Portable PC Powerhouse w/ Handle (mini-ITX) (Intel 12900k, NVIDIA 3080 Ti)
by arihadgis@gmail.com Posted on: 7/25/2022
Build Description
Productivity, creative media, and gaming powerhouse. Also, a shocking display of poor financial decisions, but darn if it isn't a beauty. Very portable thanks to the Lian Li TU150's folding handle! Nice glass side to see the the goods inside. Note that one of the pictures doesn't have a glass side (it's aluminum); I originally bought the Lian Li TU150 without the glass panel, then decided I wanted RGB, so I bought the glass panel version. Included the aluminum panel picture to show a different angle/perspective. Originally I didn't plan on RGB because I wanted to be a cool, smug redditor with an overinflated sense of pride for not hopping on the RGB train. Then I realized life is short be happy and screw Reddit, I'm Going RGB Baby. I've included my monitor and peripherals too because I need a page where I can see where all the money I didn't have went to.
Favorite Feature
HANDLE. Also, the CPU cooler's (Noctua) white heatsink covers.
Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake 3.2GHz Sixteen-Core LGA 1700 Boxed Processor - Heatsink Not Included
Qty: 1
$529.99
Can't go wrong with this one. Stand back because it'll knock your socks off lol. Spend a bit of time undervolting and playing with the turbo ratios and you'll be in good shape. PErsonally I could have gone 12700k (heck 12600k) for what I really do, but at the end of the day if I can't use my CPU to overcompensate for my crippling insecurity in life I'm not sure what it's for.
MSI Z690I MEG Unify DDR5 Intel LGA 1700 Mini-ITX Motherboard
Qty: 1
$399.99
Best mini ITX board on the market. I love the Thunderbolt out, I use it so I can use a USB-C to Displayport cable to my monitor that I can unplug and use for my macbook when I work, without needing to unplug from the monitor. Hopefully, if you're building an mini ITX / SFF PC, you should know ahead of time that you're not going to be able to hook up any PCI-E cards other than your GPU. Just throwing it out there in case you're considering 2 GPU's or a video capture card
ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti TUF Overclocked Triple-Fan 12GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card
Qty: 1
$1,099.99
I've since switched out this card for the Gigbyte equivalent (Vision White 3080 Ti), thinking white would look cool. Honestly, I'd like to go back in time and go back to the TUF. The Gigabyte white just isn't that visible unless you have a side/vertical mount to show off the panel. Plus, RGB on a GPU isn't that big of a deal for me, but Gigabyte's is awful. Just go TUF and you'll be happy. Temps with the setup hover around 74 C.
Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-5600 PC5-44800 CL36 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit CMK32GX5M2B5600 - Black
Qty: 1
$229.99
RAM is much cheaper now then when I bought in april.If you're going the air cooling route like I have, and want to use both Noctua fans, you don't want RGB RAM because it'll be too tall, and even if not, the noctua fan will cover it anyway.
LIAN LI TU150 Aluminium Tempered Glass ITX case -Black Color -TU150WX
Qty: 1
$135.00
Only option you have, if you want a 1) full size CPU air cooler, 2) glass panel, 3) mini (almost) ITX case, 4) USB-C front port, and 5) don't want to pay much much more for the Sliger version.Just be aware that your GPU must be no greater than 2.5 slots, and less than or equal to 320mm. Also, when installing, do psu first, then motherboard, processer, rgb brackets, rear/bottom fans, GPU, memory, cpu cooler, front fan, rgb strips, in that order.God help you with cable management
Corsair SF750 750 Watt 80 Plus Platinum SFX Fully Modular Power Supply
Qty: 1
$174.99
Originally went Lian Li 750W, but last minute changed my mind. Both worked well however. I do miss Lian Li's flush connectors.
Noctua NH-D15 Black CPU Cooler
Qty: 1
$129.99
Don't let anyone tell you watercooling is a requirement for the 12900k. This air cooler (but pretty much only this air cooler) is the same as a 360mm AIO. I've overclocked the 12900k to the same specs as people with a water setup and I've been able to match their benchmarks. Only requirement to go water is if you want a smaller form factor case. Also, an air cooler has passive cooling so if the fans stop for some reason you still have heat dissipation. But you may encounter disapproval on reddit
Seagate Firecuda 520 1TB Performance Internal Solid State Drive SSD PCIe Gen4 X4 NVMe 1.3
Qty: 1
$170.00
Good value/price
Seagate Firecuda 520 2TB Performance Internal Solid State Drive SSD PCIe Gen4 X4 NVMe 1.3
Qty: 1
$230.00
Good value/price
ARCTIC MX-4 Thermal paste
Qty: 1
$10.00
Solid. I also used the Noctua paste that came with the CPU cooler; I wasn't able to tell a difference between several re-pastes.I've yet to hop onboard the Kryonaut train because I'm terrified of disassembling this thing again and never getting the back cover to snap into place after the cable chaos that I went through.
ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless
Qty: 1
$120.00
Always make sure to get one of the best gaming mice out there so that you can look at the pretty colors while using your controller for gaming. But honestly, the usb dongle stroage in the mouse itself is a godsend
ASUS ROG Swift PG32UQ 32” 4K HDR 144Hz DSC HDMI 2.1 Gaming Monitor,
Qty: 1
$990.00
Not content to wait for 4k gaming displays to mature into functionally competent products, I got myself a high refresh rate 4k monitor which looks very good, but would like to understand why there's only a 50% chance the screen wakes up if your computer goes to sleep then you wiggle the mouse again to wake it up. Kind of feels like that's one of the first kinks to work out in product dev.
CableMod C-Series Pro ModMesh Sleeved Cable Kit for Corsair RM Black Label/RMi/RMX (Black + White)
Qty: 1
$100.00
Don't know why I even bothered; the whole point is to hide the cables, yet how can you not love these things. Love the looks of these regardless.
CableMod ModFlex 8-pin PCI-e Extension 45cm (Black+White)
Qty: 2
$10.00
Because, fancy GPU cables so you can route them behind the back and under your GPU. Unless you change your video card at the last minute and end up having to just snake them down the side in the front like an absolute noob.
iFixit Essential Electronics Toolkit
Qty: 1
$30.00
If you're sick of buying millions of cheap tiny screwdrivers that keep stripping themselves when attempting to twist a screw with any more torsion than flowing water, get these and enjoy the magentic-ness while you're at it
Microsoft Windows 11 Home 64-bit (Product Key Code Email Delivery)
Qty: 1
$120.00
Total Win11 fan. It's about time Windows started taking tips from Mac UX. Still waiting on an official hot-corners solution from MSoft.
MZHOU SATA USB Extension Cable - USB3.0 Motherboard Front 19 Pin Male to Female Extension Cable
Qty: 1
$10.00
Necessary for reducing the height of the front USB motherboard connector so you can install the outer CPU cooler fan. MAKE SURE the amazon title says (The Interface Faces Outward) version. I bought the wrong one and had to return it.
Noctua NA-HC4 chromax.White, Heatsink Cover for NH-D15, NH-D15S & NH-D15 SE-AM4 (White)
Qty: 1
$30.00
This is how to get the cool white look you can see in the pictures. Purely aesthetic; there is no function to these apart from looking cool and advertising you have Noctua cooling which means you're better than everyone else.
Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM chromax.Black.swap, Premium Quiet Slim Fan, 4-Pin (120x15mm, Black)
Qty: 3
$27.00
a slim 15mm is the only rear exhaust fan that fits behind the Noctua CPU cooler. Also, need the slims for under the gpu at the bottom. Keeps temps during gaming/rendering real low!
Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM chromax.Black.swap, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (120mm, Black)
Qty: 1
$33.00
Front intake fan. Gives a nice front-to-back flow feeding the cpu cooler fans out to the back exhaust.
Phanteks (PH-FF120DRGBA_BK01) Halos Lux Digital LED 120mm Fan Frame Alum, Black
Qty: 2
$20.00
This is how you get RBG Noctua fans. Paid extra for the aluminum vs plastic version, but the upshot is that it comes with the proprietary RGB connector. Honestly I did it this way instead of buying straight up RGB fans because I wanted to be able to say I have Noctua fans and decided good financial decisions were less important than pride in computer parts no one will ever see.
Phanteks NEON Digital-RGB LED Strip Combo Set - 2x 400mm Smooth Lighting Strip
Qty: 1
$23.00
This is how you get that smooth rgb lighting (honeslty it's just LED's with a diffusing strip on top).
Phanteks PH-DRGB_SKT Digital RGB LED Starter Kit Includes The Controller Hub and DRGB LED Combo Kit
Qty: 1
$40.00
Bought for the RBG hub. I bought the neon strips separately, so the included LED strips in this package are sitting around in a drawer somewhere.
Satechi Slim X3 Bluetooth Backlit Keyboard - Space Gray
Qty: 1
$90.00
For when you want to use a mac keyboard with your Windows machine because it looks cool but doesn't require a mortgage like the Apple version. Also, you can sit on it accidentally and bend it slightly in the middle and it still works!
![Silkland USB C to DisplayPort 1.4 Cable [8K@60Hz, 4K@144Hz 120Hz, 2K@240Hz], 5K Type C to DP 1.4 Cable](https://879a0cd993b93bf42216-fac92dd43971ff47cecfeefad717658e.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/8f5a1ff7-4f98-4543-9894-1f2158b29fb2.jpg)
Silkland USB C to DisplayPort 1.4 Cable [8K@60Hz, 4K@144Hz 120Hz, 2K@240Hz], 5K Type C to DP 1.4 Cable
Qty: 1
$20.00
To hook up to my monitor, which I can also use for my macbook. Found out the hard way that you can't use the cheapest cable out there to drive a 4k 144hz monitor.
SteelSeries Arctis 7 RF Wireless Gaming Headset - Black
Qty: 1
$170.00
Love the ski google fit band. Good sound
Thermaltake AC-002-ON1NAN-A1 Matrix D12 120mm Case Mods Magnetic Fan Filter Black
Qty: 2
$10.00
Slap these bad boys un the underside of your case to prevent small dust from getting sucked up into your case. Magnetic makes it much easier than unscrewing the entire fan when you need to remove them to clean. If we're being honest though the difference is negligible because I plan on never practicing case hygeine.