Build Log: Inversion

[tannji]

Greetings! I wanted to share my new build as it comes together, both from a parts-list perspective as well as conceptually, as my specific goals and plans inevitably bow to design necessities and a better vision of what it can eventually become.

I haven't built a PC for myself in quite some time, and when I did, there were always constraints, most frequently budgetary! I also never water-cooled my builds, mostly because I wasn't willing to risk leak damage on top of budget woes. this build will still have a budget ceiling, but it will be generous. I still have that bias and fear of leaks, and that will be a primary consideration in this build, as you will see.
I also resent dust in my cases, heatsinks, fans, etc. Unfortunately, I am not keen on the constriction of intake filters, not to mention... they get dusty as well, and right quickly!
I will share the specifics of how I intend to deal with water cooling and dust control as I approach those elements of the build. I want it to have some shock value and appreciation, as while there may be nothing truly unique these days, this build isn't quite like anything else I have seen.

Concurrent with the PC build I will also be building a PC gaming desk, and a separate cabinet for the PC hardware. Mission Control, Battle Station, Bat Cave, not sure what to call it but you get the idea, I hope.

This is not a great time to be building a High End PC, in my opinion. AMD has made amazing strides in the past year, but isn't quite there yet. Intel got shook, but not hard enough to stop over-segmenting the CPU market, and holding us hostage to features like PCIe lanes, proper Raid, and CPU thermal solutions that seem designed to require you to void your warranty. Other manufacturers seem to be taking the path of least resistance in the hope that all the RGB glare will blind us to the the lack of innovation, quality control, and customer support that has become the norm. Predictably, my build parts list has changed repeatedly. I almost chose Ryzen as a place-holder for newer tech upcoming, then Threadripper for cores and PCIe lanes, and then the Z370 platform as a better place-holder... and then the RAM shortage and Crypto-mining craze hit. I almost threw in the towel. Maybe I still should, but here is my build list, still subject to change, of course!

CPU - 7900x, Delidded, binned for 4.7GHZ. Shipping as I type.

Mainboard - Asus ROG Rampage VI Apex. Sitting next to me, glowing. Aside from all the obvious reasons for this particular board (Designed for OCing, robust VRM and cooling, Etc...) I am really keen on the Dimm.2 slots. I do not intend to have any spinning drives, and if I don't have to "glue" my drives to the mainboard surface, bonus!

GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hydro Copper GAMING. In shipping. It was available at EVGA site for nearly MSRP, btw. Not shilling for EVGA, but with current GPU pricing and availability, this is a place you should at least be looking. Stock changes frequently, so look multiple times.

RAM - G.SKILL TridentZ Series 32GB (4 x 8GB ) 3200 Timing 14-14-14-34 I wanted non-RGB. I wanted decent timings. Like everything else on the list, I didn't want to pay this much. Dead horse.

SSD - SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 1TB NVMe (X2) No spinners, thank you. I will be Dual booting Win10 and Solus. (Sublime linux distro) I like my OSes on physical partitions, not logical.

PSU - Seasonic PRIME Ultra 1000W 80+ Platinum. Pending, still open to suggestions here. This is slight overkill, but even if the entire build wasn't that way, I like my PSU to to have headroom in it's designed duty cycle.



Cooling - Still up in the air as this is my first shot at this.

CPU water block - EK-FB ASUS ROG R6E RGB Monoblock In a build with no/minimal RGB, this should look menacing, and I will sleep better with this securing the 7900X.

Radiator - EK-CoolStream SE 560 Nominally overkill as well, but due to the realities of the cabinet I am building, this was the way to go.

Reservoir - EK-RES X3 400 800ml See above, lol.

Pump - EK-XTOP Revo D5 PWM This should do the job, but suggestions please. I need good flow, quiet operation. This will not be pumping any great distance "uphill", as it likely would in a full tower.



Coolant - Yes. Don't know a damn thing here, other than what I don't want.

Spotswood Large Tech Station - An extruded aluminum (I am American, deal with it = ) open frame tech bench for the PC. This will be used as a starting point for mounting my PC within the cabinet I am building. Main difference in my build is that it will not be two layers like this shows. All my components will be on the same level.



+ tons of the expected cables, wire management, Cable Chain, etc.

Ossic X - 3D headphones. If you haven't heard of them, you will. Expensive, but fully 3 dimensional positional audio. Not stereo, not 7.1 emulated dolby, positional in 3 axes. (as in axis, not hatchets. Funny story, I am related to a famous hatchet-wielding murderess, but back on topic.)

Keyboard - Roccat ISKU+ Force FX I do not use a keyboard to game so this will be an adventure. but, this board has key-binding synergy with my mouse, so we shall see.

Mouse - Roccat Tyon See above.


More to come, obviously. My apologies if this ends up being a duplicate thread, but my original thread disappeared when I tried to preview it in advanced editor. Stuff like this just happens to me, so stay tuned, the build might take strange turns. = )

 

[tannji]

If anyone actually gets this far and is interested, I welcome and appreciate input, critique, suggestions. If you are pondering where I am going with the design, the project name is suggestive, I think. I am a technician by trade, but that doesn't mean a lot here. I would assume many have more experience and skill than I, and I hope to absorb some of that.

Cheers.

 

[AlienALX]

Every custom PC is unique. I mean, find me two exactly the same right? they're usually the person they represent.

Thus far the only criticism is pics or it didn't happen. Never start a log on just text, people just won't bother with it. I did, but you are lucky because I am ASD and love to read.

 

[Layer Cakes]

Those specs though! Looking forward to following this. It's going to be killer!

Good luck with the build!

 

[tannji]

Every custom PC is unique. I mean, find me two exactly the same right? they're usually the person they represent.

Thus far the only criticism is pics or it didn't happen. Never start a log on just text, people just won't bother with it. I did, but you are lucky because I am ASD and love to read.

Oh, you are correct, and I read the Guide on what is expected and appreciated here, for build logs. I felt Cheezy just copying manufacturers marketing shots, but I'll thow a few in, just so that there is eye candy while I wait for parts to come.

 

[Contendo]

Thus far the only criticism is pics or it didn't happen. Never start a log on just text, people just won't bother with it. I did, but you are lucky because I am ASD and love to read.

I was thinking the same. I usually skip the big wall of text but your build log name sounded interesting so I kept reading.
But yeah, pics please.

 

[Wraith]

Looks real good fella, also nice to see some Roccat love with the peripherals.

 

[tannji]

Looks real good fella, also nice to see some Roccat love with the peripherals.

Thanks! My Tyon has not been very durable, but it is otherwise well designed, capable, and flexible.

So, funny story. I recreated this topic because it disappeared from the forum. I think what happened is that when you create a post, it has to be approved by a mod. Well, apparently when you switch from editing to advanced editing, it triggers that mod policy, and i couldn't see it or find it. As I mention above, these things happen to me. = )

 

[tannji]

Just picked this up for the project. Canon VIXIA HF R700 FULL HD Camcorder. Slightly apprehensive about that aspect of sharing, but full speed ahead!

 

[Wraith]

Thanks! My Tyon has not been very durable, but it is otherwise well designed, capable, and flexible.

So, funny story. I recreated this topic because it disappeared from the forum. I think what happened is that when you create a post, it has to be approved by a mod. Well, apparently when you switch from editing to advanced editing, it triggers that mod policy, and i couldn't see it or find it. As I mention above, these things happen to me. = )

I'm using the Ryos Pro and the Kone AIMO which is just a phenomenal mouse.

Yes as you are new to the forums anything you post which has links or images will have to be approved.

 

[tannji]

I'm using the Ryos Pro and the Kone AIMO which is just a phenomenal mouse.

Yes as you are new to the forums anything you post which has links or images will have to be approved.

Indeed. However, I did not anticipate or understand at that point, that adding images to an already existing and approved post would trigger the admin policy, let alone that the entire thread would disappear. When it disappeared for the SECOND time I may have said some naughty words. After reflecting upon what the Tiniest would do, i diagnosed the likely cause.

 

[tannji]

Those specs though! Looking forward to following this. It's going to be killer!

Good luck with the build!

Thanks, I will need it. As for the specs, we all need to do something like this at least once. I used to do this with cars... but this is a little more convenient, safer, and somewhat less expensive.

 

[tinytomlogan]

In reply to your contact me email:

Where you are a new member any new threads with images - AND - when you edit those threads they need to be checked and approved by a moderator. Please just be patient when this happens or make sure you only hit post on any edited posts once you are completely finished and then be patient for one of the boys to give it a look over

 

[tannji]

In reply to your contact me email:

Where you are a new member any new threads with images - AND - when you edit those threads they need to be checked and approved by a moderator. Please just be patient when this happens or make sure you only hit post on any edited posts once you are completely finished and then be patient for one of the boys to give it a look over

Roger... figured that out, after a few choice words, as I mentioned before.. = ) It all worked out, and I am a bit wiser.

 

[tannji]

More pics incoming. I will do a spread as soon as everything is present, including watercooling loop based around an EK 560mm rad and monoblock, and the Spotswood aluminum frame.

 

[tannji]

Build inventory is nearly complete. Still need a reservoir, and am thinking about a cube or bay style... but haven't found one I like. Suggestions needed on that front.

I hadn't really grasped the size of that 560 radiator. I could probably forego the reservoir entirely. The ugliness beneath and behind the parts is the nearly stripped down room that is becoming my new office/den. Paneling, paint, carpeting, lighting all incoming.

 

[tannji]

SysPrep purged

Just got done running Sysprep for about 36 hours. I placed a $10 billet aluminum filter in-line, with only modest expectations that anything significant would get flushed.

The filter element is a gold matrix and not at all condusive to showing debris that is trapped:

While dis-assembling the purging loop, I accidently allowed it to back flow a bit, and noticed a lot of what looked like fine bubbles? (my eyesight is NOT what it used to be.) Seems like it was a lot of fine metallic particles and flux from the radiator. What I didnt get was a pic of the fine matter that turned much of the element grey-toned. I have to say I am grateful that I took that extra step, in hindsight.

I learned a few minor and somewhat obvious lessons about setting up a loop. I threw the loop together willy-nilly to purge it, with the exception of the filter, which I placed at the "end" of the loop, feeding the pump inlet. I did not have the reservoir feeding the pump.... and now I know why that is wrong... bubbles are hard to get rid of if your reservoir is fed by the pump.... particularly if it is a good pump and a small reservoir!

I was very impressed with the EK D5 pump and Seasonic Prime Ultra PSU. Both were far quieter than I expected. Granted, the PSU was only pushing a pump, but I had read complaints about the fan always running regardless of load, and that concerned me somewhat. No more. I could hear the pump somewhat due to the small bubble group that was cycling through the loop. Every time it hit the pump you could hear it, and the pump would discharge them as super-fine bubbles that had no chance of staying in the rez. My fault. I am reassured, the only real issue I will have during the build with these components will be vibration, and that is a small matter, due to the density and weight of the cabinet. The EK Varder fans wil be another matter entirely, but I have plans to deal with that as well.