New Workstation Build 2021

I never got around to doing the blog post detailing my previous couple workstation upgrades, so this is inclusive of the parts that remain from those upgrades as well as the new components from this upgrade (indicated individually). So far, this sucker is a screamer in terms of performance. I’d like to do a video card upgrade, like to an nVidia RTX 3060 or an AMD Radeon RX 6700 or 6800, but… well… the video card market is beyond stupid at the time of this writing and you can’t buy any of them. So, here are the components of my workstation as they currently are.

• Thermaltake Core X9 Black Cube Case (existing)
  Yes, this is a ridiculous case. I know this. But it’s awesome in its own way. I’ve been using it since 2015, when I got a great Black Friday deal on it. One of the unique things about it is that the motherboard is mounted horizontally in it (yes, it’s that wide), and it has plenty of space so that you can make changes and mess with stuff without feeling super cramped. If you’re not short on space for where the computer will go, as I’m not, then I definitely recommend this beast of a case.
• ASRock X570 Pro4 Motherboard (new)
  My previous motherboard was an ASRock AB350 Pro4, which was a solid bang-for-the-buck board for my first generation Ryzen 7 1800x CPU. So, when a good deal came along for a combo deal with the new CPU I just put in and this X570 Pro4 board, I went for it. So far, zero complaints.
• AMD Ryzen 9 5900x CPU (new)
  Geez, this CPU is a kick in the pants. With 12 cores rocking top-notch performance, this thing slices and dices and hardly breaks a sweat. My first-gen Ryzen 7 1800x was no slouch, but this puppy definitely kicks it up a notch.
• 2 x Corsair 32GB (2X16) Vengeance RGB Pro 3200 RAM (new)
  I’ve been loyal to Corsair for a long time, and have a good amount of their RGB stuff running on their iCUE platform, so I figured I might as well get some RGB RAM to go with it. And since it was on sale, I got two of the 2-packs, bumping to 64GB.
• Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 CPU cooling fan (new)
  I had been using a Corsair All-In-One water pump/radiator unit for almost 10 years. Just after doing my other upgrades, that unit started making a “moo” noise and started to fail. So, after some looking around at fan units, I settled on one that was kinda beloved by many reviewers. When I got it, the size of the box it came in was comically large for a CPU fan. After I opened it, I was amused to see that the size of the box was legit. This sucker is a beast of a cooler, but it is indeed awesome. It runs so quiet and does an absolutely fantastic job at cooling. I keeps things running nearly 20 degrees Celsius cooler than my previous all-in-one unit. It holds the Ryzen 9 5900x at 60 degrees under a half hour full load test.
• Western Digital 500gb SN750 Black NVMe SSD (new)
  I traditionally had used Samsung SSD drives, but I got a good deal on this WD Black NVMe, so I decided to go with it as a 500gb upgrade to my older Samsung 250gb. So far, so good. I also have a variety of 3.5″ SATA drives in this computer as well (the case certainly accommodates a bunch of ’em).
• Gigabyte GTX 1050 Video Card (existing)
  Given that GPU prices are utterly insane, I’m sticking with my existing GTX 1050 card for now, but will hopefully get something like an RTX 3060 or such once I can, you know… actually buy one for a price that isn’t 3+ times MSRP…
• Thermaltake Smart 700W PSU (existing)
  Nothing particularly fancy, but a nice enough modular PSU that I was already using that had enough power to spare.
• LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray Writer (existing)
  A reliable optical drive I’d had for a year or two that does M-Disc, etc.
• Corsair K95 Platinum RGB Keyboard (existing)
  A nice and fancy clicky-clicky Cherry MX mechanical keyboard that I’ve had for a while. A year or so back, I started to have troubles with a couple keys, so I got a set of “pudding cap keys” to replace the stock key caps. They are brighter and flashier than the originals and look pretty cool. I also have a Corsair iCUE Nexus attached (which is so-so, and kinda overpriced – it also has a very “first generation” feel to it).
• Corsair MM800 RGB Mouse Pad (existing)
  If you’re gonna have a fancy RGB keyboard, you might as well have a fancy RGB mouse pad, too, right? 🙂
• Logitech MX Master 3 Mouse (existing)
  I’ve been a user of Logitech’s MX Master mice since the first model. While this 3rd iteration isn’t quite 100% perfect (I would still tweak the side buttons & side scroll positions a bit), it comes close. The main scroll wheel is fantastic (a slight improvement over the already fantastic ones on the previous models). I’m rather loyal to this series mouse.
• Corsair RGB Lighting Controller & Expansion Kit (existing)
  Ooooooo, how pretty……..
• EZM Deluxe Quad LCD Monitor Mount Stand (existing)
  I’ve got 2 LG 27″ monitors on the top and 2 AOC 27″ monitors on the bottom of this quad monitor setup. It rocks. They’re all just 1080p, but I’ve had this arrangement for 7 years now, and I love it.
• Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Speakers (existing)
  A good bang-for-the-buck set of speakers, snagged on a sale at Costco as a while back.

I’ve got a variety of other things hooked up to it, including USB hard drive docks, USB hubs, external hard drives, an old but awesome Epson Perfection V700 scanner, and other various things.