MODZERO ASHEN - PARVUM SYSTEMS X3.0 CUSTOM

[MODZERO]

UPDATE 5.0 - IT'S FINISHED!

SPECS:

CASE: PARVUM X3.0 CUSTOM ITX
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
RAM: AORUS RGB DDR4 3200MHZ 16GB
MOBO: GIGABYTE AORUS PRO B450i ITX
GPU: GIGABYTE GAMING OC RTX 2070 8GB
PSU: SILVERSTONE SX650-G SFX 650 WATT
SSD: SAMSUNG 970 EVO 512GB & 860 EVO 500GB

COOLING

EK-Vardar EVO 120ER RGB
EK-Velocity D-RGB - AMD Nickel + Plexi
EK-CoolStream SE 120 (Slim Single)
EK-HDC Fitting 12mm G1/4 - Red
EK-DDC 3.2 PWM (12V PWM pump)
EK-DDC Heatsink Housing - Black
EK-CryoFuel Clear (Premix 1000mL)


It's finished! yay! and I love it! It's been a while since I've had a WC rig and rocking a Parvum build again feels great (see MODZERO FOUR). Since the last update, I replaced the single length of loop from the CPU out. So glad I did, I'm really happy with the loop now.

I pulled out my studio gear and spent the day shooting it, but it wasn't my day, I just couldn't get the shots I wanted. I tried a white backdrop with the system off, black backdrop with the system running, two different RGB configs and shot again on black with the build turned off. Must have taken hundreds of shots, only to edit them down to about 16.

My phone (pixel 2 xl) simply takes better photos than my Sony Alpha 58 (kit lens) and so I'm just not happy when my SLR shots don't look as sharp. Either that or I just suck.. haha.

Think it's time for a new camera.

These are the Pixel 2 XL efforts I've been posting to social media. Hope you like em.


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I'll post the SLR shots over the next few days. So please come back and check em out. Huge thank you for the support from my sponsors! Gigabyte has taken good care of me and I continue to love their hardware back in the day their huge copper chipset coolers pulled me away from the Asus, ABIT and DFI boards. Having them onboard all these years later is great! AMDs support has meant so much. I'm not going back to Intel now, feels too good over here on the red (cough* GREEN cough*) team again. yeah, green I said it! It used to be AMD green vs Intel Blue right? or am I remembering this wrong? I guess its Red for ATI and the CPU division adopted it after the Geforce raise to dominance.

Having EKWB onboard has been amazing! the first CPU block I bought was the D-Tek Fuzion V2, that also happened to be the last block I bought that wasn't made by EKWB. As they've widened their product range I narrowed my manufacturer choice.. It used to be, EK CPU/GPU, MIPS for the chipset, Bitspower for fittings and res with Thermochill (then Alphacool) for Rads with Scythe for fans. Now it's just EKWB all day long (you wait and see their latest fittings... rip BP).

I'll be back with the MODZERO JABBA build in a week or two, then it's perhaps something a little bigger... I'm being sent the LIAN LI PC-O11 DYNAMIC RAZER EDITION. I rather like the idea of going back to basics. I'd like to do a monster spec, super clean build. Few/zero mods, just a great loop with even better cables. focus on pure aesthetic finish but deliver great performance. Threadripper 3 maybe?

Thanks for sticking with me, thanks for reading all this, hope you enjoyed it.

Peace.

J.

 

[rfarmer]

Beautiful build. I always heard the Pixel 2 had a great camera, guess it is true.

 

[MODZERO]

Hi folks,

ASHEN has been nominated for MOD OF THE MONTH over at Bit-Tech.net, if you're active over on their forums swing by and show me the love. haha

https://www.bit-tech.net/features/m...nth-march-2019-in-association-with-corsair/1/

also...

J.

 

[MODZERO]

MODZERO JABBA!

I've been working on this since I started ASHEN. I've been drip feeding my INSTA and FB with pictures mainly of the EK RTX2080 block (as i fit it to an MSI AERO RTX2070),

But here is a sneak peek.

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I'm gonna post a build log on here and Bit-Tech as I did a couple of things differently this time around and I think it's better for it. It's roughly about 40mm longer then ASHEN but it's rocking an EKWB WE180mm RAD up front. I'm in love with it! Gutted it's not mine.

J.

 

[MODZERO]

UPDATE 6.0 - VERSION 2.0 IS COMING!

ASHEN is getting a hardware upgrade, there were a few things I just didn't like about the original and when my B450i developed a fault meaning I could not POST beyond 2400mhz RAM freq I knew a rebuild was on the cards.

SPECS:

CASE: PARVUM X3.0 CUSTOM ITX
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
RAM: HYPERX DDR4 3200MHZ 16GB
MOBO: GIGABYTE AORUS X570I PRO WIFI ITX
GPU: AMD RX 5700XT 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 8GB
PSU: SILVERSTONE SX650-G SFX 650 WATT
SSD: SAMSUNG 970 EVO 512GB & 860 EVO 500GB

Having been provided with the board, I got back in touch to arrange an RMA and before I knew it Gigabyte UK hooked me up with the new AORUS X570 ITX monster! So the plan was simple enough, just swap out the board (plus new RAM, which I bought trying to diagnose the B450i fault) remake a few of the cables I wasn't happy with and carry on. However, once I knew an X570 was coming I got giddy and went looking for those IPC gains.

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*I thought I'd try my grey backdrop and soon remembered why I don't use it.. :/

After seeing in the reviews that Navi was delivering on price/perf and knowing EKWB had a special block in the works I swiftly rehomed my RTX2070 and picked up the AMD RX 5700XT ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

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The last AMD GPU I bought was the RADEON HD5870 back in 2009, and that was the first ATi card I'd since the glory of the 9700pro five years earlier. At this point I was buzzing to be back on a full AMD build.

So it was time to fly the Red flag. Firstly, remove team green...

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Check!

Then dismantle the loop and pull out the board.

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Check!


But here it took a left turn, I'd requested a CPU from AMD and EKWB had a care package inbound but I was off to Insomnia Gaming Festival 65! that weekend and wanted to be rocking that 5700XT.

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So in it went and off to LAN I went.

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The weekend was amazing! and whilst I was away from home the remaining hardware arrived. So thats all to come.

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Stand by.


J.

 

[Windfall]

UPDATE 6.0 - VERSION 2.0 IS COMING!

ASHEN is getting a hardware upgrade, there were a few things I just didn't like about the original and when my B450i developed a fault meaning I could not POST beyond 2400mhz RAM freq I knew a rebuild was on the cards.

SPECS:

CASE: PARVUM X3.0 CUSTOM ITX
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
RAM: HYPERX DDR4 3200MHZ 16GB
MOBO: GIGABYTE AORUS X570I PRO WIFI ITX
GPU: AMD RX 5700XT 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 8GB
PSU: SILVERSTONE SX650-G SFX 650 WATT
SSD: SAMSUNG 970 EVO 512GB & 860 EVO 500GB

Having been provided with the board, I got back in touch to arrange an RMA and before I knew it Gigabyte UK hooked me up with the new AORUS X570 ITX monster! So the plan was simple enough, just swap out the board (plus new RAM, which I bought trying to diagnose the B450i fault) remake a few of the cables I wasn't happy with and carry on. However, once I knew an X570 was coming I got giddy and went looking for those IPC gains.

...
...
...

*I thought I'd try my grey backdrop and soon remembered why I don't use it.. :/

After seeing in the reviews that Navi was delivering on price/perf and knowing EKWB had a special block in the works I swiftly rehomed my RTX2070 and picked up the AMD RX 5700XT ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

...
...
...

The last AMD GPU I bought was the RADEON HD5870 back in 2009, and that was the first ATi card I'd since the glory of the 9700pro five years earlier. At this point I was buzzing to be back on a full AMD build.

So it was time to fly the Red flag. Firstly, remove team green...

...

Check!

Then dismantle the loop and pull out the board.

...
...

Check!


But here it took a left turn, I'd requested a CPU from AMD and EKWB had a care package inbound but I was off to Insomnia Gaming Festival 65! that weekend and wanted to be rocking that 5700XT.

...

So in it went and off to LAN I went.

...

The weekend was amazing! and whilst I was away from home the remaining hardware arrived. So thats all to come.

...
...

Stand by.


J.

Waiting.....



Can't wait!

 

[MODZERO]

UPDATE 7.0 - ÍTS HERE!

It's been a month since the last update. Which surprised me really! it's felt ALOT longer! So where to kick off... EKWB! HOOKED! ME! UP! I've used their products in every water-cooled PC I've ever built. Well, the first block I bought was the D-TEC Fusion v2, then EKWB was born and that was that. I've used almost every CPU block (family of blocks) they've put out there (except the first couple.. oops, where am I going with this..) for the longest time picking WC components was easy. EK blocks & Bitspower fittings and that ran true until about 6-9 weeks ago (yeah.. it was totally longer huh) when EK started teasing their Torque line of fittings.

BP fittings are still a pain to source in the UK and cost more than they really should. I'd buy from Dazmods in Canada and get slapped with import duty (yeah... I did it twice and recycled the fittings... when you drop $400+ on fittings alone.. you tend to use em over and over). So with EK bringing a new design that finally rivals that of BP I could not wait to get my hands on them.

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I came back from LAN to find the biggest goodie bag from the legends over at EK, waiting for me at work. I'll come back to the fittings later on. However, lets recap. In the last post I talked about how I'd wanted to move to an all AMD build, sold my 2070 and bought the 50th Anni 5700XT. Gigabyte helped me out of a faulty board and sent over the X570 Pro Wifi and I upcycled my 2700X for the spanking value 3600X.

I assembled and hit the UKs largest gaming festival for 5 days of burgers, beer and bugs! (wow being an owner of a Navi GPU was rough those first 5 weeks after launch). It wasn't until I was back playing games in my office with the build 2 feet away that the need for a loop switch loudly became clear.

SO I drained the loop and got to work. Coz EK sent me this!

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Damn thats a great looking block!

Now, my little X3.0 with its single slim 120mm RAD won't do well cooling both CPU/GPU so when I found out that block was coming I reached out to the best in air cooling (NOCTUA) and asked to showcase a couple of products! 48 hours later I had the coolers in hand! yup 48 hours! I've waited 5 months for hardware in the past.. WOW!

NOCTUA NH-L12S (check it out here)

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This was my first choice, JR23 used the same coolers on both his X3.0 Parvum builds and having a nice 120mm fan cooling that X570 chipset would be a huge bonus!

NOCTUA NH-D9L (check it out here)

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This was my backup plan. I loved the idea of a miniature D-frame tower cooler. Now I rather enjoy the colour of Noctuas fans, but with their Redux line available it simply had to be done. It's a perfect fit for this build!

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Couple REDUX 92mm for the D9L and a pair of REDUX 120mm for NH-L12S + RAD. So this got me thinking, something like this....

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Oh yes!

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BEAST!

So back to it, off with the block and on with the NH-L12S! I really wanted this to work! look how cool it is! But sadly, it wouldn't fit with my DDC pump being mounted where it is.. Boo!

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So plan B! Enter the NH-D9L! Now, this worked out better then I'd imagined! Not only did it fit within 1-2mm of the DDC pump but the blow directly over the DDC which makes a noticeable difference.

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Happy with the look I cracked on with the loop. I really enjoy the aesthetic of the original loop as so much of the design of this build was based on it. Swapping out the loop for a GPU block was simple enough (loop wise).

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Time to start playing with these Torque fittings! Oh they are so nice! Wait and see! (it's late... I'll spam the life out of this post tomorrow and then update in the week. I'll share a bunch of final build shots on Insta too)

but for now.

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Goodnight.

J.

 

[MODZERO]

Oh go on then...

J.

 

[ignsvn]

The damn thing is beautiful.

 

[Windfall]

Wow, nicely done!

 

[MODZERO]

MODZERO ASHEN V2.0 COMPLETE

I love building PCs, well, I love building the PCs I choose to build. The older I get the harder it is to find the time, pull things together, the longer it takes to finish these types of projects. As time goes on new modders/system builders enter the game and raise the bar (awesome), its never been competitive amongst each other, but often your skills will be reflected by your sponsorship opportunities (makes sense). I have always built around the products I want to use. It is those, that are often the focal point or the inspiration behind a project getting made. Be it a new case design or innovation, a radical GPU cooler design, line of WC fittings or blocks. As such, I can only afford to build myself a new rig every couple of years and even that is with the great support I've gained from sponsors. 100+ hours go into these (most of them) and I'm proud of each and every one. Over the last couple of years, I've been able to build a few for friends (NOT SPONSORED) which have enabled me to keep the 'MODZERO' brand (if you will) going between personal projects. As anyone with any sort of social media presence will know, content is king.

ASHEN was inspired by a set of KEY CAPS I bought for my FILCO TKL. It was made possible by PARVUM being able to provide a truly unique customer experience. Absolute customization based on pre-existing great design. They are the ONLY company that offers this and there is a reason. I believe its a near-impossible business model. With no huge investment, be able to offer, design and deliver 100% scratch/modified cases at a marketable price point is so hard to do. It's certainly hard to do it well. They are not new to this, being perhaps responsible for some of the greatest builds of the last 10 years. I'm a fanboy sure, and I'm standing by them.



SPECS

CASE: PARVUM X3.0 CUSTOM ITX
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
RAM: HYPERX DDR4 3200MHZ 16GB
MOBO: GIGABYTE AORUS X570I PRO WIFI ITX
GPU: AMD RX 5700XT 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 8GB
PSU: SILVERSTONE SX650-G SFX 650 WATT
SSD: SAMSUNG 970 EVO 512GB & 860 EVO 500GB

NOCTUA NH-D9L + NF B9 REDUX - 1600RPM PWM
NOCTUA NF-P12 REDUX 1300 PWM
EK-Vector Radeon RX 5700 +XT D-RGB - Special Edition
EK-CoolStream SE 120 (Slim Single)
EK-Torque HTC-12 - Black
EK-Torque HTC-12 Color Rings Pack - Red
EK-DDC 3.2 PWM (12V PWM pump)
EK-DDC Heatsink Housing - Black
EK-CryoFuel Clear (Premix 1000mL)


FINAL SHOTS:

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I'm really happy with the result, looks great! performs even better! having a CPU tower cooler (NOCTUA NH-D9L) means I've finally got airflow over the MOSFETs and that DDC pump. I can tell you... when it was just a CPU loop that bottom corner of my build would get so hot the LEDs in the RGB strip would fail! Now, with gentle airflow, it's comfortable to the touch and the temps are good.

I like it so much, I'm starting over! Not joking.

MODZERO SEVEN will be complete early next year. I'm taking all the hardware from ASHEN and putting it in another Parvum ITX case. This time, it's the Parvum R1.0 ITX. It'll house the distro from ASHEN all the X3.0 design improvements with the added benefit of housing two 240mm radiators from new sponsor Alphacool Watercooling. A full loop from EKWB and six Noctua Redux SP120 fans. oh, and an integrated Aquaero 6!

ASHEN will not be retired though, I love its retro/enterprise (ish) design and so I've designed a pedestal add-on to mount 2x 5.25" bays with hot-swap drives. A SAS controller card, Quadro GPU and more Noctua cooling goodness. ASHEN V3 will become my UNRAID server.

Furthermore, MODZERO DYNO is almost ready to kick off. My Razer themed 0-11D build is set to be something rather different from my ITX norm. I'm going big, loud (design) and shiny. Be ready for it.

These three projects will be 2020 for me.

Huge thank you to the companies that have continued showing support. AMD, NOCTUA, SILVERSTONE TECH, PARVUM, GIGABYTE and EKWB!!! you guys are awesome! <3

J.

 

[Windfall]

MODZERO ASHEN V2.0 COMPLETE

I love building PCs, well, I love building the PCs I choose to build. The older I get the harder it is to find the time, pull things together, the longer it takes to finish these types of projects. As time goes on new modders/system builders enter the game and raise the bar (awesome), its never been competitive amongst each other, but often your skills will be reflected by your sponsorship opportunities (makes sense). I have always built around the products I want to use. It is those, that are often the focal point or the inspiration behind a project getting made. Be it a new case design or innovation, a radical GPU cooler design, line of WC fittings or blocks. As such, I can only afford to build myself a new rig every couple of years and even that is with the great support I've gained from sponsors. 100+ hours go into these (most of them) and I'm proud of each and every one. Over the last couple of years, I've been able to build a few for friends (NOT SPONSORED) which have enabled me to keep the 'MODZERO' brand (if you will) going between personal projects. As anyone with any sort of social media presence will know, content is king.

ASHEN was inspired by a set of KEY CAPS I bought for my FILCO TKL. It was made possible by PARVUM being able to provide a truly unique customer experience. Absolute customization based on pre-existing great design. They are the ONLY company that offers this and there is a reason. I believe its a near-impossible business model. With no huge investment, be able to offer, design and deliver 100% scratch/modified cases at a marketable price point is so hard to do. It's certainly hard to do it well. They are not new to this, being perhaps responsible for some of the greatest builds of the last 10 years. I'm a fanboy sure, and I'm standing by them.



SPECS

CASE: PARVUM X3.0 CUSTOM ITX
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
RAM: HYPERX DDR4 3200MHZ 16GB
MOBO: GIGABYTE AORUS X570I PRO WIFI ITX
GPU: AMD RX 5700XT 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 8GB
PSU: SILVERSTONE SX650-G SFX 650 WATT
SSD: SAMSUNG 970 EVO 512GB & 860 EVO 500GB

NOCTUA NH-D9L + NF B9 REDUX - 1600RPM PWM
NOCTUA NF-P12 REDUX 1300 PWM
EK-Vector Radeon RX 5700 +XT D-RGB - Special Edition
EK-CoolStream SE 120 (Slim Single)
EK-Torque HTC-12 - Black
EK-Torque HTC-12 Color Rings Pack - Red
EK-DDC 3.2 PWM (12V PWM pump)
EK-DDC Heatsink Housing - Black
EK-CryoFuel Clear (Premix 1000mL)


FINAL SHOTS:

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...


I'm really happy with the result, looks great! performs even better! having a CPU tower cooler (NOCTUA NH-D9L) means I've finally got airflow over the MOSFETs and that DDC pump. I can tell you... when it was just a CPU loop that bottom corner of my build would get so hot the LEDs in the RGB strip would fail! Now, with gentle airflow, it's comfortable to the touch and the temps are good.

I like it so much, I'm starting over! Not joking.

MODZERO SEVEN will be complete early next year. I'm taking all the hardware from ASHEN and putting it in another Parvum ITX case. This time, it's the Parvum R1.0 ITX. It'll house the distro from ASHEN all the X3.0 design improvements with the added benefit of housing two 240mm radiators from new sponsor Alphacool Watercooling. A full loop from EKWB and six Noctua Redux SP120 fans. oh, and an integrated Aquaero 6!

ASHEN will not be retired though, I love its retro/enterprise (ish) design and so I've designed a pedestal add-on to mount 2x 5.25" bays with hot-swap drives. A SAS controller card, Quadro GPU and more Noctua cooling goodness. ASHEN V3 will become my UNRAID server.

Furthermore, MODZERO DYNO is almost ready to kick off. My Razer themed 0-11D build is set to be something rather different from my ITX norm. I'm going big, loud (design) and shiny. Be ready for it.

These three projects will be 2020 for me.

Huge thank you to the companies that have continued showing support. AMD, NOCTUA, SILVERSTONE TECH, PARVUM, GIGABYTE and EKWB!!! you guys are awesome! <3

J.

Jaw drops a few kilometers.

Wow, epic job, sir! Can't wait to see what you do next!

 

[override]

Well this is just an amazing build! I love how artistic these builds can be, well done - my hat's off to you! The cable management is sexy, the process looks tedious as F but therapeutic at the same time.

 

[SpikeV]

MZ ... awesome log, as always !

I love your stuff, and always have, as you know ... even borrowed some of your great ideas in the past for my own projects (and thank you for that).

Quick Question for you ... also like you I am a huge fan of the Parvum custom products - but now need to know if they are still active ? You seem to be the last connection with that product line.

. . . hoping for good news

 

[MODZERO]

MZ ... awesome log, as always !

I love your stuff, and always have, as you know ... even borrowed some of your great ideas in the past for my own projects (and thank you for that).

Quick Question for you ... also like you I am a huge fan of the Parvum custom products - but now need to know if they are still active ? You seem to be the last connection with that product line.

. . . hoping for good news

Thanks for the kind works chap, Parvum are still active yeah. I think they've had some troubles and have tried to weather the storm so to speak. As I understand it, they've buried their heads to focus on clearing the back-log of orders. I also have reason to believe they are preparing somewhat of a ''comeback'. More of a focused product lineup perhaps... I don't know.

J.