Hello Everyone. The time has come again for me to start a new Project. For years I have wanted to do a Star Wars themed build but with so many 'inspired' builds out there, I wanted to wait until I had a really unique idea. Enter Star Wars: The Force Awakens. After watching this movie, I knew exactly what I wanted to build. Having wanted the build to be specific, nothing stood out more than to do a build based around Stormtrooper Leader, Captain Phasma. Not only her powerful presence, but her physical traits are quite distinguishable as well; chromium armor, accompanied by a black cape with a deep red stripe along the edge, this to me was the perfect idea for a build. Build Plans: The idea behind the build is to really embrace the aesthetics of the character as well as allegiance to the First Order, while still maintaining my typical design style. I want to start by thanking all the sponsors for this build as this would not have happened without them Main Hardware Case - InWin 909 Power Supply - Silverstone ST1100-TI 1100W Titanium CPU - Intel i9 7900X Motherboard – EVGA x299 DARK RAM - Hyper X Predator RGB DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz GPU – NVIDIA Titan Xp Star Wars Galactic Empire Edition Storage Intel Optane 800P M.2 118GB Intel 905P 960GB PCI-E (2)Hyper X Predator RGB SSD 960GB Watercooling & Extras Custom distribution block as well as reservoir All other watercooling components will be by EKWB - I will update this as the parts are finalized and arrive Fans: (2)140mm Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap (3) 120mm Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax.black.swap
Lets get things started with the Case. I needed a chassis that was both sleek, yet offered enough room to be able to customize to the level I need without having to compromise. The InWin 909 checked off the majority of these boxes and they were gracious enough to supply me with one for this project. I didn't take too many photos of the chassis as it was getting torn down right away so these are just some quick shots to give you a before image. After drilling out many rivets/removing screws, we now have a fully disassembled case. Lets hope I remember how to put this back together. Fast forward a week and a half and I have now received the case back and re-riveted the majority of the chassis. I am still leaving quite a bit disassembled so I can work on the design of the distribution block and reservoir without having other parts in the way. While It wont show up in pictures, the case was purposely coated imperfect. The idea was to have some parts under sprayed to allow some of the black to very slightly show through, giving that battle worn effect. I wanted there to be blemishes in the paint, chips etc. Unfortunately you can only see this up close. The InWin emblem is just mounted with painters tape for visual purposes. It will be replaced later on.
Quite a few parts have arrived over the past weeks, so lets get started with the motherboard. EVGA was kind enough to send over their X299 DARK motherboard, a board I have long wanted to use since it was announced back at Computex. As you can tell from the overall looks of the board, it already has such a Star Wars vibe to it. Active VRM cooling, which definitely gives this an old school vibe to it. I'm happy to see the small details EVGA has put into this board. 90 degree fan headers as well as 24 pin are two things I absolutely love about this board. I wish more manufacturers would adopt this. No RGB headers here. EVGA hasn't jumped onto the RGB train until the release of the X299 Cheesecake-K board, which personally I have no problem with. Although, while it would be nice to at least have a header, I understand this board was not designed to be a "showoff" motherboard. Few more shots showing off the details of the board. I was stocked to see they included a bench table, something I've never seen included before. This made testing the hardware feel much more professional than using the box or even installing onto the chassis. Something I cant do yet as the case isn't fully assembled. For this build, Intel was kind enough to supply me with a 7900X. As well as an Optane 800p 118GB which I will be using as a main OS boot drive and the beastly Optane 905P 960GB as primary storage. This drive is insane! Quick shot of the 800P installed on the board. The fan actively cools both M.2 sockets on the board and channels the air up and out through the top area.
Sorry for the delay in posts. I have been busy with some personal things and haven't had time to edit and post photos. Lets move on to the rest of the parts that have arrived since for the build. The Titan Xp: Star Wars Galactic Empire Collectors Edition GPU Choosing the GPU was the clearest and easiest choice for this build. To have a card precisely fit the theme for a build your going to do is not only hard, but also a godsend. While the card isn't the newest RTX 2080Ti, it is still a beast and can easily hold its own. NVIDIA was gracious enough to provide me with this beauty. The packaging for this card is impeccable. I don't think I've ever seen a PC component(not including Apple) packaged like this. From the acrylic enclosure to hold the card, to the Galactic Empire theme around, they really did not cheap out here. Edit: This card retailed for $1200 so it should be expected. Some closeups of the card showing the details. The top of the card is designed to represent a light saber! Front of the card has 'Titan X - Collectors Edition' stamped on it. I really like the gunmetal/black/dark grey theme they have going with this card as it also lights up red! Galactic Empire logo on the fan along with a Star Wars themed shroud around it. Bottom side we have the Titan X logo, although i'm not entirely sure why this is here. You will never see it once its in a PCI-E socket.
Parts from EKWB arrived last week as well as a few other odds and ends. I have started to work on the sleeving which is usually the longest due to my OCD, but at the same time one of the most enjoyable parts of building. I will have some photos up by the end of the week.
