Tempered Tech Solutions

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Another custom build worth sharing! The client this time was an online streamer who was wanting to upgrade in order to take advantage of the release of Inzoi. She had originally been looking at a pre-built from a well-known system integrator and asked for my thoughts on it. I told her that I could build her a system that looked better and performed better for the same price, or possibly less.

The initial consultation and parts list went smoothly enough, but when it came time to order the original graphics card I had selected (A white Galax 4070 ti Super), we found it suddenly sold out. Soon thereafter, we found nearly all 40-series cards sold out and prices gouged through the nose on the remaining stock. Turns out, the current GPU shortage began right as this build was getting underway.

After some discussion and back and forth, the decision was made to go with an AMD GPU, as they had greatly improved their encoders in recent years and the 7000 series cards have had enough driver updates to be quite stable now. Plus, my client isn't particularly concerned about ray-tracing and in terms of pure rasterized performance, AMD GPU's are often still the better value.
While a 7900 GRE would have been ideal, those are only available on the used market at highly inflated prices now. But, since my client is gaming at 1440p, a mid-tier card would also do just fine. We ended up picking up a Yeston Sakura 7800 XT for just a hair over MSRP, which seemed very fitting considering the Sakura theme of the rest of the build.

I've attached a screenshot of the parts list, but what it doesn't show is the custom fan frame decor, decals, and 3D printed dragons from Etsy. We also agreed to have me paint the graphics card with a metallic acrylic paint to better match the overall color scheme. I layered the acrylic paint thick at first, with thinner layers later on to enhance the brushstrokes, to give it a whittled woodgrain type of texture. We're both happy with out it turned out and it's definitely a one-of-a-kind system.

In terms of performance and acoustics, it runs extremely cool and quiet. She games at 1440p while streaming at 1080p and it doesn't break a sweat with either and stays barely audible the entire time.

Ooh man, this is huge. The best just got better, baby!

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A great pair of interesting builds to finish out the month and welcome the Fall season. The builds belong to a pair of friends who want to make the jump from console to PC gaming and saw the work I'd done for July's Father's Day build. They contacted me and hired me to build them a pair of all-AMD gaming PC's on a tight schedule.

The black build is a more mid-range MicroATX build with a focus on function-over-form value-per-dollar with a pinch of aesthetic pizazz. The owner plans on upgrading the case cooling in the near future, but for now we used what fans were available.

Because of the untraditional layout of the Asus Prime AP201 case, we discussed our options and decided to go with a reverse airflow path for the CPU cooler. Fresh air is pulled in from the rear (with the addition of a magnetic dust filter post-delivery), flowing from left to right and being exhausted out the top. The PSU is turned around to act as an additional exhaust fan.

The result, until more fans are added in the future, is a negative airflow scenario, which helps evacuate excess heat and allows the GPU to better intake fresh air from the bottom and the mesh side panel. Once more intake fans are added, we'll adjust the layout to create a balanced air pressure setup.

The components for the black MicroATX build:

- CPU: Ryzen 7 5800x
- CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB
- Motherboard: MSI Pro B550M-VC WiFi
- Memory: 32GB Patriot Viper 4 Blackout DDR4 3600CL16
- GPU: PowerColor Red Dragon OC Radeon 6800 XT
- Storage: 2TB Western Digital Black SN770 NVME SSD
- Case: Asus Prime AP201
- PSU: Thermaltake Tough Power 750w
- Additional fans: 3-Pack of 120mm Arctic P12 PWM PST ARGB

PCPartPicker link: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/WrenchViking/saved/mtfbpg

The second build started out as a much more modest machine, but the owner decided to stretch his budget to see just how much AMD gaming power he could fit in the smallest package. The answer? A LOT.

This build really stretched the limits of what can fit inside of a Cooler Master NR200, with the graphics card technically being incompatible due to how large it is. However, by dismantling the lower frame of the case and rebuilding it AROUND the GPU, it managed to fit- albeit just barely. Some clever cable and tube routing were needed to not have the components interfere with each other and not affect case panel closure.

In the end though, it's a mini powerhouse that is runs shockingly cool and quiet considering what's under the hood. It's pretty much the absolute best all-AMD gaming PC you could build for under $2500 and it's the size of a shoebox. That's just impressive.

(Oh, and about the feet; I advised the owner that taller feet would help the GPU breathe better. I never expected him to take that advice quite so literally...)

The components for the white Mini-ITX build.

- CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D
- CPU Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280mm
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B650i Aorus Ultra
- Memory: 32GB G. Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5 6000CL30
- GPU: Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon 7900 XTX
- Storage: 2TB Western Digital Black SN770
- Case: Cooler Master Masterbox NR200
- PSU: Cooler Master V850 SFX Gold 850w
- Case fans: Arctic P12 PWM

PCPartPicker List: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/WrenchViking/saved/GKtDwP