this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2026
507 points (99.2% liked)

PC Master Race

22629 readers
690 users here now

A community for PC Master Race.

Rules:

  1. No bigotry: Including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
  2. Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
  3. No NSFW content.
  4. No Ads / Spamming.
  5. Be thoughtful and helpful: especially when new beginners have questions.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hello All,

Here is a pic of the final build of my open air PC build. I built the case about 5 years ago and have been running a 10900k.

I have stepped up to a 9950X3d and the Asus Crosshair ROG 2006 X870E motherboard.

I have 3 x 360mm radiators and a pair of D5 pumps in series.

Let me know if you have any questions! J

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] DaedalousIlios@pawb.social 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This person definitely doesn't have a cat.

[–] Ravenheart@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] CrimeIsLegalNow@ani.social 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Of course not, you can tell he still enjoys life and his hobbies.

[–] nexguy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I have cats and children and dust and I love my hobbies

[–] DaedalousIlios@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago

Your must either not be allowed in the room ever, or is significantly more well-behaved than most! Mine would absolutely wreck this without some kind of barrier in the way.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Malica@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

Mine would sit on it immediately

[–] ProwlsInSoup@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Can it play Doom?

[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Not sure if anyone uses builds.gg anymore. But I posted a bunch of pictures there.

I also have my other builds.liated as well.

https://builds.gg/builds/open-air-case-refresh-plywood-custom-build-39716

There are some pretty nice systems there. Put mine to shame.

[–] dan1101@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's cool but all I can think of is how dusty it will get.

[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

LoL, yeah I can imagine. I hadn't cleaned it before the rebuild in about 2 years. Here is what that looked like: 🤮

[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That's fucking cool. I've always thought the open designs were pretty sweet, this is giving me ideas. If I end up building one I might do something like this with walnut and more brass.

[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I am playing with the idea of changing the clear tubes to copper pipes. I still might.

[–] axx@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago

The original steam machine.

When that baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit

[–] perishthethought@piefed.social 42 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Malica@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago
[–] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 27 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

He for real said lmk bout questions, and ghosted everyone

Nice build tho

[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I didn't have my notifications on, what Qs do you have?

[–] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 3 points 1 day ago

None I was just being snarky cause I was mostly interested in your answers when I first scrolled this and there were none lol

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

That's cool, but I would have used wheels instead.

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Needs more brass.

[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

For those curious on my the VRM Temps.

Here is the summary of my VRM temps: CPU VDD (Main Core Power) VRM: Averaged 58.1°C with a peak of 61.3°C. CPU SOC (System on Chip Power) VRM: Averaged 57.7°C with a peak of 60.7°C. CPU MISC (Miscellaneous Power) VRM: Averaged 64.9°C with a peak of 66.0°C. GPU VRM: Averaged 34.6°C with a peak of 35.0°C.

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 34 points 2 days ago (1 children)

How much did you spend on case/display/lighting/cooling components?

How many hours would you say went into this?

Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?

[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

So when I built the case/frame, I did it over about 2 months off an on. I didn't have any real woodworking tools. I wish I had a router, table saw, and drill press. So having the right tools would have made it much easier.

The cooling components aren't cheap, the GPU block was a pretty penny, but for the 4090 is probably the best one you can get.

I don't know if I can give a definite number but probably around $1k for the cooling, lighting, raw materials for the case.

In terms of a v3, this was a second version, I probably would use a different wood, maybe not plywood. There are a few decisions on how the GPU was mounted and how I have the PSU.

I seriously weighed just getting a O-11 XL, but for me, there were too many little things I didn't like. So I kept this case.

Attached is the v2,

[–] antianarchist@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh wow, absolutely gorgeous and I also wanted to do something like that. How did you attach the motherboard screws to the wood? Are there any suitable wooden screws, did you work with plastic washers or did you glue the metal screws into thr wood?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Muffi@programming.dev 7 points 1 day ago

So happy other people do cool alternative builds like this. I enjoy the idea and creativity, but I will stick with my boring black box filled to the brim with computing power.

Awesome build!

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Awesome build. Well done, love how clean it is. I’m glad it’s not full of RGB everywhere and colored coolant.

On that note, that’s a LOT of radiator you’ve got going on. I’m running an i9 and 4080 on waterblocks and have a single radiator, they don’t go over 59C and it stays plenty quiet.

Now you only have 5 years of payments before the hardware is paid off.

[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

So I have been planning this upgrade for a while, I licked out and purchased CPU, NVME last year when they were a lot less expensive.

I went in on a new egg bundle on the RAM so I got a pretty good deal there.

And the 4090 I've had for a couple of years now.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Make sure you keep an eye on your VRM temps. I don’t see any airflow for that in your picture.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] wylinka@szmer.info 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 26 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Exactly why I always do a positive pressure build. I rather clean a handful of dust filters than an entire PC every 6 months.

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Honestly, dusting the entire build is something everyone should be doing, regardless of if they have positive case pressure or not. Dust has a way of getting in no matter what.

Having everything open means you need to do it more frequently, sure, but everything is also very easy to access. Probably a wash when you compare levels of relative convenience.

[–] Hacksaw@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't think you should wash your computer even if it's convenient!

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 11 points 2 days ago

You're not the boss of me! Now where's the hose?

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

The ATX specification will have the exact measurements. You'll be able to get the dimensions from that.

You can also find a junk mobo to use as well from eBay.

[–] Vengefu1Tuna@lemmy.zip 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Jsunn@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago
load more comments
view more: next ›