Tempest

I had the itch to put together a hobby build so I set out to build something that was pretty, with white-out aesthetics, that also overcame the thermal challenge of building in the H510.

I knew I wanted to water cool but since this was a hobby build I wanted something I might be able to sell to a non-poweruser one day. I decided to go with a dual AIO config. The CPU is straightforward of course but the GPU presented a fun challenge. I think that the Kraken G12s are hideous and I knew I wanted to vertical mount, which looks ever worse with the kraken, so I set out to fabricate my own cooler mount for the GPU. Doing this also allowed me to retain the original shroud which is something I never really see with aftermarket hybrid GPU setups.

I went with a push/pull config on the CPU radiator to make sure I was getting air over the rad fins with the tiny intake on this case. Instead of mounting the rad inside the intake recess, I stuck two Arctic P14 high static pressure fans in there and let the AIO chill on full display on the case with more traditional CFM focused fans as the pull side. I kept the two exhaust fans in an exhaust orientation to take advantage of the case's intended negative pressure design, but also laser cut and painted a new side panel to provide a bit more intake for the fan on the GPU. I went with a constrained intake design to keep negative pressure that also matches the custom AIO pump cover's "snowflake" design.

The rest of the build is fairly straightforward, primarily white, lots of RGB, and cleanly cable managed. The 5600X and GTX 1070 do fantastic work on competitive games at 1440 and AAA titles at 1080.