Meganter

Hello everyone !
 
So today a colleague brought me some PC parts that I previously selected with the help of some people ( @Herman Mcpootis @TofuHaroto and @BillNyeThecommieSpy) for her son.
 
So here is the build :
 
 
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX mATX
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM (an old drive that I wasn't using anymore)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC 
Case: Fractal Design Focus G Mini MicroATX   
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE Bronze V2 550 W 80+ Bronze
 

 
Building it was straightforward, it took me about 1h to assemble, 30 minutes to install everything and 30 more minutes to shove it in the case . Then I booted it to see if everything was working properly, installed more drivers and did some benchmarks. Do note that it took me about 7 minutes (and I was taking my time) to install the CPU cooler, someone that should not be named (@TofuHaroto  ) took like 2h to do it ?  
 
The rams are working at XMP and the CPU is boosting properly to 4.2GHz. I didn't overclocked anything as I'm a big noob and don't really know how to properly overclocked an AMD CPU. It's for a 14 years old kid so the difference will be minimum to him.
 
Here are some pictures of the build in progress :
 

 
Cute little motherboard.
 

 

 

 
Testing if everything works properly before installing it in the case :
 

 
Quite the anarchy there 
 
And the completed build :
 

 
The cable management was really not fun to do and not very good to be honest.
 
And finally some benchmarks :
 
 

 
For comparison, https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-ryzen-5-3600-review,10.html so I think it did pretty well here ! Average temp was 60°C during it with a peak at 90°C.
 

 
For reference : https://benchmark.unigine.com/leaderboards/superposition/1.x/1080p-medium/single-gpu/page-1 not great not terrible.
 
 
 
 
 

My Dad got me the LC-GC-3 for 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) aka My new Gaming Chair:

These instructions were lack lustering. Good thing I've watched a ton of videos in the past on how to build these Chairs. 

And finished product:

I can go back with the Back rest to about 55 degrees but not make it completely flat like you can with a Maxnomic for example.

Corsair Crystal Series 680X + 6x Corsair LL120 RGB fans

First try to make my own wooden pc case, gtx 1080 overclocked temp max 60°c cpu 7700k overclocked 4.9ghz 1.28v max 75°c. Idle temps are cpu and gpu around 35°c.
3x140mm nzxt fans front
3x120mm nzxt fans back 
Made out of plywood 15mm thick, destroyed an old corsair 500d case and only used its mobotray to start with the dimensions :)
If you have questions i am happy to answer them.
The rainbow effect is only for the video, i use a solid darkblue color myself to match the wood :). 
 

VID_20200914_145701.mp4

It's trying to communicate with us!
 
Edit:
We need to spin up a Comms@Home project to decipher it!

Where do I send my bill for the paracetamol I had to consume after reading this.

Background:
A few months ago, my friend and brother in law moved away and into a new apartment in a new city with his girlfriend. Because of the human malware that's been going around, they've been spending a lot more time indoors watching TV than they'd like. He mentioned to me that he had been setting up a laptop as a quasi HTPC anytime they wanted to watch some Netflix etc. He also mentioned that it was giving him some trouble, so I decided it'd be a good idea for his birthday to use some of my previous HTPC's parts (current specs for "BlackBox" are in my sig) as well as some new parts to put together a Thin Mini ITX build for him to use as a dedicated HTPC. Aptly, my wife and I (mostly my wife ) decided to name this PC "Solace", because we could all use some these days.
 
Parts:
PCPartPicker Part List Type Item Price CPU Intel Core i5-4570 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor Purchased For $0.00 CPU Cooler Silverstone NT07-115X 28.1 CFM CPU Cooler $25.00 Motherboard Asus H81T/CSM Thin Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard Purchased For $0.00 Memory G.Skill 2 GB (1 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600 CL9 Memory Purchased For $0.00 Memory G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4 GB (1 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 CL9 Memory Purchased For $0.00 Storage SanDisk ReadyCache 32 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive Purchased For $0.00 Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 32/64-bit Purchased For $0.00 Wireless Network Adapter Intel 7260 Mini-PCIe 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter Purchased For $0.00 Custom (2019 Upgrade) Rii i4 Mini Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad, Blacklit Portable Wireless Keyboard with 2.4G USB Dongle for Smartphones, PC, Tablet, Laptop TV Box iOS Android Windows Mac.Black $30.00 Custom SilverStone PT13B-120 $124.00   Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts     Total $179.00   Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-18 18:42 EDT-0400    
As you can see, it was around $180 for the case, cpu cooler, power supply, and wireless keyboard that I needed to complete the build. Everything else in the build was sitting unused in a closet.
 
Purchased Parts:
Case:
I wanted to use the same case that I use for my HTPC, the Akasa Euler,but unfortunately the shipping is very long. The benefit of the Euler is that the case functions as a passive cooler, so your HTPC can have absolutely zero moving parts for silent operation. But, since I didn't have time to wait before his birthday, I opted for the SIlverstone PT13B-120. Conveniently, it comes with a 120W power adapter! It's also noticeably smaller than the Akasa case. It was a very tight fit to get everything in.
 
CPU Cooler:
This was a simple choice once I had the case picked out, it is the only CPU cooler I could find that would fit within the 24mm height requirement of the PT13B. It does a fine job of keeping the relatively low power i5-4570 cool. And is quiet enough at low RPMs. I set a custom fan curve in the BIOS to make sure it stays pretty quiet under normal operation.
 
Keyboard/Mouse:
This is an upgraded version of the keyboard that my wife and I use. They both have rechargeable batteries, backlights, trackpads with some simple gestures, and connect via Bluetooth. I have no complaints about the one that I use daily, but this upgraded version adds some nice features like a scroll wheel and trigger mouse buttons. Highly recommended. I may even get one for myself.
 
Reused Parts:
Motherboard:
This was the original motherboard in my HTPC "BlackBox" (spec in sig). It's a Thin Mini ITX formfactor, which doesn't seem to be too popular, but I think it's perfect for an HTPC. Not much else to say about it really. It works.
 
CPU:
This CPU came out of an old workstation from my wife's previous employer. She was savvy enough to scoop up a few machines they were tossing out and offered to the employees. This is also where the i7 6700 and SSD in BlackBox came from. Go wife!
 
RAM:
The 2GB module was salvaged from a laptop that was upgraded to more memory. I found the closest thing I could for the PCPartPicker list. The 4GB module was purchased new to match the specs of the 2GB module. 6GB is plenty for an HTPC, and the speed is hardly important. What's interesting is that the Thin mini ITX form factor utilizes SODIMM like a laptop.
 
Storage:
This drive was purchased on a tight budget several years ago before the price of SSDs came down to where it is today, and before I had a good paying job like I do now. 32GB isn't very much, but I took some steps to minimize the size of the OS including: obviously uninstalling any unneeded apps that come with Windows, disabling hibernation, manually setting the amount of virtual memory, disabling system protection and system restore, and using CompactOS and drive compression. Doing all this leaves more than enough space for all of the streaming apps as well as Windows updates. My friend has all of his local media in a network location, so this machine will not be used to store any files. This is how my HTPC was before I upgraded it a little while ago.
 
I wanted to use an even older 256GB WD SiliconEdge Blue SSD for the build, but unfortunately I ran into problems with it, and I think the drive is finally dying. It didn't get all that much use in my old netbook, and it still reads as having 100% drive life remaining, but it is quite old at this point. You'll see this drive in some of the pictures, because I was planning on using it before I realized that it was dying.
 
Wifi:
Not much to say. It allows you to wirelessly connect to the series of tubes, and it's compatible with the H81T/CSM motherboard.
 
 
THE BUILD:
Not a lot here. Certainly not compared with some of my other builds with RGB and tons of fans and water cooling and whatnot. Three boxes. When I upgraded my HTPC, I left the old parts assembled since they all fit into the box for my new motherboard. Don't let the box deceive you. That's the H81T/CSM and other parts in there.
 

 
Here is most everything laid out on my table outside. Do ignore the obligatory build beverage. Really not much to it...
 

 
A few minutes later I had everything in the case.
 

 
After replacing the dead 256GB drive with the 32GB drive in the PCPartPicker list, I also had to replace the CMOS battery. It died after sitting unused in my closet for a few months, so the bios settings kept getting reset every time the machine was unplugged.
 
Replacing the CMOS battery in a Thin Mini ITX build isn't so easy, though. There is no space to spare for a standard CMOS battery on a thin mini ITX board, so you can see in the pictures that it has a special connector.
 

 
I pulled the old battery apart and used electrical tape to secure the leads to a new battery.
 
After that the build was done.
 
Setup:
After minimizing the size of Windows as I described earlier, I paired the Bluetooth keyboard and installed a standard sweet of video and audio streaming apps including: Plex, Kodi, Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora and some others. I set the machine to "Tablet Mode", pinned to start all those apps along with weather and news apps, and arranged them nicely for a good user experience. 
 
Conclusion:
I'm very happy with the way this machine turned out, and I'm very pleased to have helped my friend find some Solace in these troubled times. He sent me some pictures once he had it set up in his TV room. Korra!
 

My Manx Gracie "The Huntress"...

That's why geography is important.

In previous years, yes. This year however the USA and Canadian winners will be building the PC remotely. One person from LTTs local area in British Columbia will also be able to build in person at the studio. This is likely due to travel restrictions.

Also AFAIK you go to LTT HQ and build it with them iirc.

That's why geography is important.

That's why geography is important.

Also AFAIK you go to LTT HQ and build it with them iirc.

Also AFAIK you go to LTT HQ and build it with them iirc.

I am guessing it has to deal with the shipping outside of North America. 

That's why geography is important.

That's why geography is important.

That's why geography is important.

That's why geography is important.

That's why geography is important.

That's why geography is important.

Hello,
 
A GPU will usually give you better FPS no matter which CPU, between the 3600 and 10700, you could have.

Open MSI Afterburner to monitor the CPU/GPU usage (alternatively, if you have a second screen, just open Task Manager just look at that) > play the game for a bit > open MSI Afterburner and check which of the two parts (CPU vs. GPU) was at 100%
More likely, the GPU was at 100% meaning the CPU can still do more.

Hello,
 
A GPU will usually give you better FPS no matter which CPU, between the 3600 and 10700, you could have.