vman411gamer
Description
Had this idea for a gold/black 50th anniversary build as soon as I saw the 5700 XT Anniversary Edition. Built for combo gaming/productivity.
First, I got all of the parts that weren't the CPU, GPU, and motherboard. I got the X570 motherboard on 7/7 at Microcenter, but was too late for a 3900X. I also ordered my GPU from AMD. After I missed the 2nd shipment of 3900X's in my area, I drove 9 hours round trip to grab one from the next closest Microcenter.
Finally, I started to put it together. All went well until I tried to put in my radiator in the vertical radiator spot. It didn't fit because of a knob on the radiator, so I had to get a hacksaw and cut my case so the knob would fit. I have more info about this in my review of the radiator.
Lastly, I put in my GPU with the included CoolerMaster PCIE riser cable, but it wouldn't work with PCIE 4.0, and my motherboard didn't include an option to revert to PCIE 3.0. After a long time of keeping my card in the horizontal position waiting for a BIOS update to include the option, I finally just spent $36 on a PCIE 4.0 compatible riser cable.
Part Reviews
CPU Cooler
Everything about this cooler is great. 360mm with good fans, flow indicator in the pump/water block, and it's refillable for if/when coolant evaporates. People say "true" closed loop AIO's don't evaporate, but I've had multiple friends that have had to change out AIO's that were supposedly top of the line after 5 years, so this will be nice as I don't want to have to upgrade anything for at least that amount of time.
PC-O11 Dynamic WARNING: It doesn't actually fit in the side radiator mounting spot normally, which is where I have mine. I had to buy a hack saw and cut part of the bottom of that area because the radiator has a knob that sticks out. If you want to get this for a PC-O11 Dynamic, be ready to mount it on the top of the case, or be ready with a hacksaw. https://imgur.com/a/zmaZJWK
Motherboard
It's a pretty good board overall, but the ARGB isn't working correctly. From what I can tell, it is a software issue, and I was never able to fix it while I was trying, but I stopped trying to fix it because I liked the orange color from the RGB controller that was included with my fans, AIO cooler, and LED strips.
Also, the latch that locks items in the PCIE slots broke on the top half, which is the only part of the latch that I can reach when a graphics card is installed horizontally. Thankfully it broke when I was switching from mounting it horizontally to mounting it vertically.
My final complaint is that there is no option in the BIOS to switch to PCIE 3.0. Had to spend $36 on a PCIE 4.0 compatible riser cable because of the lack of features in the BIOS.
Other than that its a pretty good motherboard. Probably not worth the price, but if you need Aura sync you have no choice!
Edit: They finally added a fallback option for PCIE 3.0, so I upped my rating from 3 stars to 4. Still have issues with the RGB headers and the quality of the PCIE slot latches, so I'm going to leave it at 4 stars.
Case
I've built 5 PCs so far, some much bigger than the PC-O11, some much smaller. This was by far the best case I have ever built in. As someone with larger hands, it is hard to get into small spaces to manipulate small parts sometimes. I never had that problem with the PC-O11. There is always a way to get to where you need to comfortably, whether that is through the front panel, or either side panel. Not only is it great to build in though, it is also one of the best looking cases I've ever built with too! This really is the best case overall, as long as you are at least using an AIO for your CPU.
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