This build has been literal years in the making, and is my first ever water-cooled PC.

Hope you like to read 😁:

My goal with this build was to create something that utilized some of the best possible components available, while also being an awesome art piece to sit on my desk. This PC uses an i9-12900K and an RTX 3090 FE paired with 32GB of some GSKILL Trident Z5 DDR5, putting this build up there with some of the best in gaming performance. Along with a 2TB 980 Pro boot drive and a heap of other SSDs for game storage, this thing is wicked quick in everything I can throw at it.

Starting out, the most difficult choice wasn't the part selection, but the medium in which everything was going to be assembled. The color scheme, case, and overall style of the build were things that I constantly changed as I acquired the parts. My first vision was to use a Phanteks Evolve X (IMO one of the best looking cases out there) and maybe some chrome tubing. Or going for a full blackout build in a Corsair 5000D Airflow. Or maybe even doing something in the SFF side of things. But after weighing all the options, I eventually decided to go with what you see now. As I was gathering my components, Lian Li announced their latest revision to the famed O11: the O11 EVO. Yes, the Lian Li O11 is probably the most typical and boring choice to go for, but it is popular for a reason: great compatibility, huge space for radiators in an otherwise medium size case, and something that can fit the "show-piece" description I was looking for. And if I was going to be basic, might as well make an all white build too while I'm at it😉 . I was going to to do an inverted build, but considering that the PC was going to sit on my right side, it really didn't make much sense.

Assembling this beast was an absolutely crazy adventure. Drawing up tubing runs. Measuring clearances, adjusting the design, then measuring again. And again. Bending tubes was definitely difficult when I first started, but got easier as I went and got more experience. I bought a bending kit, but it became more of an annoyance than anything. The FLT res from EK is one of the strangest quirks in this build; it is mounted on the fan bracket that came with an optional mesh front panel, on top of a set of fans (who themselves are on top of a large HEATKILLER RAD) all mounted on the side fan bracket!! The entire assembly is absolutely massive. In the end, it took about 3-4 weeks for me to assemble the loop after acquiring all the parts.

In the end, I was able to fit 3 360m radiators from HEATKILLER (two 45mm thick, and one 30mm thick) and a 240m FLT Res from EK. All while keeping easy access to change out the ram if I desire later down the line, and keeping all PCIE expansion slots open, except the bottom-most one, allowing for the ASUS Hyper Card to fit in the system. If I have to say what I am most proud of in this build, it has to be the fact that I was able to squeeze as much capability out of this case as I could.

As far as performance goes, this thing absolutely rips. I am not done with my OC's just yet, but I am able to achieve a 5.2 all core OC, and 5.5 single core on the 12900K. 29500+ in CineBench R23 Multi-core, 20K+ in 3D Mark TimeSpy, and 12100+ in CPU-Z. The 3090 is an absolute monster, also scoring 20K+ in 3D Mark TimeSpy, putting it in the top 2% of scores! And all of this performance comes at ~60% pump speed an all fans at 1000RPM, so DEAD quiet!!

I am so glad to say I am finally done with this build. What a journey. Lot of lessons learned and a lot of time spent to make something I am truly proud of. Can't wait to see what the future holds!

If you read all the way through thanks!!! Hope you all enjoy this build 😊