Description

This is my RGB Build

Always looking to upgrade and feel free to send advice!

UPDATED: Moved the Cpu cooler up to get better air flow to GPU's and rotated the top case fans to act as exhaust in attempt to find better ways at cooling. This has reduced GPU load temp by degrees!

UPDATED: Swapped out the stock 140mm fan for a RGB 140mm by coolermaster and replaced the top 3x120mm fans for 2x200mm RGB fans again by cooler master.

UPDATED: Replaced the front plastic case panel with the new Mesh version that will give the front fans much needed fresh air without getting choked like the original one.

UPDATED: Decided on Air cooling as the case is perfect for such build and as such, swapped the liquid cooler for the Cooler Master MA610P. Very happy with temps, as good as the liquid cooler and better for the GPU's. Must mention that it was a pain to put this one in with all four RAM slots occupied!

UPDATED: Moved on from the two 970's and now got an Asus Strix GTX 1080 advanced edition. Should prove to be more than upgrade and should keep me happy a long time. May look to sit it vertically by getting a riser cable and in the future if i need more power then will be more than happy to go back the SLI route as I think it looks and works fantastic.

UPDATED: Swapped the motherboard for an Asus Maximus IX Formula and new CPU cooler which is the Cooler Master ML360R. Mainly to keep temps down on CPU and wanted the new MOBO for better OC.

Next upgrades I have in mind are a decent 27-32inch monitor and maybe getting an M.2 SSD.

Part Reviews

Case

Cooler Master MasterCase H500P ATX Mid Tower Case

Must say this is by far my most favourite case I have had. Great for RGB builds but will say its designed more for Air cooled systems than Liquid build. The two 200mm fans that come with the case are great for air flow and a great sight as it sets the tone for the rest of the case.

Cable management is a breeze as you get a cover panel to hide most of the cables (not that you would see them anyway) and plenty of places to tie cables to. The main drawback to this case is that the top and front covers for this case do not allow much air flow and in some cases of long gaming sessions, the top cover had to be removed to exhaust the hot air.

Other than that it is a fantastic case and would highly recommend for anybody starting their first build or even an upgrade.

Comments

  • 22 months ago
  • 2 points

Just wanted to know why you decided to go with 32gb of RAM instead of 16gb, seems like a lot to me unless you are doing editing and other things as well. Overall a good looking build

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

Truthfully it was a little overkill as 16gb would of been more than plenty, I was going for the idea of future proofing myself and ultimately had my eye on that pretty rgb build. Mostly gaming

  • 22 months ago
  • 2 points

Love the 970's in SLI, I'm rocking the same SLI setup myself. While I agree with other it won't compare to a 1080Ti I only spent $460 on the two and the performance is phenomenal. Personally I felt the Maxwell line benefited from SLI better than any generation, I can easily play any game at 1440p 60FPS and once SLI loses support across the board well then it will be time to upgrade but I will have gotten many years of amazing game play. Enjoy them, hold on to them as long as you can, and upgrade when it's time, even one 970 still performs great today. +1

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

I hear there will be a drop in GPU prices when this mining jazz has dried up so I may wait until then and see if I can get myself a Strix 1080 or something, but hells yeah to the 970s! Love these babies :D

  • 21 months ago
  • 1 point

Do you have compatibility problems in games a lot or not so much?

  • 21 months ago
  • 1 point

None at all, only when some games don't like using SLI but each 970 is a beast by themselves

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

How much did those 970 cost? How much performance does it give you? Curious about that

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

I also have 2 in sli and they are nice cards and only 15% less powerfull than a gtx 1080 ti:D..... i play the latest games ultra @ 1440p no problem

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

2 in sli and they are nice cards and only 15% less powerfull than a gtx 1080 ti

This video doesn't agree with you.

(Note: I'm a GTX 970 owner too.)

[comment deleted]
  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

Yes. That is true, but 1440p has higher computation and VRAM needs and I don't suppose that would be in the favour of the 3.5 GB VRAM of the GTX 970 versus the 11 GB VRAM of the GTX 1080 Ti.

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

With 3.5GB Vram? Haha, no way. U deceive urself.

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

SLI performance is disappearing and not worth it

There’s no chance that two 970s come that close to the 1080ti, which would put them around a 1070ti / 1080 level.

Especially with small vram

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

You can find them for anything between 170-220 nowadays on places like ebay. As a standalone GPU I love it as it performs well after anything I throw at it especially with it being a windforce.

And through SLI it can run anything on highest settings, just looking into more better cooling possibilities as although they seem to love sticking around 70-80 degrees under load, (max fan on at 80) still would rather it be lower.

The G1 Gaming Edition truly look the part too and they will do me fine until I eventually upgrade, got my eyes on a strix 1070 or 1080.

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

How's the sound of that watercooler when under load and how does it perform?

Looks awesome btw!

  • 22 months ago
  • 1 point

Thank you very much!

Honestly I must say I dont hear hardly any of the fans in there and with me using an overclocked 7700k, it performs better than I expected. Don't see temperatures over 60.

  • 20 months ago
  • 1 point

You chose this case and you block the airflow from the 2x200mm fans that are in the front. In my opinion, that's a waste of money if you are blocking the push fans.

  • 19 months ago
  • 1 point

Sorry for late reply, have updated the build with the new mesh front plate and also replaced the 240mm liquid cooler for a tower cooler to truly get the most of the air flow.

  • 15 months ago
  • 1 point

What Aio cooler you used?

  • 15 months ago
  • 1 point

Originally was a ID Cooling Auraflow 240. Good quality tubes and I loved the pump rgb effect as in my opinion looked better than a cooler master logo or the eyesore or corsair's version. The fans are a tad noisy though so if I do another build with them again I'd probably consider swapping them out for something else.

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

How do you mount the GPU like that?

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

The H500P case supports vertical mount, I just needed the riser cable to connect it to the motherboard, hope this helps

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

Apparently the case I have (CM mastercase 5 pro) can do it too, though I'm having a hard time finding out how

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

They sometimes say that the can support it when they have enough spaces in the case for you to mount the Vertical GPU mount which basically lets you mount a single GPU vertically with the sacrifice of blocking the other slots.

Link below for the cooler master vertical gpu mount if it helps ;)

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cooler-master-vertical-gpu-holder-and-riser-cable-1-gpu-per-holder-7-pci-case-slots-required-dark-me?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NbhBRCBARIsAKOTmUv6QZ-RYeVKWpA0ZrUQtFGrrxEt_KpUbnk9NMKADQyvfmtG6slOdpQaAiVIEALw_wcB

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

wait... is it possible to mount a wifi card in a slot that's larger than the wifi card's interface??

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

Depends on the Wifi Card, most manufacturers stick the general guidelines in regard to case sizes and width etc. same goes for GPU manufacturers only they go longer and deeper. What Wifi card are you thinking of mounting?

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

I'm actually thinking more about wether to mount a wifi card or use an integrated on in a mobo, just not sure if the integrated ones perform as well or well enough to skip out on the aftermarket option. Either way, aiming for a high end wifi solution

  • 11 months ago
  • 1 point

The motherboard I have, the strix z270f has an identical version being the z270e which the only difference is having the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Each mobo has different Wi-Fi types such as dual band etc, just look at the one your interested in and check the speed via reviews. I prefer my setup as the Wi-Fi card has better speed but all depends on your setup.

  • 1 month ago
  • 1 point

How were the thermals using the case's provided vertical GPU mount? Have you considered buying the cooler master vertical mount to set the GPU closer to the mobo for better thermals?

  • 1 month ago
  • 1 point

In this build, I couldn't use a third party mount as I was using a wifi PCIe card.

But the thermals were spot on to be honest, with the airflow of the case it was never in issue. Hope this helps

  • 1 month ago
  • 1 point

Thank you, it's an awesome build.