DailyProcrastinator

welp, i finally got around making pictures of the GPU in her new waterblock.
 
I also made these with my GF's new camera, and boi does that ever make it harder to make decent pictures. before i just used my phone, but a DSLR really requires a level of skill i do not posses yet.
The following pictures are the very few that turned out okay of the dozens i made.



 
Items still on the to-do list of this build:
- swap out the RAM for a kit of just all black DIMMs.
- get new cablecombs for the GPU cables. 

Eh, Thinkpad time it seems 😛
 
Nice small and light X21 here with its docking station, P3 700, 256MB RAM, 30GB HDD 🙂
The plastic/coating ages really badly on these though 😞 won't be easy to clean
 

Went to the thrift store to try and find a laptop for refurbishing and then daily use. 
Didn't find that, but I found this ThinkPad 700 for $25. It's seen better days, but I'm willing to bet it will turn on when I get ahold of a charger (if I get an xx30 ThinkPad or older as my daily, the charger will be compatible). 
The hinges are in surprisingly good shape!




This thing was built in 1998 and came with a DVD player! 
I plan on refurbishing it, which means I might not get a total clunker as my daily so I can focus on fixing this. 
 

Quick little update:
 
Under full load the fan in the little SFX PSU got louder than the system itself, so that had to change. I swapped it out for a 92mm Noctua that's plugged into a PWM header on the motherboard, so i get full control over the fanspeed!

 
I also got the new waterblock in, and it's installed on the 6900XT, but taking pictures of something black in low light conditions is pretty hard, so this is all you get for now.

 
I'll make some better pics soon in daylight.
 

They showed up, power adapter pooped out but I found a replacement lying around




The XPE works, the other does not and is spare parts 

A Windows 98 SE machine for a client of mine. New Intel Motherboard with latest BIOs P21 which allows Pentium III's above 800 MHz.
The D815EEA2 only supports up the P III 1.13 256K The D815EEA2U From intel official says P III 1.2 256K The D815EEA2U with the P21 bios will support the P IIIs 1.4Ghz 512K How to distinguish the the models apart, The silk screen printing for the Mobo model. For the D815EEA2 the silk screen label is the right of the bios battery, The D815EEA2U the label is to the left of the bios battery. Also the Pentium III is the Pentrium III-S (Server CPU) Which is has 512kb of L2 Cache.
 

Libretto 50CT
75 MHz Pentium CPU 16 MB RAM 800 MB IDE hard drive FM stereo sound card ISA bus Does not run Crysis.

Large air coolers I can recommend:
- Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4
- Noctua NH-D15 / NH-D15S
- Cryorig R1
- Scythe Ninja 5
- Deepcool Assassin III
- Scythe Fuma 2
- Deepcool Neptwin
 
Most of these will perform as well as a 240mm AIO. Maybe not the Neptwin but it would be close and it's less than $60USD. Just use PCPartPicker to verify compatibly with your motherboard and case. 
 
 

The cheapest I recommend is the Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L, it's decent for the price.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/rnGxFT/cooler-master-masterbox-q300l-microatx-mini-tower-case-mcb-q300l-kann-s00
 
But I think the best option is the Thermaltake Versa H18, it has TG, a PSU shroud, and a well ventilated front panel, not much more you can ask for at $55. I have hands on experience with this case and can recommend it.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/dgndnQ/thermaltake-versa-h18-microatx-mini-tower-case-ca-1j4-00s1wn-01
 
 

Sold/traded the i7-8700k w/ motherboard +cash to the person who bought my i5-7500 mATX system a few years back. Put the i5 into one of my SFF PC's and called up my trusty i7-6700k back up to the big leagues! 
 
Parts list HERE.
 
Rocking it with some new hardware, got an Asus RX 5700 OC, some new fans, and a new Corsair TXm with some white sleeved cable extension. I'v been daily driving this thing for the past month as I am working from my dining room table with a broken leg. So as it turns out having an 4th PC has been useful, who would have thought? Anyways, I may sell this in the coming months because keeping this around is hard to justify. Plus may need Keeb or Nvidia Ampere money haha.
 
I am actually very impressed with the RX 5700, no issues whatsoever, and in almost all titles it beats out my GTX 1080. I really only got it because I got a PCPartPicker notification that it dropped in price, making it (at the time of purchase) the cheapest a RX 5700 has ever been (cad). Running buttery smooth on my new ViewSonic Elite XG240R 1ms 144Hz FreeSync Monitor!
 
Some pics:

 
IDK why a monitor needs RGB, I mean sure looks "cool", to bad I never see it. 

 
Butter 😋

 
At night.

 
Apologies for the bad quality photos.

Now with my push-pull fan config on my radiator my CPU temps are a lot lower, so I have pushed my OC to a 5.1GHz all-core overclock and I still have lower temps than in my previous setup.
 
Also I got side tracked and forgot to upload some better pics, here are some proper photos.
 
Enjoy!
 

First post! RGB in all its glory!
 

 

 

 

 
Looks good in white, maybe I need RGB ram? This is first gen LED RAM, I can set it on/off, and control the 'breathing' effect, but only to blue, after all this kit was originally from my Blueberry Pi Build.
 
All around I am happy with this build, the @CableMod cables look great! And I actually think the Corsair RGB strips do a lot to brighten up the case. For $55 this Thermaltake H18 is a great deal in my opinion, it has a TG panel and a PSU shroud, with a decent amount of options for hardware despite being a Mini mATX Tower. There's not many other cases out there than can provide this for the same price. The lack of cable management ties and rubber grommets for the cutouts is the biggest negative, but I knew this going into the build. If the FD Meshify C TG is the benchmark at a 5/5 I would give the H18 a 3.5/5 for features and 5/5 for value.
 
Later tonight I will take some proper photos with my camera!

Well it is clear to me that this is a $55 case and not a $110 FD Meshify C TG, this is the wild west of cable management. 
 

 

 
Also the amount or extra cables just because of the RGB connectors is a bit much. 
 
At least from the front the mess is hidden!
 

 
I think it is time to boot!
 

I just realized I have 2 unused ML fans sitting that came with my Corsair H100i Pro AIO, so I figured why not put them to good use!
 

 
A push pull config is going to be a lot better for airflow through my rad. 
 

 
During this process I realized that the front dust filtration is not great for fine partical dust. So I am pulling the old one out as shown, and adding 2x 140mm fine mesh dust filters that I have sitting around unused.
 

 

 
Not the most aesthetically pleasing but once this case is in its permanent home the front will barely be visible any way!
 

 
 

PSU and cables are installed! I like this black/white kit from CableMod!
 

 

 
Still giving the RGB strip placement some thought.
 

 
Now I just have to plug in my fans, RGB hub, front IO connectors, and attempt to cable manage.
 

 

So far smooth sailing! My fans fit, I have my 240mm rad upfront, a 120mm fan at the back for exhaust and a 140mm fan up top for exhaust as well! Time for cables!
 

 
I did not remove my cooler from the motherboard, I just had re-applied my thermal grizzly liquid metal 6-months ago.
 

Just taking a moment to appreciate my EVGA GTX 1080 SC2 iCX, in my opinion this was the best looking card EVGA has ever made. It is covered in real metal pieces. The 1080 Ti's and RTX cards seem 'plasticy'? Even the Asus cards aren't what they used to be. 
 

 
The honeycomb parts light up white when powered.
 

 

Yes, but at the time no Canadian retailer had one (even to this day), except Amazon re-sellers and it was like $180+. Also my PSU is technically to big, I was considering trying it if I could find a local store that had one, so if I needed to return it would be easy, unfortunately no luck
 
This is part of the reason it took me 2 months to make a decision, I was finding cases that could work or potentially work but no stores or e-tailers carry them. 

Completed build pic:

 
My latest build or rebuild I should say, used to be my home server and gaming/stream build. Lately It only get used as a gaming PC. As shown here in the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG:
 

 
PCPartPicker Part List Type Item Price CPU Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor Purchased For $0.00 CPU Cooler Corsair H100i PRO 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler Purchased For $0.00 Motherboard Asus ROG STRIX Z370-G GAMING (WI-FI AC) Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard Purchased For $0.00 Memory Corsair Vengeance LED 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory Purchased For $0.00 Storage Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive Purchased For $0.00 Storage Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive Purchased For $0.00 Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB SC2 Gaming iCX Video Card Purchased For $0.00 Case Thermaltake Versa H18 MicroATX Mini Tower Case Purchased For $0.00 Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA P2 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply Purchased For $0.00 Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit Purchased For $0.00 Case Fan Corsair ML120 PRO RGB (3 pack w/Lighting Node PRO) 47.3 CFM 120 mm Fans Purchased For $0.00 Case Fan Corsair ML140 PRO RGB 55.4 CFM 140 mm Fan Purchased For $0.00 Custom CableMod E-Series ModFlex Full Cable Kit for EVGA G2, P2 & T2 - Black Purchased For $0.00 Custom CORSAIR RGB LED Lighting PRO Expansion Kit Purchased For $0.00   Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts     Total $0.00   Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-31 15:32 EST-0500    
However, since then I have moved my 4x 8TB Seagate Ironwolfs into an external NAS enclosure that is directly connected to my main system, seen HERE.
 
As the the Asus Z370G could fit in a much smaller mATX case and I no longer had the need for a case that accommodates so many 3.5" HDD's, so I started to look for a new case. I love the Phanteks Entoo Pro M TG but it is now unnecessarily big. I initially settled on the Corsair Crystal 280x. 
 

 
I bought the case on a Black Friday sale, but before unboxing it I realized that it was larger than I gave any thought to. This build is soon going to be connected to my new 75" 4k TV and I wanted something with a TG panel that would be much more compact. Essentially as small as a chasis as I could find that would fit on a shelf. The Corsair 280x was to deep and wide. And so I returned it.
 
Fast forward to this week. I finally decided on a case that met my size requirements, and to be honest it was a short list. I really only had about 5 different options as the market for microATX mini towers is very limited. Having nearly chosen the Fractal Design Meshify C TG Mini, I decided not to for two main reasons. Firstly it was the boring obvious choice, I already own the Meshify C TG ATX, and it is the best case I have owned, but I wanted to try something different. And the second reason being it is bigger that the Thermaltake H18 TG mATX Mini Tower. Which ultimately ended up being what I chose, a decidedly un-premium choice so not something I would normally buy, but besides missing one or two premium case creature comforts it really was the only case that ticked all my boxes.
 
So I bought the Thermaltake H18 earlier this week, and am now beginning the process of moving my system from the Enthoo Pro M to it's new home. So, a down grade in some regards but I think it will turn out pretty good!
 

 
There's a decent size difference between the Enthoo Pro M and the H18. 
 
And of course this case switch comes with some added parts!
 

 
I got some CableMod Black and White sleeved cables for my EVGA 750W P2, and although I am not crazy over RGB I already have 3x ML120 RGB fans so I thought, why the hell not go full send. Plus I like playing with the iCue software.
 
 
Feel free to follow this build log as I move my system into its new home! Or, if you have any questions ask away!
 

The current GPU shortage right now means that good + cheap are not really metrics which define any card on the market, unless you find a unicorn. If you want a dedicated GPU you will overpay. 
 
Right now I recommend staying with integrated graphics. 

The correlation of # of cores makes no sense. I mostly get what you are trying to get to. But a 6 core 8700k nearly runs as hot as a 12 core 3900x, so using # of cores is not a useful metric.
 
You can still easily use a single fan air cooler and get great thermal performance performance. Ambient temps, case airflow optimization, these can make a huge difference. 
 
But yes an AIO is often poor value compared to a large air cooler. My Cryorig R1 performs as well if not better than my previous 240mm AIO and it was slightly cheaper. 

Large air coolers I can recommend:
- Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4
- Noctua NH-D15 / NH-D15S
- Cryorig R1
- Scythe Ninja 5
- Deepcool Assassin III
- Scythe Fuma 2
- Deepcool Neptwin
 
Most of these will perform as well as a 240mm AIO. Maybe not the Neptwin but it would be close and it's less than $60USD. Just use PCPartPicker to verify compatibly with your motherboard and case. 
 
 

If you want good thermals get a large air cooler or a 240/280mm AIO. The TDP rating is honestly not worth bothering with, there's no consistency with the metric. 

Large air coolers I can recommend:
- Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4
- Noctua NH-D15 / NH-D15S
- Cryorig R1
- Scythe Ninja 5
- Deepcool Assassin III
- Scythe Fuma 2
- Deepcool Neptwin
 
Most of these will perform as well as a 240mm AIO. Maybe not the Neptwin but it would be close and it's less than $60USD. Just use PCPartPicker to verify compatibly with your motherboard and case. 
 
 

If you want good thermals get a large air cooler or a 240/280mm AIO. The TDP rating is honestly not worth bothering with, there's no consistency with the metric.