Blacked Out Gaming System

[JDSystems]

I just got done helping my son build his first system from scratch. While my building experience goes back to the original 8086/8088 PCs this was my first complete build in a long time. The new stuff is so shiny and pretty!

 

My son has absolutely no interest in RBG and the system will live in an unseen spot under his desk anyway so the only lights in the case are the Corsair H120 AIO, the GPU and the motherboard stuff.

 

The parts:

Corsair Graphite 780T Full Tower Case

MSI MEG Z390 ACE LGA1151 Motherboard

 

Intel Core i9-9900K Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 5.0 GHz Turbo Unlocked LGA1151 300 Series

Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3200

Corsair ML120, 120mm Premium Magnetic Levitation Fan (8 Non-RBG upgraded from the three AF140L fans that came with the case)

Corsair ML140, 140mm Premium Magnetic Levitation Fan (1 Non-RBG)

CORSAIR RMi Series, RM1000i, 1000 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular - Digital Power Supply

CORSAIR HYDRO Series H150i PRO RGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler,360mm,Triple ML120 PWM Fans, Intel 115x/2066, AMD AM4

1070 GPU - This is being recycled from his old system. It's still outstanding for Call of Duty and Apex. If he needs more horsepower, he'll double up the 1070 with an SLI bridge rather than move to a 1080 GPU.

 

Comments and information from the build...

 

Corsair Graphite 780T Full Tower Case

1 - The space for two 120mm fans in the bottom of the case requires thinline 15mm thick fans. I went through the web site and the documentation for the case and I didn't find any mention of the non-standard fans. Corsair doesn't even make 15mm fans!

2 - The latches for the front grill interfere with two of the mounting tabs of the top fan when installing three 120mm fans in the front. I had to use a Dremel to take off the offending mounting tabs off the fan. I was then able to mount the fan easily. (Picture included.)

3 - Because of the lack of information, my son ordered too many of the standard 25mm thick ML120 fans. He ended up installing the two bottom fans inside the case rather than the intended compartment for slim fans. He will put a piece of mesh over the fans to ensure no wires or anything fall into them.

4 - The window is nice but it would be nice if it were tempered glass and there weren't such a thick frame.

 

Despite the above, I will very likely be using the same case for my upcoming build. See my planning thread here: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1045709-managing-rgb-parts-from-multiple-manufacturers/?do=findComment&comment=12403631. I'm planning on using Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM 120mm fans in the bottom of the case. They're ugly but not very visible. It'll be down the list, but perhaps I'll paint them. For the front latch issue, I may be using DEEPCOOL MF120S fans so it might not be an issue. If I use fans with standard bezels, I'l take the offending mounting tabs off the same way with the Dremel.

 

 

 

Wiring Management Compartment

While I was the primary builder of the system, my son was 'in charge' since it is his system paid for with his hard-earned $$$. Needless to say, he was anxious to get into using his new system. As far as wiring management and organization, I was lucky to get him to take the time to pass wires from the main compartment to the back compartment. Then, when the back compartment was a tangled mess, the only reason he let me straighten it up some was that he couldn't get the cover to close!

 

You can see the cable for CPU power running diagonally behind the CPU. I don't like how close they are to the actual CPU. Also, in front, the same cables do not run nicely. In my next build, I'll modify the case so there's a hole to pass through right by the PSU. This should allow better routing in the back as well. If not, I'll get longer aftermarket cables. While the Corsair cables are good quality, I'm considering changing all of them out to colored cables with wire looms for the next build.

 

Most of the wiring running in and out of the Corsair Commander Pro leaves something to be desired. Unfortunately, my son mounted the Commander before figuring out where the actual wires would be running.

 

I was happy that I was able to get the 4-connector SATA power cable to lie flat while having all four connectors occupied. The cable is powering the SSD drive, the Commander, the AIO water cooler and I drew a blank on the last thing. Lol...

 

You can see the data wire for the SSD drive is looped for length. Overall, I want to be able to have better exact-length wires going forward. I'm sure third party stuff can get pricey. Building by own cables is definitely something I'd like to do. I imagine I would end up with a bunch of different specialized crimpers, fittings, and whatnot over time...

 

The random plug hanging from the top left is the USB 2.0 for the front panel. There weren't enough USB 2.0 headers on the motherboard. An internal splitter is on the way.

 

There are a ton of random wires stuffed into the top rail/ The case comes with five 4-pin fan headers that are undocumented. There''s also a power wire for optical drives. All of these extraneous wires will be removed in future builds.

 

Motherboard Compartment

Once again the bad routing of the CPU power cables...

 

The PCI-e cables for the GPU have so much shrink tubing on them that they don't make a nice turn.

 

There is an out-of-control SATA power wire hanging out because several more drives will be added to the system. This is why the drive bays didn't get removed.

 

In future builds, the 5.25" drive bays will be removed. They will have to be drilled out.

 

I gues that's about all I have on my first modern-era build! Feedback is welcome!

[NorthernDuke]

Looks really nice, I think you could potentially make some things better for yourself with cabling by turning that 3.5" drive round and running the cables up the back of it instead.

 

That's what I've done previously when the drives are on show like that and it should mean you'll be able to lose that SATA power up the front and SATA data too.

 

What I tend to do also with any visible cables over the front of the board is run them around the components where possible to clean it up a bit, I can see that cable over the top of the RAM looks like you could tuck it around the edges of the RAM slots to tidy it up?

 

Great nice build though, I always had a thing for this case and never tried one.

[JDSystems]

Thanks for the kind words.

 

The drive setup is my son's thing for easy access. Those drives are supposed to be the other way around. The drives wouldn't sit in the tray properly backwards so the entire tray is backwards! Lol... If you look, you'll notice you can't see the release tabs.

 

The SATA power wire running over the ram is currently looped under it. It barely makes it for length. The ribbon cable for the three fan headers is still running over the ram, also because of length. Corsair could have done something much better with the way both of these wires are set up. For an AIO that seems to have widespread popularity, the H150i leaves a bit to be desired...

 

I'm looking forward to many major and minor improvements when I build my new rig in the next month or so...

[CiBi]

Nice config, could use a whole lot of cable managing though

[JDSystems]

5 hours ago, CiBi said:

Nice config, could use a whole lot of cable managing though

I guess you only looked at the pretty pics and didn't read the text and the part where the only reason my son let me do the amount of cable management I did was because he couldn't close the cover after the rats nest he made! Thanks for the encouraging words all the same...