[Build Log] RGB Build 2019 - $600 R5 2600+RX570, Q300L Case Mod!

[TVwazhere]

Another year, another build, and this time i got to assemble it on my birthday!!

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$129.20 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition 57.3 CFM CPU Cooler	Purchased For $0.00
Motherboard	ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$69.99 @ Newegg
Memory	Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$64.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$31.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Seagate Barracuda 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$79.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 570 4 GB PULSE Video Card	$119.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$44.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$53.98 @ Newegg
Case Fan	Cooler Master MasterFan Pro 140 Air Flow RGB 3 in 1 with RGB LED Controller 53 CFM 140 mm Fans	Purchased For $0.00
Monitor	Acer SB220Q bi 21.5" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor	$89.99 @ Amazon
Custom	2 pcs black 4 Pins LED Splitter Cable LED Strip Connector 4 Way Splitter Y Splitter for One to four RGB 5050 3528 LED Light Strips with 10x Male 4 Pin Plugs -30cm/12inch Long (1 to 4Splitter Cable)	Purchased For $0.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$685.01
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-09 09:15 EDT-0400

Upon parts list review, you'll notice the price is actually $685; this is because the Monitor is not being included in the purchase of the tower. I also gifted the upgraded cooler and RGB fans for the aesthetic mostly (As I've mentioned more than once the R5 2600 still only comes with the Wraith stealth as opposed to the Spire on the 1600 so this upgrade is kinda nice for overclocking...) We also have our first attempt at case modding! More on that soon. 

 

So this build was a bit different from all the other in MANY ways. Firstly, this whole project was delayed a moth due to college starting; while these parts were being shipped my friend was moving from her parents house back to her on campus living arrangements, so we had all the parts shipped to me which allowed for all the parts to come to one location instead of having half the parts sent to her, and then worrying about additional transport with the rest of her stuff. I made a four hour drive to her college with everything in one car load which was much easier!

 

Since I had everything with about a month of waiting in between, I was able to do a test boot to make sure everything worked before I brought it all to her dorm just to find out we had a dead stick of ram or something.

 

 

Everything placed back in their boxes! if it wasnt for tape on the Monitor box you might think the first and last photos are the same (minus the product arrangement)

 

With that out of the way it's time to address the elephant in the room;  The Coolermaster Q300L. This isnt my first mATX build, so I could have easily chosen the Vera H18 TG for it's better airflow, but we all know what can easily take care of that. Cue, a 4 1/2" bi-metal hole saw!

 

 

Couple of things to note. This 4.5" hole saw is 114mm wide, which happens to be nearly the EXACT width of the fan blades. You could technically get a 4.75" saw which is 120mm wide for a "perfect" sized hole, (or a 5.5" blade for a 140mm fan) but the hardware store didnt have one. Be warned, this tool was easily as expensive as the case is, so if you want the best airflow experience and you dont wanna buy tools to mod the case, just get a Focus Mini G, a PS15 or a Versa H18.

 

Taping the inside to reduce metal shavings that I need to clean up later.

 

We had our battery die on us halfway through the second hole, so the second hole came out a bit rougher than the first. This will be completly covered by the dust filter, but it's also easilly correctable with some black paint if it bothers you a lot. 

 

I trimmed the four diagonal corners because I was actually planning on using fan grills to help keep the filter away from the blades, but the fan screws ended up not being long enough between the case, the grill and the fan, but it ended up working alright without them. 

 

I also went to the Coolermaster EU store and bought the $5 handle for the case. It doesnt come with screws, so I went to the hardware store and bought the M4 screws mentioned in this reddit thread, however I must have bought a coarser thread version because the threads werent the same pitch, so I bought nuts for the other end to hold them better. Punched a couple of holes into the filter to at least keep the top clean-ish, and the case is ready to be assembled in!

 

 

As usual I have the future computer owner  do most of the assembly so they can say that they built it, not that I built it for them. I just instructed them on how to do so properly, however this time I failed to double check that the CPU was fully socketed before we closed the latch! This lead to the CPU being not fully in the socket, and the cooler being a bit tight, and the SYSTEM NOT TURNING ON! Fortunately I took many photos and was easily able to diagnose the problem after we left for dinner. 

 

 

Of all 3 aftermarket CPU coolers I've done (Cryorig H7, Arctic Freezer 33 Esports ONE, Hyper 212 Black RGB) I cant say I have a favorite or a least favorite. All of their mounting methods were relatively easy, though Cryorig's new method of screwing in from the back is nice. All coolers are relatively quiet under load and keep their processors (4790k for H7, R5 2600 for the 33 One and 212 Black) under 70ºC while overclocked.

 

 

Dont worry, we flipped the CPU cooler around so that the logo was right side up  

 

Something to note is that the CPU cooler and case are listed as Incompatible, but there's a couple of mm between the cooler and the side panel.... I'm not sure which is incorrect, (if the case can support coolers bigger than 157, or if the 212 black is shorter than 159mm) I have a feeling it's the case. I'm gonna guess it could actually fit a 161mm cooler like the Enermax ETS-T40 like the one used in the original Blue Build

 

 

We're getting close to being fully assembled!! Time for a photo dump

 

Between a non modular PSU, no PSU basement and having RGB headers with fan and RGB extensions spanning randomly across the case, this was arguably my most difficult Cable management job yet. Fortunately, the Q300L is actually a great cable management case, and with some creativity, it can come out stellar. I used the CPU cooler bracket as an extra tie-down point for the 24 pin cable, as well as the HDD tray as a convenient place to stash the unneded molex connectors. The 8 pin EPS cable actually didnt need a single tie down point (though it had a couple) the case hides the cable so well you almost cant even tell it's there.

 

More picture dumps

(this one came out crooked, sorry!) Something to note is that the Green LED on the cooler and the one on the fans seemed different, the Cooler one was a bit brighter which lead to some mismatch of colors (while the fans were showing green, the cooler was almost yellow, and the cooler was a brighter white than the fans) The Blue and Red's matched perfectly. 

 

Some Extra pictures of the front, didnt take many or a gif as I had sorta planned but we ran out of time.

 

Finally, let's talk about software and overclocking. If you care a LOT about RGB and wanna use motherboard software, stay away from AsRock. The fans came with a controller, but it would have added more clutter to the back of the case and our board supports 2 RGB and 1 ARGB header so I left it out. However their software is VERY limited in functionality, there's no true Rainbow mode (as much as I dislike it, she wanted it) and the closest you can get on regular RGB connectors is Wave mode. If you can, use the RGB controller or consider one of the other motherboard vendors for your RGB needs. 

 

Overclocking was eerily similar to Blue build 2018 (though it shouldnt be a surprise, it's the same CPU and mobo after all), ending up on a 4.05ghz @1.3875V overclock, multiple runs of Cinebench R20 passed and the temps never went over 70ºC (69.25 was the highest according to Ryzen Master) Sadly the chip could not hit 4.1 @1.4v though. I also dabbled with actually overclocking the RX 570, but that was mostly raising the power limiter and increasing clock speeds by 5%, which really isnt much. But it passed the Heaven benchmark without issues so that's all it needs to do.

 

[Guest]

When they tell you airflow sucks, but you're #CaseDaddy so you make it your son.

[NinJake]

Very nice! Just in time for Borderlands 3!

[TVwazhere]

Just now, NinJake said:

Very nice! Just in time for Borderlands 3!

Personally I'm waiting for it to come out on Steam, but yes we will definitely be playing BL3 on this system!

[Akira Shimazu]

can you post like temprature and benchmark thingy?

[TVwazhere]

2 minutes ago, Wolfycapt said:

can you post like temprature and benchmark thingy?

Never got that Screenshot while I was there, sorry! The R20 score was around 2400-2700 and heaven scored around 100fps with ultra settings no tessellation IIRC. Both CPU and GPU stayed under 70ºC in each test. 

[Akira Shimazu]

4 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Never got that Screenshot while I was there, sorry! The R20 score was around 2400-2700 and heaven scored around 100fps with ultra settings no tessellation IIRC. Both CPU and GPU stayed under 70ºC in each test. 

the temprature pretty cool for testing. 

[Akira Shimazu]

5 minutes ago, WikiForce said:

awesome budget build

probably swap R5 to R3 for me lol.

[TVwazhere]

5 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

can i just say how much i love how the holesaw work turned out ,_,

Same! A significantly cleaner option then the Step Bit Used by Gamers Nexus or the Dremel used by Pauls hardware.  

 

If anyone attempts this, Keep the drill speed up and go slow; start at a slight angle so only part of the saw is cutting and you dont jerk the whole case if all teeth grab an "airflow hole". 

4 minutes ago, Wolfycapt said:

probably swap R5 to R3 for me lol.

2600's can be had new for $130, it's hard to beat that!

[Guest]

_{[@seagate_surfer intensifies]}

[seagate_surfer]

Oh well, this looks so freaking coo... Wait, did you actually drill a hole in your case!? This looks amazingly done and I must say that this is an outsatnding job, congrats! 

 

[TVwazhere]

9 hours ago, seagate_surfer said:

Oh well, this looks so freaking coo... Wait, did you actually drill a hole in your case!? This looks amazingly done and I must say that this is an outsatnding job, congrats! 

I did, and thank you! Honestly the case should have come like this from the factory. 

 

I was gonna leave it alone, but the damn perfectionist in me couldnt do it

[seagate_surfer]

With the tools available I guess noone would!  that obsession to know more and do cool things seems to be shared by all the members of this community...

[TVwazhere]

2 minutes ago, seagate_surfer said:

With the tools available I guess noone would!

Actually I had to go out and specifically buy this tool for this project only 

[seagate_surfer]

Goals surely worth it! 

[mikeyw64]

sweet, one advantage of cutting out holes is the RGB on the fans is more visible , helping with temps is a bonus cos everyone know RB is what counts lol

For all the criticism these cases receive in regards to temps there's no disputing they're little TARDISes when it comes to building on them.

[mikeyw64]

@TVwazhere Just reread your original post .

You mentioned the handles , did you never fit them as absent from the pics?

I also bought a pair but I didn't mount them in the intended position, rather I used some small nuts & bolts and instead used them as high rise feet to allow for improved flow through the base 

[TVwazhere]

6 hours ago, mikeyw64 said:

@TVwazhere Just reread your original post .

You mentioned the handles , did you never fit them as absent from the pics?

I also bought a pair but I didn't mount them in the intended position, rather I used some small nuts & bolts and instead used them as high rise feet to allow for improved flow through the base 

Using them as feet is very clever on your part. And yes, we did use the handle  most of the photos barely show it or or the headphones she had were surrounding it making it hard to see

[mikeyw64]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

Using them as feet is very clever on your part. And yes, we did use the handle  most of the photos barely show it or or the headphones she had were surrounding it making it hard to see

 

Doh I was looking for them at the front & rear edges as on the Q500P

[XGoodGuyFitz]

I know im super late but how does the Coolermaster Hyper 212 cool the system?