SELECTING THE PARTS
What went in, and why.
KEYCOMPONENTS
1
Before we cover the completed
build, let’s check out some of the
jaw-dropping hardware used. As
mentioned early, I wanted to create a
small system that was also relatively
quiet when running.
But that wasn’t all, I also wanted the
system to pack a punch. So, inside it
has Intel’s latest 9th-gen i5 9600K
processor, a Zotac RTX 2070 video
card, a top of the line Asrock ITX
motherboard and of course the WD
Black 1TB SN750 NVMe SSD all has us
off to a good start for a PC that can
play any modern game as well as be a
highly capable general-purpose
machine. The star of the show and the
whole reason for this build is the
beautiful WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD.
Not only does it look great, but temps
are kept down with a stylish heatsink
and you can really see now how the
build came to life.
MOTHERBOARD
2
The Asrock Z390 Phantom
Gaming ITX/AC is a mini
powerhouse. There were three main
reasons for choosing this
motherboard. I was after a feature-
packed board to make it a real delight
for whoever won this system. Full AC
wireless, Thunderbolt 3 Type-C and
decent audio makes this one of the top
Z390 ITX boards out there.
Secondly was how the board looked.
For all my builds I focus very heavily
on matching parts. If done right, it can
really give that wow factor. You’re
probably starting to notice that
everything in this build is either black
or silver – which is exactly the look I
was after. Lastly, I needed a
motherboard with a rear M.2 slot. I’ll
cover more on this later, but it played a
key role in modding the WD Black
SN750 SSD externally to the rear side
of the chassis.
GRAPHICSCARD
3
The Zotac RTX 2070 Mini was a
perfect fit for the build. If you’re
not familiar with Zotac, it’s known for
small yet powerfully video cards –
and the RTX 2070 Mini is a beast that
compliments the WD Black SN750
SSD as a top performance part. The
aesthetics of the card goes perfectly
with the rest of the hardware and the
single static white LED logo at the
front compliments the CPU cooler and
memory nicely. The card is also small,
whichtiesinwitheverythingelsein
thebuild.GoingwiththeMini,I knewI
wouldhavenoissuesfittinga powerful
RTX 2070 inthisbuild.CASEANDCOOLER
4
There were really two main
components that made this build
possible (apart from the WD Black SSD
of course) and that was the
motherboard I mentioned earlier, and
the chassis. To pull my idea off, I
neededa casethatwas100%flatonthefront and right side, with the front
intake taking air from the sides. I also
needed this in an ITX form factor and
with current up to date internals. The
Nzxt H200i was a perfect choice and
couldn’t be happier with how it all came
together. With the case being Nzxt, I
then decided to go with an Nzxt Kraken
X52 All in One cooler. These coolers
perform very nicely and I love that
gorgeous infinity mirror cooler design.
Also sticking with Nzxt, I threw in one
ofitsnewE500powersupplies.1 2
3
4
“The star of the show and the whole
reason for this build is the beautiful
WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD. ”
2