Polar Bear
A quick Introduction:
I have always struggled with articulating my thoughts. In conversation I am asked to repeat myself, or to elaborate on concepts; I never am able to get the point across on the first try. When I start to write, I often find myself resting my finger on the backspace key by default, knowing the next few words I type will be erased time and time again. Words can be beautiful if you know when and where to use them, but I do not believe I possess that skill, and I envy those that do. I still enjoy trying though, even if it takes me hours to write something an experienced writer could come up with in minutes. I've discovered well-structured verbiage just doesn't flow naturally from my brain. However, I do find great joy in expressing myself through the creation of things, be it scripts, computers, furniture, doodles, or other works. These things DO feel natural to me. I am thankful to have been born at the right time to be at the age I am now, with modern tools and technology at my disposal, and am fortunate enough to have space to use them. I am also grateful for the trust and patience of those near to me that fuel my outlet for creativity by asking for my input or help in creating something unique for them. This keeps me busy, has taught me to approach problems from different angles, and encourages me to keep improving my organizational skills.
Making something for someone isn’t as easy as just making it and giving it to them. It needs to be truly special: it needs to be theirs. The work has to capture their personality, serve a purpose, and do it in a way that they would want. Planning these sorts of things can add a whole new level of difficulty but always makes the work even more rewarding if you are successful.
My wife is the best wife I could ask for. She takes care of me, makes me laugh, helped build up my confidence, makes me happy when I am sad, handles all of the grocery shopping, does all of the cooking, scratches my back when it itches, scoops the kitty’s poop so I don’t have to, and so so so much more. She’s always going above and beyond in nearly everything she does (not just what she does for me). She possesses an admirable amount of courage to dive head-first into the unknown to try new things and somehow always finds a way to excel at nearly everything she does. She never lets familiarity set her limits and settles for nothing less than extraordinary. She holds herself to high standards and deserves something as great as she is. She needs a computer. She needs a computer that can live up to the standards she holds herself to: something worthy of her name. Something clean, simple, cool (in both senses of the word), quiet, powerful, and most of all “aesthetically pleasing”.
This one is for my Bear.
This one is called: Polar Bear.
Overview:
Build Log: #3
Project Name: Polar Bear
Type: New Build
Theme: Cold, Clean, pastel lighting (no harsh or saturated colors), and superb light reflection (White and Silver)
Usage: Games
Goals: 1440p @ 144hz
Cooling: Custom Loop
Budget: $3,350
Hardware:
Chassis: Corsair Crystal 680x
Motherboard: Asus Strix Z590-A
CPU: Intel i7 10700k
RAM: G Skill Trident Royal Z Silver 3200 (4x8GB)
GPU: EVGA RTX 2080 XC Ultra Gaming
PSU: Corsair RM850x White
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro (1 TB) M.2
CPU Block: Corsair Hydro X Series XC7 RGB
GPU Block: EK-Quantum Vector RTX RE D-RGB (nickel + Plexi)
GPU Backplate: EK-Quantum Vector RTX (Nickel)
Reservoir / Pump: Corsair Hydro X Series XD5 RGB Pump Reservoir Combo
Radiator: Primo Chill 240mm EximoSX Slim 240mm (Sky White) & Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 360mm (Special Edition White)
Fans: 8x Corsair LL120 (White)
Fittings: PrimoChill 1/2in RevolverSX (Silver Nickel)
Tubing: PrimoChill 1/2 OD PETG
Coolant: PrimoChill Vue (Sky White)
Cables: Pro Kit by CableMod
Cable Combs: ClockWerk Industries
Vision:
Imagine a place where there is nothing but white snow scattered for miles, an occasional frozen lake, and dark bits of earth immerging ever so slightly to define the boundaries of mountains. When your eyes raise to the night sky, soft light bends and flows like a steady stream, disappearing beyond the horizon. This was not always the vision I had for Polar Bear, but towards the final stages of planning and after the build itself was complete, I think we were able to capture it. I knew I wanted (and needed) to incorporate as much white as I could, but there needed to be some contrast to prevent it from looking like it just broke out of a hospital. Thus the decision to use chrome/silver hardware was made.
The Complete Haul:
I will save the speech, you already know. The pandemic and technology shortage made finding good deals, or any inventory at all a challenge. Luckily we were able to eventually get everything we needed. The 2080 came from a gentleman on Facebook Marketplace that was getting rid of his entire setup, peripherals and all. I kept some of his old hardware for my lab and traded or donated the rest to my friends. The 980 Pro actually ended up costing us nothing, as the shipment was lost in the mail for a few days, Amazon refunded it, and then the package was found and delivered to us at no charge. The 10700k was purchased on Prime Day, saving us nearly 40%. Finding a white, thin, 360mm radiator with a bleed port was tough, but some folks on the EKWB fan page directed me towards Aquatuning, a distributor based out of (I think) Germany. The cable combs were custom ordered by ClockWerk, again referred to me in the EKWB fan page, but this time by the man Jake LaRue himself.
Happy Moments:
I had my wife install the CPU, RAM, and M.2 storage. Unsurprisingly she did great. I didn’t focus on taking as many pictures as I usually do for this build. The wife was by my side for most of it, and I spent most of my time getting feedback and focusing on sleeving all the ugly cables, and only snapping a picture or video of progression milestones, or when we got a happy feeling after another step was completed. It was a great experience actually, not worrying about forcing myself to find something to take pictures of to help add content to this log. What you see from here on out are not place fillers, they serve as documentation of happy moments we shared as we got closer and closer to achieving our vision.
EVGA makes great cards, but I sure am glad they ditched this ugly backplate design with the 3000 series cards. In addition to the Block and Backplate, I swapped the three slot stock bracket for a two slot bracket. Thank god they sold that on their website. This was a classic Tobie move. Not thinking to verify the vertical mount in the chassis would support a triple slot was a rookie mistake, but it all worked out.
This was the most amount of sleeving I’ve done myself for a build. I actually found it quite relaxing.
This is what I had to stare at for a few hours straight (not complaining). I was staring because I couldn’t make up my mind on what run layout I would commit to. You’ll notice in this picture I was anticipating running from the other side of the GPU ports, but we thought going to the front would add a nice layer of depth to the over all look. We definitely made the right choice.
Let’s call this the “tight squeeze” section.
There was no coolant more perfect for this build theme. I don’t know how it looks this cool, but I’ll play along and blame it on that “magic” they advertise on the bottle. Off-camera I did the leak test and a 72-hour pre-treatment. This Vue stuff must be pretty potent.
Fill and Showcase:
After 72 hours of patiently waiting, we finally got to add the Vue. It truly IS magical.
After the final fill, my wife snatched up her computer and immediately started decking out her new office space. She’s already started making it her own, and it makes me very happy to see her sitting in that chair playing Kingdom Hearts. I am very excited to finally get to play computer games with her. This rig shows no compromise: a perfect match to her perfectionist personality.
I love you Bear,
Tobie
