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MdX MaxX

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  1. MdX MaxX
    Time for the real deal! Smells like a weird paint Yesss That looks stunning Powered up! Doing the best I can to get some glam shots with this One M8 lol Ya know I think I'm just fine with the soft tubing Man the memory gives the whole thing a fantastic vibrancy Still captivated by that tempered glass The whole setup So the build is complete! Well...sort of. There are couple of things I'll want to resolve. -The memory doesn't want to boot at 3200 MHz...guess that's what I get for buying two 16GB kits instead of one 32GB kit. I only did so because the 16GBs went up for preorder first haha. Oh well, I'll swap them out eventually. -CPU temps are...less than stellar. Coming from Sandy Bridge this is my first experience with Intel's not so awesome thermal paste between the die and the heatspreader, so delidding may be in order. I'm lazy so I might just ship it off to siliconlottery and have them take care of it. -The GPU has some nasty coil whine which for some reason I didn't notice with the ACX cooler on there but is loud and clear now. That's truly unfortunate because it's a fantastic performer, I bumped it up to 2125 MHz on the GPU clock effortlessly. Well I'll probably RMA that sooner or later and see if I get luckier on the second try. But for right now, I'm going to enjoy this thing and play some games, which I really haven't done regularly in quite a while. It looks truly gorgeous, so I'm very happy with that, and at least it's whisper quiet when web browsing and doing light tasks. Thanks everyone for following along!
  2. MdX MaxX
    Yep, first time building a loop! It's really pretty straightforward, IMO if you can build a computer you can build a loop. Leaks aren't likely but are always a possibility. It's a risk you assume but as long as you take your time with the build process you shouldn't have major issues. Yes, G-Sync is treating me well so far, even just running Heaven lol. Can't wait to actually sit down and play some games now! Loop assembly time! I did go ahead and get that IO shield in metallic plastic Much nicer You might be wondering why I'm using the lower PCIe-8x slot instead of the 16x slot. Well, ASUS didn't exactly think this all the way through... Oh well, not gonna cry over the 3 FPS I'll lose dropping down to 8x Let's install blocks! Beautiful Cable management time! Not bad No struggle whatsoever! Glad I no longer have to put my whole body weight into closing the side panel properly RGB cable's a bit awkward but it'll work Tubing time! Can't forget the drain port Done! Leak testing time! Meh who needs a fancy jumper And we're off! Stay tuned to see it all come together!
  3. MdX MaxX
    Checking out all the ekwb components This fan/radiator bracket has proven to be extremely useful Let's go ahead and mount the reservoir Time to light things up Oh yes I'll probably keep it at a more subtle glow in daily usage Definitely prefer the paracord to the nylon of the Corsair cables So vibrant Water loop assembly incoming!
  4. MdX MaxX
    The CableMod order is finally here! Time to wrap this build up this weekend!
  5. MdX MaxX
    I bought them during the second limited run back in April 2016. It unfortunately doesn't look like they'll be available again. To get a similar look you could go with Noctua IndustrialPPC fans, but they're supposedly a bit louder at the same RPMs.
  6. MdX MaxX
    This weekend's gonna be fun...
  7. MdX MaxX
    It'll probably just sit in my closet with the rest of my old rig for now haha. Not sure what I'm going to do with any of it since I doubt a bunch of Sandy Bridge era parts are going to sell for much. It's always good to have a spare air cooler around anyway. Also I highly doubt I'm going to try any overclocking on this air cooler. My tube of MX-4 ran out and I didn't want to use the new paste just yet since it's a small amount, so I used a tube of some questionable quality paste from 6 years ago...probably not an ideal situation lol but at stock speeds it'll be fine until I get the loop going.
  8. MdX MaxX
    My old CM Storm trigger was looking quite out of place next to everything else...time to fix that, I'm finally all color-coordinated! I really wish I had a quality camera now lol, the keyboard is truly beautiful especially once you get some tasteful lighting effects going. I can't wait to see how vibrant the tower becomes with the CableMod LED strips! (CableMod theoretically should be done with their move and start shipping orders out again this Friday, so hopefully the wait isn't much longer.) All my EK parts should show up tomorrow as well! I probably want to wait for my sleeved cables before putting together the whole loop, but maybe this weekend I'll go ahead and mount the reservoir, test fit things, and do some more detailed planning of the loop. It's all coming together... These boxes are works of art on their own
  9. MdX MaxX
    Mouse upgrade! Comfy, smooth, and precise, just as anyone would expect from a top of the line mouse. Glides nicely on the mousepad. So the Newegg release date went by for the K95 RGB Platinum (twice) and no updates on my preorder. So I looked around to try to get it elsewhere and turns out it's in stock at Corsair's shop. Ordered yesterday, shipped today. Well forget you then Newegg lol. Rads should get here tomorrow! The rest of the water cooling and the CableMod order TBD.
  10. MdX MaxX
    Oh man here it is Translucent Dark Green eh? Well-packaged Yesss The slight green tint is there but it surely won't show when it's on the case I like the mechanism, super easy, no screws to deal with Oh god it's so beautiful I am 100% on this bandwagon In other news, I booted up Mirror's Edge Catalyst for a few minutes (I've been dying to play this) and it's so buttery smooth, I'm definitely a believer in G-Sync. Time to get back into gaming! I also put in the orders for my EK parts! Got a few things from performance-pcs just because of stock. I decided to go with SE rads instead of the PEs just because space is a bit tight and I want to make my life easy, and 2 dual rads of any thickness are gonna perform great anyway. Also went with the pump/res combo because it should be able to squeeze in there, though I bought a smaller tube with it just in case (again, just making life easy). Mouse should arrive next week (also went with a Corsair MM300 mousepad) and I'm crossing my fingers that the keyboard will ship on Tuesday as newegg says it will lol, but we'll see. Also this thing is so heavy already and it doesn't even have rads or water in it yet...how will I ever lift this thing haha. More updates to come!
  11. MdX MaxX
    Oh this memory is beautiful Time for the test boot And it POSTs! Gorgeous Now to get it all in here "Only" four fans for now So sleek In goes the boot drive Now to put it all together I'm gonna miss this cooler when I rip it off...wonder if there's a way to wire it up and control it externally... Alright, time to get windows installed! Stay tuned for more photos, I'll be getting tempered glass and peripherals really soon! We'll see if the K95 RGB Platinum actually ships out soon, looks like stock is scarce... Now to make my measurements and finalize the water cooling equipment!
  12. MdX MaxX
    Picked up the monitor last night. Simple, classy design. I'm a fan. And my patience has been rewarded! All the functional pieces are ready to go! Time to build. And a bittersweet goodbye to my first machine, my trusty daily driver for five and a half years.
  13. MdX MaxX
    I wanted MicroATX, and the Maximus IX Gene hasn't been announced yet, so this is the next best thing. Also I'm changing up my monitor choice! I was doing some last-minute research on the Dell S2716DGR, which has effectively the same specs as the ASUS PG278Q (2560x1440, 144Hz, G-Sync, TN). I had looked at this monitor before, but what I didn't realize is that it can be had for $479.99 at Best Buy! Even when you add sales tax it comes out to ~$519.99, which is a full 160 DOLLARS CHEAPER than the PG278QR on Newegg at $679.99. No way I can justify dropping the extra cash on the ASUS display for essentially the same specs, especially with ASUS's quality control being more questionable according to product reviews. So Dell it is! And I can pick it up in store like tomorrow lol. Less than two days until I get this build going! Could be tomorrow if FedEx decides to be nice, it got scanned in Dallas last night...crossing my fingers haha. Oh also, the tempered glass side panel went up on the Cooler Master Store! (Only after I bugged them on their facebook page of course, heh) So I should have that gorgeous addition to the build relatively soon!
  14. MdX MaxX
    I don't have a very large media collection, so 1TB has been pretty okay for me. Maybe at some point in the future I'll add a second storage drive. So I'm almost ready to build this thing! The TridentZ RGB memory just shipped out today, so that's all I'll need to get the system running. My CableMod order is delayed unfortunately because they're moving, so that won't come in until late February, but that's no big deal as that's all purely aesthetics. I also decided to hop up to the K95 RGB Platinum because why not lol. It's a hefty pricetag but it's a keyboard that I'll keep using for as long as it works, so I imagine I'll get my money's worth. While I wait for those, here's a little bonus: I decided to buy into ASUS's 3D printing gimmick a little bit and get myself an IO cover. It looks pretty good; I actually might decide to get another one later with the metallic plastic material since the motherboard has a whole lot of grey/silver going on and my water cooling components are going to have a lot of shiny nickel plating. The memory should arrive this coming Tuesday, so stay tuned!
  15. MdX MaxX
    Way more storage speed than I could possibly take advantage of
  16. MdX MaxX
    Sure, I can check that out. Maybe I'll see how well ASUS's auto overclock thing works. Got a whole bunch of goodies in the mail yesterday! MicroATX is a fantastic form factor, I'm surprised it isn't nearly as popular as ATX honestly. I'll be ditching the ACX cooler for a water block soon enough, but I can enjoy its beauty for a few weeks at least. Goodbye mechanical storage, I won't miss you. I realized that all the 120mm fans will be hidden behind radiators once I do the loop...oh well, I'll know the accents color match and that's all that matters . It'll all come together soon! I'll have the 950 Pro in my hands tomorrow, I've placed my CableMod order, and I've pre-ordered the G.Skill TridentZ RGB modules on newegg. The tower should be all good to go by the end of January! Still crossing my fingers for that tempered glass side panel though... This is gonna be one hell of an upgrade.
  17. MdX MaxX
    Oops, I have a Dark Rock 3, not the Pro lol. Fixed the OP. I likely won't even bother overclocking until I get the water loop going since it shouldn't be on air for too long.
  18. MdX MaxX
    First up, the MasterCase Pro 3! (all the photos are from my One M8's potato camera, sorry for that lol) I'm glad I went with the 3 over the 5, the compact size is quite nice. It's actually not much smaller than my ATX midtower CM Storm Enforcer (it's a bit taller even), but it uses the space much more effectively for sure. The Enforcer has abysmal water cooling support, with only a rear 120 rad supported natively. I've ordered most of the tower and parts should show up throughout the week! By next weekend I should have everything save for the memory (hopefully that releases within the next two weeks) and the cablemod stuff (waiting for the motherboard so I can use the 20% off coupon). Also waiting for the tempered glass side panel to show up on the US CM Store because I definitely want in on that trend! More photos to come!
  19. MdX MaxX
    This build is absolutely remarkable! Beautiful design and detail all around. I look forward to the final photos/video!
  20. MdX MaxX
    Project AZISAI: Kaby Lake mATX Custom Water Cooled Build Hello LTT Forum! So I built my first desktop back in 2011, and that trusty 2600K/560-Ti rig has served me well through all of my five years of college and then some (though I admittedly haven't done much PC gaming in the past year or so). But now that I've achieved independent adult status and am making a decent salary, it's about time I finally step it up and build myself a high-end machine. I want it to seamlessly run modern titles at 2560x1440 with high refresh rates and be sexy and silent while doing it, so I'm going with the top-of-the-line hardware, custom water cooling, and a color-neutral theme with RGB lighting everywhere! I'll be doing this build in parts, just because I won't have all the money at once. Here are the components lists, with the stuff that's arrived or that I'm carrying over from my current PC in green: Part 1: Tower CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 (until water cooling happens) Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix Z270G Gaming Memory: 32GB (4x8GB) G.Skill TridentZ RGB DDR4-3200 Storage (OS): Samsung 950 Pro 256GB M.2 Storage (Data): Samsung 850 Evo 1TB GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW Chassis: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 3 (w/ Tempered Glass side panel) PSU: Corsair AX860i PSU Cables: CableMod ModFlex Sleeved Cables (white) 120mm Fans: 4x Noctua NF-F12 LinusTechTips Special Edition (w/ white Noctua Chromax accents) 140mm Fans: 1x Noctua NF-A14 LinusTechTips Special Edition (w/ white Noctua Chromax accents) Lighting: CableMod WideBeam Magnetic RGB Strips Part 2: Peripherals Monitor: Dell S2716DGR Keyboard: Corsair K95 RGB Platinum (Cherry MX Brown) Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum Part 3: Water Cooling CPU Block: EK Supremacy EVO (Full Nickel) GPU Block: EK FC1080 GTX FTW (Acetal+Nickel, Nickel Backplate) Pump/Reservoir: EK RES X3 140 Revo D5 PWM Fittings: EK ACF (Black Nickel) Radiators: 2x EK CoolStream SE 240 Tubing: EK DuraClear 3/8" ID 5/8" OD Coolant: EK Ekoolant Pastel White I'm glad I stocked up on the beautiful Linus edition Noctuas back in April. Finally they'll be put to good use! So as soon as the Kaby Lake Desktop parts hit, I'll be placing my orders for the tower. CES can't come soon enough! Stay tuned for updates!
  21. MdX MaxX
    I've been away from the LTT forum for quite a while but I see the awesome giveaways haven't slowed down a bit. B)
  22. MdX MaxX
    Wow, it's been quite a while since I last browsed the forum, hi everyone. Anyway, I'll give my two cents on PCs and college. Campus housing is pretty small, but it's not that small. At my university space is pretty limited relative to other schools as we're in the heart of Atlanta, but I have no issues situating my mid-tower case in my bedroom in my on-campus apartment. Even when I lived in freshman housing, finding space for my tower was never an issue. I'm sure I'd be able to find a place to put a 900D if I wanted one of those. So I wouldn't stay away from mid/full-tower options simply because of space concerns. As far as theft is concerned, I really wouldn't worry about random outsiders stealing your stuff, as any decent campus housing has safeguards such as scanning your school ID to enter any campus dorm/apartment complex. And as long as you and your roommates are good about locking doors when you leave (or just locking your own bedroom if you have your own) then you shouldn't have issues. If you're worried about having a random roommate who could steal things, well, you always have resident advisors to help resolve conflicts, and most people probably don't want to risk their education to take their roommate's shiny gaming mouse. I'm not saying theft won't happen, but the chances are most likely very, very low. If you do go the laptop route, I wouldn't necessarily say a Kensington lock is a must. I have a Kensington lock for my laptop, and in the 7 semesters I've been at school I have not used it once. I've just never been in a situation where I had to leave my laptop somewhere, even for a few minutes. If I need to get up and go to the bathroom in a public place I'd honestly rather just take my stuff with me. Doesn't take that long to pack up and set up again IMO. Anyway, yeah, overall, go ahead and build/buy the PC you want. As long as your school isn't especially notorious for theft or anything you should be fine. Again, I'm not saying it won't happen, but from my experience incidents of computer theft are few and far between, especially because, well, you're at school, everyone's gonna have a computer.
  23. MdX MaxX
    My external hard drive. I can always build a new rig, but it'd be much more of a pain in the arse to hunt down all my music and other massive files on the web. And wallet of course. Phone as well if it's really close. I think trying to grab any easily replaceable piece of hardware is silly.
  24. MdX MaxX
    Yessssss. We can look forward to both red team and green team enjoying variable refresh rate monitors in the near future. Exciting stuff. I'll likely still go for G-Sync as it'll be out first, but it's nice to know that I won't be tethered to Nvidia in the long term.
  25. MdX MaxX
    So it's basically an Asetek H100. Meh. I'm really not a fan of Asetek's mounting hardware. I'd much sooner grab the H80i or H100i.
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