Desktop PC, New Build

Having not built a new desktop since January 2012 it was time to build a new system. The old rig was last updated in September 2016 when its decade old power supply died.
This is my most complicated build to date, in some ways. It has seven RGB fans. It is also simpler in others, as current cases are much easier to manage wiring than prior cases.

Shot of all the boxed parts prior to assembly, as this is the current way.

I thought I would provide some step by step instructions for install.

First, for assembly you can use the motherboard box as a test bench that is not electrically conductive. Others use mats that are grounded.
The motherboard is a ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi) X570. I have a lot of history of positive experience with ASUS and so decided to go with them for this build. I would have preferred the non-Wi-Fi version of this board, as I do not plan to use the feature, and so this added a little to cost, but availability does sometimes determine which parts you use.

A lot of new motherboards have cladding over the north bridge as well as the M.2 slots for M.2 SSDs.

Initially I mount my M.2 NVMe SSD in the bottom slot, but moved this later as communication is expected to be better in the top slot.
I chose the Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD  1TB as my OS drive. I chose this over the Corsair SSD offering based on reviews and because I liked the heat sink design more.

AMD CPUs have pins on the bottom. The CPU slot is designed to receive those pins. You must lift up the retention clip and then place the CPU in such that the triangle on the CPU and the slot line up.

In order to secure the CPU you press down the retention lever and lock it in place.
For the CPU I chose the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Cores 3500 MHz AM4 105W. I liked both the single threaded performance as well as the multi-core performance for photo and video editing.

For a CPU cooler I went with the Corsair Hydro Series H150i Pro. I configured this in push / pull configuration. I wanted a 360 mm radiator and have had good experience thus far with my Corsair Hydro Series H110i.
The fans used are 3x Corsair ML120 PWM (push on radiator) and 3x Corsair ML120 Pro RGB (pull on radiator). Again, based on the reviews I have seen there appear to do a good job in terms of air flow and running quietly, as well as longevity.

I took a different route on thermal paste this time. I decided to experiment with the Innovation Cooling Graphite Thermal Pad. This trades all out cooling and thermal capabilities of the best greases for something that is supposed to last longer and will not dry out like thermal paste over time. Placing this is a little tricky, but with patience can be done well. Based on my understanding I am likely suffering a 2-4 C penalty over the best thermal pastes.
RAM is 2x kits of Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600MHz CL16-19-19-39 1.35V 32GB (2x16GB) for 64GB total RAM. Again, well reviewed from a top tier brand. The RGB aspect was kind of a bonus. I was contemplating going ECC memory for this system but found that this makes motherboard and RAM selection very tricky, plus you lose out on some performance.
You want to follow your motherboard's manual regarding RAM placement. For this motherboard, if running 2x sticks of RAM you place in slot 2 and 4 away from the CPU. If running 4x you pair the RAM in slots 2 and 4 and in 1 and 3.

To put the cooler on I needed to remove the RAM in order to properly line up the thermal pad. I had my wife hold the radiator for me to keep tension off the AIO liquid tubing and make it easier to maneuver the CPU / pump block.

Before installing the components in the case I tested the assembled system outside the case and made sure that it could successfully complete a POST.
This involved installing the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 Super Advanced Edition (8GB GDDR6) and connecting it to the living room TV (monitor for the HTPC) and the Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850 Titanium (850 Watt).
Graphic card wise this seemed like a very solid case for my use cases and fit into my budget.
As a departure for me I departed from PC Power & Cooling as the PSU. I have not been as impressed by the new products and the fact that they no longer have class and industry leading power efficiency or warranties. I therefore elected to go with Seasonic's PRIME Ultra series as they are at the top of the PSU game (with a few others).

I chose the Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C Tempered Glass based on it being a quiet case that would fit a front mounted 360mm radiator in push / pull configuration. This is probably the easiest case I have ever put a build in from having a clean looking and cable managed build.
I would have liked the case a little more if I could have also had an optical drive mounted at top, as I do sometimes use these, but attaching the optical drive via USB is acceptable to me. This case is also much smaller than my old Cooler Master HAF X, quieter, and yet fits the radiator much better.
I also used x Corsair ML140 Pro RGB (exhaust, 3x top, 1x rear) fans and an additional 1x Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-14 (intake, bottom) [three of these were included with the case].
As previously stated the Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD 1TB got moved to the top slot.

My co-worker Steve, who also enjoys PC building, joined me for assembly.
As I said, this was the most complicate build I have had in terms of wiring. This case did not involve using a Dremel for cable management or drilling for radiator mounting like prior builds. The 7x RGB fans made this very interesting.

Tested power and LED for wire and then bundled LED and power cables based on fan group and color coordinated zip ties for these areas.
I relied on 1x Corsair iCUE Commander PRO Smart RGB Lighting and Fan Speed Controller and 2x Corsair Lighting Node PRO in order to control all the fans and lighting of the fans. I also use the built in power splitters from the CPU block / pump as well as the built in power splitter that came with the case.
In OS this allows all fans speeds, pump speed, and RBG lighting from fans to be controlled by the Corsair iCUE software interface.
Pictured here is the rear mounted Samsung 860 EVO SATA 2.5" SSD 2TB used for document storage. Not pictured is the Samsung 860 EVO SATA 2.5" SSD 4TB used for media storage. (The NewEgg Market Place vendor twice sent me the wrong unit from a US warranty perspective, and while I tried the RMA approach the first time I ended up with a refund and just ordering the part through Amazon. The NewEgg Market Place reseller attempted to pass OEM and European models off as American market models, which cause complexity should you ever need the 5 year warranty of the American model serviced.)

Long exposure of the assembled system leaves all the LED coloring looking white, they were color cycling through the rainbow.
For the OS I used  Windows 10 Pro x64.

Also not pictured are the following peripherals:
ASUS ROG Strix XG32VQR Curved HDR Gaming Monitor (32" WQHD 2560x1440 144Hz) as a primary monitor. This was chosen for the combination of monitor real estate, 144Hz refresh rate, 125% RBG coverage, and HDR 400 capabilities. I do not play FPS games and so the 144Hz refresh rate is a wonderful improvement over my old  monitors without adding unnecessary, to me, costs.
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K Monitor U2718Q (27" 4K 3840x2160 60Hz IPS) as a secondary monitor. This was chosen due to its 4K resolution, close vertical dimensions to my primary monitor, and 99.9% sRGB and 99.98% Rec. 709 color gamut. I wanted this as a second color space for editing of images and video.
Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard — CHERRY® MX Brown. Cherry MX Brown are my favorite outside of some of the grey models, but keyboard selection with the grey switches is very slim and I am quite satisfied.
Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum is the mouse. I bought this to replace my old Logitech G5 (which lasted around 10+ years) and was a good mouse. I really like having adjustable weight and I like to be able to switch between the free and clicking scroll wheel.

Final build list:
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C Tempered Glass
MB: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi) X570
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Cores 3500 MHz AM4 105W (running at 4200 MHz, idle around 36-40 C and peaks around 72 C for my uses)
HSF: Corsair Hydro Series H150i Pro (configured for push-pull)
RAM: 2x Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600MHz CL16-19-19-39 1.35V 32GB (2x16GB) [64GB total RAM]
GPU: 1x ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 Super Advanced Edition (8GB GDDR6)
Sound: ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC (from MB)
PSU: Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850 Titanium (850 Watt)
SSD: Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD 1TB (OS)
SSD: Samsung 860 EVO SATA 2.5" SSD 2TB (Documents)
SSD: Samsung 860 EVO SATA 2.5" SSD 4TB (Media)
Networking: 1x Intel I211-AT
Networking: 1x Realtek RTL8125-CG 2.5G LAN
Networking: 1x Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200
Primary Monitor: ASUS ROG Strix XG32VQR Curved HDR Gaming Monitor (32" WQHD 2560x1440 144Hz)
Secondary Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 27 4K Monitor U2718Q (27" 4K 3840x2160 60Hz IPS)
Fans: 3x Corsair ML120 PWM (push on radiator), 3x Corsair ML120 Pro RGB (pull on radiator), 4x Corsair ML140 Pro RGB (exhaust, 3x top, 1x rear), 1x Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-14 (intake, bottom)
Fan / Light Controller: 1x Corsair iCUE Commander PRO Smart RGB Lighting and Fan Speed Controller, 2x Corsair Lighting Node PRO
OS: Windows 10 Pro x64
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard — CHERRY® MX Brown
Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum

I did not include prices (build including peripherals was around the $5800 mark including any shipping and tax). Also, I expect some of the links here to break over time.

I have been doing a lot of part research recently, so please feel free to ask me about build recommendations.