Summer is drawing to a close, it’s been a hot one here in the UK. Along with the sunshine came ASUSFEST, a celebration of all things ASUS and some solid accompanying discounts on their products. At the time of publishing, the sale is still live, so check out your local ASUS website for more details.
In the run up to the event, we received an invite to custom build a PC to be given away to one lucky entrant. Matt designed, custom painted and built last year's giveaway PC, a project that he found thoroughly enjoyable. This year I’m going along for the ride. Allow me to take you through the looking glass and share with you what it’s like to work on such a significant project. This went far beyond the usual PC build, the journey was long, but so rewarding!
Parts List
Hardware supplied by ASUS, CPU supplied by Intel and thanks to Kingston for supplying the M.2 and RAM.
Planning
This time we were briefed with a colour pallet which reflects the seaside / beach, an Amalfi Coast sunset vibe. We were given the freedom to do it our way. MML creativity, whilst in-keeping with the 2024 ASUSFEST branding? Yes please! This gave us the chance to drive a unique aesthetic which simultaneously planted us in a Division game mode!
There is beauty in simplicity, something we were keen to bring to the project. All customisation to be internal, showing off the TUF Gaming GT302’s external design. To keep the build looking elegant we opted for BTF hardware - ASUS’s back connector system - to keep the cables out of view. We wanted to include a custom loop, it’s a difficult and time consuming task: but something we felt the project needed. To keep to the clean and simple ideology we wanted to keep it to straight runs if we could.
The plan: paint the rear of the chassis, the graphics card casing, water block and accent parts of the motherboard. We’d do this with a colour gradient to really make it pop! The RGB accent colours would fall into place later.
The hardware arrived, plans were amended. Instead of painting the whole rear of the chassis we would accent the TUF Gaming logo. We decided that we would paint the bottom plate of the graphics card but accent the top. The white and silver graphics atop the TUF Gaming 4070 Ti Super BTF worked so well with white of the case and silver on the TUF Gaming Z790-BTF motherboard, the accent paint would tie it all together.
Time for Paint!
We were going to rent a spray booth for the painting, but turning the studio into one was much more fun! We hung dust sheets the night before painting, of course they fell down overnight! It didn’t take long to put them back though.
Stripping down the components took us about an hour, the only sticking point (literally) was the water block, the front panel was glued in. It took a little gentle persuasion and a lot of care, but it popped off cleanly. Wrapping the graphics card so we could accent the top was a risky endeavour, we wanted to accent the airflow grate so we needed to make a seal around the underside. With it tightly packed, we were confident no overspray would enter. We had to take care not to damage the cooling fins underneath.
Matt is adept with a spray can so I left him to his work. The fade is impressive and a little overspray coated the side of raised surfaces on the opposing colour, leading to a really subtle shadow effect. Once dried it was time for reassembly. This was a proud moment; the finish of each component complimented the next!
The Build
We’ve built the TUF Gaming GT302 BTF before, we knew it was a pleasure to build in. This is less about the case and more about the experience. Everything slotted in place without issue, lots of space available for cable management. The power supply chosen (TUF Gaming 1000w Gold) comes with fantastic cables, individually braided and with loads of flex: never underestimate the difference quality cabling makes to the ease of building a new rig! We were sent some TUF Gaming TR120 fans for the radiator, at 28mm thick, these are chonky! We had to find some screws that would fit and attach them securely, fitting the radiator to the case was a very standard affair, it only took a few minutes. Once everything was in the realisation hit, we’d accomplished our goal: beauty through simplicity. The colours just flowed around the case! It was too soon to celebrate though, the custom loop was still to come!
The Loop
We kept this as simple as we could, but even then there were challenges. For the hardware we chose EK Water Blocks. We are aware of the issues alleged, and we know it may not be a popular choice. We explored many avenues for the cooling solution and this was the best direction for the project.
To get the pump/res to fit exactly how we needed it there was more modification required, we had to carefully measure and drill the rear of the case. We wanted a short run from pump/res to the waterblock, another from the waterblock to the radiator and one from the radiator back to the start. It sounds super simple, right? We thought so, and most of it was. The shortest run was basically just a 90° bend, that was easy enough, plumbing it was a different game altogether. As anyone who has used hardline tubing will know the tolerance in measurement is low, and the shorter the run the less flex there is available and going in at 90° compounds the issue further. It took a fair bit of wiggling, slackening off the pump/res and more patience than I’ve ever seen Matt muster, but it went in! We pressure tested, no leaks, let's get it filled!
To fill the loop it should be done in stages, fill the reservoir, power up the PC until it sucks through the first lot of fluid and then hard power off. We repeated a few times until we were confident we could keep on top of filling the reservoir as it was being pulled through. We shifted the rig around on different angles to get as much air out as possible and then topped up the res as we went for the next hour or so until the flow was smooth.
Roundup
This was out of the ordinary for us, and that is always a most welcome change. There was an incredible amount of prep, a few changes in direction and hurdles to overcome. We had to stop and think, adjust on the fly and be our most creative and we loved every second!
We’re immensely proud of the build, the custom paint is subtle but eye catching, the custom loop is simple but effective and we finally came to a decision on the RGB, we went white to frame the colours we added.
To whomever wins this PC, please take care of it. We’ve given this our everything, put in more hours than we dare to count and will be very sad to see it leave the studio. This build is a powerhouse and should see you through many years of gaming.
For your chance to win this build click here. Terms and conditions available by following the link.
Blog post written by Sam Thwaytes
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