[Build Log] Small Penis Smaller Wallet Compensation Device - Lonely Edition

[Tadgh]

The goal is simple.

 

Downsize, upgrade, make it look fantastic, keep it really cheap, build it with superior materials, pack in as much power as possible, leave room to upgrade, and use it to leave my female counterparts totally smitten. It also has to fit the aesthetic of a new house I haven't moved into, and be all available for delivery to my house in the remote wilderness of Ireland. 

 

Like I said simple.

 

---- Goals ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

My current build is in my signature, it's bugging me. It's been evolving in bits and pieces for almost 8 years now, the design ethos was: "whatever works, whenever there's money". Nice as that is, and although I picked up some very good deals for sheer price to performance my platform is now outdated and frankly - it really doesn't look that appealing, alongside starting to chug like an old turf chimney.

 

Here she is lit up in white, for visibility - not strikingly pretty anyway..

So much unused space, so poorly spaced out

Forgive me community, for I have sinned...

 

My list of visual ailments is likely familiar to any builder ailed by lacking funds and not much desire to work on his own rig:

 

• Cable management is akin to Medusa's straightening routine in effort invested and effect achieved.
• The power supply is exposed, and totally un-modular, I do like my plugs thick and my ports plugged, but not like this.
• The plastic window is scratched and dusty, a little warped and genuinely unappealing, although I can relate I don't want it on my desk.
• The CPU cooler is unfortunately large, it might look better with a fuller PC but in such a small frame it's almost cartoonish. I have some sympathy for that state of affairs, but still.
• My GPU looks goofy, and out of place, neither fitting the theme neither being in suitable proportion with the rest of my componentry.
• There's so much free space, yet I find the case too large.

 

I could live with this a while longer if it wasn't starting to slow down a lot in daily use - that's gaming, video editing, never closing 100000 chrome tabs and virtual machines.

 

It's time for an upgrade. With Ryzen around the corner I seized all the assets I could (1000 euro) and set to designing something that appeases the following goals

 

• A downsizing, any downsizing is good but I did want to go mATX. This is the only area in which I have failed, moving to a smaller ATX case instead. I aim to minimize empty space.
• Very clean, industrial design with straight lines and plain panels, a premium, professional seeming colors - pleasing interior proportions and reasonably low noise output.
• A clear improvement in performance, and an affordable path to significant upgrades in the future, without having to swap out components or negatively impact its aesthetic value
• High quality materials and avoiding the gaudy at all costs, tempered glass is a big element of that for me because I find the cheap plastic windows abhorrent

 

---- Part selection and rationale ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Case

 

The very first component choice to enter the battleground was the case, I wanted smaller than my Fractal Design Define S, but was almost totally set on a tempered glass window. I also needed cheap, go figure.. Due to needing a lot of IO in my life, it's probably better that I bought an ATX board. So that left me with: Small, cheap, ATX case, complete with a tempered glass window and clean design. Y'all can probably guess where I went from here - The NZXT S340 Elite. 

At a whopping 14% less elongated than my Define S, while being slightly taller and equally deep, I've most surely failed with a serious downsize - as frustrating as this is the S340 Elite ticks every other box. It's beautiful, clean, well built, generously endowed with a fantastic tempered glass window and enough space to fit any future upgrades while not being excessively large. I love the sheer cleanliness of this case, so sleek, so uniform, a great interior layout - and best of all?

 

I can get it for 99 euro over at http://www.komplett.ie/nzxt-s340-elite-zwart/80045367/details.aspx?channel_code=1199&s2m_product_id=80045367&utm_source=adwords-shopping&gclid=CN-fvKPws9ICFaK87QodaRoMaA

 

Motherboard, CPU, Cooler, and RAM

 

The most important component of this build is the CPU as it's the part I'm least likely to upgrade. I want to grab a platform, and stay with it - but my budget most certainly does not lend itself to picking up totl chips. The Ryzen release was the deciding factor in this long awaited rebuild, not out of brand loyalty but out of sheer price/performance juiciness. I got a great deal on my FX8350 and have seen generation after generation of gradual performance increase from Intel - not something dreadfully appealing to those of us strapped for cash. The R7 1700 is perfect for my approach. With the full 8 cores and 16 threads of it's bigger siblings I would speculate that its value will practically multiply with a good overclock, which does leave one a little dependent on the silicone lottery, but with the value presented that's a risk I can take. It's also bundled with the Wraith Cooler which.. I know I have a nice cooler as is but for the ease of transfer, and cost considerations, I plan to use for the first little while of the new computer's life. At some point I will purchase an AIO to fit to it and that's when I'll attempt a decent overclock, but with the Wraiths thermal and acoustic performance with the 125w Bulldozer chips I'm sure it can handle the 65w R7 1700 perfectly.

In terms of motherboard, I'll be waiting for the first few reviews of X370 ATX boards before making a decision but it'll be among the cheapest few - I currently have earmarked the Gigabyte AX370 GAMING K3. Deciding factors will be aesthetics and included I/O - pray for me y'all

 

For RAM there's an amazing Prime Deal right now selling a 16GB kit of Crucial Ballistix DDR4 Memory for 82.62 Euro

 

 

 

 

GPU

 

As I was resolute on purchasing the aforementioned components, I new that the rest of my search would revolve around squeezing as much money out for a graphics card as I could. I found the XFX Radeon RX480 8GB with the reference cooler going for a poultry 245.83 euro at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01H3P9CKI/?tag=pcp0f-21 . Especially after the continued software improvements for the 480 it makes for a slightly better value proposition than the GTX1080, and furthermore I fully plan on buying and equipping a second when budget allows. The clean and mostly (aside from the Radeon logo that is) neutral look to the blower-style RX480 will fit in wonderfully with my build and I have no problem going SLI despite the consensus towards getting a better performing single card as my budget simply won't allow for that right now.

 

 

PSU

 

The PSU was an easy choice, fully modular, any form of 80+ certified 500+watt PSU. I was able to find the EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550w Fully Modular power supply from  https://www.cclonline.com/product/182244/220-GS-0550-V3/Power-Supplies/EVGA-SuperNOVA-550SW-GS-Power-Supply-Unit-80-PLUS-Gold/PSU0897/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-ykpLCm8Gqfdai458AeeaEw for 93.82 euro. It can even remain hidden beneath that lovely shroud on the S340 Elite.

 

Other Parts

 

Storage, Fans, and my RGB controller will all be coming, thankfully, from my current build, leaving me around 70 euro above my stated budget, which I'm sure I can find from somewhere

 

 

----Fin, for now---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It may be two or three weeks before I can order these parts but the money has been set aside and the build will soon move forward! This build ought to be cheap, powerful and beautiful with plenty of room for future expansion. If anybody has any thoughts or comments on where I should take this please let me know! Eagerly awaiting any response

 

Ya boi,

King of Hip Hop,

Tadgh

[kelvinhall05]

Oh boy, what a title...

[Guest]

i was hoping for sime dik pics. never have i been so unimpressed like now

[Tadgh]

Just now, deXxterlab97 said:

i was hoping for sime dik pics. never have i been so unimpressed like now

Sorry fam, no camera could capture a penis as small as mine

[Julian5]

3 minutes ago, Tadgh said:

Sorry fam, no camera could capture a penis as small as mine

thats some pretty harsh roasting right ther ebut maybe nect time try a bit harder and shed out the electron micoscope.

[Tadgh]

Just now, Julian5 said:

thats some pretty harsh roasting right ther ebut maybe nect time try a bit harder and shed out the electron micoscope.

Electrons? Don't make me laugh, my dick is approx 2 plancks long 1 planck wide mate

[KenjiUmino]

5 minutes ago, Tadgh said:

Sorry fam, no camera could capture a penis as small as mine

damn son, you don't need a new computer, you need therapy

[Julian5]

Just now, Tadgh said:

Electrons? Don't make me laugh, my dick is approx 2 plancks long 1 planck wide mate

damn that so small space and time distorts around it.

[Tadgh]

Just now, KenjiUmino said:

damn son, you don't need a new computer, you need therapy

C-can I have both?

[Tadgh]

Just now, Julian5 said:

damn that so small space and time distorts around it.

Some women enjoy it.. Or so I've been told..

[Julian5]

Just now, Tadgh said:

Some women enjoy it.. Or so I've been told..

you sure they are woman?

[NumLock21]

[KenjiUmino]

Just now, Tadgh said:

Some women enjoy it.. Or so I've been told..

thats what they want you to believe ... i call BS on the whole "size don't matter" thing ...

 

well yeah ... if you got a big house, big car, an even bigger ego and a deep wallet ... THEN your dick size really does not matter ... but if that is not the case, you better be REALLY pretty or REALLY good in bed - but fuck all this ... i would trade my ex girlfriend for a new computer .... and therapy

[CostcoSamples]

You should find an RX 480 that is not reference because they are too loud and run hot!  You won't see the cooler anyway since it is always upside down in your case!  If you want it to look good, get one with a nice back plate at least.

[Tadgh]

Just now, KenjiUmino said:

thats what they want you to believe ... i call BS on the whole "size don't matter" thing ...

 

well yeah ... if you got a big house, big car, an even bigger ego and a deep wallet ... THEN your dick size really does not matter ... but if that is not the case, you better be REALLY pretty or REALLY good in bed - but fuck all this ... i would trade my ex girlfriend for a new computer .... and therapy

Sounds like you're in need of our 

Premium Small Penis Smaller Wallet Compensation Device Package(tm)

[Tadgh]

Just now, CostcoSamples said:

You should find an RX 480 that is not reference because they are too loud and run hot!  You won't see the cooler anyway since it is always upside down in your case!  If you want it to look good, get one with a nice back plate at least.

Ah! I appreciate the advice, but I like the sidefacing Radeon logo a lot and seeing recent benchmarks of the stock coolers they run in parameters I consider acceptable plus they're cheaper which I like muchly. Thanks though!

[CostcoSamples]

What if you hold off on GPU for now and increase budget for other components. That way you can save up for a Vega GPU instead (May-June?)

[Tadgh]

Just now, CostcoSamples said:

What if you hold off on GPU for now and increase budget for other components. That way you can save up for a Vega GPU instead (May-June?)

Would do and it's a serious consideration still actually, I'm still trying to figure out if Vega's going to be worth it and if I need to pass the GPU into my family or not!

[NumLock21]

Time to change your SSID to Small Lonely Penis and the SSID password to

numeric number 8 followed by 5 equal signs and a capital letter D

numeric number 8 followed by capital letter D

 

 

 

 

 

[Tadgh]

Just now, NumLock21 said:

Time to change your SSID to Small Lonely Penis and the SSID password to

numeric number 8 followed by 5 equal signs and a capital letter D

numeric number 8 followed by capital letter D

 

 

 

 

 

Oh good, someone's here - question for contemplation (sanity check me pls I am very off it rn) - what about sticking with the R9 280 till Vega, trying to grab something then and use the money I'm saving now for a 240 rad AIO for front of the S340 and more RAM. Better space utilization, better upgrade friendliness but I am maxing out muh GPU as is...

Alternatively, going fuck this to my pride and putting it in a Silverstone Sugo SG13B, getting a 120 rad for that and more RAM and then happy days. Idk I'm swamped by opportunity rn. Could use the saved money from an RX480 to get an ITX case with a window either.. Choices tho..

[NumLock21]

1 hour ago, Tadgh said:

Oh good, someone's here - question for contemplation (sanity check me pls I am very off it rn) - what about sticking with the R9 280 till Vega, trying to grab something then and use the money I'm saving now for a 240 rad AIO for front of the S340 and more RAM. Better space utilization, better upgrade friendliness but I am maxing out muh GPU as is...

Alternatively, going fuck this to my pride and putting it in a Silverstone Sugo SG13B, getting a 120 rad for that and more RAM and then happy days. Idk I'm swamped by opportunity rn. Could use the saved money from an RX480 to get an ITX case with a window either.. Choices tho..

Keep your current video card and see what VEGA has to bring before upgrading. As for ITX, imo, there will never be a proper ITX, due to the length of graphic cards and AIO. These 2 components, forces cases to be much larger than they need to be in a ITX form factor case. GPUs have started to get smaller in size due to the increase popularity of SFF builds, but some are still a tad too long. A ITX board has a length of 6.7" (17cm) any gpu that's longer than than needs to make it shorter. Fury Nano length is at 6" (15cm). AIO, most will want a dual rad type, this forces users to get a larger case so they can make it fit. If one of them can make a split style AIO, or the ability to connect 2 single rads together as a single unit, then ITX cases can, finally be proper ITX.