SpectrumCore Build Log

[cdominic3]

 

 

It's 2017 and I was still rocking a 4790K and 980ti. I changed that.

 

For the rationality of my upgrade, I needed my system to not drop frames when scaling games from 1440p to 720p streaming, my 4790K just couldn't handle the load even with non-CPU intensive games like DOTA 2. At the time of purchasing Ryzen was multithreaded king and Coffee Lake was a couple of months away, so it was a no brainer for me to go with a Ryzen 7 CPU.

 

I do have an interesting story for the way I chose my CPU, my choices were between the 1700 or the 1700X. I am going to be overclocking the chip and power consumption did matter, so the R7 1700 was very enticing. However, the 1700X was only $5 more at the time. So it was really a toss up. But my friend who was also planning to build with an R5 1600, wanted my Wraith RGB cooler. So I went with the 1700. He then bought an Intel i7 7700. ??????

 

 

Upgrading my GPU was really a big question mark for me, cause my 980ti was still flying, but just for the hell of it I just went with the ASUS ROG Strix 1080 ti, to match the Strix X370-F motherboard.

 

 

 

HOLY CRAP. WHY IS RAM SO EXPENSIVE?! I've heard that RAM prices have gone up since last year, but this was the first time I was seriously browsing for RAM, and Jesus Christ, why are prices double?! Does Hynix, Micron or Samsung have a soul? Anyway, picked myself up a 16GB kit of G.Skill's Trident Z RGBs. Figured 16GB is enough for my needs, and still have space to upgrade to 32 if needed.

 

 

My case of choice was a Fractal Design Meshify C. I've been a huge fan of Fractal cases for some time now and I used the Define S on my previous build. So going tempered glass was the way to go.

 

The system was going to be powered by the Corsair RM850, which was the power supply of my old system. Storage also carries over from my old rig, two 2TB WD Blacks, one 120GB Samsung 850 EVO (my main gaming storage -- DOTA 2, CSGO, PUBG), and one 480GB SanDisk Ultra for my boot and programs drive.

 

Cooling is going to be handled by the NZXT X52, mainly just for the RGB again, paired with the NZXT HUE+ for lighting.

 

 

Building inside the Meshify C was smooth but I had one gripe with both the board and the case. Most motherboards have their USB 3.0 header beside of the 24-pin connector. So Fractal, with their forward thinking minds, made the USB 3.0 cable shorter, BUT for some reason, ASUS also made adjustments of their own. Since USB 3.0 cables are typically long, they moved their USB 3.0 header on the bottom of the motherboard, now I'm stuck with a awkward looking USB 3.0 cable on the back of my case. Not a big deal, but something to think about if you'r thinking about getting both of these parts.

 

Building was straight forward, I did however need a USB 2.0 to 3.0, yes the other way around, for my NZXT HUE+ because the X370-F only comes with one USB 2.0 header, which was already occupied by the NZXT X52's RGB controller.

 

Overall, cable management was easy, despite me having a ton of stuff that needed to be placed in the back -- like Thermaltake's Riing RGB fan hubs.

 

 

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

Guessing you got rid of the old hardware..?

 

lol just kidding, I'm planning on upgrading to Skylake haha.

 

Beautiful build, I love the quality of the pictures. How many takes did you go through?

[bellabichon]

Nice log, but i'm pretty sure that soliciting your own channel is against the forum guidelines. I may be wrong though, so feel free to correct me. 

[emosun]

did the front of the case get smashed in shipping? I'd be pissed

[cdominic3]

@Crunchy Dragon i did. sold 'em so this build didn't hurt as much lol probably a couple of hours, just in my backyard. wanted to take advantage of natural lighting.

 

@emosun no, what makes you say that? lol

 

[cdominic3]

@bellabichonvideo just to supplement build log. don't have a ton of pictures while building, mostly video, hence the video. also didn't tell you to sub to my channel on the post.

[EnergyEclipse]

I kind of really want you to add googley eyes above the 'sad frown' part of the tubing in the middle, as that would mask this build complete