Northern Aurora
by Santiago D Posted on: 8/3/2023
Build Description
After building my first rig, I was headfirst into the world of PC building. I didn't know my next gaming computer was going to be a space heater though. This build I went for the all white with silver finish aesthetic, and it came out better than I expected. Although it was a bit nerve wracking to troubleshoot the overheating cpu, it was a really enjoyable experience.
I use the computer mainly for gaming, I enjoy playing hyper realistic simulation games like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Forza Horizon 5, and PC building simulator 2 (yes when I said I went headfirst into PC building I meant it), and some other games that this computer is too powerful for. One upgrade I definitely need to consider is getting more storage, because nowadays games somehow manage to take up half an ssd.
I use the computer mainly for gaming, I enjoy playing hyper realistic simulation games like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Forza Horizon 5, and PC building simulator 2 (yes when I said I went headfirst into PC building I meant it), and some other games that this computer is too powerful for. One upgrade I definitely need to consider is getting more storage, because nowadays games somehow manage to take up half an ssd.
Favorite Feature
The fact that this doubles as a space heater, and some case mods like the GPU 16 pin cable and GPU anti sag bracket.
Intel Core i7-13700K Raptor Lake 3.4GHz Sixteen-Core LGA 1700 Boxed Processor - Heatsink Not Included
Qty: 1
$359.98
Crazy performance for a reasonable price. But with a catch, SUPER HOT under any kind of load. Iv'e heard people having trouble cooling it with even a 360mm aio! This is honestly ridiculous at this point in time. I get a consistent 98c on Cinebench without undervolting. Without the thermaltake bracket I was easily going to 100c with the chip automatically undervolting to compensate. So if you are considering this cpu get a beast of a cpu cooler (preferably 280mm or larger).
Gigabyte B760M Aorus Elite AX Intel LGA 1700 microATX Motherboard
Qty: 1
$169.99
For 169.99, I was impressed with the specs of this: WiFi 6E, 13th gen support, ddr5 8000 mhz, 2 gen 4 m.2 slots, good cooling. But I noticed some coil whine, that is pretty noticeable without headphones on. I have seen this go on sale for 140 dollars which even with the coil whine, is a steal value wise. But at this price point, I don't think it's worth the noise.
Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO Overclocked Triple Fan 12GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card
Qty: 1
$899.99
I know there has been a lot of backlash to Nvidia about the poor pricing this card in particular has, but I think it's a fair upgrade from last generation and has a pretty substantial jump in performance. I chose this model of the card because of its looks. I was also pleasantly surprised with the cooling performance of this card under load. It stays really chilly at 4k max settings and tops of at about 147F (63 C).
G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6400 PC5-51200 CL32 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit F5-6400J3239G16GX2-TZ5RS - Silver
Qty: 1
$151.96
Looks great and performs well, works at 6400 mhz when set in bios, I was surprised with this because of how intel's max ram frequency was 5600mhz.
Lian Li O11D Mini Tempered Glass ATX Mini Tower Computer Case - Snow
Qty: 1
$119.99
My go to case for white aesthetic builds, I cant complain with anything about this case. good fan mounting, amazing quality and great cable management options. I do only wish that an sfx psu wasn't required.
Lian Li SP850 850 Watt 80 Plus Gold SFX Fully Modular Power Supply - White
Qty: 1
$149.99
Great quality and love the cables that are provided, braided and aesthetically pleasing modular cables. The unit is also super quiet, I never even hear the small fan spinning.
Lian Li Galahad 240 sl white
Qty: 1
$139.99
Great quality and looks. I wont blame it for not being able to cool my 13700k, when 360mm rads sometimes have trouble. I would highly recommend for a 13600k or lower though.
GPU 16 pin cable extention 4070 ti
Qty: 1
$16.79
Great cable for a good price, really ties the build together. So far no melting thankfully.
GPU anti sag bracket rgb
Qty: 1
$15.99
Like the rgb feature, connects via gigabyte software (which kinda sucks) but for the price I won't complain. The diffusion of LED's could be a bit more uniform.
NZXT F140P 99.68 CFM 140mm Fan
Qty: 2
$17.99
These really pull fresh air into the case and radiator. Not the quietest though, probably the loudest part of my build.
Lian Li UNI FAN SL120 Fluid Dynamic Bearing 120mm Case Fan - 3 Pack White
Qty: 1
$63.96
Love these fans, really nice daisy chain feature that gives it a seamless look. Super clean design and doesn't run too loud.
UNI FAN SL120 Fluid dynamic Bearing 120mm Case Fan 1 pack
Qty: 1
$29.99
XPG Gammix s70 blade 1tb nvme SSD pcie 4.0
Qty: 1
$84.99
Super fast 1tb storage that I can rely on. This is my second drive from ADATA and it doesn't disappoint.