I’ve always built my own computers. Every 4-5 years or so I was looking to update, except that the i5-2500K CPU released in January 2011 was good enough to last up to 2018. In fact I should instead say that all CPUs Intel released after the i5-2500K weren’t good enough to justify an update to me. Yeah, right! That was until AMD was back in the game with new multi-core CPUs forcing Intel to release a first 6 cores CPU which finally convinced me it was time to upgrade. Being a computer enthusiast I think it was about time!
I’ve started with large cases and with every new build I was always looking to go smaller while keeping full performance. From ATX to μATX then mini-ITX format. It’s not because it’s small that it cannot be powerful!
2023
NCASE M1 Mk II – Project, subject to change at any time
- Power supply: Corsair SF750 platinum (bought!)
- Motherboard: mini-ITX ASUS RoG STRIX Z790-I GAMING WIFI
- CPU: Intel Core i5-13600KF @ ?.?GHz
- CPU Heatsink: reuse Noctua NH-U9S or Thermalright Silver Soul 135
- Memory: 2x16Go Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6400MHz 1.40v 32-40-40-84 (bought!)
- Video card: NVIDIA 4070 Founders Edition
- SSD: reuse Samsung 980 PRO M.2 NVMe 1TB
2021
2 x NR200P – one for each of the twins
- Power supply: Corsair SF600 platinum
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE B550i AORUS PRO AX
- CPU: AMD 5600X 3.7GHz/4.6GHz
- CPU Heatsink: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition
- Memory: 2x8GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4-3200 MHz (red)
- Video card: NVIDIA 3060 Ti Founders Edition
- SSD: Western Digital SN850 M.2 NVMe PCI-E 4.0 1TB
- Monitor: 27″ MSI Optix MAG274QRF 1440p
- Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow V3 (yellow switch) and Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 SE
- Mouse: Razer Orochi V2 wireless (one white and one black)
2018
NCASE M1 (2018) – Read the build log here
- Power supply: Corsair SF600 gold
- Motherboard: mini-ITX ASUS RoG STRIX Z370-I GAMING
- CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K @ 4.8GHz (all cores)
- CPU Heatsink: Noctua NH-U9S
- Memory: 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200MHz 1.35v 16-18-18-36
- Video card: NVIDIA MSI GTX 1080Ti AERO OC 11GB
- SSD: Samsung 980 PRO M.2 NVMe 1TB
- Monitor: 27″ ASUS PG27VQ 1440p 3D Vision
- Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 – Cherry MX Silent
- Mouse: Corsair Sabre RGB
2011
Lian Li PC-V354A
- Power supply: Corsair HX650W
- Motherboard: μATX ASUS RoG Maximus IV GENE-Z
- CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.2GHz
- CPU Heatsink: Noctua NH-U9B SE2
- Memory: 2x4GB G.Skill Sniper DDR3-1866MHz F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR 1.5v 9-10-9-28
- Video card: NVIDIA EVGA GTX 660Ti 2GB
- SSD: Crucial MX300 525GB
- Optical drive: LG BH12LS35 Blu-Ray writer with Lightscribe
- Monitor: 24″ LCD BenQ XL2420TX 1080p 3D Vision
- 3D Vision kit 2 (bundled with monitor)
- Keyboard: Logitech G15 v2
- Mouse: Cordless Performance Mouse MX
2007
Thermaltake LANBox
- Power supply: Corsair HX520W
- Motherboard: μATX ASUS P5E-VM HDMI
- CPU: Intel Core2Duo E8400 @ 3.6GHz
- CPU Heatsink: Thermalright XP-120
- Memory: 2x1GB OCZ DDR2-800MHz Platinum Rev. 2
- Video card: NVIDIA EVGA 8800GTS 512MB
- HDD: Velociraptor 600GB & Raptor 74GB (both 10K rpm)
- Optical drive: BenQ DW1655 with Lightscribe
2003
Antec Sonata
- Motherboard: ATX Abit NF7-S v2.0
- CPU: AMD Barton 2500+ @ 2.3GHz 1.7v
- CPU Heatsink: Vantec Aeroflow VA4-C7040
- Memory: 2x256MB Corsair XMS TwinX 3200LL
- Video card: ATi All-in-Wonder 9600XT
- HDD: Western Digital 74GB Raptor & 36GB Raptor (both 10K rpm)
- Optical drive: BenQ DW1655 with Lightscribe
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