Aaand I built another computer!
This time, it’s for me - to upgrade from my old computer that was built in 2013.
I decided to add some RGB, since you know - RGB makes the computer work faster!
No custom sleeved cables however, though I totally would have, if COVID-19 price spikes weren’t so high!
Off to Mwave!
First thing’s first, grab the parts!
I ordered my parts from all over the place: Newegg, Mwave, Shopping Express, Centrecom and eBay.
For Mwave, as I didn’t want to pay the delivery, I trekked down to Lidcombe where their warehouse is.
Parts
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 3700X
- Cooler: ThermalTake Water 3.0 360 ARGB Sync
- MOBO: Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro
- RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32GB (4x 8GB) DDR4 3200 MHz
- GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 2060 Super Aorus 8GB
- PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2
- Case: Antec P120
- Peripherals
- 3x ThermalTake Pure 12 ARGB Sync Fans
- Phanteks Neon RGB Strip
- Deepcool PEC 300 PCI-E x16 Extender Cable
- ID-COOLING HA-02 ARGB PWM Fan Hub
- 6-pin 180 degree ATX adapter
- 8-pin 180 degree ATX adapter
AMD Ryzen 3700X
Well, it’s a CPU - there’s nothing that I can really show off… Other than the fact that it’s such good value for its price. My old Intel i7-4790K had an average Passmark score of 8058, the 3700X a whopping 22824!
8 cores and 16 threads at 4.2 GHz for only $400!
G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32GB (4x 8GB) DDR4 3200 MHz
These sticks of RAM were solid.
Chunky bois with a large metal heatsink and spreader, and a nice brushed metal finish
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 2060 Super Aorus 8GB
Yes the RTX 3XXX series came out shortly after, and yes I did want to shoot myself in the foot for not listening to people’s advice to hold off from any RTX 2XXX purchase. The 3XXX series price to performance is amazing!
But, to comfort myself, the 3XXX Aorus cards don’t look anywhere as good as the 2XXX series.
I was contemplating on going for the RTX 2070 Super Aorus instead, but at a $300 premium, for not that much of a performance increase.
I’m not going to be gaming much on this computer, rather it’s more for multimedia. I can wait an extra one minute of render time - no biggie.
It’s a nice sturdy card, and it also looks awesome with its three RGB-lit rings
Phanteks Neon RGB Strip
Compared to usual LED strips which had distinctly illuminated parts, these strips were continuously illuminated (thanks to its white translucent diffuser). The lighting isn’t continuous, so you won’t be able to get a perfectly continuous rainbow, but it’s better than most other lighting strips!
ID-COOLING HA-02 ARGB PWM Fan Hub
I needed this ARGB fan hub, because the B550 motherboard I purchased only had two ARGB fan ports, but I needed 3.
The male pins for ARGB lighting were abit short, and did not tightly hold my ARGB connectors.
I had to tape the cables to the hub, but other than that - not bad!
It also came with a large 3M adhesive piece.
6/8-pin 180 degree ATX adapter
These adapters were male-female extensions design to nicely re-route the power cabling of the GPU to behind the front of the graphics card - quite a useful unit!
I got a 6-pin and 8-pin adapter, to suit the requirements of my 2060 Super Aorus
Build
Now it’s either the ThermalTake Pure 12 ARGB fans (bought as a pack, and also included with the liquid cooler), or the Antec P120 case - but I found it quite a struggle to fit in all of the cables on the side of the case.
It did close at the end, but I did have to put quite a bit of effort to squash all of the cables down so that the case cover could slide close. @ThermalTake please reduce the length of the fan cables - they don’t need to be that long.
I have no idea which photo to pick, so I’ll just pick them all.
