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Girlfriend Wanted a Storm Trooper PC

by BeardRunner

223
62 Comments

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Part List View full price breakdown

Details

Date Published

June 26, 2016

CPU Clock Rate

3.7GHz

GPU Core Clock Rate

1.20GHz

GPU Effective Memory Clock Rate

6.61GHz

Description

For a while now, I've been wanting to A) Build a PC for my girlfriend, since she likes to play games with me and I just think it's a really cool gift, and B) Build a mini ITX PC. When I told her about the idea and started showing her case options, she started saying how she thought a case that looks like a storm trooper would be cool. I've always loved Phanteks cases, and the EVOLV Mini had the perfect look to it. I then looked around on Etsy for storm trooper vinyl decals, and found a couple that would be pretty awesome. The front one was much bigger than I was expecting but it actually fit PERFECTLY with the shape of the case! I love that I was able to get a Riing fan facing the window panel, it's a nice touch.

As far as components go, I mostly wanted to go toward the budget end of things while still providing her a PC that will run most games at 60 fps. I used the 950 in my PC for a while and it's actually quite a little beast! I'll be updating with temperatures and letting yall know how it runs in general, but as of right now I'm thrilled with the outcome, and so is she! :)

Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and give it a +1 if you like it!

EDIT: THANKS FOR ALL THE UPVOTES! YOU GUYS ROCK!

Comments Sorted by:

Growliff1234 41 points 23 months ago

+1. If you're lucky enough to have a nerd girlfriend you have to make her happy.

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 8 points 23 months ago

Couldn't have said it better myself!

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HyperYveltal16 1 point 23 months ago

So true

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Bahamut5098 1 Build -12 points 23 months ago

What if she weighs 500 lbs, though?

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Iceman320 1 Build 10 points 23 months ago

Extra weight, for extra loving.....

thought that was common knowledge?

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HyperYveltal16 -2 points 23 months ago

Lol

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gsaiz85 3 Builds 34 points 23 months ago

I bet that PC can't hit anything it shoots at.

All jokes aside, great PC +1

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FACUNDO 13 Builds 11 points 23 months ago

Incredible. Just ****** incredible. It looks like a $2000 build.

+1.

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 3 points 23 months ago

Thanks a ton! That means a lot!

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Vinyl_Scratch_ 8 points 23 months ago

Another amazing build, I'm so glad to see people breaking the typical ideologies that "A PC build has to be $10000 or something to look amazing." Because a little bit of elbow grease can go a long way.

Great job on the case, the DIY work, and also making your girlfriend (hopefully) happy ;P

1+

Waiting for the feature as well

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Eltech 19 Builds 4 points 23 months ago
This storm trooper looks amazing! I'm glad your girlfriend is very happy with this. You are awesome to help make this build and therefor I love it. +1
That case fan, used as a CPU cooler. It appears to be extremely snuggled to the GTX 950's backplate. Anyway to not have it touch the backplate? I have this GPU too which I agree it is an awesome budget graphics card.
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Growliff1234 1 point 23 months ago

I'm in no way trying to be rude, but will it affect the video card by having that fan touch it? I don't recall anything like that being an issue.

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Eltech 19 Builds 1 point 23 months ago
I do not think you are rude. I am somewhat concern. Usually, two things come to my mind.
1) It appears to be pushing against the GPU which could somewhat stress it and prefer that nothing touches the GPU. 2) Depending what game is played, since a backplate is additional support for alignment but also acts as a GPU's heatsink which can get warm and usually it is best to not have wires or anything on it.
Though, so far I had tested this GPU on DOOM and Rainbow Six Siege which seem to range around 50~60 Celsius with fans ON early after 4 hours of use. Regardless, a video with a blackplate can get warm when used but again it's only some minor concerns, nothing too dramatic.
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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

I agree, everything is very snug, and I'm going to keep an eye on things to make sure it's not an issue. Fortunately, the fan is only making contact with the backplate, which isn't an electrical component, and I think it will be okay.

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Eltech 19 Builds 1 point 23 months ago
I'm not concern of electrical. The backplate acts as a heatsink and additional support to keep it aligned for a graphics card. As long the games are not too heat-tasking than OK. As you said, keep an eye on it and down the road, find a different fan for it that is not snuggled.
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Hamzah007 3 points 23 months ago

I don't usually comment, but this is great!

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Thank you!

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FHD32423 3 points 23 months ago

Next featured Build?

+1

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SirDodoDuck 2 points 23 months ago

For the price it looks amazing :) +1

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mlggeekmaster242 2 points 23 months ago

Could you make me one? I'll be your... errr... friend, I guess. Nah, just kidding. +1 for the Star Wars decals and it being amazing.

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derpchosen 3 Builds 2 points 23 months ago

Such a cool case, and the build on a budget makes it even better. +1 cheers on the nerd girlfriend by the way :D

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dragoon20005 4 Builds 2 points 23 months ago

i love this build

i got those Funko Pop figures of them stormtrooper

http://popvinyls.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/75stormtroopershield-1.png

Traitor!!!

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HyperYveltal16 2 points 23 months ago

Let's get this thing to 90 upvotes!

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HyperYveltal16 1 point 23 months ago

Over 9000

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Master-Zixx 5 Builds 2 points 23 months ago

Absolutely flawless! Have been thinking of doing a similar build (i3 and RX 470) for my girlfriend in the future. Same case, no decals. Though that Riing fan look really neat! I may just nick that idea ;-)

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Good luck! Building for someone else is very gratifying.

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ATXON 2 points 23 months ago

My god that looks amazing! +1 Using a glowing ring fan for the CPU cooler is probably one of the neatest setups I've ever seen.

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Thanks! Having everything in there so snug was a little terrifying but I love the look of it!

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HyperYveltal16 2 points 22 months ago

How is this not featured??

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HyperYveltal16 2 points 22 months ago

MORE UPVOTES!!!

I was gonna say cowbell...

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 22 months ago

Not expensive enough I guess. :/ But yall have given me plenty of appreciation already, so I really can't complain. :)

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Movie_Gamer1237 1 Build 2 points 22 months ago

That's awesome! very nicely done!

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Sagittarius-A-star 2 points 22 months ago

Awesome mITX build, love the stormtrooper theme! :-) Great gift man.

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ValkyRye 2 points 21 months ago

Question: How do I build a girlfriend? Nice pc btw bruh.

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KB_TheDireWolf 5 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Very cool man!

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jsoutherland89 4 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Beautiful! +1

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jacobsamdal 6 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Looks very good! Love the theme! Are they just stickers? And I would love to see some more lights to show off the rest of the computer! Just an idea!

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Hey thanks! More lights could definitely be in the works, though the riing fans look pretty good in person (the pics don't do justice). The stickers are like really nice vinyl decals like you would put on a car, so they're very sturdy.

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jacobsamdal 6 Builds 0 points 23 months ago

i Love It! Check out my itx build in that same case but black! Great Case but I've never seen the white one nice until this

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Looks great! I can see how more illumination could be really awesome. May have to look into some LED strips.

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lukeguywalker 1 point 23 months ago

Benchmarks please? It would be interesting to see how these parts work together.

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

What benchmarks would you like? I may be able to run some today.

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faithbr1ng3r 1 Build 1 point 23 months ago

Sleek build. +1 Where did you find those case decals?

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Etsy.com has lots of individual sellers of decals in all colors and sizes. :)

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Buddatech 1 Build 1 point 23 months ago

+1 creativity and good looks!

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philphaser 12 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Very nice, OCD-pleasing build. I just now very fond of the trooper on the side panel, it's quite not as subtile as the helmet outline on the front. Think the empirial crest would have been a better motive for that place.

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HyperYveltal16 1 point 23 months ago

NZXT hue+ would look great in that case ( if there is space)

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Yeah the most limiting factor in this build is the number of pwm headers. Only one aside from the main cpu header. :( I'm definitely looking into more lighting though!

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dpaquet1 1 Build 1 point 23 months ago

I had a similar limitation in my ITX build. You may want to check this out https://www.nzxt.com/products/iu01-usb-expansion

I managed to get in a Hue+, Grid+ and AIO cooler in my case.

Also could you share where you got those decals? They are awesome. I have a white case also that might benefit from some.

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 1 point 23 months ago

Etsy.com has a ton of individual sellers that make the vinyl decals. Pretty much just go there and search for whatever you'd like, there's probably something! And thank you, I'll check that out!

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InstantHax 1 point 23 months ago

Good man, your girlfriend is a lucky girl

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emiral_88 1 Build 1 point 22 months ago

That is a cute build and a great story. :D

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rko618 1 point 21 months ago

Where is the text on the side of your SuperNOVA G2 PSU? Did you cover it up somehow?

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BeardRunner submitter 2 Builds 2 points 21 months ago

We peeled the sticker off. Kyle from AwesomesauceNetwork on Youtube always suggests to take the sticker off if it conflicts with the color theme, and the yellow on the sticker definitely stuck out from the rest of the black and white. My girlfriend sat there scraping it off for about 30 minutes I think while I was putting other stuff together lol.

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Jalley15 1 Build 1 point 19 months ago

looks dope! +1

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customgtp 18 Builds 1 point 18 months ago

+1 I love it!!!

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Tropics 1 point 15 months ago

That cable management though

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tntsizzle 1 point 11 months ago

I get this warning:

Some AMD A88X chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Kaveri CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions.

What do I do?

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22BusDrivers 1 point 11 months ago

Did you have to flash the bios for the 860k or was it already done for you and ready to go?

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IceT3ch 1 point 10 months ago

Personally I think the CPU is the real bad side. Not that its a bad CPU as it is an absolute beast at price to performance ratio and also being an quad core, it however does not leave any upgradeability as the FM2+/FM2 socket is actually quite old. It would be good to get an i3 7100 or an Pentium G4560 in there as you might want to upgrade this PC later on.

Overall awesome build! I hope you guys enjoy it!

+1

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NIMJA124 1 point 10 months ago

Its amazing to see how people manage to make great PC's on tight budgets. ITS AWESOME +1. Also, dude you got a girlfriend who watches star wars, shes a keeper, GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS

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Blazinghammes 1 point 8 months ago

athlon?? couldve gone with an i5 m8

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