My first build since 2008-2010!

[Loiselle]

---UPDATE; November 10, 2021 - NEW PHOTOS ***FINALLY*** ADDED!!!---

I've just completed a much needed, and long overdue build of a new PC for myself. I got a lot of life and usage out of my old build, between 10-12 years worth. That build was comprised of an Asus P5Q Pro Turbo LGA 775 board, an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400, 8GB of DDR2 800 memory, a GTX 1050 Ti, Cooler Master CMII case, and a few other things. Over the past 6 to 12 months, however, it was REALLY starting to show its age. Programs were taking longer to open, haven't been able to play modern AAA titles for almost 3-4 years, really just general overall sluggishness.

So, in the last few weeks, I started to acquire the parts that would lead to this build. The funny thing is, it was MOSTLY unintentional. My original idea was to just get a new motherboard, CPU and memory. I would keep the existing GPU, PSU, SSD and HDD's, the case, and just put the new trio together. But as the parts started to arrive, I'd find a good deal here, and a good deal there. The next thing I know, it's a full blown overhaul of a new build. Well, these are the results.

If I could do ONE thing different in this build, it would be to get a new PSU for it, one that is totally modular, and get some custom sleeves for it. (EDIT: I totally did this!) I think then I would be a lot happier, but until then, it's finished.

The components are listed in my signature.

EDIT: So after completing the cosmetic upgrades (sleeved cable extensions,) a RAM swap out (same speed and capacity, now with RGB) AIO swap, and new PSU... it was finally time to take a couple new photos.
Here it is... what I've dubbed; Leviathan v2.

NEW PHOTOS! November 10, 2021

Original Photos

 

[1337Goat]

Heck yeeeeah 2060 KO Ultra!!

It's cheap, but not the cheapEST. =p

I've got one too.

 

[Ready4Dis]

Nice, same case I got for my sons PC (Except his is black) which I just did basically your original plan to (new MB, CPU, RAM & 2nd hand GPU). Looks pretty good. Just out of curiosity, what is your airflow in there? Is the AIO in a PUSH/exhaust or PULL/intake config? What about your rear fans? We just put the original wraith RGB cooler on this 3700x for now, but I was debating whether to get a better air cooler or get a 280mm AIO.

 

[Niner21]

Looks nice. Congrats!

 

[Manny Calavera]

Fantastic PC!! Congrats

 

[somebrains]

Congrats, 10 years btw builds is a great way to save $.

Try reverse air flow with that case and post your before and after temps.
I was always kinda curious about NZXT recommending that if you used a front mounted aio.

I also picked up a 2060KO to see if DLSS and some of the scaling schemes like whatever Hyperscape uses worked. I have clips I haven't edited during the technical test if that 2060 pushing 100fps resolution locked at 1440p to 200fps+ at 75% resolution scaling. Seemed to hit every scaling level with a flat 25fps.

 

[goldry]

It looks very nice!

 

[Loiselle]

Nice, same case I got for my sons PC (Except his is black) which I just did basically your original plan to (new MB, CPU, RAM & 2nd hand GPU). Looks pretty good. Just out of curiosity, what is your airflow in there? Is the AIO in a PUSH/exhaust or PULL/intake config? What about your rear fans? We just put the original wraith RGB cooler on this 3700x for now, but I was debating whether to get a better air cooler or get a 280mm AIO.

Thanks! I haven't noticed anything negative in terms of airflow yet for temperatures sake. Even under full gaming load in game like Gears 5 and Halo MCC, I don't really hear the fans ramping up too much, and temps stay in line on the CPU between 60-70°c, depending on the settings I have dialed in. The frustrating part has been in just basic CPU monitoring, when watching the idle temps sitting anywhere from 28 to 32°c, and then jumping up to 42-46°c, then back down repeatedly. From what I'm reading, that's normal and common with Ryzen CPU's.

I have it set up in a PULL configuration. I would have preferred to go Push/Pull on it, but if I put 2 fans on the front of the radiator, there is next to no room to pull fresh air in from that side air intake.

The rear fans, both 120's, do a good job of exhausting air, but could be better. So, I'm swapping them out with some Corsair ML120 Pro RGB fans. In case you ask why I chose those fans, it's because I switched the AIO from the Cooler Master ML LE240 RGB to the Corsair H100i RGB Platinum 240mm AIO. I switched because the Cooler Master AIO was quite loud, even while at idle with a profile set to quiet. The fans that the AIO came with are the ML120 Pro RGB. They're insanely quiet, and do a very good job at pulling in fresh air. It was a noticeable difference right away... I could actually feel air being pulled into the case, whereas it wasn't as prevalent with the Cooler Master SickleFlow's. I figured it'd be smart to just replace those as well.

Congrats, 10 years btw builds is a great way to save $.

Try reverse air flow with that case and post your before and after temps.
I was always kinda curious about NZXT recommending that if you used a front mounted aio.

I also picked up a 2060KO to see if DLSS and some of the scaling schemes like whatever Hyperscape uses worked. I have clips I haven't edited during the technical test if that 2060 pushing 100fps resolution locked at 1440p to 200fps+ at 75% resolution scaling. Seemed to hit every scaling level with a flat 25fps.

I've never heard of, nor thought of trying reverse airflow. That might be worth a shot, and see what that really does. I mean, I get the notion behind it, it just never occurred to me.

 

[TheHig]

Build looks great. Nice job!

I admire your discipline to get that kind of mileage out of your original build.

 

[Loiselle]

Build looks great. Nice job!

I admire your discipline to get that kind of mileage out of your original build.

I think I only got THAT much mileage out of it because I didn't feel like, didn't care to, or couldn't afford to do a full sail swap. In all honesty, it SHOULD have been done YEARS ago!

 

[RazorWind]

It looks nice and clean.

That 2060 KO is a pretty neat card. They apparently used 2080 dies with parts of them disabled so that it plays games like a 2060, but they forgot to disable some other parts, so it does some work tasks more like a 2080.

 

[Loiselle]

Try reverse air flow with that case and post your before and after temps.
I was always kinda curious about NZXT recommending that if you used a front mounted aio.

So I did this recently for a few hours; played some games, let the system idle, normal usage and such. Unfortunately, temps went up by 6-10°c while at idle, and pretty much the same under constant load. So I put them back to the original configuration. To help with airflow, I did remove the back side panel dust filter for the intake, and I could feel more air being pulled in through that side vent. After doing so, temps normalized to be between 32° and 45°c.

That's been the weird thing with Ryzen... temps will go from 32°c, them bump to 44-45°c, then slowly fall back down to 32°c, then pop right back up again. All under idle. Just something I'm not accustomed to seeing coming from Intel, which usually just stayed still while idle. But that's literally been my ONLY complaint about the CPU. It's a beast, and I'm beyond happy with it.

Having said all of this... I REALLY need to update the pictures.

 

[somebrains]

So I did this recently for a few hours; played some games, let the system idle, normal usage and such. Unfortunately, temps went up by 6-10°c while at idle, and pretty much the same under constant load. So I put them back to the original configuration. To help with airflow, I did remove the back side panel dust filter for the intake, and I could feel more air being pulled in through that side vent. After doing so, temps normalized to be between 32° and 45°c.

That's been the weird thing with Ryzen... temps will go from 32°c, them bump to 44-45°c, then slowly fall back down to 32°c, then pop right back up again. All under idle. Just something I'm not accustomed to seeing coming from Intel, which usually just stayed still while idle. But that's literally been my ONLY complaint about the CPU. It's a beast, and I'm beyond happy with it.

Having said all of this... I REALLY need to update the pictures.

Well it's nice to have the knowledge of the experience.
Re: temps Ryzen has always been twitchy at idle. I swear you just look at the box and touch the mouse and it'll crank voltage on you.

 

[jlewis02]

Nice build
One heck of an upgrade for sure.

 

[Loiselle]

Having said all of this... I REALLY need to update the pictures.

New photos posted, finally!

 

[dinklyjames]

This is sick. Nice job.

 

[BlackDragon1971]

Nice Rig...

 

[Guarana [BAWLS]]

New photos posted, finally!

Why'd you flip the AIO Rad? You had it in the correct orientation! Tubes at the bottom, not the top!

 

[vegeta535]

Why'd you flip the AIO Rad? You had it in the correct orientation! Tubes at the bottom, not the top!

Based off the gamersnexus video he has it the right way now.

 

[Guarana [BAWLS]]

Based off the gamersnexus video he has it the right way now.

Ahh, I had the pics backwards! GOOD!

 

[Loiselle]

Christmas has come, and brought me upgrades to the build! Upgrading from a B450 Aorus mATX board to a X570 Aorus Elite ATX. I also decided to swap out the case as I haven't been pleased with case thermals due to what I would call poor airflow in the NZXT H510. Initially I did say before I was okay with the amount of air being pulled in, but as time has carried on, I don't feel the same pull. And that's with a clean radiator and clean filters. So I picked up the Corsair 4000D Airflow case after seeing a lot of very solid reviews in regards to the airflow and case thermals.

I'll post pictures of the completed build soon, as I'm still waiting on 2 additional case fans..

 

[Bradda808]

Nice build. Looking to also build a new computer since 2007ish. Damn it’s hard to chose lol

 

[Loiselle]

Christmas has come, and brought me upgrades to the build! Upgrading from a B450 Aorus mATX board to a X570 Aorus Elite ATX. I also decided to swap out the case as I haven't been pleased with case thermals due to what I would call poor airflow in the NZXT H510. Initially I did say before I was okay with the amount of air being pulled in, but as time has carried on, I don't feel the same pull. And that's with a clean radiator and clean filters. So I picked up the Corsair 4000D Airflow case after seeing a lot of very solid reviews in regards to the airflow and case thermals.

I'll post pictures of the completed build soon, as I'm still waiting on 2 additional case fans..

Almost a year later and I finally get around to uploading "new" pics, they're in the original post. Anyways, it's been done. No alterations or upgrades or anything since my last post.

 

[Loiselle]

I picked up a CPU upgrade this past weekend.
I saw an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X on sale at Best Buy, and thought the following (not exactly... but it was something along these lines. );

"In my last PC build, I started off with an Intel Core2Duo E6600 CPU, and upgraded it to a Core2Quad Q9400 after a couple of years. That Q9400 lasted me well over 10 years.
This current build started with the Ryzen 5 3600 back in 2020. This 5900X could last you a long time as well. Make the upgrade now and be done with it."
​

After a brief moment of thought, and then waiting for 10 minutes for someone at Best Buy to come open the case up to get me the CPU, the deal was done. I was planning on doing the install that night, but then it dawned on me that I would need some new thermal compound. I ordered some Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut from Amazon and it showed up yesterday.

So, I've decided that I will be installing it this weekend. I figured since I'm doing the CPU upgrade, I may as well take the system apart and give it a good cleaning out. Take it 100% apart, blow out the entire inside of the case, blow out the radiator, give the fans a thorough cleaning, and take my time redoing the cable management.

 

[1337Goat]

Sounds like a sweet upgrade! I bet you'll immediately notice the snappiness.

 

[Loiselle]

Earlier this morning, I saw that my local MicroCenter had stock of the new GPU I’d been looking at for quite sometime. So I pulled the trigger and picked up an EVGA RTX 3070 Ti FTW3 Ultra. I’ve been running gaming benchmarks on it, and I’m astonished at the results over my RTX 2060 KO Ultra.

I don’t foresee any upgrades happening now. I’m finally happy with each and every single component within the case. I’m finally content with it.