RicY

Hmmm, I think, I see here is too much of beautiful and accurate high end builds. Let me spice this forum thread with something more on budget side.
Remember this thing?


This was called "Ziptie abomination ", I posted it in January in this thread.
 
Well, we can say that this Pokemon has evolved. Let me introduce to you "Performance over style":

It's same case and mostly same components as in first build. But I like when components in case fill as much space, as possible, and i also like more compact builds, so:
1. I maked case shorter about 8 cm (little bit more than 3 inches).
2. All hard drive and optical drive baskets have been removed, front portion of case was made to mount on it 360 rad with fans.
3. Plus i mounted some brackets in coners (they behind rad on pictures, you can't see them) for improving rigidity (not enought, as I fugured it out later).
4. Small HDD basket was salvaged from donor case (btw, Inwin in early 2000s was making very sturdy cases, i will use frame from my donor for my next mod/build) and mounted directly to top of the case with roofing screws (at least it removable ).
5. Front panel was made from old one by removing center part and replacing it with galvanized mesh for plastering, power button was replaced and relocated on top center part of panel. Four neodymium magnets was mounted with hot glue in coners of panel to make it easy to install/remove from a case (but now front panel can't be used like a grip point).
6. My main mistake for this build was to trust LTT video about plasti dip (joke). I was on very strict budget, and all this work, from start to finish, i did in my rental room, where i live. So, at that time i considered plasti dip because it didn't need very heavy surface preparation, primer and also dries very fast. Also overspray is less of a problem just because after drying out coating turning into thin film, that can be peeled off very easily from pretty much any surface. But I had enough money for only two cans of "paint", ant this is not enough. Layer is to thin, it rips and peels off after any not very gentle touch, many edge surfaces was damaged in assembly process, even with me trying to be as careful as possible. End result is pretty only when you look at it from a distance, but for me it still good enough.
 
From last time i acquired some additional parts, like angle fittings (45s and 90s), proper reservoir and  better quality tube. For coolant additive i used ethylene glycol based automotive coolant premix (from which water have this light pink color), not very big amount, but enough for corrosion and bacteria growth resistance.
Also, it happens that my B350 PC Mate has RGB header, so i ordered 2 meters of rgb strip to mask defects with some bright lights. I also bought usb 3.0/ audio-mic combo for front panel, but after mounting of rad and fans there was no space to mount it, even without hiding it.
1060 was swapped for 2060, 120 Adata "NVME" ssd was changed for WD 500gb sata model.To cool vrm and memory on graphics card I made "custom" adaptor from standard fan header to smaller one, that was for stock graphics card fans. Rods and springs for stand off mount for cooling fan was salvaged from old AM2 cpu cooler mount.
 
Case is kinda on a flimsy side, but with components in it rigidity slightly improves. Paint Job is kinda trashy, but it good enough if you dont look at it very picky. Also, i decided to not make acrylic side panel and just leave case open, because acrylic is scrach magnet, and my plans to cover it with automotive clear armor film happend to be quite expensive.
 
Overall, lessons learned, experience is gained, even some good tools acquired in a process. Starting goal to fix previous mistakes and also make system more compact and neat is completed.  Next step will be after I upgrade to Zen 2.
 

 

Poor mans gaming phers updated. Love every cent spent on them

My latest 2 purchases. 
 
LG 29UM68-P
 
2x SKAGEN watches

Poor mans gaming phers updated. Love every cent spent on them

Poor mans gaming phers updated. Love every cent spent on them

They are copper based blocks. Those aluminium accent peaces dont come in contact with coolant. I myself use Phanteks Glacier blocks for my R5 1600 and GTX1080Ti.

They are copper based blocks. Those aluminium accent peaces dont come in contact with coolant. I myself use Phanteks Glacier blocks for my R5 1600 and GTX1080Ti.

It depends on the case, what screws are used. I've had case that use M3 thread sized standoffs and screws for MB, but another one used those 'murican 6/32" UNC type standoffs and screws. So its really a gamble to know what screws to use, but most commonly theese are the two styles used in pc's(from my experience) - M3 and 6/32".

My little toy..
Firestrike score:11122
 

Just do a quick once over for leaks and you should be golden

Thats my point. From my experience (like 5 soft tubing builds) i have had 0 leaks. Even when i did the first ever (I guess 8 years back?) Usually when I fill and bleed my loop, Im giving it a good shake to get air out of rads and blocks and if any leaks should happen, it would be then.

Ihmo any FX series cpu should be killed with fire. Better search for an 4th generation Intel cpu deal. And GT730 isn't oriented for gaming too. Maybe go scrapyard style and shoot for used, but more gaming worthy hardware? 
 
Even for csgo you should aim for single core performance. FX series suck bad at it. Go Intel. 

Maybe swap out my R5 1600 with the next gen Ryzen. If the performance bump is worth it. Other than that, I don't see any other upgrade reason for my pc now. 

Ryzen 5 1600 
Asus B350-F STRIX gaming 
1*16GB Corsair LPX 3000MHZ 
KFA2 1080Ti FE 
BeQuiet Straight Power 700W
PHANTEKS Enthoo Pro M
 
W/C parts 
Phanteks Glacier 350a
Phanteks Glacier 1080Ti FE block 
Magicool pump/res
Magicool 240mm rad in front 
Magicool 360mm rad in top
Arctic F12 fans allround 
 
Still need to tidy up some things 
 

Managed to hit 6305 at last. Little more tweaking got some more performance. Sadly memory cant go higher anymore, starts artifacting.
 
1080P Extreme score: 6305
 
CPU: R5 1600 at 3.925Ghz w/Phanteks Glacier CPU block
GPU: KFA2 GTX 1080Ti blower edition w/Phanteks Glacier fullcover block
GPU clocks - 2076 Mhz max core (+165 on EVGA POCX), 1545Mhz on mem (+675 on EVGA POCX)

Little upgrade - bought another 16GB DDR4 stick, so the existing one doesn't feel lonely. Not that I ever need 32GB of ram. 
 
And an SSD, so that slot on motherboard doesn't stay empty. And needed some faster storage too. 

My latest 2 purchases. 
 
LG 29UM68-P
 
2x SKAGEN watches

Ryzen 5 1600 
Asus B350-F STRIX gaming 
1*16GB Corsair LPX 3000MHZ 
KFA2 1080Ti FE 
BeQuiet Straight Power 700W
PHANTEKS Enthoo Pro M
 
W/C parts 
Phanteks Glacier 350a
Phanteks Glacier 1080Ti FE block 
Magicool pump/res
Magicool 240mm rad in front 
Magicool 360mm rad in top
Arctic F12 fans allround 
 
Still need to tidy up some things 
 

Ryzen 5 1600 
Asus B350-F STRIX gaming 
1*16GB Corsair LPX 3000MHZ 
KFA2 1080Ti FE 
BeQuiet Straight Power 700W
PHANTEKS Enthoo Pro M
 
W/C parts 
Phanteks Glacier 350a
Phanteks Glacier 1080Ti FE block 
Magicool pump/res
Magicool 240mm rad in front 
Magicool 360mm rad in top
Arctic F12 fans allround 
 
Still need to tidy up some things 
 

Rip wallet.
 
ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F Gaming
Ryzen 5 1600
Corsair 16GB DDR4 3000Mhz

Rip wallet.
 
ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F Gaming
Ryzen 5 1600
Corsair 16GB DDR4 3000Mhz

You dont say I know. Its planed already. Had to get on the 1080Ti first, since miners f-ed up the gpu market.

So this happened... Now the waiting begins 

AMD FX-8350 at 4.8Ghz - can do a 5.2Ghz validation http://valid.x86.fr/zywe8s
16GB DDR3
SAPPHIRE RX480 8GB
ANTEC HCGM 750W
KINGSTON 120GB SSD + 1TB SEAGATE HDD
 
For cooling:
EKWB Supremacy MX
BYKSKI RX480 fullcover block
Magicool 360 rad in front
Magicool 240 rad in top
Arctic cooling F12 on front rad & rear exhaust + Silverstone 15mm fans on top rad
Magicool Pump/res combo (dead silent to my surprise when on 12v)
Bad tubing runs & cable management

I know that feel bro. Christmas keeps coming back Again from me to myself.