*This was setup and built in March 2019. I first wanted it to be silver themed but it turned into something else. More on that later. Also, the fan colors look a little weird in pictures but they look great in person. Top fans, pump, and GPU are set to max red and the front fans are max blue. Lúcio is also hidden behind Reaper in the pictures.

CPU- I first purchased the i5 9600k because I believed it was the best value and option for me but quickly switched to the i7 8700k for longevity purposes. Although the latter is a generation older, it's definitely the more future proof option.

CPU Cooling- EVGA fanboy here and this has great reviews everywhere so this was an easy choice. It also fit my initial silver theme as well.

Mobo- There were plenty of Z390 matx and itx options so this is what took the most time to pick. Since my initial CPU was the 9600k, I was more concerned about aesthetics and connectivity on the mobo instead of the overclocking hardware. This still left me with lots to choose from but my final couple choices included the ASUS Z390M TUF Pro, Gigabyte Z390M Gaming, MSI Z390M Mortar (not really available in the US), Aorus Z390 I Pro, and the ASUS ROG Strix Z390-i gaming. I picked the ASUS itx board mainly because my case favored itx boards and I preferred it over the Aorus itx board. I'm still not sure this was the best pick but it's the one I'm stuck with lol.

Memory- Being the Corsair fanboy I am, I knew I wanted Corsair modules and I wanted the silver to match with the rest of the build so I went with the Dominator Platinum. I also steered away from RGB because the build has enough RGB already. (Yes, there is such thing as too much RGB).

Storage- My storage is a bit sporadic but it gets the job done. My NVME is for OS. The 1TB is for permanent files and such. The 250GB is for downloads and temp stuff.

Graphics- This card is an upgrade from a 1060 6GB and was purchased only because it was on sale. I purchased this card for $460, after tax, in August of 2018. I wish I knew RTX was being announced soon because Pascal cards went down in price for a bit and I found a 1080ti for $520 after tax but I was too lazy to return my card and purchase that one. I really regret doing that but my card works fine so I can't complain.

PSU- I definitely would've liked a fully modular PSU but this was on sale so I had to take advantage of it. 750W is just fine for my use.

Case- The case was another tough choice. I really wanted to get a matx board because I feel like it's the perfect balance of connectivity and size. After much consideration my choices were ultimately between the Meshify Mini C or the Corsair 280X. My friends convinced me to get the 280X, which is technically a matx case but really favors itx boards. This is why I chose the ASUS itx board mentioned earlier. I'm glad I bought that combo but it got a little tough building it. My first plan was to have my 240 rad in the front, 2 fans on the bottom, and 2 fans on top. Visibly, it looked possible but I immediately bumped into obstacles. The rad wouldn't fit in front because the hoses hit the top fan so I thought about flipping the rad to have the hoses at the bottom but this would interfere with the GPU. I was left with no choice but to place it on the top as exhaust. I was really skeptical about doing that in fear of bad temps for my CPU but realized I have so much fresh air coming in I should be alright (it turned out ok). My next problem was the rad and fans interfering with the cables connected to the top headers on the mobo. This forced me into placing the rad on the farther 140mm fans placement holes using screws on one side of the rad and twist ties on the other. This worked but was a hassle to assemble. Cable management was a breeze because of the spacious chamber on the right for the PSU. After the build was complete there was this empty space right next to my front intake fans and I really wanted to occupy it with something. I thought about placing a sticker but then decided that was too simple. I began digging in the chest full of toys and found 2 Spider Man toys. One was the all black suit and the other the basic suit. I figured the regular one looked better inside so I placed it right where I wanted it and it's perfect. It then became Spider Man themed.

Case Fans- More Corsair fanboy stuff going on. I was never a fan of RGB but in a glass build I just had to.