The Great White North - 2020

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Caddac
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Best Build

The Great White North - 2020

I originally built this machine in 2015 with a single Windforce G1 GTX970, 16GB of RAM, one 1TB HDD, and one 256GB SSD. I then upgraded to a dual GPU system, buying a second G1 card in 2016. It’s now 2020 and the build is much different from where it started!

Main build is a 3900X cooled with a DRP4 on a ASUS HERO VII with 32GB 3200MHz, 2TB NVME/2TB SATA SSD/10TB HDD Storage, 1080ti Waterforce, custom Cablemod sleeving, all inside a Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL with some LEGO minifigures in there as a bit of flare.
Underneath is my server/stream PC: my old 4790k@4.5GHz, ASUS MAXIMUS VII FORMULA, 32GB 1866MHz, Gigabyte GTX950, Elgato 4k60 Pro, 12TB storage, all inside a Corsair 200R

Breakdown of parts by year!

2020
Decided to add some flair to the empty space in the case by throwing some lego Stormtroopers, Shocktroopers, and Vader. Also changed my Glorious Model O for the newly released Model D and I absolutely love it.

2019 pt. 4
I had been waiting all year for Lian Li to release the XL version of their PC O11 Dynamic because I really wanted to use it with a beefy air cooler. Unfortunately the original O11 wasn't large enough for the NH-D15 or the DRP4. Pre-ordered the case because Newegg has a pretty good return policy where I am and then I ordered a few packs of the RF120 fans from Deepcool since this case has enough fan mounts to mount them all. I also changed the two side monitors from the Dell 1080p 144Hz to Viewsonic 1440p 60Hz. Much better for what they are used for. Switched my mouse to a Glorious Model O, really like it.

2019 pt. 3
Started to improve the coziness and cleanliness of my battlestation. Picked up a nice rug on the cheap from Wayfair, bought a shelf from Ikea and then cut down the legs to make it the height I wanted, hung up some tapestries to hide the unfinished walls of the basement, and finished staining the custom desk top I had made. Really changed the feel and look of the space as a whole and did it all pretty inexpensively as well.

2019 pt. 2
So I ended up buying the 3900X at release. Paired it up with an ASUS CROSSHAIR HERO VII board since I didn't feel like I needed what the X570 boards were offering. Picked up 32GB of 3200MHz of Corsair Vengeance RAM because I got it at a steal of a price. Everything else was brought over from the previous build. I then built a server/stream PC with my old motherboard/CPU/RAM and a GPU that I got from an old donor build from a friend.

2019 pt. 1
Dell had a sale as they do very often, but this time Ebates was also at 14%. I picked up a single S2719DGF ($350) and two D2719HGF ($200) for less than I'd be getting the S2719DGF at regular price. I decided to not worry about having all 3 monitors match because I plan on only gaming with the center and using the side 2 for production. Would have been nice to have the 2 side monitors 1440p instead of 144hz 1080p but nothing at that price range 1440p had VESA mounts unfortunately.
Also changed from a G502 to a G403. I have really large palms and the G502 was just too small for my hands to grip comfortably.

2018
Picked up some speakers from my uncles place and wall mounted them above the desk. They run to an AVR which powers them and my surround for the TV setup on a separate channel.

Picked up the Elgato to try for a bit since I had just picked up a PS4 and planned to play some of the games on stream. Deliveries got messed up and I ended up being given two (courier said they lost it, company charged them for a second one to be sent out and they delivered both). Returned one and basically got the other for free.

2017
Saved up little bits from my weekly pay to buy a 1080ti. Was able to afford it by August and picked it up for $900 after taxes. Good timing too, soon after the crypto boom happened and prices soared.

2016
Picked up the Cloud II headset, which is the 7.1 surround sound version of the regular Cloud. Amazing price, I was lucky enough to have NCIX price match a small store in the area. I gave the old pair to a friend after building a computer for him.

Bought myself a second set of RAM sticks, this time in black to add a little contrast.

Had a notifier I set up on Kijiji pop up saying that somebody was selling one of my cards for dirt cheap ($200). Rushed over to him to grab it and added it to my system.

Picked up a 4TB WD Black HDD under a price error, $130. I wish I had picked up two.

Grabbed some 2TB BarraCuda drives on Black Friday for cheap, also swapped my Deathadder which had started to double click to a G502.

2015
This had been a long build in the works, I researched and switched up parts for almost 6 months before finalizing. I finally found the prices I wanted to pay for everything and actually got NCIX to price match almost everything, the only things they didn't price match were the CPU and my RAM because they didn't have them in stock. Put everything together at home with the help of a buddy.

I chose the i7-4790k because I will be doing some audio rendering with some possible video rendering as well. That along with the plans to OCs, the 4790k was the best choice for me.

I always liked the look of the H100i as well as heard many good things about it's performance so I decided to give it a go. It was probably the one of the easiest things I ever had to install. Loving it so far.

The Maximus Formula VII is one of the best looking mobos out there, and the fact that it is packed with so many features, I couldn't resist buying it. I got it at a great price as well, and I couldn't be happier. I painted the armor white to go along with the rest of the build.

I picked up an 840 EVO as well as a 1TB WD with plans to buy more once they go on sale. Don't need much more right now as I already have a 3TB WD Cloud Drive as well as three 1TB portable WD drives. I think I'm good.

The GPU was probably the one part I changed the most often, but once I did some reading on the 970 G1, I never looked back. This thing is a beast as a single card, and once the price drops I'll likely end up buying a second to SLI. It can handle all of my games at 60+ FPS on it's own without OCing it.

Now, the 780T was actually a very last minute decision for me. I had originally wanted to buy the 600T, and had actually ordered it. Unfortunately the supplier emailed me saying that it's discontinued and that they weren't allowed to sell anymore. It was the only seller that had it in stock as well. I kind of panicked and almost bought the 760T but when going through Corsair's website I noticed this beauty and decided it was the best compromise. I'm extremely happy with it, it's a gorgeous case, and priced around the same as the 600T anyways.

I picked up the EVGA G2 850W after it being recommended to me by a bunch of friends. The build quality is fantastic, and the wires are all black. The stock sleeving also isn't that crappy see through one you see on most PSU cables, so I was very happy to see that. I wanted to sleeve the cables in white but never got the time to do so.

As much as I'm not a fan of Windows 8, I decided to install it on my rig. I get it for free from my school, and it's lighter on the system than 7 is. By the end of the year I had switched over to Windows 10.

I really wanted to have some nice aestetics so I decided to pick up a NZXT hue to give the case a bit of light. Without it, the window would be pretty dark.

I had bought my Shine 3 just earlier this month, and I love it. It has to be one of the nicest build qualities I've ever felt in a keyboard. Got it with Blue Cherry MX switches and the white LEDs to go with the colour scheme.

I was trying to look for a nice white mouse that would go well with the build but also be comfortable and have good performance. I was close to buying the Corsair M95, but the abundance of buttons by the thumb was a bit too much and were too easy to accidentally press. It would also be pretty difficult to memorize all of them for a game. I've never really used too many hotkeys on my mice anyways, so I decided the Razer Deathadder Chroma was a good choice. Got it half off as well.

The Kingston HyperX is one of the most comfortable headsets I've ever worn, as a friend of mine has a pair. For the price, these things have amazing build quality, great sound, and the packaging/what comes in it is amazing. Highly recommended.
Color(s): Black Red White
RGB Lighting? Yes
Theme: Color
Cooling: Air Cooling
Size: ATX
Type: General Build

Contests

This build participated in 1 contest.

Build Updates

Quarantine 2020

Hardware

CPU
$ 375.00
AMD - Ryzen 9 (3900X)
Socket: AM4
Cores: 12
Motherboard
$ 398.86
ASUS - ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi)
Chipset: X470
CPU Socket: AM4
Size: ATX
Memory
$ 250.00
Corsair - Vengeance Pro (3200MHz) (White/RGB)
Type: DDR4
Capacity: 32 GB
Graphics
$ 299.99
Gigabyte - AORUS Waterforce Xtreme
Chip Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip: GTX 1080 Ti
Storage
$ 435.00
ADATA - XPG SX8200 Pro
Form Factor: M.2
Interface: M.2 (M)
Capacity: 2 TB
Storage
$ 175.00
Crucial - MX300
Form Factor: 2.5 Inch
Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s
Capacity: 512 GB
Storage
$ 197.99
Crucial - MX500
Form Factor: 2.5 Inch
Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s
Capacity: 2 TB
Storage
$ 115.97
Crucial - P1
Form Factor: M.2
Interface: M.2 (M)
Capacity: 1 TB
Storage
Toshiba - DT01ACA200 (2x)
Form Factor: 3.5 Inch
Capacity: 2 TB
Storage
Western Digital - WD Black Desktop
Form Factor: 3.5 Inch
Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s
Capacity: 1 TB
Storage
$ 169.99
Western Digital - WD Black Desktop
Form Factor: 3.5 Inch
Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s
Capacity: 4 TB
PSU
$ 198.86
EVGA - SuperNOVA G2
Wattage: 850
Form Factor: ATX
Efficiency: 80+ Gold
Case
Lian Li - 011D XL
Type: Mid-Tower
Side Panel: Tempered Glass
Case Fan
$ 89.98
DeepCool - RF120M (5 Pack) (2x)
Size: 120 mm
Cooling
$ 79.99
be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 4
Type: Air Cooler
Size (WxHxD): 145 mm
CableMod
CableMod - E-Series G3 / G2 / P2 / T2 Cable Kit
Mode: Custom
Sleeve: PRO ModMesh
Color: White
Accessories
$ 158.53
Accessories
Accessories
$ 147.99
Accessories
$ 99.00
Accessories
$ 184.95
Accessories
$ 267.99
Monitor
Dell - S2719DGF
Size: 27 Inch
Panel: TN
Refresh Rate: 155 Hz
Keyboard
Ducky - Shine 3
Interface: Wired
Key Switch Type: Cherry MX Blue
Type: Full Size
Mouse
$ 49.99
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