klandrith
Description
It's been a long time since I've had a dedicated desktop system and I wanted to really go all out on this one, the only thing I really went budget on was the case, which I modified to suit my needs. My goals were a system that would last a long time with enough horsepower to play games at high quality for a decent while and to handle all of my coding needs with ease (not like that takes any real computing power, but it is nice). I also wanted a machine that I could run distributed computing apps on again, as running them on my laptop resulted in a hot plate and was just not healthy for the laptop (Dell XPS 9570 i7-8750H). The computer is a beast and handles any game I throw at it with ease and all other tasks without breaking a sweat.
Motherboard is fantastic. 9900KF running @ 5ghz. Monitor is AWESOME, higher refresh rate would be nice but that's a MUCH more expensive monitor, may upgrade sometime in the future to an LG 3840x1600 144hz model if $$$ allows and resell the one that I have. I could have gone with a 3840x1080 ultra-ultra-wide, but it wouldn't fit on my desk and I find this size to be perfect. Asus 2080ti is a beast of a card and OC'd quite nicely. Modified the Phanteks case by cutting a large opening in the front and putting a wire mesh grill with filter material behind it to improve the mediocre airflow characteristics of the P400 case. Otherwise I found the P400 case to be a good case for the money and suited my build quite well after the modifications, before the airflow mods it was horrible as the 9900KF turned it into an oven. Memory is overclocked to 3800mhz as well, I could most likely go higher with the memory if I played with the settings, or boost the performance by playing with the timing, but I haven't really seen the need. System maintains good temps and is completely stable, running distributed computing software at night. Only thing that I could possibly add is a set of bookshelf speakers, but honestly for just listening to music in the background the monitors down-firing built in speakers work fine and are convenient. Running Linux (Manjaro KDE) as my primary OS on one of the 1TB Samsung Evos, Windows 10 on the other, with games stored on the two Crucial SSDs. Also have a Fantom 10TB external HDD that I use for backup purposes and additional storage.
Note: CPU temp is max temp reached during Prime96 small fft no avx. Average temp during Prime95 small fft no avx is around 85C.
Part Reviews
CPU
It's a beast. It's a toaster oven that pulls some serious watts, but a beast none-the-less. The only reason it's not five stars is just because of how much heat it puts out overclocked and how much power it draws. If you don't have a good board with good VRMs and a good cooling setup with a good flowing case you're kinds SOL if you wanna overclock it much.
CPU Cooler
I was stuck with a 360 AIO if I wanted to run push/pull and this one fit the bill. At first I thought the unit was just average for the 9900K overclocked, but after redoing my OC and tweaking a bunch of settings it is handling my 5ghz OC perfectly. I love that you can change the LED color based on temperature and set custom fan curves (yes, even in Linux - it takes a little bit of work but it can be done!). I upgraded to the Corsair 75 cfm high speed fans (Blue LED ones in front, non-LED ones in back) and I believe that has made quite a bit of difference in cooling.
Motherboard
By far a great motherboard. The features it has, the build quality, the power draw it can support, all phenomenal. The new BIOS is super easy to setup. Highly recommend to anyone looking at an 9900K setup.
Memory
Overclocked to 3800mhz without having to tweak anything. I could probably go higher if I wanted to play with the settings, but for the gain it'd be worth I don't see the need to even bother. It's not fancy, no RGBs or anything. Just good solid memory.
Storage
I have this drive in this computer and my laptop and absolutely love it. There's nothing bad about it at all.
Storage
Just a cheap solid SSD for storing games on, nothing fancy. Does it's job.
Storage
Just a cheap solid SSD for storing games on, nothing fancy. Does it's job.
Video Card
It's a beast. Finally tweaked mine some more and it's running a pretty good overclock and staying reasonable with the temps.
Case
Great priced handsome looking case. Only problem is the airflow SUCKS! I had to modify mine heavily to get it to where it's at now. Other than that I found it acceptable. If I would of been building again I would of bought a better case and skipped the modding.
Power Supply
High quality piece that's given me no problems and I don't anticipate it to. It just works. I do get some coil whine when the CPU is loaded 100% and everything is drawing down the power, but considering that is also when the fans are blowing full blast and the whole thing sounds like a jet engine, it is really not an issue. At idle or with moderate loads it is imperceptible.
Operating System
I hate Windows. I only use it for some of my games, reluctantly...
Case Fan
Good priced good flowing fans. Only one color, but I don't need all the bling of RGB anyways.
Monitor
I friggin love this monitor. After having an ultrawide I will never go back to a standard ratio display ever again!
Keyboard
Love the keyboard. Simple, nothing fancy, but perfect keystrokes.
Mouse
I originally had a Corsair wireless mouse that was a much better mouse, but the charging system where you had to place it on a little area of the mousepad to charge was just lame and not convenient. The Corsair was a better designed mouse, but the Logitech has a better designed charging system that is completely unobtrusive and not noticeable at all.
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