My new PC build - Darth Maximus

I had this Intel Dual Core since 2008 that has been a workhorse, but it was lacking in performance since some time ago. I needed a new beast for video editing, audio editing and some gaming too, so it was time to build a new machine.
In order to keep costs down, I would salvage some parts from the old PC. These parts are: 3 Western Digital hard drives (1TB black edition, 1TB green edition and 2TB green edition), a Strike 800W power supply (although not a very well known brand, speaking from experience, I can assure you it provides better stability to a system then a Corsair one) and an ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU II (the graphics card is not that powerful but it's enough to play games comfortably in full HD).

So, I decided to make a list and go buy everything the next day. Here's the rundown:

• Intel i7 8700K
• Asus ROG Maximus X Hero
• G.Skill CL14 Trident Z RGB 3200MHz DDR4 16GB (2 x 8GB)
• 2 x Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD
• NZXT Kraken X62 AIO liquid cooler
• NOX Coolbay ZX case with red leds
• NOX Hummer H-Fan with red leds
• Cooler Master Mastergel Maker thermal paste

I wanted to assemble the radiator on the top of the case, with the fans blowing out, but unfortunately the top of the case won't take 140mm fans and the way it's shaped I couldn't cut some metal either to fit them because there simply wouldn't be enough metal to support the radiator securely. So instead I changed things around a bit. The radiator and it's fans would be in the front of the case, still blowing out air, and in the top, two 120mm fans blowing air in. I also have a 120mm fan in the back blowing air out. The reason for this configuration is that I don't want hot air (from the radiator) getting in the case. This way, only fresh air gets in, with the advantage of the RAM and motherboard components being cooled too. A case with only fresh air getting in will be better for video card cooling. The only thing that I don't like that much is that now, the bottom mechanical hard drives are not getting cool air directly... Not that big of a deal, since the main drives doing the heavy lifting are SSDs, but eventually I'll figure something out to help cooling the mechanical HDs with one or two 80mm fans of something like that. :p

The SSDs are hidden away, screwed on the outside of the internals of the case and look really stealthy. On the bottom left you can see the easily removable HD trays where the mechanical HDs will be mounted (you can fit a maximum of three). All the cables will be hidden away on this side too, for a cleaner look and better air flow.

This is the Asus ROG Maximus X Hero motherboard, with the Intel i7 8700K already in it's socket. The guy in the store kindly offered himself to put it in the socket, because there have been cases of people installing the processor incorrectly or even dropping it while installing it. I accepted the offer because these guys have been doing it daily and they are one of the biggest computer parts stores in my country, always fully stocked.
I chose this motherboard because of the high quality components that leave more headroom for overclocking and are more stable as well. The motherboard looks great and stealthy.
But I had a minor issue... These MB have an integrated back I/O shield and the shield wouldn't fit my case. I had to remove the main (big) metal I/O plate. It was only glued so I only had to pull it out. Bellow this plate there was another thin plate that I left in place. I just pulled the black sticker out of the main plate and glued it on the thin plate. It looks stock and the MB fits like a glove in the case.

Coincidentally, the power supply I had from my previous computer is black and red, keeping up with the visual theme. This power supply has modular cables, which helps with the whole cable cleanup thing. You can't see it in the photo, but this case has a bottom filter that is easily removable for cleaning. In fact the whole front and top of the case has filters that are easily removable for cleaning, which helps getting less dust inside and filter maintenance easier. This case is cheap, but I even bought it with a discount! It's an excellent case at a real bargain!!!

Thermal paste applied on the processor, NZXT Kraken X62 liquid cooler installed, G.Skill CL14 Trident Z RGB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM installed (16GB total, 2 x 8GB sticks), ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU II graphics card fitted in place, and you can see that there's still a lot of room inside the case thanks to carefully planned cable management. I don't really like that power cable for the graphic card hanging in there with the red plug showing... Maybe I'll just put some electrical black tape so I don't notice it as much...

Now, I just plugged everything, turned this beast on and... only one stick of ram working? O.o
I shutdown the PC and after a quick inspection I noticed that one of the sticks is not pushed all the way in. I push it in and hear it click into place. I turn the PC on again and this time everything works fine! YESSSSS!!!
Since the cooler has it's own fans and control and they are not plugged in the CPU fan pins of the motherboard, I had to deactivate the CPU fan monitoring in the UEFI. I did't even activate de XMP profile for the memory. Just testing everything at safe speeds... Besides, I knew I would have to update the UEFI anyway and after updating, some things change and values that would previously work might not work anymore.
Anyway, I just let it run and it immediately fiound my previous windows installations from my old PC and runs them, no problem.
I had previously prepared a USB flash drive with Windows 10 in it and even the most recent UEFI just in case. All I can say is WOW! :o Windows 10 installation was so fast in a SSD!
Now, a slight problem: LAN does not work out of the box! I have a driver CD (or DVD... whatever... XD) that came with the MB, but the only DVD drives I have are still IDE, not SATA, so I couldn't put any on my new PC, and frankly, I very rarely use them anyway... This was a good excuse to grab the latest drivers from the ASUS website anyway, so I downloaded them from another computer and put them on the same USB flash drive.
Now here's a small problem: Windows 10 has a small bug regarding network drivers... When I tried to install the LAN drivers, the installation failed. There's even a fix for it, from Microsoft. But instead, I just went to the UEFI, Boot, CSM, and set ignore in the boot from network option. Sure enough, that solved the issue and now I could install the LAN drivers, no problem. I proceeded to install the remaining drivers and to update the UEFI.

The RAM's RGB leds are controlled also by the ASUS Aura software and the NZXT CAM app (for PC, Android and iOS) controls the cooler's RGB leds. I just put everything red, with no effects. This is how I like it and it reminds me of the Empire in Star Wars, and since the MB is called Maximus, I decided to call my PC Darth Maximus. I think it's appropriate. ;)

This color scheme really fits with the rest of my PC peripherals. The monitor is an ASUS VG248 (144Hz refresh rate) that is black with some red accents, the Mad Catz R.A.T. 3 mouse is also black with red accents, the NOX Krom Khybrid keyboard is black with RGB set to red. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the performance and looks of this PC. I already setup the XMP RAM profile in the UEFI to get it to work at 3200MHz, but I'm still running the CPU stock. I didn't activate Multi Core Enhancement purposely, because I know it overclocks slightly all cores automatically, but using somewhat high voltages. You can get higher speeds and lower temperatures overclocking manually and that's what I'll do.

Hope you guys liked it. Here's Darth Maximus running under a very cluttered desk. Sorry about the mess. XD

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