Hey guys,
This is my first big post since I really haven't had anything worthy of posting/saying, but I was pretty proud of this build and couldn't many Pandora builds online while planning it so I thought I'd share and see what everyone thinks.
I need a smallish pc for college to fit on my desk in my dorm (incoming freshman), and I'm going to be editing 4k video so I needed something beefy inside but sleek and thin on the outside. I decided I'd go with the BitFenix Pandora (without the LED screen...without was on sale ;P) because in my opinion it's one of the sexiest cases out there. I didn't think it would be toooo hard to build in after watching reviews (hah) so I thought I'd give it a shot.
HERE ARE THE SPECS
INTERNALS
- Intel i7 5820k (oc'd @ 4.4Ghz)
- EVGA x99 mATX Motherboard
- 32 Gb Kingston HyperX Fury 2400 RAM
- EVGA Nvidia Titan X (Superclocked) w/ EK Acetal Full Cover Waterblock and Black Backplate
- Intel 730 Series 240GB SSD (Boot and Programs)
- Samsung 850 EVO 1TB SSD (Games and Editing Clips)
- 3 TB WD Black (Mass Storage and Extra Clips)
- EVGA SuperNova G2 850w PSU (Gold Certified)
WATERCOOLING
- Raijintek Triton Waterblock/Res/Pump (Taken from the AIO) with Arcitc MX-4
- 3/8 ID x 1/2 OD PrimoFlex Advanced LRT Tubing (Clear)
- EK Acetal Waterblock and Black Backplate with Arctic MX-4
- XSPC EX240 Radiator
- 4x Noctua NF-F12 Industrial Editions in Push/Pull
- 1x BitFenix Spectre White LED Fan (Top Exhaust)
- EK Black Compression Fittings (and standard Raijintek compression fittings for Triton)
Peripherals / Extras
- Asus DVD/CD Write/Read Drive (External) ... My family has a ton of CD's so I need someway to get them onto Google Play
![;)]()
- Lexar Card Reader
- ROCCAT Ryos MK Pro (Cheery MX Blues)
- ROCCAT Kone Pure Optical
- ROCCAT Sense Mouse Mat
- Corsair Vengeance 2100 (without Tramp Stamp)
- Xbox 360 Wireless Dongle and Controller
- Genius 2.1 Speaker System (With 2 additional speakers, Idk where from but they are nice and punchy)
- Dell u3415w 3440x1440 Ultrawide IPS Curved Monitor
- 1 Long Strip BitFenix Alchemy Blue LED lights (Top of Window attached to Case)
- 1 Short Strip BitFenix Alchemy Blue LED lights (Underneath front SSD attached to Case)
THE BUILD
(pictures don't do it justice, it is much darker and deeper of a blue in person)
So technically I did the main build a month ago before I bought the EK block and rad as I was waiting on some cash and was looking into the power of the Triton in a custom loop. To my shagrin, there was a lack of videos of the Triton being used with a GPU block, and only a few photos from some German posters. It makes sense because if you are going to do a custom loop, you might as well do a full custom loop with separate res and pump but space was definitely an issue for me (and I also wanted to try something new).
After watching both Luke's video on the Pandora, as well as NCIX's and the Hardware Canucks videos, I assumed that all of the complaining about the side panels would be no issue, I have worked with bad panels in the past, and I thought with some good cable management and time, it would go off without a hitch....boy was I wrong. In the back of the case there is a very small groove cut out on the left side, in which you are to store all of your extra cables (as well as under the bay in the front where you mount your ssd. It took me many tries to figure out where the space was, as the cutout is only a few mm less that the rest of the back panel. any draping of cables across the back caused the side panel to not pop in properly, and even with the management I had to do (to fit 5 fans and splitters and pretty much everything else), the back panel will take a good amount of time to put back on if I ever have to take it off (why I couldn't take any pictures haha)
After getting everything put together with the AIO, I noticed that the Triton's tubing as super kinky, and too long to not bend a bit, which prompted me to go at it on the custom loop. I took the AIO out to drain it, and then managed to find the specs of the tubing on the internet. The compression fittings on the triton are much smaller than the tubing, they work fine, but I was very uneasy filling the loop as I had to crank on them to make sure they wouldn't pop off (still fingers crossed they don't in the future). I added 2 more noctuas (that you can see inside the case) to the two I had pushing, and split the fan headers on the top of the motherboard, as the EVGA doesn't have enough in the right positions to fit my panel on the side.
The EK block went on without a hitch, and the backplate looks soooooo good with the rest of the black components. The only issue I had hear was that the IO shroud/shield thing for the motherboard made it a very snug fit to but the graphics card in with a backplate. It doesn't bend once you get it in, and I wanted to keep the shroud because it looks great, but it may be too close for comfort for some, but really I guess this whole build is.
I had a couple of issues with RMA's when getting my radiator and tubing (Do not ever buy from Performance PC's....they are absolutely terrible) the Black Ice 240mm rad I bout was slightly too wide, so the mounting holes didn't line up with the rails on the front of the case, so I went with the XSPC Rad because it has good performance and was the closest size wise to the original Triton one. I wanted to swap out the rad because the Triton one was aluminum throughout...to get some frustration out from Performance PC's I kinda smashed it (the Triton one)....which weirldy enough made it smell super bad (will look into it in the future). I also broke a 3tb wd black by snapping off the plastic piece that holds the data sata pins :/ be very careful if you use this case and install a mechanical on top because there will be some strain on the connectors if you want a clean look.
Overall I am extremely happy about how this build ended up in the end. I don't have temps yet as I am waiting for everything to settle in, but I'll post them after a day or two.
I'd love to hear what you guys think of the build as it is my first watercooling project, any tips and suggestions are definitely welcome!
Thanks!
-T.K. (xyz25 / Xyzizzle)