/MEET THY MAKER
Name Liam Alex Betts
Age 19
Occupation IT co-ordinator
at PC Howard Ltd
Location Stamford
Main uses for PC
Gaming, video editing and
general everyday use
Likes I absolutely love IT –
I’m currently studying
for my CompTIA A+ and
N+ exams
Dislikes I hate mushrooms!Apex MKIV
Readers’ Drives
MODDING / READERS’ DRIVES
actually started as a Core i7-4790K
with two GeForce GTX 980s, all air-
cooled, and it’s since progressed to
theoneyoucanseenow.How did you go about
planning the loop and
measuring up?
Liam: When it came to planning
the loop, my priority was having as
much tubing visible at once. I drew
out the loop on a picture of my PC
and, once I was happy, I began to
bend the tubes. I practised a couple
of times on a few offcuts and then
proceeded with the real thing.
When it comes to measuring, I
simply eyeballed the runs – I was
pretty lucky in that respect! Once I
had the bends at the correct angles,
I would cut and deburr the ends
and test-fit them before moving
onto the next piece.Let’s start with
the initial inspiration.
What made you want
to build Apex MKIV,
and where does the
name come from?
Liam: To be honest, the
initial inspiration for
this build was a
combination of the
YouTube channels
LinusTechTips and
JayzTwoCents. I’ve
watched both of them
for years and I always
loved the amazing
overkill builds Jay built,
and the detailed build
logs Linus did at the
time. They were
fascinating, I was
determined to build
my own! This buildAre there any plans to
expand the loop to cool the
graphics card too?
Liam: in a word, yes! I plan to
change out the motherboard later
this year to a board with an X299
chipset, and I will include the GPU
in the loop when I do this. I’m in the
stages of debating whether to
upgrade the case and go with a
dual-loop setup, or to just add the
GPUintothecurrentsetup.Did you have to modify your
case in order to accommodate the
water-cooling gear?
Liam: Yes, I did. I had to drill two
holes in the floor of the upper
compartment, so I could pass the
tubes through and into the floor.
The purpose for this mod was to
hide the pump, which resulted in a
very clean look to the fluid setup.SEE A VIDEO OF
THIS PC AT
custompc.co.uk/ApexIV