW @Cenedd remember when we first met (when I was doing Dianoga, the silver and green Alienware) and I had 3mm fail? which we laughed about (IE forgetting to take the thickness of the acrylic into account?)

I reckon Bitspower had 3mm fail too lmao.

 

[ALXAndy]

You know me. I’ll just tell you to F off.

My hoarding knows no bounds.

I hate PWM. The rig spins up the fans to full whack and then they stay there. I’ve tried to find software etc but I just can’t get my head around it.

So I figured I’d buy a fan controller with voltage control. Which led me to Aquacomputer and eventually the Aquaaero.

I’m then thinking “that looks awful familiar” and “I could swear I have one of those!”

Turns out I did. Opened a drawer and there was a 5 LT looking back at me ffs.

So that’s that sorted

 

[ALXAndy]

Yup.

I remember how I had it set up now.

One 3 pin into the case’s hub and 7v done.

I will run the pump from it too. Again, 7v.

 

[ALXAndy]

Wicked. Yeah, one PWM and then three 3 pin.

 

[ALXAndy]

120mm fan to DDC holder.

 

[ALXAndy]

Nah it should be easy tbh. I have a way around the filing now. It is called "actually measure the thickness of the piece, put 2mm of card under it and just machine all the way through".

There is a space in the bottom of the machine you see. Bottom right.

I need to make some angled risers that the fan screws into. I was supposed to do it before, as I have one of these.

the fan on the cooler there. The other side looks like this. Black obs, but I can't find any other pics and I haven't taken one of it yet.

So yeah, beautiful tbh. It will also cool the pump which is nice, and, bring some air in through the bottom which is all vented. That is why there is a hole there where I removed the DDC mount, as I was always intending to fit that fan. I didn't though

So I will build the pump, res and etc from that fan.