The computer parts have arrived, being picked up during a quick vacation to Southern California. You can probably guess from that alone where the purchase was made. All the water cooling components are in transit and should be here in the next day or two.

The boxes of the computer components looked rather good themselves, so I couldn't resist taking a few glamour shots of them. There are very few components in this build, which will help keep the computer interior clean.

I took this chance to also start building the computer and make sure it can post with air heat sinks. I won't do much more until the water cooling components get here as I don't even have a proper heat sink for the CPU. I will never recommend doing this, but I ended up installing a heat sink on the processor without any retention mechanism. This meant that the computer had to be on its side to post and couldn't be moved at all. This massive air cooler from a previous build also barely fit between the RAM modules.

Putting the components in went very smooth, aside from some issues with the power cables being too snug. In the process I also realized the custom cabling will be a little different than I first anticipated. I ordered components to make extensions, not a custom braided cable going from PSU to the component. It won't effect the looks and it is likely the choice I would have made anyway. I do with I had done a little more research as I will now have some extremely long extensions...

After piecing together what I have, I find the overall look of this computer rather pleasing already. Pictures may never do this computer justice, but it is all I can share so far.

The best news of the day: It posts! I closely watched the CPU temps the entire time I set up the BIOS to make sure it wasn't at risk. This is as far as I care to go until a properly sized CPU cooler is installed.

Once the water blocks arrive I'll post some shots of the build again.