UPDATE/MAY 2017:

• Recieved the HyperX Cloud II Headset (slate/grey)

• Moved PC onto shelf space

• Cleaned up cables coming from IO

• Swapped Corsair M65 RGB Pro for a Razer Deathadder. You could say this was a bad trade but I am a palm grip and my friend is a claw grip. Swapping mice suit us both perfectly.

• Added a 2017 Hot Wheels^TM Model S (black) and a Model X (white) on top of the GPU backplate

This is my first PC build and man was it fun.

I'm 14 and I got interested in PCs due to a friend who built his own a couple years ago in an NZXT phantom case. SUPER big shout out to him for the amazing photography throughout the build, definitely the best person to have by my side for this project. For about 9 months I've messed around with what was affordable and changed my choice of case and components way too many times, from a Phanteks Evolv ITX to an NZXT H440, to a Nvidia GPU or an AMD. But eventually, I settled on all this and got to work. I chose mostly black and white parts to keep a consistent theme and aesthetic build; my highlight colour was purple, however as I'm writing this everything is set to teal except my front fans. It's intended primarily for gaming but also for school work and possible music production which is what I'm considering for the future.

I got all the parts from a UK specialist computer shop near me called CCL. I lived less than a mile away luckily so I spent more on local service than relying on Amazon dealers if something was to go wrong (which it did).

CPU - Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core

An all-rounder. Gets the job done. Easy overclocking potential when I decide I wanna step it up. I didn't really see the benefits of an i7 and the highest range i5 would suit perfectly since there wasn't too much of a price difference between the less specced models. Skylake runs like a dream.

CPU COOLER - Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM

Looks fantastic. Phanteks branding also matches case. Not the easiest to install and I somehow needed two pairs of hands but hardly impossible. Stays quiet, runs smoothly, good for the price too, didn't see need for a water-cooler unless for aesthetics but this serves well in that department anyway. CPU temps are listed.

MOTHERBOARD - Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151

Not much to say here, cut myself on the io shield, I don't understand why those things are made the way they are. Aesthetics are great, shame to see the white slab on top of the IO blocked by the CPU cooler but oh well. Both look good. Shame there was no RGB header, something I never even knew existed. Had to buy several adapters as well as an external 12v PSU to get the Phanteks LED strips to work.

MEMORY - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000

Was the cheapest 3000mhz ddr4 ram and in white too. Literally the perfect match. No issues. Haven't even used 8/16gbs of it yet. Almost feels like overkill. Looks so good.

STORAGE - Kingston Savage 240GB 2.5" SSD

The HyperX is gorgeous but sits at the back of my case in an SSD bracket. The red wouldn't have matched anyway. Read and write speeds are as advertised and performs speedily

STORAGE - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM

The WD is your standard HDD. Used for photos and documents. Good to have 1tb at disposal, nothing else to say here.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB G1 Gaming

Amazing card, all I need. However, I had problems initially and still have a software issue. I installed it and it booted like it should, Installed the appropriate drivers and all was good. Once it was under load however, the fans would kick up full speed and even when returning to idle, it would stay at 100%. Fan speeds would not read and the driver utility did nothing but change the colours of the LEDs. Took it back to the shop but it worked perfectly on their test bench. I pessimistically took it back and gave it another shot but this time I disabled the windows graphics driver that installs with windows 10. It then worked perfectly, used afterburner to control the speeds and the utility read the fan speeds. However, the Xtreme Utility opens on boot once when prompted but fails to open until I reboot the system. Hoping Gigabyte fixes this. Otherwise, a sexy, well performing card with nice LEDs. On Unigine it can comfortably break 100fps at 1080p ultra. GPU temps are listed.

CASE - Phanteks ECLIPSE P400S ATX Mid Tower

Amazing case. The sound dampening foam is great for keeping things quiet and airflow is adequate. Looks great in white and the slightly angular front made me choose it over the s340. That and the fact I'd feel terrible choosing an s340 when the elite versions just got released, unfortunately that wasn't in stock. Easy to build in. Nothing else to really say. Nice to have included dust filters and front LEDs.

POWER SUPPLY - EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX

Felt like this was worth a mention. Although I didn't take photos, believe me when I say the unboxing experience was very enjoyable. The way EVGA had packaged and presented was unmatched by any other of my components. You even got a velcro carrying case. Chose this primarily for its rating but also wanted decent all black PSU cables out the box. Modular support is convenient and saved excess. No ketchup and mustard cables :)

CASE FAN - Corsair Air Series AF140 Purple 66.4 CFM 140mm

Does what they say on the box and do it quietly. Was annoyed at first that the LEDs don't give off a lot of light from the fans but this allows me to change all the colours without the purple being noticeable. They were also really really stiff to push and twist screws though. Probably the most hard part of this build. Great intake fans though.

OPERATING SYSTEM - Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full 32/64-bit

Just a dream to install. USB booted from BIOS automatically, less than 10 minutes to full install. Disabled all the spyware in Windows 10 but the way it tries to force its own programs as default all the time is annoying. Edge is horrible, so stop trying to bait me Microsoft.

MONITOR - Dell S2415H 23.8" 60Hz

Such a sexy monitor and for only about £135. Yes, it's not 1440p or 144hz but man does it look good doing what it does and colour accuracy is up there, glad I chose IPS. 24" is surprisingly very adequate. Will likely upgrade to an ultrawide or secondary monitor in a year or two though.

KEYBOARD - Cooler Master MasterKeys Pro S Wired Standard

Everything I wanted. MX Browns are tactile and clicks are audible at a bearable and satisfying volume. LED's are fully customizable and profile and effects are easy to switch using the utility or the keyboard shortcuts. 0 complaints. Props to CoolerMaster for making pretty much a perfect product.

MOUSE - Corsair M65 PRO RGB FPS Wired Optical

Feels good, was sceptical about it at first due to it being for claw grip, but it fits my palm grip and is as comfortable as I need. I did initially want a g502 but the store for some reason lacked a lot of Logitech products. If given the opportunity to change I would, the mouse is amazing from a hardware perspective and looks clean in white but the Corsair Utility sometimes fails on me and is annoying to get it to start up again and detect my mouse.

HEADPHONES - Audio-Technica M50x Headphones

Had these prior to the build. The sound is as brilliant as the first week I started using them. Will later add a modmic for microphone use.

Photos taken by myself and a friend on the Canon EOS 1200D (daylight photos are his/ darker photos are mine.)