R&D
56 MAXIMUM PC MAY 2020 maximumpc.com
ZAK STOREY, EDITORLET’S BE REAL HERE: This is overkill.
Massively. We’d pitch this as a “console
killer,” but if we’re being honest, with a
price tag this large, you could probably buy
eight PS4 Pros and still have enough cash
left for six crates of beer and 20 packs of
chips. In fact, this build is nothing short of
gluttony. So, what was the aim of it? What
did we set out to achieve with this rig? It was
all about building something that could act
not only as a big showpiece or ornament for
the living room, but also as a system that
could comfortably and quietly game at 4K
on the big screen. And, of course, all from
the comfort of your couch.
Our case of choice for this build is the
Phanteks Evolv Shift X chassis. It’s a long,
monolithic ITX case, with an expressive
internal structure and layout. It supports
a hefty amount of hardware internally,
including liquid-cooling radiators—but
there are some limitations, thanks to
clearance. In fact, most builds using
the Shift X typically incorporate a single
240mm radiator and then call it a day. We
knew, though, that this just wasn’t going to
be enough for the hardware we had in mind,
so we opted to slot in an additional 120mm
radiator at the bottom. That gives us a total
of 360mm of cooling potential to play with.
Not a lot, by any means, and it certainly
meant we’d be running this thing at stock,
but it’s still plenty enough to cater for a 4K
gaming GPU and a good CPU, too.THE CONCEPT
LENGTH OF TIME: 8-16 HOURSThe $3,333
Pink Pariah
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: COMPLEXThere’s nothing quite like overkill for a
living-room gaming PC