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@bungusboy81So that's what I meant with the manually specifying where to save a file when you download something from online. If you want to have your Documents, Pictures, Download, etc Libraries located on your secondary drive, you can move them by right clicking on the icon in File Explorer, select Properties, and going to the "Location" tab and moving that to a drive of your choice. I moved mine from my C: drive to F: drive

@bungusboy81For most programs you'll be able to select the directory they install to during setup (many will default to C:\Program Files) so you'll need to change that when you run the setup for a program. You can change some stuff in Windows 10 Settings about where applications are installed, but mainly when you run the installer is where you'll configure the install location; just note that some programs won't let you choose and will need to install on the C: drive, not much (that I'm aware of) you can do about it. Other than that, I like to manually specify where files download to when grabbing files from browsers, that way there's less of a chance that something can download without me seeing something.

Steam has some great articles on how to install games on a secondary drive or how to move them. Definitely easy to do https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129#:~:text=Navigate to your Steam client,installations can be installed there.

@wat3rmelon_man2 Which CAD platform? First is to make sure that the CAD package you're using will support your GPUs of choice. Second, when you say rendering, does the CAD software have GPU enabled rendering? If not, then it might not matter that much. Pudget Systems does have some solid articles on what the best hardware is for various programs, might be worth checking out what they recommend for the specific CAD platform.

So messing something up won't be likely, filling up the SSD quickly is what you'll want to avoid. Install your OS to the SSD for quicker operation and booting. If you have any critical software (CAD, video/photo editing, etc) that you use, install those on the SSD. Everything else should go on the HDD. In Windows 10, you'll just see 2 drives in File Explorer (screenshot is my PCs 3 drives, C: and D: are SSDs and Tugger is an HDD), and copying/moving files between them is the same as moving/copying files anywhere else.

@Pinkieprimelike @IkeaGnomeasked, knowing the volumetric space you have will be helpful in recommended a case (photos with dimensions could be great). If you're going with an ITX build, you could build something custom yourself using a 3D printer or 20x20 mm aluminum extrusions (if so inclined). I second the Silverstone cases, they seem very nice and have a lot of great features. Personally my NAS is in a Fractal Node 804, and would also recommend these cases (I fell in love with the 804 while building and want to move my main system into one).

Nice work Colin. Sounds like it's been a pain to work on, but I'm happy to see/hear there's been progress

You're welcome, again sorry it took so long to get back to you. Actually I made no changes to the center divider. I kept the PCI slots closed off as tho the GPU was installed, and also sealed off the perforations underneath. I tried to leave the perforations open, but it was difficult to set them up as an opening since they overlap with the mobo. I'm not sure those perforations will do much tho since most of their area is located under the mobo, so you might be able to skip those if you haven't already drilled them out. I'd say that the perforated cover will make the biggest difference to the overall dynamics of the system. Again, if time allows, I could attempt to re-run the simulation with the perforated cover (and foam filter?), but that might take quite a bit of time to setup and run, so don't wait on me if you're aiming to move forward with your build. Somewhat relatedly, I'm not sure if it will cause longer rebuild times, but check out the Fill Pattern feature for adding perforations, it's quite handy (although I do appreciate your linear pattern and mirror method). Finally, I'm curious about the foam filter you mentioned, as without knowing anything about the material (especially porosity and pressure drop), my instinct is to say don't use a foam filter...Do you have the specs of the material (porosity, depth, pressure drop, material, etc)? The biggest concern is that it would add a lot of resistance to your airflow (large dP). Perhaps you could be convinced to use a mesh screen instead? I certainly understand the desire for dust control (which will be different based on how you setup the fans), but a foam filter could present a problem with airflow.

So I know I went a bit quiet, but things got busy and it took me some time to get back to this. The model needed some cleaning up and in the interest of time, I just removed the PSU, GPU, and some (simulation) problematic parts. I ran the simulation for both 120mm as intake and exhaust. The lid I modeled as solid (no perforations) to simplify things and show the fully enclosed view. For the 120mm I already had the Noctua NF-F12-PWM fan curve (requested from Noctua), for the others I just entered a few points from the spec sheet (meaning they're not likely accurate). No thermal analysis here, only flow (sorry didn't have the time). From the analysis, I think either configuration is viable. Although if using the 120mm fan for intake, I'd personally add some perforations on the right side of the cabinet for air to escape, since that side builds up a lot of pressure (might be okay with lid perforations). Here are a couple screenshots and you can snag some animations here. All media is showing the relative pressures using the color scale, and streamlines are showing fluid velocity. Again, don't take this as 100% accurate, but hopefully it helps you with your design process. 120mm fan as exhaust 120mm fan as intake

@illerin those corners look beautiful, nice work! Wondering if you're willing to share a STEP file of your CAD design (or native file if you're using Solidworks)? If I have some extra time, I'm curious to run it thru a computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to help give a better idea of what you should expect. I definitely agree with @PriitM that adding a partition should help reduce the mass of air that each fan would have to handle, but I still think that active exhaust would be more beneficial than passive (but happy to be proven wrong).

Not a bad thought, but might add some noise, definitely look for some quiet fan options there. Also, that might be blowing directly onto your networking equipment right? Just thinking about thermals under the desk in general, and wondering if you'll have enough space between the wall and the edge of the desk for airflow? Your legs might get warm under the desk, especially depending on how tall you are (have you checked to see how much space there will be from the top of your legs to the PC case?). Do you really need the reset button? Personally I'd ditch the reset button and keep only the power light and switch, then a USB cable would be fine. Additionally, you could use some CAT5 cable or even HVAC thermostat wire if you need extra conductors, but I get it if you have a spare USB cable already you don't need to buy cabling.

So I'll share my viewpoint as an engineer and from my background in physics. The blower style GPU (if that's your plan) and the PSU will essentially act independently, so I think you're okay there. From how I read your statement above, the square cutout on the top panel and the perforations on the rear panel will be your only exhausts; which will be passive vents since all fans are pulling air in. Personally, I think you should exhaust using the 120mm fan. Reason being is otherwise the hot air from cooling your MOBO is likely to linger inside the case. I know the arguments of positive vs negative pressures, but in the ideal situation, you'd replace the volume of hot air with cool air at the same rate (balanced input and output). I know that more intake is supposed to help with dust control, but if you have a filter (which you mentioned) and clean it regularly, you'll be fine. The other argument is that "pushing" the hot air out (positive pressure, more intake) is just as good as pulling it out (exhaust), but there are several reasons why this might not be true: impedance, environmental pressure, vortices, and flow surface areas. My recommendation isn't to use one way or another, but to experiment with your fan configuration (remember to control your variables). I do believe you'll see better thermals (personally) by exhausting air using the 120mm fan as opposed to using all fans for intake. Post back and share your experience, and definitely share some photos of your build, it looks like it'll be quite nice!

@WayneStark89 if you unplug it, does anything stop working? Also, if there's not model number on the outside, pop off the cover (top looks like it might come off easily) and check the board inside for a model number. Definitely seems like a digital audio adapter of some kind. With no direct outputs, I'd guess that it's a broadcast antenna for a wireless headset like @sub68mentioned (likely proprietary if you don't see any Bluetooth devices after it gets power, USB ports might always be on for the XBOX, try unplugging it and plugging it back in, then check for devices).

I think you're in the right place (at least on this forum), but a forum more geared to solar power might have more answers for you (not sure). I know nothing about monitoring solar mpp inverters, but my guess is that for any recommendation, you'd probably help others to help you by sharing your inverter model. Most likely communication software recommendations will vary by make/model of the inverter, unless there's the industry uses a universal comms protocol. For me, when I searched "mpp inverter monitoring server" a few solid looking pages showed up (including this forum post btw), but I guess it will also depend on all the features you're looking to get. The trouble with DIY projects is that the time invested in making it work could end up costing you more than buying an off-the-shelf solution, so if you're looking to save money think about how much time your putting into it vs how much your time is worth. If you want to do it for yourself as a passion project, then the time cost is less important. Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for.

Gotya, I did take a quick look at the site and it seemed like it was primarily a system integrator but it does look like components can also be purchased directly.

Personally I like the monitor choice. If you can't wait, I agree with @Chris Pratt I absolutely agree with @Oswin if you can wait, you should do so. @Dolstein finally, is it not feasible for you to purchase the discrete parts and build the system yourself? You'll likely save money in doing so and be able to put that money back into the equipment.

So I saw this shot and I'm not convinced that it is the new airflow design. Primarily due to the orientation of the fins in the card mid-section. All 3000 series images (I've seen) show the fins at an angle to the length of the card, where these are perpendicular to the card. Additionally the model used in that simulation appears to be rather modest in size, maybe 1.5-2 PCIe slots in height, but at least the 3090 is rumored to be 3 slots in height; overall not much of an indicator but something of note. The wire frame images in the videos look very much like the current reference design as the label is in the middle section (where the fins would be). There was a lot of old and new clips in that video, so it could be from earlier model simulations. They teased a bit, but I'd question how much of the thermal design they'd reveal before the official launch (personally). All that being said, the simulation does appear to match up with design present on the leaked images of the cards.

No doubt, but I was only considering the MSRP pricing (guess I could have been more explicit). Certainly online price hunting, shipping, and taxes will change the situation slightly.

Sure, high demand and low supply would boost the price, however NVidia's product page shows the price of the 1660Ti just under the 2060 KO Ultra Gaming (just over the normal KO). Strange (to me) that there would still be higher demand for the 1660Ti than the 2060 KO.

I believe that MSRP is set by manufacturers in the US and I believe are allowed to prevent retailers from selling products too far below MSRP (I recall early online stores running into issues with this).

Why would there be if the 2060KO outperforms the 1660Ti? Sure the price for the 1660Ti should be less, but if it's not, then why would it be in higher demand?

Adding on to @Oswin's request, it would be good to know if you need more storage space (or if you have a secondary drive) and what you're planning to use your system for (gaming, photo/video editing, 3D graphics, etc).

So, yesterday I was looking at GPU pricing for low/mid range cards for a friend who's looking at getting a new GPU. With prices jumping around on places like Amazon (at least from what I've seen in the States), I went to look at what a brick-&-mortar store was pricing them out for. To my surprise, I found the 2060 KO (which I had heard about previously) priced at $10 under the MSI 1660Ti (see screenshot below). Now, I know that NVidia's partners can set the prices on their cards, but this just seems very odd to me. I know that the NVidia SKU count has been discussed before, but as someone who is comfortable with PC component spec-ing, even I was baffled by this... I can't see how NVidia would allow this to occur (and maybe it happens with other SKUs as well) as it could cause considerable confusion for those less familiar with GPU performance info. A straight up comparison of the spec sheets for each card might lead some to make a case for the 1660Ti, but overall I think the 2060 KO edges it out (ever so slightly). I could certainly see specific use cases where someone needs/wants 4 displays, 3 display port outputs, or even just prefer to have a higher base clock, but I still see the 2060 KO being the better bang-for-the-buck buy in this case (between these two cards). All this is to say, make sure to keep a look out for strange pricing when helping someone pick out a GPU (especially if they aren't likely to put the research in themselves). And finally, I'm curious to know what you think: Is this something that you find odd or think someone less familiar would get confused by? Do you think NVidia should make sure this kind of pricing overlap doesn't happen?

Windows has a native app called Performance Monitor that you can log this info with, check out this articles: Win10 Performance Monitor Windows Performance Monitor Tutorial If you want 'auto' logging, you'll probably need to use Task Scheduler or something else to launch PerfMon at login. There are also 3rd party apps that can do this (see CPUID software or similar) that can be launched at startup. Anything that monitors your system will have some impact on performance, so keep in mind that any measurement will affect your measurement (that applied to any system).