What can I do to make this system look nicer?

[boey]

So currently this is my attemp at a black and white build, unfortunately I have a billion fans and so the cable management is a little messy. I find that my PSU cables are pretty ugly and the green PCB on my OEM 1070 irritates the living hell out of me. 

 

Right now I plan on getting some white cablemod cables, a corsair commander pro(so the pwm fan connectors can’t be seen), and three more LL120s on the bottom.

 

Any other things I can do to make this look nicer? My long term goal is to replace the GPU for one that matches the colours and ultimately the CPU.(Maybe I’ll upgrade the cooler to an AIO for aesthetics) I find it looks a little empty too. 

 

PCPartpicker Link: 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8 GHz 6-Core Processor	$193.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	CRYORIG - H7 Plus 59 CFM CPU Cooler
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste
Motherboard	MSI - B360 GAMING ARCTIC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$133.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$139.99 @ Newegg
Storage	SanDisk - SSD PLUS 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$28.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$147.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate - BarraCuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$44.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB Video Card	$383.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	Lian-Li - PC-O11DW ATX Full Tower Case	$137.98 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$89.99 @ Amazon
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$98.89 @ OutletPC
Case Fan	Corsair - LL120 RGB LED 43.25 CFM 120mm Fan	$31.10 @ OutletPC
Case Fan	Corsair - LL120 RGB LED 43.25 CFM 120mm Fan	$31.10 @ OutletPC
Case Fan	Corsair - LL120 RGB LED 43.25 CFM 120mm Fan	$31.10 @ OutletPC
Case Fan	Corsair - LL120RGB LED (Three Fans With Lighting Node PRO) 43.25 CFM 120mm Fans	$103.95 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1606.84
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$1596.84
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-07 08:10 EST-0500

 

 

[Jurrunio]

get a backplate replacement to hide the green PCB?

[narrdarr]

can you take more pictures pls

[boey]

3 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

get a backplate replacement to hide the green PCB?

Do I DIY it or can I buy backplates online? think the PCB didn’t match a lot of the measurements for other cards.

[GoldenLag]

get cablemod Cables to fresh up the Cables.

 

somehow get a silver Vega card in there. (heh, like you ever find those these days)

 

get a backplate for the GPU

optional, get a different GPU and sell the one you have.

 

insert photoes of your favorite Waifu or Husbando. preffereably glass stickers or place it on hardware.

[Dedayog]

It would look better without all that glaring bright white light in there highlighting all the bare areas and ugly PCB.  Lighting is to accent, not reveal.

[Jurrunio]

5 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

Do I DIY it or can I buy backplates online? think the PCB didn’t match a lot of the measurements for other cards.

arent these things usually on reference PCBs?

 

Or you can just get a piece of white acrylic and cut it into shape yourself.

[boey]

5 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

It would look better without all that glaring bright white light in there highlighting all the bare areas and ugly PCB.  Lighting is to accent, not reveal.

what do you suggest to put the lighting asz? maybe a darker colour?

[boey]

3 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

arent these things usually on reference PCBs?

It's the same shroud as an MSI AERO 1070, so I assume the PCB is the same size too. Didn't match reference PCB sizing. Think its 3mm skinnier.(width wise). I could go out and get some acrylic and cutting materials, but how exactly would I attach it onto the back and fasten it? My school has a workshop with these items, I could probably sneak in and take some or get a friend to do it for me.

[Dedayog]

Just now, _d0nut said:

what do you suggest to put the lighting asz? maybe a darker colour?

Yes, a darker color or dim them if possible.  It looks like the inside of a science lab or something in there

 

 

[boey]

12 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

get cablemod Cables to fresh up the Cables.

Saving up for a kit now, can't decide on whether to get classic modmesh/modflex, or pro modmesh. Don't know if I should get sleeved SATA data cables too.

[boey]

Just now, jstudrawa said:

Yes, a darker color or dim them if possible.  It looks like the inside of a science lab or something in there

 

 

Gimme a sec, I'll go through a few darker colours and see if it's nice. Thought white lights would go well with a white case.

 

[Jurrunio]

3 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

It's the same shroud as an MSI AERO 1070, so I assume the PCB is the same size too. Didn't match reference PCB sizing. Think its 3mm skinnier.(width wise). I could go out and get some acrylic and cutting materials, but how exactly would I attach it onto the back and fasten it? My school has a workshop with these items, I could probably sneak in and take some or get a friend to do it for me.

fasten it? No plans for that, I'd just put it on top of the PCB to cover it up. What I cannot see is not a problem

 

that said Google did find a few options for backplates that work with the MSI Aero 1070, so maybe that's the way to go?

[boey]

3 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Yes, a darker color or dim them if possible.  It looks like the inside of a science lab or something in there

 

 

I tried Blue+ white, green+ white and full dark green, does this look nicer or should I choose a different cooler?

[Princess Luna]

26 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory

When you focus only on aesthetics and gets a 3200mhz memory because of RGB on a motheboard that only supports 2666mhz memory.

[boey]

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

When you focus only on aesthetics and gets a 3200mhz memory because of RGB on a motheboard that only supports 2666mhz memory.

I bought a 3200mhz kit because I plan on switching to ryzen.. I bought the RAM quite a while back when I didn't know for sure what motherboard I'd be using. Don't have to be so rude, brighten up a little.

 

EDIT: By the way, G.Skill does sell RGB 2666Mhz RAM too. Not just 3200Mhz.

[ch3w2oy]

1 hour ago, GoldenLag said:

get cablemod Cables to fresh up the Cables.

 

somehow get a silver Vega card in there. (heh, like you ever find those these days)

 

get a backplate for the GPU

optional, get a different GPU and sell the one you have.

 

insert photoes of your favorite Waifu or Husbando. preffereably glass stickers or place it on hardware.

Newegg has the Vega 64s for a decent price (cheaper than a new 1080). I just picked one up. The backplate is all aluminum to and looks great if you don't have a vertical mount, might get rid of mine, honestly. 

 

[boey]

11 minutes ago, tomswife said:

Newegg has the Vega 64s for a decent price (cheaper than a new 1080). I just picked one up. The backplate is all aluminum to and looks great if you don't have a vertical mount, might get rid of mine, honestly. 

 

I'm running that 1070 at 1440p 144hz, I can't really take advantage of the 144Hz in certain games. I'll probably upgrade to a 1080-1080Ti level card. I'll look at my options once AMD announces Navi.

[ch3w2oy]

Just now, _d0nut said:

I'm running that 1070 at 1440p 144hz, I can't really take advantage of the 144Hz in certain games. I'll probably upgrade to a 1080-1080Ti level card. I'll look at my options once AMD announces Navi.

Yea, that's your best option. I just didn't want to wait lol. I almost bought a used 1080 ti but really wanted something new with guaranteed warranty. 

[boey]

Just now, tomswife said:

Yea, that's your best option. I just didn't want to wait lol. I almost bought a used 1080 ti but really wanted something new with guaranteed warranty. 

I wanna look at my options, I probably need to save up for close to a year to get anywhere near 1080ti pricing, even for used. Worst case scenario if I'm really broke I'll sell this GPU and get an MSI GTX 1070Ti Titanium.(Probably have to spend double of what I sold the GPU for though)

[boey]

3 minutes ago, tomswife said:

Yea, that's your best option. I just didn't want to wait lol. I almost bought a used 1080 ti but really wanted something new with guaranteed warranty. 

Also, do you find my PC looks a little empty, or is it just me?

[ch3w2oy]

3 hours ago, _d0nut said:

Also, do you find my PC looks a little empty, or is it just me?

I mean it does, but that's the case you're using, honestly. Not much you can do unless you added some HDD cages lol. Water cooling would help and take up the rest of that space with a reservoir and pump, but then you're looking at $200-400 depending on quality of parts. Better to just upgrade parts at that price, IMO. You can get an AIO like I have, but you can't mount it in the front like I have mine but it'll still help with taking up room, I guess. You should have gotten something smaller, or shorter, like the Meshify C. The Meshify C is one of the best cases that come shorter than most. Like most people aren't doing water cooling or using 20 HDDS so I'm not sure why cases are so large. I would have went with a smaller build but the damn MOBOs for smaller builds suck compared to full ATX. Even my 3 fan Strix card wasn't that long, just tad bit longer than the silver one you see in the pic.

 

I literally mounted my AIO in the front for this exact reason, with it on the top, it just looks dumb to have all that wasted space in the front, like almost pointless. Using a rad in the front isn't the best idea since the heat will dissipate into the case, but I don't care, it's a 360 rad and my case is full of fans so it's not hindering performance one bit.

 

Some people put like an action figure/plastic toy/doll from there favorite game/movie/cartoon in the front or on the GPU.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/z9QZxr

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/z9QZxr

[ch3w2oy]

Just looked at your pics a little more and what I would do, although not super cheap, is return the cpu cooler. Get an AIO, mount it on the side in a push/pull config without the fans on the backside where you have them now and add fans to the bottom of the case.

 

The AIO on the side with fans on both sides of it will definitely help. You don't have to do push/pull, even just the rad and fans on the inside will help help a lot.

 

Cheapest thing you can is just move your fans to inside the case instead of having them in the back.

 

EDIT:

 

Check out:

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/ThJ8TW

 

 

Your fans will look better in the front than theirs.

 

[cluelessgenius]

well idk what kinda of budget were talking about but i would suggest the following in order of price from least to most expensive:

 

get a backplate for the gpu. ek has one that should fit your card for example

 

get a sheet of white or off-white acrylic preferably matching your case color and cut out only the necessary holes for the 3 back fans so it covers all that black of the fans

 

get an AIO and mount it in the front/back so it doesnt look so empty

 

get a cable mods kit an really clean up every cable 

 

full on watercool that sucker to fill up the case

[boey]

11 hours ago, tomswife said:

Get an AIO

Already plan to do that. I'm looking at the NZXT Kraken X72/Corsair H150i Pro RGB. I love the Kraken's infinity mirror, but I've heard stories of NZXT refusing to reimburse people even though their AIO had leaked and damaged their GPU. Heard good things about Corsair though.

11 hours ago, tomswife said:

add fans to the bottom of the case.

Ok, I would probably do that too. I'm just a student who relies on my parents for money, and they are typical asian parents, where they won't spend a single cent on anything I don't need. I'd have to save up for probably close to a year until I can do everything that's suggested(get an AIO, add three fans on the bottom, change the GPU)

11 hours ago, tomswife said:

Your fans will look better in the front than theirs.

Basically my cable management in the back is horrendous. Because of how deep the backportion of the case was(it fits a PSU sitting sideways), it was a little hard to tie down cables to the tiedown points. There was a panel(Similar to those found on the NZXT H700/H500 on the front covering the holes where the cables came out off) in the back, so I just used it to smash the cables down and it was fine. If I had to remove the fans and screw them back on where they are in the main portion of the case, I'd have to unplug a lot of cables. I'd probably do that once I manage to get some CableMod cables.

10 hours ago, cluelessgenius said:

well idk what kinda of budget were talking about but i would suggest the following in order of price from least to most expensive:

 

get a backplate for the gpu. ek has one that should fit your card for example

 

get a sheet of white or off-white acrylic preferably matching your case color and cut out only the necessary holes for the 3 back fans so it covers all that black of the fans

 

get an AIO and mount it in the front/back so it doesnt look so empty

 

get a cable mods kit an really clean up every cable 

 

full on watercool that sucker to fill up the case

-Basically, I'm a student so for anything I'd have to order online, I'd have to ask my mum to order it for me then pay her back. Problem is she underestimates how hard I save my money, so if I go up to her and say 'can you help me buy ________, I'll pay you back' she would start freaking out because I have a few hundred dollars, and start questioning me on where I got it from etc. I'm already risking a lot by asking her to buy cablemod cables and paying her back, although she wouldn't be extremely skeptical because I can buy that on Amazon and that's the only e-retailer she trusts. That's why I stick to buying things from local stores, and those stores don't sell them. I'd probably have to live with the green PCB until I can afford a new GPU, praying that the RX 3080 leaks are true. 

 

-I don't have anywhere to buy matte acrylic that is convenient for me. Shiny acrylic would be pretty ugly and I don't have the materials to sand it down so it's not glossy. I'd probably do this if I have nothing better to do though.

 

-Yeah, planning on doing that already, looking at an NZXT Kraken X72/Corsair H150i Pro

 

-Same with the AIO, saving up for a cablemod white kit now. Not sure whether to get Classic ModMesh, Classic ModFlex or Pro ModMesh though.

 

-Parts needed for open loops are super super expensive here, and I have no experience with that so I'm pretty uncomfortable with that