First time build: no-RGB ITX

by Jason N Posted on: 12/29/2021

Build Description

Built my first desktop computer since I was a kid (486DX, S3 ViRGE, ~100MB HDD, 4MB RAM, Diamond 8x CD/RW!...) during the pandemic because like others, wanted to tinker and catch up on the past decade of video games.

I also use it as my main work computer now that Windows handles Linux decently well with WSL. Whisper quiet during most of the workday except when it comes time to do ML modeling, which honestly, isn't all that often now since anything super intensive we can just throw into the cloud... so it's strange to say that this 3-gen old CPU is actually overkill for most of what I need to do on a day-to-day!

Favorite Feature

I was super fortunate to nab the original graphics card (EVGA 2060 Super) and motherboard from Microcenter before prices went haywire and was lucky enough to upgrade the graphics card to a 3060 TI from EVGA via their Step Up program. The card is great, it's paired well with a Dell 1440x165hz monitor.

Parts contained in build

Intel Core i7-9700K
Qty: 1 $199.00
From Microcenter. Lightly overclocked to 4.9 GHz all core, temps of 72C max during synthetic tests, during CPU-heavy gaming more typically in low 60s.
ASUS Z390-I ROG Strix ITX Motherboard
Qty: 1 $140.00
Open box from Microcenter, no issues whatsoever
EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming LHR Triple-Fan 8GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card
EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming LHR Triple-Fan 8GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card
Qty: 1 $425.00
Via EVGA Step-up of originally purchased 2060 Super from Microcenter
Crucial Ballistix Gaming 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 PC4-25600 CL16 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit BL2K16G32C16U4B- Black
Crucial Ballistix Gaming 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 PC4-25600 CL16 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit BL2K16G32C16U4B- Black
Qty: 1 $110.00
Purchased from Microcenter
Cooler Master NR200P Small Form Factor Mini-ITX Case - Black
Cooler Master NR200P Small Form Factor Mini-ITX Case - Black
Qty: 1 $90.00
non-P, mesh panel
Corsair SF600 600 Watt 80 Plus Platinum SFX Fully Modular Power Supply
Corsair SF600 600 Watt 80 Plus Platinum SFX Fully Modular Power Supply
Qty: 1 $135.00
Scythe Fuma 2
Qty: 1 $60.00
The ugly brown mounts at the back are for a cheap dust filter since the cooler is intaking air from back, exhausting up through the top
Samsung 860 1TB SATA SSD
Qty: 1 $100.00
Sandisk Extreme Pro 480GB SATA SSD
Qty: 1 $150.00
Purchased 7 years ago, it seemed unfathomably large then :)
Western Digital Blue 1TB SN550 NVME
Qty: 1 $100.00
TLC version
Arctic P12 fans
Qty: 2 $8.00
Noctua fans
Qty: 3 $20.00

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