Description
I went into this build with 2 goals; spend less than $1800 and put together a small but quiet 1440p gaming build. I was planning on going with the ASUS Z270I motherboard but I have had many great experiences with ASRock and various reviewers really liked this Fatal1ty board so when it when on sale on Newegg I decided to give it a try. I am not a huge fan of the red and black color scheme (it's too over done) but with my selection of components (and my decision to not add LEDs and to not go crazy with RGB) I knew that I would barely see the red at all. I wanted to stick to all flash storage and since I usually only have a few games installed at a time I decided a 960 EVO 256GB would be perfect for my OS drive and then I added a 500GB 850 Evo for installing games on. So far I have plenty of space for my needs. I have built in this case (which I love) a few times so I can say from experience that a blower style cooler is a must-have unless you opt to go with an SFX PSU. The last time I build in this case I went with a Cryorig H5 Universal CPU Cooler and while I really liked it I wanted something different this time. I looked at an H100i V2 and a H110i but in the end I decided to go with what I think is the best looking AIO on the market right now; the NZXT Kraken and I decided to try to cram the largest one I could buy into this case so I went with the Kraken X62. PCpartpicker warns that it can't verify if the X62 will fit but I can tell you it does; but barely! (see pictures). In order to get it in there I had to put it at an angle and then tilt it up. It was not too bad really and I can tell you that I am incredibly impressed with the performance. Last evening i played Ghost Recon Wildlands for a few hours and my CPU temps never went over 52C and I am running the silent profile for the Kraken!! With the H5 I was well into the mid 60's while gaming. I can only imagine what my temps would be like while in performance mode; very impressed with this cooler. It is worth the premium over other similar sized coolers in my opinion. Not only is it the best looking cooler I have ever used but also the best performing; I HIGHLY recommend it
Part Reviews
CPU
great CPU for gaming and some video rendering; yes Ryzen does better at multitasking and rendering but this i7 is better for gaming. When I bought it I paid $289.99 for it new on ebay (authorized intel re-seller)
CPU Cooler
Color me impressed! This is the best looking best performing cooler I have ever used. It keeps my i7-7700K at 22C idle and under 60C while gaming. I can't wait to see what I can do with overclocking! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Motherboard
I have used this and the ASUS Z270I board and I can tell you hands down that this is the board you want. Yes, the red is not my first choice but this is just more stable and faster than the ASUS and is often cheaper.
Case
Currently this is my favorite ITX case on the market. It's super easy to build in, has great cable management, and the build quality is outstanding. I was able to get one from Newegg for $49.99; it's hard to beat that! Plus, you can easily fit a Kraken X62 in the front
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