build PC of Theseus

[h0m3]

For those who knows the Ship of Theseus thought experiment kinda knows what this is going on.

 

Well, i've started my build in May of 2020 after about 5 or 6 years with laptop only. At that time my objective was to build a small but powerful system, and of course full of RGB. So, i've gone the ITX approach.

 

At that time i've choose a AMD Ryzen 3900X, the full spec list was:

- AMD Ryzen 3900X
- 32GB of G.Skill TridentZ NEO RGB
- Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro
- Corsair H100i Platinum SE
- 3 x Lian Li Bora 120mm fan
- XFX XTR2 850W PSU
- NZXT H210i case
- Corsair MP400 PCI-E 4.0
- Intel 660p 2TB

- Windows 10

Powerful enough and all the bling it can bring. And if you're following i've forgot to tell my graphics card, well... It was a Gigabyte RTX 2060, just because it was cheap (pre-covid) and it was poweful enough, thats because my plan is to upgrade the only part to a RTX 3000 series high end, which hasnt launched yet but it was the "final piece". How naive I was...

2021 arrived, covid arrived, and with it the RTX 3000 cards, which where unobitanium at the time and worse, basically no card fit my case hahaha. With the front radiator (only place) my max size was like 300mm which the only RTX 3080 i could fit there was the reference one. Good luck getting one at that time.

So I'd had to change my strategy. Bigger case, not huge that would became weird but a little bigger. So Cooler Master NR400 it was. It had a mesh front which has way better airflow and it could fit most RTX 3080s. So, i've ended up buying a Gigabyte RTX 3080 Eagle OC along side a Cooler Master NR400 and two sticks of Corsair Vegeance RGB replacing my 32GB kit with a 64GB one. Less bling but still bling enough.

The RTX 2060 i've ended up selling to a friend. I normally sell my old hardware to my friends because they aren't that into PC gaming so they have less powerful rigs and I can give them a friendship discount.



Less than one month after buying the RTX 3080 the computer started reboot randomly trowing memory errors. The first problem I had with this computer. After days of troubleshoot I realized that I had the component that never dies just died in my hands. My Ryzen 3900X was the problem. After switching back and forth all the parts with my server that had a 3200G the only part that reboot both machines was the CPU. Then I've followed with an AMD RMA and although slow here at least the RMA process was top notch. Sended the CPU and they refunded me full price + inflation.

Anyway, due to the fact that the price was calculated based on US dollars and I do not live in the US I just hit the jackpot, the refund was just right where our money was fluctuating a lot, normally thats a bad thing but that meant that although the refund was fair it was enough to buy me a 5950X due to inflation being all over the place. The top CPU any AM4 platform can handle. And I was just happy.

After a couple months I had problem with the Corsair MP400 just dying. I think it was related to the CPU somehow but I have zero evidence of such. So I've replaced it with a Samsung 980. Also 500GB. It was slower but Samsung SSDs are reliable. And after a failure I wasn't risking. I haven't lost any data. I had backups but I had to replace the drive. I've took the opportunity to also replace the Intel 660p with a Crucial BX500 and put the 660p on my laptop, its still there today.

In the middle of the year I've switched back to Arch Linux. I'm for years a Linux user but i've had switched to Windows 10 a couple years before buying this PC due to some games I was wanting to play. Anyway. I was thinking of switching back again and so I've did. Also the bling started to fade and I was more into silence at this time so i've replaced the blingy and noisy Corsair H100i with a Noctua NH-D15 and some NF-A12x15 at the front replacing the Lian Li Bora fans. Also added another 2TB drive, a Crucial MX500 (it was the same price as the BX500) totally 4TB of SATA "mass storage" and 500GB of NVMe OS storage.

 

At this time the bling was almost lost. The only RGB thing on the system was a strip on the grapgics card and the memory sticks.

Okay. I've really liked this case, it had a good airflow and the PC was nice. But it lacked something. Some games just refuse to run on Linux and my Oculus is a no go. So I've took that 3200G after upgrading my server to an i5, added every spare part I've had and built a Windows machine, the only thing i've got new was an Asus RTX 2060 Dual OC. Yes, another 2060, i like them hahaha. I've accessed this Windows machine through parsec and didn't even had a monitor plugged in it. It wasn't perfect but it was good enough to play eSports and VR.

Anyway. I wasn't satisfied yet obviously. I wanted to run Windows in a VM, no more network lag. VFIO baby. Fortunately I took vacation at the end of this year, that for me is just stay at home playing games but that means some extra money. And this time I was really saving all my funds to a upgrade to my platform. I've decided that I wasn't upgrade to a new generation. I would just upgrade my computer.

Anyway. I've also wanted to build a HTPC to couch play, this one running Windows and back to the small case, and this time performance wasn't that paramount, it just need to be "console size" and able to have a Playstation 5 similar performance it was okay.

So i've started searching and adding some dots together. And I realized that I've already have a ITX board for a SFF HTPC and I also already need a new MB for VFIO. And a plus that I've already have two graphics cards. So the upgrades aren't that steep.

I've ended up building the HTPC using my own Gigabyte board with a Galax RTX 3070 that was cheap right after the GPU crash in september. Also added a 5700X and a Noctua NH-U9S. The case was a Cooler Master N200. I've used the Corsair 750W PSU from my 3200G at first. Also the original 32GB from G.Skill that i've kept in storage.



Anyway, this wasnt my main PC, just a secondary HTPC rig that i've used part of my old computer. And what about my main rig?

After building this HTCP i've bought a Asus Prime X570 Pro to make a VFIO machine... Well... The NR400 is bigger but its not big enough to fit a full ATX board, also now i've build an office space and had the space for a bigger case. The temporary solution was to build in my server case (the one from the 3200G) that was a Corsair 270R. I have to leave the side panel open to avoid overheating but it was a temporary solution.

 

I've also added the RTX 2060 as VFIO card to run on the Windows VM since that was the whole point. At this point I was 100% function over form.

A couple days ago i've replaced the final original component of that build. I've bought a O11 Dynamic EVO as oficial (current) case for this build and some NF-P12 Redux.

But also bought a Corsair HX1200 because the XFX 850W cannot handle both cards at full load (triggers OCP, i could only run one at a time), so finally every single component of my May 2020 system was replaced as of this month and the "final" build. The XFX ended up on the HTPC because it was modular and I could lower the number of stuffed cables.

 

 

As of right now I have my system as:

- AMD Ryzen 5950X
- Asus Prime X570 Pro
- 64GB DDR4 Corsair Vegeange RGB Pro
- Noctua NH-D15
- 6 x Noctua NF-P12 Redux 1300 PWM

- 3 x Noctnua NF-A12x15 PWM

- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 10G Eagle OC

- Asus GeForce RTX 260 Dual OC

- Samsung 980 500GB NVMe

- Crucial BX500 2TB SATA

- Crucial MX500 2TB SATA

- Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO

- Corsair HX1200 Platinum

- Arch Linux

Every singe part that was on this PC was replaced somewhere in time. Now the question is. Its the same PC? Or is a new PC? I hope you guys liked my build history and i don't think stops here. I already plan to buy another 64GB kit since this board has 4 slots instead of two. The PC of Theseus continue

[Radium_Angel]

+1 for not being another Windows OS.

 

-1 Billion for using Arch.

 

Sincerely, 

A hardcore Debian user.

[h0m3]

8 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

+1 for not being another Windows OS.

 

-1 Billion for using Arch.

 

Sincerely, 

A hardcore Debian user.

I dont blame you. All the servers I manage, including my personal one runs Debian.

Btw. I use Arch

[Radium_Angel]

Just now, h0m3 said:

I dont blame you. All the servers I manage, including my personal one runs Debian.

Btw. I use Arch

It's all good friend. I use Debian at work, and have been experimenting with Arch (mainly through Garauda Linux....I like their neon UI) but it's different enough to have to consult wikis again. 

[h0m3]

8 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

It's all good friend. I use Debian at work, and have been experimenting with Arch (mainly through Garauda Linux....I like their neon UI) but it's different enough to have to consult wikis again. 

Yes, the package manager is totally different, requires a steep learning curve, but you wont miss the flexibility Debian gave you in terms of desktop manager and applications. Its very similar in that regard.

That said. I'll stick to Debian on servers. Its far better tested and sometimes stuff break on Arch, I dont want that happening on my servers.

[h0m3]

9 minutes ago, Caroline said:

That said, of course it's not the same PC.

 

I genuinely hate glossy cases, and glossy electronics in general (monitors with glossy stand/bezels, plastic speakers, glass, etc), they look... awful, it's certainly not a thing for everyone. I find it extremely distracting having a case reflect the monitor image and everything else in the room.

 

But at least you got rid of the shitty NZXT convection oven, that's good.

 

I remember this from and old forum:

I was young and naive (cof..cof... 2 years ago... cof...cof)