This marks my first PC build after saying goodbye to an 8-year-old store-bought HP. I had no idea it would take 5 months due to parts being out of stock, crazy shipping mishaps, a case with shattered glass, and of course non-stop F5-ing bestbuy.com trying to snag a freggin 3080 FE... But here we are. Meet: LUXE.

INSPIRATION

I admit I watched perhaps every PC build video on YouTube just getting ideas on what could be done and things I thought looked cool. I didn't want to do a theme-build for the sheer fact I didn't want to get bored with it. I knew I wanted a black build but most all-black builds looked "flat" so you really couldn't make out components and they, therefore, lacked interest. At the same time, not wanted to get bored of an all-black build, I wanted options to turn on a little RGB behind closed doors if you know what I'm sayin' ! THIS BUILD by GGF Events on YouTube is what finally caught my eye. The black with matte black tubing gave contrast to blacks and the subtle copper accents just added so much class to his build. I did not have (or want) a huge case like the In Win 925 so I knew it would be challenging.

--MODS--

Res/Pump

I did have to cut the case to allow the res/pump combo to fit in the space next to the fans. The angled brackets were also cut down so you don't see any of the brackets that's not being used to hold the reservoir up.

Water cooling Pass-through

The back and bottom of the case had to be cut and drilled to allow the pass-through and plumbing for the water cooling. Luckily this case had JUST ENOUGH SPACE where the acrylic panel and size of the fittings would still allow the back case-panel to fit. This panel also houses the sensor panel screen and looks like it was meant-to-be vs. an afterthought.

Copper Accents

While not a traditional "mod" - I took a page from the GGF Events build and used copper foil tape as opposed to the EK torque beauty rings for the fittings. The small strips of copper foil tape were wound around the fitting before screwing the top part on. If you leave the back of the tape on (so it's not sticky) it's super easy to remove, too so there's the flexibility to change it out for another color without having to disassemble anything.

--WATER COOLING--

The water cooling loop changed at least three different times. I knew I wanted matte black hard tubing and parallel runs. The look is just so clean! Because I don't have a ton of room in this case I opted to mount the res/pump combo flat at the bottom of the case. I've not really seen this done and it enabled the look I was going for. If I didn't mount the reservoir flat, it would either be in the way or blocking something. All of the lines visible from the front are 16mmOD PETG painted matte black. LPT if you decide to do this, wear gloves when installing the tubed because this matte black pain shows fingerprints like crazy. I went with the black torque fittings for the front plumbing since they completed the look. All of the plumbing behind the scenes was a little more basic with flexible ZMT tubing and black nickel fittings.