At first glance, this PC may look quite a bit like my previous main build, with the exception of the stunning new Fractal Define North case. Despite this, the only similarities are a CPU cooler, cable extensions, PSU, and some SSDs. After moving some parts between friends and other systems, I have ended up with a nearly completely different computer than 1 year ago today, and I am more than happy with the end results.
CPU: The i7 12700K is a great CPU that can be found fairly cheap in bundle deals at places like Microcenter. Originally, this CPU was in BandoITX, a small form factor machine I put together as a machine for my parent’s house. This machine ended up not getting used as much as I would have hoped, so I moved my main PC to the LGA 1700 platform using it’s CPU. My old 5800X was then given to my little brother to replace his aging 2700X, which he greatly appreciated.
Motherboard: This is a motherboard. DDR4 so cheap memory woooooooooo
GPU: Previously, I had an identical looking 6800 XT that I picked up at Microcenter for a crazy deal at the time. Only 4 months later I ran into a situation where I had one friend selling a 6900 XT and another friend looking to buy a GPU to replace his RX 470. The performance difference isn’t massive, but it’s noticeable. Great card for playing the games I do at 4K with decent framerates.
Storage: I decided to ditch the old aging hard drives I had been carrying with me since my FX rig in 2015. My two trusty 2 TB hard drives have been replaced with an MP34 4 TB SSD, which I have absolutely zero complaints about.
Case: The Fractal North is an AWESOME looking case. My only complaints are that the cable management and build process are slightly more difficult than in my old Define 7 Compact.
Add-in cards: I added in a 10 gigabit NIC as well as a 4K HDMI capture card. These are cheaper Amazon special brands but they get the job done without issues.
I’m really hoping that this is a good stopping point for my seemingly never ending cycle of going through PC hardware. This is without a doubt the best performing and best looking machine I have ever built, so I’m not sure where we can go up from here.
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