Finally...

AngryGoldfish

AngryGoldfish

Old N Gold
I have FINALLY caved and bought parts for a new build after eight years...

It's a simple one, but I'm excited. I was going to keep the same case, but decided to treat myself.

  • Case - Jonsbo D32 Pro
I love my current Jonsbo W2. I think those guys build such cool cases. I wanted something more compact, but couldn't justify committing to the 'ITX tax', so the newish D32 Pro fit my needs well. I normally take forever deciding, but it pretty much was perfect... minus one thing...

  • Power Supply - Corsair SF750
...I didn't want to spend extra on a new PSU as my old AX760 is still going strong, but it's a big PSU and wouldn't fit well in the D32. I could have gone for a smaller ATX power supply, but I thought, if I'm going to buy a new unit, why not get something perfectly suited. That said, I'm expecting the cables to be short, in which case I'll pick up some extensions from Etsy.

  • Processor - 7600X
It's a huge jump from a 1600X, but I was sad that after eight years, six cores were still at this price point. I thought about waiting until Zen 6 for 8c CPUs being the price of a 6c, but with Windows 10 being outed and the current woes as a result of the AI boom, I just had to jump in, just in case. I couldn't justify a 7700X. The IPC improvements from Zen 1 to Zen 5 is more than enough performance.

  • Motherboard - Asrock B650M-HDV/M.2
It has everything I need and nothing I don't. I have splurged on motherboards in the past but still had issues and regrets. So I decided to buy the best budget board there is. If I run out of USB ports or need WiFi in the future, I can add it.

  • Graphics - Sapphire Pulse 9060XT 16GB
This and the 9070 were the first graphics cards in a long time that I thought, 'Yep, I like these. They have no glaring weaknesses.' I don't need three fans or big heatsinks.

  • RAM - Crucial Pro 32GB 6000Mhz CL36
This was an annoying compromise. Three months ago, the €150 I paid for this basic kit would have gotten me CL30 and nice RGB headspreaders. This is another reason I decided to start the build now; I didn't want the situation to get worse.

  • SSD - Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB
Most people recommended against this SSD at first, but the price has come down a lot and it's now a good buy. It lacks NAND, but I don't need it. What I needed was to pick something up before prices went up. 2TB will be enough for me.

  • CPU Cooler - Thermalright Phantom Spirit SE 120
My current cooler is a beast (Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT), but I wanted to try something new and this was affordable.


I'll check back in when I start the process... :love:
 
Just be thankful you bought the RAM 3 months ago. Youd have a very sore bottom if you bought it now !

Looking forward to this.
 
Ugh dang man that sucks hard :(

Its funny because on Friday Im selling most of my BMX collection for £3k.

Immediate thought was "5090 and 9800X3D!" But the PC market is vile. So instead Im finally going to have all my teeth yanked out (well, whats left of them) in order to have dentures. And still I think it will be less painful somehow than building a high end PC.

Enough about me though. Im stoked for you dude really. I know how long youve waited for this.
 
Hmmmm... 5090 or teeth pulling? Teeth pulling it is! :p

Thanks mate! I've been saying for four years that I'll be building a new PC soon, but then something would always kick off and prevent it. Something is about to kick off now (and part of it already has), so I just have to bite the bullet and get on it.
 
AngryGoldfish said:
Hmmmm... 5090 or teeth pulling? Teeth pulling it is! :p

Thanks mate! I've been saying for four years that I'll be building a new PC soon, but then something would always kick off and prevent it. Something is about to kick off now (and part of it already has), so I just have to bite the bullet and get on it.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same boat. I have only upgraded my CPU and motherboard (and ddr5 memory) since the 3070ti launch(current GPU). Before that it was already a few years since my last upgrade of anything.
 
Sorry!! 😁 I've been too busy to build. I thought about doing a boot test to make sure everything is working because if my RAM is defective I don't know what I'm going to do. :oops: But I didn't really have time or energy the last couple of weeks. The parts have just been sitting there waiting for me. I will have some time on Monday morning and afternoon. I'll report back if I was able to start the build.
 
Some photos of my progress. The files were too big to link directly, sorry.

photos.app.goo.gl

2025 PC Build · Dec 1 – 9 📸

Shared album · Tap to view!
photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl

I didn't realise the connectors on ITX power supplies were smaller. This thing is so cute. And I love how easy it is to remove or insert cables.

The GPU is small and light which is great! I'm done with fat and chunky GPUs that sag.

System booted without any problems, but I didn't check if my m.2 drive was recognised. I need to take the fans from my old PC so I didn't want to take my old system apart unless I knew the new parts were working.

I'll try and do the installation tomorrow morning into the case. Cable management and Windows installation might have to be Wednesday. We'll see.
 
Finishing up for the night.

No pictures, just an update.

As with any new build I undertake, I come across irritating and unplanned snags.

Snag 1 - I couldn't remove my fans from my old system without removing either my heatsink or GPU. I couldn't remove my GPU because I couldn't unlatch it from the motherboard unless I removed my RAM and CPU fan. I was trying to save money by not buying new fans and reusing my old ones, but I soon regretted that decision. I can't remove my CPU tower cooler because I don't have a long enough screwdriver. I shall buy one.

Snag 2 - I forgot to back up my Firefox profile and any files on my previous m.2 drive. With some fussing and farting I managed to get that sorted.

Snag 3 - I don't have enough fan splitters. I shall buy more.

Snag 4 - My PSU cables are too short for clean runs, but they do fit if I make compromises. I'm going to buy extensions.

Snag 5 - I tried installing a de-bloated Windows 11 with Winhance, but found the process really time-consuming and I got a lot of stuff wrong. I had to redo it over a couple of times and still faced issues. It's working now, but some apps are not working correctly, such as OneNote. I don't know if my custom ISO was the cause or not. For now I'm just using the web browser version on my desktop. I don't even like OneNote, but I have no other alternative. I might just bite the bullet and get a paid one, because I've had no end of trouble with note apps... but I really need them.

Tomorrow's jobs will be to remove my old SATA HDD's from my previous system and plugging them in to the motherboard or using the USB adapter I have. I'll transfer my files over. I'll also purchase the needed cables.


BUTTTTT... in spite of all of that, it's working. (y) It looks a right mess currently, but I'm happy it's working OK.
 
AlienALX said:
Mine was a nightmare so I feel your pain :(
Click to expand...

What's happened with yours?

New parts minus cables have been bought. Do you think I should just get extensions or a whole new set of cables? Extensions will mean a lot of excess unless I order custom lengths.

My SATA to USB reader was a dud... my fault. I bought one that only reads 2.5" SATA HDD's, so it didn't fit. It's no biggie though, I'll just return it as I have no use for it really. I simply plugged the the HDD's from my previous build with SATA data cables and powered it from my PSU. It's easy when both PC's are already in pieces and nothing is fixed.
 
So.... I'm pretty much finished. A bit anti-climactic, but I decided not to do any more with the build and be happy as it currently sits. So, no fancy cables. I already paid extra for the braided cables of the SF750, so why waste money just to get perfect lengths and a little colour accent?

I installed the fan splitters. One 4-pin header on my board outputs 2A which is more than enough for three BeQuiet fans running at slow speeds. The other 3-pin fan splitter is just running two fans.

I rewired everything. I turned the PSU around so that it exhausts heat outside and draws warm air from inside. This was better for the IEC connector and better for cable management of the main system power leads.

Cable management is pretty straight forward in this case. I love not having to use Molex or SATA power cables. The motherboard front panel connectors are unnecessarily long. I might go back and perfect the cable management next time I clean the PC. I bought a cheap USB-powered air duster. Nice little thing. It's basically a cold cordless hairdryer with small attachments.

I was able to hide the CPU power cable behind the top fan. That was the only cable that really needed to be 5-10cm longer to be routed behind the motherboard tray, but it's honestly not worth it.

The system is not as quiet as my previous one. But that makes sense given the previous cooler and the thick panels of my old case. Still, it's quiet enough for me.

I might move the fans around to be more 'symmetrical'. The bottom 140 fans were deliberately installed as left as possible to point directly at the GPU, while the top 120mm fans were slide furthest towards the front of the case for optimal airflow for the CPU and rear intake. I could probably slide them all along slightly to be a perfect 'cone' of symmetry.

I'll take some pretty pictures some time soon. Here's a few initial ones.

photos.app.goo.gl

2025 PC Build · Dec 1 – 9 📸

Shared album · Tap to view!
photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl

I haven't done a full analysis of the temps yet, but I've reduced the fan curves in the motherboard. I always find stock settings to be too sensitive. Anytime I'd open an app, the fans would ramp up for a second as the CPU quickly heats up. I usually increase the first temperature ceiling by quite a bit. I don't need the fans to spin up because I opened Spotify and WhatsApp at the same time. I did the same with my previous build. I'd rather use a physical fan controller, but the BIOS is pretty straightforward too.
 
If your country weren't such greedy bastuds with customs I'd send you a ton. I've literally got about 50 fans and a crap load of new unopened black extensions.

But jesus I sent Robbie a headphone amp and they hijacked it then literally used extortion.

Oddly enough I got a Google noti of the pics hours ago. Looks super man, nice and tidy!
 
Awww thanks mate! Yeah, importing stuff here since Brexit has been rough. It's a lot better now, but still challenging (and yeah, Irish tax is very high). Many companies had to do a lot to make purchasing from the UK relatively seamless again, but buying used is basically out of the question. I haven't bought anything used from the UK since the Brexit changes were fully implemented. And new purchases are still not without problems. I bought a backpack from the US that used Shopify with all customs and duties paid for, but I got charged twice for it. Fortunately the bag maker was kind enough to reimburse the difference, but I felt bad because they were basically paying the tax for me. I don't mind paying tax, even a high tax; I just don't want to pay it twice. Also, Scan only just recently started selling to Ireland again. Scan are one of the better companies.
 
OK let me have a pokesee when I get to mums. Certain I have an unused kit of TT black extensions. And fans galore. This time Ill try saying 0 value and not insure it.
 
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