Carbide Air 240 Build!

Baroon · October 11, 2020

Hello!

After asking for advise for my PC build here on the Forum back in 2014, my computer stayed basically the same (besides some more SSD's) till the beginning of 2020 - it served me really well.

Getting into VR during the lockdown showed me that my PC wasn't up for the new task though, so i began to upgrade it over the months and now i am finally done!

Basically everything besides the case and SSD's is new. These are my new specs:

CPU: Intel i5 10600K @ 4,9GHz

RAM: G.Skill Trident Z DDR-3200 16GB @ 3900MHz CL15

GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 XC Ultra (still have to overclock it besides turning power- and temp-limit to max!)

Motherboard: Z490M GAMING X

AIO: EK-AIO 240 D-RGB

PSU: Seasonic Focus+ Gold 550W PCGH-Edition

Case: Corsair Carbide Air 240

I am now at a point where i am quite happy how it looks, and even more satisfied with the performance and little noise it creates. I like the understated look of the EK AIO, not putting their name front and center like other competitors.

I was really surprised what a difference the Noctua NF-A9 PWM chromax below the GPU make (120mm fans sadly dont fit in this spot when using a mATX motherboard). Even during 100% load the GPU stays really quiet, where before it sounded more like a hairdryer.

The small red PCI-E expansion card is for additional USB ports for full body tracking.

I will probably never find a replacement for my case - it fits so perfectly in my shelf and i am a big fan of the horizontal layout and how much filtered fanspots it has!

My only hope would probably be an updated Corsair 280X which brings back the option to flip the case... and less tempered glass over the intake.

Upgrading my pc was really enjoyable, even with some smaller and sadly also bigger hiccups. I am actually kinda sad that i am done with it (for now!).

Wearing rubber gloves during every step of the process also helped me getting used to installing hardware while wearing gloves, since i will start working in a clean room of a Fab next year.

Researching some parts i wanted to use was not easy though, since i do not want to have any RGB-Software installed. Thankfully the GPU and Motherboard remember the last setting, even when unplugged.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read my post - i would appreciate any feedback and if you have questions, please ask!