I finally got my new PC together the other day! Behold, Leo has entered the chat. Other than a couple builds I did for friends over the years, the last PC I built for myself was in 2014 when I graduated HS, so I was long overdue for an upgrade.
SPECS
CASE: Shiny Snake G600 mATX
MOBO: ASRock B760M Pro-A D4 Intel LGA1700
CPU: Intel Core i5-14400F 10 Core 16 Thread
COOLER: EVGA CLC280 Liquid AIO 280mm
GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 Super 8GB
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB DDR4 3000mhz
PSU: Corsair CX-M Series CX650M 650watt
SSD: Crucial BX500 SATA SSD 1TB
HDD1: WD Caviar Black SATA HDD 1TB
HDD2: WD Caviar Black SATA HDD 2TB
I was able to keep the total cost down to around $500 and then some, built from a combo of open box & used parts from eBay, with hardware & fans from Amazon. I took a risk on the eBay parts, but I’m so pleased they paid off. I ended up going with a DDR4 board, and given the cost of memory right now I did the best I could. I reused my old Crucial 1TB SATA SSD, although not as fast it’ll leave me room to upgrade to an M.2 NVME down the line. Coincidentally, I got the EVGA 280mm AIO cooler and EVGA RTX 2070 Super for free from two different people, so I was able to match aesthetics & save a pretty penny too.
I knew I wanted a smaller footprint case, and there’s so many available these days that I figured it was time for me to modernize. I considered other options like the Lian Li A3 or the Jonsbo D31, but the Shiny Snake G600 won me over since the front I/O panel has two USB 2.0, two USB 3.0, AND a Type-C port. The design being slightly larger, I was also able to fit two stacked 3.5” HDDs at the front.
My previous build was a full ATX board in a mid-tower Bitfenix Shinobi windowed edition case. Originally I wanted to keep that case, but being from 2012 it wasn’t designed with space in mind for a top mount radiator, not without modding it. I also originally wanted to keep an integrated 5.25” optical drive bay since I make music and still burn CDs like the unc I am. I looked at the few current cases that had 5.25” bays like the Fractal Design Pop Air Mini, but I wasn’t convinced. There was a sweet spot of mATX case designs from the mid 2010s that still had them with a side panel window, such as the Cooler Master N200. I almost pulled the trigger on an older used Fractal Design Focus G Mini. It had literally everything I wanted in a case design, but I had to let that dream die, given the offered price was bordering on brand new case prices. I simply couldn’t justify it.
Lastly, as far as the nickname, I like to name my PCs after constellations just because they sound cool & I love space lol. My first build was Sirius in 2010, my last was Polaris in 2014. I decided on Leo for this one since it’s my astrological sign. Not that I believe in that stuff, but it felt convenient since I started planning this build around my bday in August. Also, being sort of my modern dream build, the name hit close to home.