Description
Since I wont be attending on-campus classes for my last semester of engineering undergrad, I decided to sell my school laptop and current build in order to build a modest, all around machine for programming and development, as well as a good amount of gaming and Adobe product use.
I also wanted to integrate a project into this build, so I made a prototype of an LCD screen display (shown in first image) that connects straight to the motherboard, capable of displaying whatever I program and upload to it, like bitmap GIFs, etc.
Part Reviews
CPU
So far so great. Upgraded from an i5 on the last build, and was directed toward AMD for this build. Loving the 3.6 base, and is super easy to OC to 4.2 GHz with MSI Game Boost
CPU Cooler
Mainly got these for the seamless RGB corsair fan aesthetics, otherwise, I had a Noctua in mind for actual performance purposes. Seems to be keeping my system cool, and iCue makes it easy to adjust your fan and pump RPMs.
Motherboard
This motherboard was a risky buy for me, and is one that I am still keeping my eye on, based on the reviews of it alone. I have seen a lot of reviews claim to have issues posting and booting in general, so I was nervous. Upon installation and the first time boot, I posted and was adjusting my profiles in the BIOS in no time. I haven't had any issues so far, and will adjust this review if anything changes.
Giving this board 4 stars for the SATA block causing slight interference with some 2070 super models (EVGA in my case), as well as the need for an adapter to use USB-C in front panels (not a huge deal for me). My RAM was also registered default at 2400, but was easily configured and quickly recognized 3600. Nothing that caused any performance issues once booted or so far.
Memory
Great fast performance, and lighting is a plus. Chip casings look sleek, and the silver gets drowned out with a black motherboard (at least in my build). Will definitely be grabbing 2 more of these.
Storage
Haven't had the chance to rip this puppy at it's full r/w potential, but felt the need to get one to try out for myself, and to add a little more capacity to my workstation.
Storage
Moved Win10 and old HDD storage onto this guy, and I am never going back. Incredible load speeds for anything stored on it, and has improved my overall computing quality immensely, even if it isn't a fancy 970 M.2
Storage
Salvaged this from my old build after I cloned onto SSD and reformatted. Will be using for pictures, videos, and other misc. bulk now, which it works great for. Didn't run into any issues having windows and all of my games on this before (800G), besides the fact that the comparison to even SATA SSD is incomparable.
Video Card
So far, has ran anything I throw at it with ease. I used to have major issues with games that I really wanted to play, so I wanted to get something that would enable me to play anything I'd like without compromise. Although not a heavy game, I have been on a heavy Valorant grind lately, which will perform at max capability and barely kick the fans on. Have yet to hear a coil whine like others have reported about, but even so, it shouldn't matter if you play with headphones, or a lot of white noise in your room (my fan is on 24/7). Great card, and YES, the color of the LED's is changeable.
Case
Great big fish tank for your art-work of a PC build. So much fun to build in, makes everything a breeze and looks amazing too. For me, the silver front panel throws off the clean white/black look, but not enough to make an issue for me. The capacity for 9 fans (or more?), and the magnetic dust screens on each panel makes sure your chips all stay cool and clean, so functionally, it is damn amazing as well.
Power Supply
As everyone has to state, "overkill"..... but makes for easy assembly, and you can rest assure it's going to provide enough power for your build, as well as additions down the road. My only bugaboo with this unit is the cabling they send along with it. The ends of the connections have about 2-3" of a stiff rubber sleeve, which is incredibly firm (on both of the GPU cables the story was the same). This made the cabling to my GPU look odd, and I am planning on swapping out some of the cables provided. Cables come in a cool Corsair carrying bag.
Custom
Fun chip for small projects. WiFi allows you to upload remotely.
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