First custom build plan - RGB concerns

[North Wolf]

Hi everyone, I made the mistake of watching the Linus vid about the RGB build using the Tower 900 at a time when I am getting ready for building my first dream pc.  The case itself looks extremely cool and I dont think I can pass it up.

 

I live in Iceland, so getting the tower 900 out here is going to be expensive but I have resolved to go through with it, since I love the unique look of the case.  I also want to create a water cooled setup that I can keep for good, but I am going to start with air cooling to cut costs a bit at the outset (it will be something to look forward to in the future).

 

The current specs that I am looking at is the following

 

Maximus X Hero D4 ATX Motherboard

Intel i7-8700K -
Cooler Master MasterAir G100M (for the CPU)

 

Gtx 1080 8gb rog strix

 

G.Skill 16GB (2x8GB) Trident Z RGB 3200MHz DDR4

 

Corsair CP-9020140-UK HX1200 1200W 80+ Platinum

 

10 x Thermaltake CL-F057-PL14SW-A Riing Plus 14 LED RGB Radiator Fan
Thermaltake 9 Port LED Hub Sync Controller - Black 3.7k (uk)

 

2 x CableMod WideBeam Magnetic LED Strip 60cm

 

My first question with this setup is about the Radator fans, according to a review of them they are rated at 63.19 CFM, my plan was to use 10 of them on the case (they come in packs of 5) and then switch 8 of those over to cooling the radiators (I plan on getting two later on).  I realize that they are pretty weak compared to dedicated case fans, so I am wondering if this setup will be fine for a year or so?  The case is huge so I am hoping that helps with cooling in itself.  (and has a total of 12 fans with the included 2 x 140´s).  I really like the led effect on these so being able to use them before the radiators would be good (and saves on cost).

 

I am also trying to create a setup that works with Asus Aura, as far as I know the motherboard, cpu fan, memory, rgb strips and fans (if connected to motherboard) will all work.  The case is very big so there are some distances, does anyone know if I will need some kind of extensions for being able to place the rgb strips?  I have never done any kind of custom build apart from just assembling my computers from parts in regular cases over the years, so any tips on cabling in general would be appreciated.

 

Since I am waiting 2 weeks before I can get started nothing has been bought as of yet, so I am open to suggestions (like other rgb eco systems) if they work with the Tower 900 or other potential changes.  I have some leeway with the budget, but I am trying to keep it in the rough ballpark of what I have set up.

 

Its a gaming rig, so I am hoping to overclock it in the future (hence decent motherboard), but that could wait for proper water cooling (I am hoping to go overkill with two custom loops using two large radiators with 4 fans each).  I use one monitor (a 120hz one from my nvidia 3d glasses days), I have HTC Vive that I am going to run off this and I have enough hard drives laying around in my primary system (that will be converted to a server machine), I will have 2 SSD´s and a 3TB data one.

 

It has been over a decade since I have had the opportunity to put some money into a proper gaming machine, so this is a pretty exciting time for me, any advice or input is appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pr0fessi0nalN00b]

From personal experience, I have seen that the majority of RGB cases and cases in general come with an RGB hub (behind the motherboard tray). You are supposed to link a wire from the motherboard RGB header to the hub's input. Once you have done that, connect your peripherals' RGB headers to the hub. In case that is not the case (no pun intended), you can buy a USB 2.0 hub and take advantage of the extra USB header on your motherboard. USB hubs allow for more customization, but less components use that standard for RGB only.

 

Hope I helped,

Pr0N00b

[brob]

The cpu cooler is quite attractive but Trident Z modules are a far from optimal memory pairing. See the picture in https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cooler-master-masterair-g100m-cpu-cooler,5494.html and the RAM Clearance seciton of http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/masterair-g100m/.

[North Wolf]

Thanks for the input guys, I will grab a usb 2.0 hub to give myself more options.  I am worried now on the Ram, I did find this picture of the same motherboard and cooler.

 

 

If I understand it correctly then the ram I picked is taller and will not fit under the cooler, I will be using 2 sticks, do they have to be configured like above in every other slot? Or can I place them both on the end (where I think they will just manage to stay out of the way).  

[brob]

On Z370 motherboards, for dual channel memory operation, two memory modules have to be in slots 0 and 2 or 1 and 3. With some motherboards one can put modules in slots 2 & 3 and run single channel. But that configuration may not work on your particular motherboard.

 

I would suggest getting a different cpu cooler. As nice as it looks, it is not terribly good and based on the OP, you are eventually going to be replacing it with a custom loop. You could go with something like the Cryorig H7 or, if you really want RGB the H7 Quad Lumi.

 

If you don't want to switch cpu coolers, then you should get more compatible memory. Corsair LPX would be a good choice.

[Agonizel]

Hey,

I see you have trouble setting up RGB lighting for your case.
Therefore, I invite you to go check my tutorial on Fan & RGB control in the link below my comment! 

If you really want to use Asus Aura Sync, the Enermax T.B RGB are the fans you are looking for since the hub connects to your motherboard per rgb header so you can sync it all up. It's all in the guide

But don't hesitate to check all the other solutions!

[North Wolf]

brob > Its hard to give up the CPU cooler since it looks good given the case configuration, but I see that it must be done.  Thanks for saving me from discovering this the hard way.  I will keep the memory since that is supposed to be part of the long term build.  I like the cpu cooler you suggested apart from the facing of the cooling fan.  I still think I will go with it, since its not meant to be a permanent solution.

 

Beer_Nontitju> I checked out the guide on the different solutions, I am hoping to put some rgb on the custom loops and with that, the strips, and motherboard components, I figured that the Asus Aurora would give me the best options (like running a music synth).  I still do not know how stable/feature rich this setup is, or what I would be sacrificing by not running things like the fans in its native software.  I have even heard that Asus Aurora can glitch the memory and disable the rgb, although I have not had that confirmed.

 

 

Other things I am still wondering about is the size of the power unit enough for a bunch of HD and the future custom loops?  And if the less then average fans will be ok at the start (given the number of them and the size of the case).  I am in no rush to overclock, that will be a treat once I put in the time and effort for making the loops.

 

 

 

 

[brob]

Nothing wrong with the fans. Eight of them should certainly move enough air to cool the outlined system.