PUBG crate. The spares build.

ALXAndy · 24 Feb 2023 at 16:21

Yeah the NZXT had to be bodged in the roof to get the rad in the way I wanted. I think the only case I have ever seen that was perfect were the Lian Li Lancool ones. Like the LC2, and so on. They really are amazing when it comes to options and flexibility.

So I got some goodies.

Terrified of opening the board* I was expecting to see a big RMA sticker.

But nope, all shiny and new as described.

* Apparently according to a mod on Linus Tech Tips I would not get the board. They only made 1000 of them, so it must be a scam etc.

ALXAndy · 24 Feb 2023 at 17:48

Man, this board is absolutely ridiculous. It weighs a friggin ton.

It's beautiful, though. I was so stoked to see that it comes with braided black SATA cables too, as I have two 1tb SSDs I want to use.

ALXAndy · 25 Feb 2023 at 13:21

Yay. Another huge thankyou to OCUK.

Case arrived. No handle straps, but that doesn't bother me at all. You will see why later.

The dust filter is in a box inside. The Bora fans also came too.

And are absolutely friggin gorgeous. I have decided on layout. 3 in the front as intake, two on the rad in the roof, one in the back and then this on the CPU cooler.

The reason I don't care about the carry straps is this.

I am going to paint the metal black, and have the grey wheels.

ALXAndy · 26 Feb 2023 at 16:41

OK so I got a wee bit done yesterday. First thing to do was put the rubber corners on all of the fans. That took longer than putting them all in lol. Fiddly, too !

I then cut the circles out of the black 3M.

And the back fan has one too on the outside face.

I then thought about what I could cover the 2.5" drives with. They are old, scratched and pretty nasty. I wanted to CNC covers but I don't have any plastic and CBA doing that now. So I got this.

Sadly I could not find the proper Dinoc 3M stuff, not in any affordable size. I should have another one of these too, as this did not come with the mobo it has been on my desk for ages. I will put one on each SSD.

ALXAndy · 27 Feb 2023 at 14:51

Mail call. Cooler is a little dusty, but otherwise new. Would imagine it was a display model.

The SSD arrived. Will fit that in a bit.

And the ribbon is here also.

ALXAndy · 27 Feb 2023 at 16:07

Well that was rather scary. First thing to do was fit the NVME. Thank god I did not have to remove the absolute chonk of the armor. Just a small piece from the top.

In.

I then crapped myself a bit thinking the cooler was not going to fit. Such is the way when they don't include a manual, just a card with a Q code on that I didn't have my phone to scan with. I didn't realise the arms were adjustable, so no matter which way I rotated it the arms did not line up with the board holes.

Got there eventually.

By then I was pretty paranoid, so I did a dry test fit.

Phew.

Cenedd · 27 Feb 2023 at 16:19

Ah, I remember the 'good' old days of seeing just how much weight you could hang off a socket before it fell off the board

ALXAndy · 27 Feb 2023 at 16:21

I hate how you have to mount it from the back. Especially with such a heavy board. Really sucks that does !

ALXAndy · 27 Feb 2023 at 18:29

I put the board in just a bit ago.

Case is lovely to work in. Took me about a third of the time over that NZXT. All of the RGB is hooked up too, and it was so nice to see the board has two connectors for it.

Cenedd · 27 Feb 2023 at 18:38

Now that's a more sensible angle to mount the ATX connector at. Why don't they all do this?! That or mount it on the rear of the board somewhere in the cutout. I think I'd want maybe a little more depth in the rear to mount things I don't want to be on display...but that's nitpicking perhaps. Access to the space in front of the PSU doesn't look too great...unless the shroud comes off easily with everything in situ - that'd be great. Look, all I want is space for all of the rads, all of the controls, all of the routing AND for it to be small and light...is that so much to ask?!

ALXAndy · 27 Feb 2023 at 18:55

Yeah the shroud comes off very easily. Two screws. It is only plastic, so doesn't weigh a ton either.

A lot of board manus have argued that angled connectors are bad. Which of course is BS. The reason why they don't all do it? money. It costs a lot more. EVGA do it also.

ALXAndy · 28 Feb 2023 at 13:16

Vinyl came in today. Lighter than ideal, but it will do.

I don't have any SATA extensions left, and I don't want to waste a whole run with the nasty angled connectors all up the side. So I got two of these.

Have used them before years ago.

It's a pain, but I don't want to spend over £100 for the same thing (2tb storage) when I have it already.

ALXAndy · 1 Mar 2023 at 01:01

Got a 32gb kit, and it was only about a tenner more for the RGB.

I had some of the Klevv RAM back in the DDR3 days and it was gorgeous to behold. Very expensive then, though. Apparently now they have been bought out by SK Hynix, hence the quality still looks great but they are Corsair or less prices.

ALXAndy · 1 Mar 2023 at 15:54

OK so that's done.

Vroom vroom !

I just need to remember not to climb on it and try and ride it down a hill.

Sadly I can't paint the frames because the wheels are riveted in.

Cenedd · 1 Mar 2023 at 16:03

ALXAndy said:
Vroom vroom !

I just need to remember not to climb on it and try and ride it down a hill.

See now THAT's the sort of content that would bring great popularity to any project!

ALXAndy · 2 Mar 2023 at 19:03

Cenedd said:
See now THAT's the sort of content that would bring great popularity to any project!

I should enter one of those awesome red bull things where they race go karts down a hill. Can't see it holding up to jumps though !

LePhuronn · 2 Mar 2023 at 21:46

ALXAndy said:
I just need to remember not to climb on it and try and ride it down a hill.

Put wheels on that Big Chungus, that'll do the trick.

ALXAndy · 4 Mar 2023 at 14:37

LePhuronn said:
Put wheels on that Big Chungus, that'll do the trick.

Ah that's gone mate. One of the few projects I never finished !

The RAM came yesterday. Not opened it or anything yet. We had a funeral yesterday, and it was a long one, so by the time I got home I was frozen through and went to bed. There is a lot to be said about losing 5 stone, but being warm ****** ain't one of them !!

LePhuronn · 5 Mar 2023 at 12:50

ALXAndy said:
One of the few projects I never finished !

A blessing in disguise perhaps. That case was just nightmare fuel :cry:

Condolences for your loss though

ALXAndy · 5 Mar 2023 at 14:48

Thanks dude. Funeral went off lovely, but it took a month from when he passed. Bit of a nightmare right now, but I think every one feels relieved.

I fitted the air cooler last night. It isn't that big, and weighed very little without a fan on (that one I want on there is at home, so that's cool). I also went ahead and fitted the RAM. Mostly because no matter how hard I tried to reduce the amount to carry I still had the case in its box (obs) as well as a cooler in a box, RAM in a box, the ribbon in a box *and* the friggin board box. Oh, and two Lian Li Bora fans in their box too ffs. There is no way I would have gotten that all up in one trip and I can't do two back to back. So, I fitted the air cooler and RAM and then removed the guts of the mobo box and put everything else in there.

Didn't get any pics as I had left my phone downstairs, and by the time I had lugged it all close to the back door for leaving on Tues morning I didn't want to make another trip down. Not a problem, I will get some before I carry on building it once home. Better lighting in there too.

Also, which was a result, the wheels could stay on completely. The polystyrene packaging fits the front and back and they fitted in the box no probs. Which was also a nightmare, though, as they used actual polystyrene which broke into several pieces when I pulled it out

so I had to put them all back together like a puzzle and tape the whole lot.

Again though given I shall be transporting it back (very gently I may add) it only needs to last until it comes out of the box again. Then it will all go in the bin.