Menu
The Build.
Started as a ‘what if’ and became a reality out of pure necessity and reduced access to components… PC component prices are getting dicey as supply diminishes and demand increases for the WFH / unplanned unemployed crowd. So I was forced into pulling the trigger on infrastructure investment.
The initial plan was to slow-build a new machine – gather components over time and eventually build up something to augment the old Mac.. (still a beast – but hardly something I can push Revit & Rhino renderings with).
Well, when I was locked out of my office account and asked to gather my things after a month of VPN access to a reasonable workhorse – a necessity was created – met by invention.
I had a case, power supply, and a list off PC parts picker where I was tracking the costs of my wish list… https://pcpartpicker.com. The wishlist was forced into reality when Revit Add-ins started failing to recognize a virtual graphics card thru Parallels. It’s served me well for many, many years as a way to maintain my Apple universe and still be a functional Revit user… but since the cord was cut to that capability – a replacement was needed.
NZXT H510 – CA-H510B-W1 – Compact ATX Mid-Tower PC Gaming Case – Front I/O USB Type-C Port – Tempered Glass Side Panel – Cable Management System – Water-Cooling Ready – White/Black
NZXT Kraken X63 280mm – RL-KRX63-01 – AIO RGB CPU Liquid Cooler – Rotating Infinity Mirror Design – Improved Pump – Powered by CAM V4 – RGB Connector – AER P 140mm Radiator Fans (2 Included)
Asus ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming Motherboard LGA1151 (Intel 8th 9th Gen) ATX DDR4 DP HDMI M.2 USB 3.1 Gen2 802.11AC Wi-Fi
Intel Core i9-9900K Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 5.0 GHz Turbo unlocked LGA1151 300 Series 95W
EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER XC ULTRA GAMING, 8GB GDDR6, Dual HDB Fans, RGB LED, Metal Backplate, 08G-P4-3173-KR
Seasonic FOCUS Plus 650 Gold SSR-650FX 650W 80+ Gold ATX12V & EPS12V Full Modular 120mm FDB Fan 10 Year Warranty Compact 140mm Size Power Supply
With a leftover WD 2TB Black 7200 RPM drive (from a Hackintosh build that recently failed) I had enough parts to build up the machine.
Now granted, I left room for growth here. I didn’t max out the RAM slots. The 2 M.2 bays are still open on the motherboard and there’s still a slot for another SSD, and 2 more 3.5″ drive bays that I left empty.
There’s room for growth – space for improvements… although I have no idea how I’m getting that video card out of there given the depth of it fully blocks the release lever for the card.
The only RGB that I was initially looking for was the LCD on the AIO Kraken cooler, but that carried a little heftier price tag. The RGB on the mother board & graphics card wasn’t something that influenced the purchase – after watching parts fall off the radar and prices increase – well I grabbed what I could.
Reinstalled all the Revit software, and add-ins needed to re-embrace the learning curve on Dynamo, Grasshopper, RhinoInside, and get the personal resume padded with extras.
BTW – the 4TB drive is STILL going thru recovery attempts to get at the last 6 years of portfolio ammunition… after an estimate topping out at $3k for drive recovery – I fear that I might be left with some rather sizable holes in my archive of life’s work. C’est la Vie I suppose.
Serves me right for trying to get organized…
Copyright © 2023