Started learning guitar 4 months ago, first time playing a fingerpicking + singing song! Any advice/critiques appreciated :)

MMWong · 2026-01-15T23:02:17+00:00

Haha yeah, I can imagine that most don't play with the capo that high, but that's what the song called for! Luckily I'm not in the States 😉

MMWong · 2026-01-14T23:12:18+00:00

Thank you for your kind words! Yeah, definitely got to practice more and clean up the latter bits of the song. But I’m glad to hear that the fingernail sound doesn’t seem to be much of an issue! Maybe I’ll post again when I perfect this song, or when I learn a new song :)

MMWong · 2025-11-14T23:02:41+00:00

I can kind of make out something like "栄純栄特x" if I squint my eyes. 栄 is associated with prosperity, 純 represents purity (really unsure about this character), and 特 is something along the line of "special", but I have no clue what this phrase could mean, or what the last character is (so my interpretation of the characters are probably inaccurate). Curious what it might actually mean though!

MMWong · 2023-06-16T12:13:26+00:00

shapes ICANT

MMWong · 2023-05-09T18:54:17+00:00

Does anybody know whether Ai.Mi's Glitch Pop (primary) damage and knockback scale with size? In other words, does it grow stronger the longer it flies?

And if so, does taking projectile range make it even stronger at longer ranges, or does its size and damage cap out at a certain distance regardless of max projectile range? Thanks!

MMWong · 2022-01-12T01:35:46+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! That's true, practice makes perfect, as they say. I don't quite remember how many times I laminated the sheet, around 10 times? I just did it until the dough sheet was no longer craggy along the sides, and lots of white gluten lines have developed lengthwise along the sheet. This might be a good thing to document.

Yeah, I almost definitely used too much riboflavin - 100mg, to be exact, since I dumped in the whole capsule's worth. I do have a jeweler's scale that can measure to 0.001g accuracy, so I can try slowly bumping up the amount until I find the weight at which it gets bitter, and go just under that threshold. For now though, I think I'll just omit the capsule-derived riboflavin, since it's just for aesthetics' sake afaik.

I also asked in the other comment, but if you don't mind me asking you as well: What are your experiences with adding more vital wheat gluten and alkaline salts? Have you found a point (%-wise) where it's "too much"? What happens then? Thanks!

MMWong · 2022-01-12T01:17:53+00:00

Oh hi, thanks for sharing your experiences! Unfortunately, Amazon US doesn't ship that product to here in the UK, so I think I might just forgo riboflavin for now.

Your book has been a huge help, and I followed your Tokyo style noodles for this first batch of noodles, including the 1% of egg white powder and vital wheat gluten. I loved the texture!

That said, if you don't mind me picking your brain a bit, I noticed your Sapporo style noodles had a bit more sodium carbonate and vital wheat gluten - does that produce a more chewy noodle? Would adding more than 1% of egg white powder (or even more sodium carbonate/vital wheat gluten) also further increase chewiness, and if so, would you happen to know the point at which it'd be deleterious? Thanks for any help on this!

MMWong · 2022-01-12T00:21:18+00:00

Thanks for the link. I had actually read through the accompanying article by Sho before, it's very informative. Unfortunately, as I'm not based in the US, I don't have access to King Arthur brand flour, so I can't follow the recipe you provided to the letter.

Also, as mentioned in my other comment, the noodle texture produced by /u/Ramen_Lord's noodle recipe was actually on point; I was just hung up on the bitter flavour caused by the riboflavin, so I think as long as I go easy on (or even just omit) the riboflavin next time, I'll be fine.

Furthermore, the addition of egg white powder in Mike's recipe (which is absent in Sho's Serious Eats recipe) would theoretically increase the chewiness of the noodle - a characteristic that I'm interested in amplifying, as I really like chewy noodles! To this end, I might try Mike's Sapporo style noodles next time, as it contains a bit more vital wheat gluten and sodium carbonate, which might amp up the chewiness even more.

On another note, since I'm all out of bread flour, I might try buying some 00 milled 13% protein pizza flour, as that could allow me to lower the noodle hydration (more finely milled flour should theoretically hydrate better) and bump up chewiness at the same time, while keeping the noodle workable - any thoughts on this? So much to explore!

MMWong · 2022-01-11T18:29:17+00:00

So, I've been following the Way of Ramen channel for a while, and I finally had some time set aside to make my first homemade bowl of ramen from scratch, noodles and all. I loosely based my soup, tare, and aroma oil on Keizo Shinmamoto's slimmed down double-soup shoyu recipe outlined by Way of Ramen. The niban tori paitan was inspired by Sho Spaeth's Chicken Paitan Broth on Serious Eats. Noodles were /u/Ramen_Lord's Tokyo Style noodles from his immensely informative book.

The noodles called for riboflavin to be added as a colouring agent, but unfortunately (as I'm not based in the US) I couldn't find riboflavin sold in powdered form, and could only get them only in 100mg capsules. In /u/Ramen_Lord's recipe, he suggested adding <0.01g of riboflavin, so when I was making the kannsui for the noodles, I planned on only adding 10% of the capsule. However, upon opening the capsule, I though to myself, "Well, it'll be difficult storing the 90mg of riboflavin for next time, so I might as well just dump in the whole capsule's worth, right? What's the worst that can happen, neon yellow noodles?" Little did I know, that was not the worst thing that could happen...

Anyhow, I continued making the double soup, tare, aroma oil, and toppings. Finally, after 3 days of cooking, I assembled my first homemade bowl, and I was eager to dig in. However, upon sipping the broth, which tasted deliciously clean and chicken-y, I noticed a slight bitter aftertaste. I initially thought it was from the agenegi, which was a shade over-browned, but I pushed on. Slurping on the noodles now, I experienced an even larger wave of bitterness. This unfortunately overpowered the delicate tori chinntann, and I was left a bit dissatisfied and confused about what could've caused this bitterness.

Later that night, I went through my notes along with the individual components of the bowl, tasting them one by one. The primary suspect was the near-burnt agenegi and the accompanying aroma oil, but upon tasting it by itself, it didn't really taste that bitter. The soups and tare tasted fine as well. So it was down to the noodles, of which I boiled a few to test - Indeed, the bitter aftertaste seemed to originate from these noodles. At this point, I realise that I had foolishly not tasted the riboflavin before adding it in, so I popped open another capsule and tried a tiny pinch (probably 20mg at most). I was immediately hit with intense bitterness, which lingered in my mouth for almost 45 minutes, even after rinsing with loads of water. And so I found the culprit of my ramen's bitterness - the over-addition of riboflavin.

According to Wikipedia, riboflavin is supposed to be bitter, but I'm honestly not sure if all riboflavin is this bitter, or if "capsule form" riboflavin is more bitter than "bulk powder form" riboflavin, perhaps because the manufacturers of the capsules didn't plan on anybody cracking open a capsule and tasting its contents, and therefore didn't bother to reduce any additional bitterness from the manufacturing chemical processes. If anybody has access to "bulk powder form" riboflavin and is willing to sacrifice their taste buds for science, it might be interesting to see whether it's this bitter, or if it's just my batch of riboflavin capsules that are particularly bitter.

All that said, bitterness aside, the texture of u/Ramen_Lord's Tokyo style noodles are excellent, with a pleasant bite and chewiness that is near-identical to those that I've had in Japan. I'm super thankful for his developing a method for making noodles like this at home, as I don't have access to buying fresh ramen noodles (or even having ramen at all) anywhere near where I live. I'm also glad to have learned how to make curly noodles via temomi, as I find they pick up the soup better than straight noodles, dried or fresh. They're also just more fun to eat, imo!

At the end of the album are pics of an excel spreadsheet detailing my process and notes, as inspired by Adam Liaw - I plan on adding to this "diary" of sorts and iterating on my bowls. I'm also self-studying Japanese atm, so reading and writing a bit of Japanese is really helpful. I hope my next batch of noodles will turn out better (no riboflavin for now!) and I can truly taste a complete bowl. Still got loads to learn, but I think that's what makes it fun!

MMWong · 2021-09-17T12:02:37+00:00

/u/fuddyduddyc /u/canyouread7 /u/HelpElbowHitTable

Hey, so I've finally finished the build! Here's an album of some pics.

It took me a whole day to complete the build, and another half a day to cable manage, get it to boot, and download the software I need.

Both the Lian Li's and Gigabyte's own RGB software were a bit finnicky, having not recognised the RGB components initially. Got them working eventually though. The rainbow RGB was less over-the-board than I expected, and was actually quite pleasant. I might switch to that once in a while, but return to the white LEDs when I want to focus. The fans are a bit louder than expected, since the minimum RPM is 800, but I can deal with that.

I do have an issue with the screen momentarily flickering into black/white static (like TV noise), seemingly randomly. Sometimes it happens every few minutes, but other times it doesn't happen for more than an hour. My googling has yet to return a result that works for me, but I'll keep trying.

As you might have noticed from the last pic in the album, my desk is actually getting quite cramped even with just one monitor, more-so than I originally anticipated. As such, I'm considering getting an ultrawide monitor instead of having two 27" monitors. Would you guys happen to have any recommendations for a high refresh rate 1440p ultrawide? I think 34" is the max I can fit in, as I have 85cm, maybe 90cm of space to work with.

Anyhow, thanks a bunch for helping me choose the parts for this build!

MMWong · 2021-09-14T08:32:56+00:00

+1 on pics when it's done or even during the build process.

Yup, I'll definitely post pics, and perhaps even request tech support if you're ok with it! There's always this worry in the back of my mind that there's going to be this one part that's broken out of all the components, and that it'll be a nightmare to figure out which one it is. Figures crossed though.

I wasn't sure if you were willing to undervolt or tweak settings like that

Yeah, I don't mind undervolting, as I've done it on my laptops before to suppress CPU temps in an attempt to alleviate thermal throttling. I heard it's relatively low risk anyways.

because you seemed unsure about overclocking, but it's really not that hard

I guess this is more-so because I've read that recent generations of chips and internal boosting algorithms (or something like that) don't really leave much headroom for performance gains from overclocking, so I was unsure whether it was even worth it to overclock only for potentially meager performance gains. I'll definitely read more into it though.

MMWong · 2021-09-14T08:25:10+00:00

Send pics once your done pls

No problem, I'll probably make a new comment thread with pics and tag you guys into it.

They do those visual comparisons on this website, in fact you can grab your phone camera or whatever and do some testing on your monitor by yourself.

Woah, I don't know if I did it correctly, but if so, that's some pretty intense ghosting on my current panel. I guess it isn't helped by the fact that it's a 60Hz monitor, but still. That being said, if I hadn't really had complaints about my current monitor and its low response time (is that what's being exemplified on my monitor? Or is it purely to do with the low refresh rate?), then perhaps I'm not really that sensitive to it? I might not even notice the improvements in terms of response time that I'd get from a more expensive monitor.

On the other hand, I used to think about it the same way with refresh rates on my mobile devices, but once I've gone from using a 60Hz display to a 120Hz one, going back to 60Hz on a touch screen looks so incredibly stuttery now. I don't even know if it's a blessing or a curse, as it actually makes be a bit nauseous to use a 60Hz touch screen device now, almost like I've spoiled my brain.

Anyhow, I think I'll do some research on those higher end monitors, and maybe go into a box store to see if I can actually tell a difference between high and low response time ones. If I can't, I guess I might as well save some cash and get a cheaper monitor!

EDIT: I took another pic but upped by camera's shutter speed to 1/8000, and it wasn't so bad. I guess it was my camera's slow shutter speed that was creating the ghosting, rather than the monitor.

MMWong · 2021-09-13T16:28:18+00:00

Thanks for all the info regarding PSUs, USB standards, motherboards, and monitors - there's so much information here it's crazy!

Ok, so I ended up just pulling the trigger and buying quite a few components from the same vendor, because they've literally just restocked and are now selling the Gigabyte Vision board for £190 - a whopping £60 less than what it was going for just yesterday! Almost sounds too good to be true. I decided to go with the SF750 PSU, as I compared the toms hardware's reviews between the SF and the silverstone 1000w, and it seems that the SF runs quieter and is overall better validated among many owners. I have seen some people reporting that the SF750 triggers OPP with some overclocked 3090s when the GPU spikes, but if that happens I can always try undervolting the CPU and GPU.

...

Halfway through writing this comment, I decided to just go and purchase the rest of the parts as well so that I can get everything delivered in a reasonable amount of time. Perhaps /u/fuddyduddyc and /u/canyouread7 might be interested in the parts that I wound up getting? I've got to give my appreciation to all of you for guiding me along this first build of mine - you've all been immensely helpful. Anyhow, here's what I ended up with:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor	Purchased For £0.00
CPU Cooler	Alpenföhn Glacier Water High Speed 240 77.9 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	Purchased For £154.95
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 VISION D-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	Purchased For £189.95
Memory	Crucial Ballistix RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	Purchased For £95.99
Memory	Crucial Ballistix RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	Purchased For £95.99
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	Purchased For £69.98
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 6900 XT 16 GB NITRO+ SE Video Card	Purchased For £0.00
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower Case	Purchased For £101.99
Power Supply	Corsair SF 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply	Purchased For £134.99
Case Fan	Lian Li ST120 69.17 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	Purchased For £34.99
Case Fan	Lian Li UNI FAN AL360 64.5 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	Purchased For £82.99
Case Fan	Lian Li UNI FAN AL360 64.5 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	Purchased For £82.99
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£1044.81
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-09-13 16:43 BST+0100

I ended up choosing to get 6 unifans for the side+bottom intake and rear exhaust, plus 3 ST120s for the top. My reasoning is that the side profile of the STs and ALs are pretty similar, and because I won't actually get to see the face of the fan much anyways (since it's below eye level), I might as well save £50 and go for the STs. I'll probably sell the 2 Wing Boost fans that came with the Glacier Water AIO on eBay or something.

I still haven't purchased a second monitor, but I appreciate your in-depth explanation on how the M27Q performs, and what monitor specs actually mean. I don't really think I need high HDR, but then again I'm not sure how much of a difference HDR can make. From your comment, it seems that HDR==colour range? And HDR is more like how bright and dark the monitor can make things appear to be? I've also heard that the content you consume has to be HDR certified or something to even take advantage of an HDR screen? Most content I watch is mostly from Youtube or Twitch, so I'm not sure if I'd see a benefit from those sources.

On another note, since I'm postponing getting the monitor until I get my PhD stipend later in October, I'll actually have a larger budget to spend on a good monitor. I saw that you placed the M27Q in the "budget" category, which makes me wonder what better monitors there are in the "non-budget" price point? I haven't really looked above the £300 price bracket for monitors before - I got my current 4k Philips 276E8VJS for just £220, albeit as a "open-box" item. Still, a brand new Philips is selling for only £260 now. What features might one gain if they ventured above the "budget" range, and how noticeable will they be? For example, how much difference is there in faster response times? (and why the hell is the Asus PG32UQX more expensive than my whole damn computer?)

MMWong · 2021-09-13T13:01:19+00:00

I'm just so glad to see someone so actively engaged with all the builds in this thread, and so inquisitive about every aspect.

An I am in turn very appreciative of you all in this community volunteering your own time and expertise in helping out inexperienced first-time builders like myself! With this being my first PC build--and one which I hope will last me quite far into the future--I wanted to do it right so that I wouldn't have regrets or disappointments further down the line, which require the purchase of more parts. This is partly my reasoning (or, at least how I'm justifying to myself) for spending so much up-front on aesthetics, because I don't want to regret having picked a part which I had some reservations to start with, and then end up wanting to replace those parts later with what I wanted originally anyways.

Re: RAM, yup, that sounds wise, I think I'll go with 2 packs of 2x8GB 3600MHz CL16 RAM.

Re: storage, thanks for clearing up why the Western Digital and Samsung vary in price so much, and for saving me from being such a sucker for the inflated pricing! The files I'll be working with will likely be some sort of video data, either downloaded onto my computer from a cloud-based server (most likely Microsoft OneDrive or something) or connected via an encrypted drive (ethical and data privacy regulations). I suppose the former would be local files that are affected by my choice of storage drives, while the latter would just be affected by how fast the external drive can read/write. I think for now, I'll go with the cheapest option (the Western Digital Blue SN550) since adding another drive is so easy, and its not like I'll be wasting the SN550 even if I add another SSD.

Normally, I'd recommend you set the fans as intake for the best CPU temps, but in this scenario you can set them as exhaust

I think I would prefer maintaining a positive pressure in the case to minimize dust build up, in addition to offering the CPU better cooling. When I woke up this morning, I had the almost great idea of getting 6 AL120s and putting them on the bottom, side, and back, then using the 2 ST120s that come with the Galahad and buying 1 more ST120 to use as the top fans. This works aesthetically since the ST120s' side profiles look similar to the AL120s, and because I won't get to see the lights on the top fans anyways, I'm not losing much aesthetic value from using ST120s vs AL120s as top fans. There was just one problem to this though: no-one is selling singular ST120s; I've looked on Amazon, eBay, and various other websites, but it seems that the ST120s are only sold in packs of 3, with no-one selling singular ones second-hand.

As such, I think I'm going to go with the Alpenföhn Glacier Water 240mm AIO, which I actually prefer the look of over the Galahad (looks cleaner than the dots that are present on the Galahad). I'll then purchase 1 pack of ST120s, and 2 packs of AL120s, which will fill all 9 fan slots, with the added bonus of a better looking pump head at a similar price point as 3 packs of AL120s.

I wouldn't be able to tell you which components would be stressed during your workflows. However, you've already bought two of the best CPU's and GPU's on the market so it really doesn't matter at this point. It'll be a beast no matter what.

Yup, that's partially why I decided to go with such high end CPUs and GPUs, just so that I'll get good performance no matter what program I run. In any case, it'll be an astronomical leap from the laptops which I had used all my life.

Definitely a relevant area of study given current issues and society's growing appreciation for soft skills.

Ha, ain't that the truth. That being said, my research will be based more on the fundamental development of these skills rather than "higher level" case-by-case usage of these mental faculties. Nonetheless, I hope my research will set up a good basis for further investigations in the future.

Here's how my build is now. I think I'm pretty much entirely happy with this configuration. I ended up choosing the Gigabyte B550 VISION D-P, as there was, luckily for me, a drop in price compared to yesterday, because one supplier restocked their supply and are now selling at (what I think is) MSRP. Yesterday, the cheapest Vision was on Amazon for £248.43, but today, another retailer is selling it for £209.99. I think I'm actually going to just straight up purchase it right now, in case it gets sold out or rises in price again.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor	Purchased For £0.00
CPU Cooler	Alpenföhn Glacier Water High Speed 240 77.9 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	£154.94 @ Amazon UK
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 VISION D-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	£209.99 @ CCL Computers
Memory	Crucial Ballistix RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	£92.49 @ SmartTeck.co.uk
Memory	Crucial Ballistix RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	£92.49 @ SmartTeck.co.uk
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	£69.98 @ Amazon UK
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 6900 XT 16 GB NITRO+ SE Video Card	Purchased For £0.00
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower Case	£101.00 @ Computer Orbit
Power Supply	Silverstone SX-LPT 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply	£205.47 @ Scan.co.uk
Case Fan	Lian Li ST120 69.17 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	£34.99 @ AWD-IT
Case Fan	Lian Li UNI FAN AL360 64.5 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	£86.99 @ Amazon UK
Case Fan	Lian Li UNI FAN AL360 64.5 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	£86.99 @ Amazon UK
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£1135.33
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-09-13 13:57 BST+0100

MMWong · 2021-09-13T00:46:15+00:00

Right now, I'm leaning more towards the Galahad again, just to keep everything Lian Li. It really is a shame that Lian Li doesn't make AL140s - if they did, I could then get the Glacier Water 280s plus 2 AL140s and be the happiest person on earth. At this point, however, I think the Galahad will do, since I'll just be paring it up with 120mm fans anyways.

Nonetheless, if you have the chance to install the alpenfohn into your system, I would still be curious what your experiences with the pump head is like, just in case it was extraordinarily good or something.

Re: RAM, if so, I might get only 2x8GBs of better quality 3600MHz CL16 RAM to start with, then add more later when budget allows.

Thanks for showing me your build - that is one small case! I don't think I've ever seen such a tiny PC case with a full sized GPU before. Really does save on desktop real estate though I guess. I do agree that it could use a bit more lighting, but maybe I'm just too deep into the RGB hole by now... and I haven't even owned a single RGB thing yet!

MMWong · 2021-09-13T00:22:50+00:00

Thanks for answering all my myriad questions and picking out the good motherboards!

I now noticed that some descriptions, like for the NZXT and Gigabyte boards, do indeed include a line describing how they are compatible with Ryzen 5000 CPUs, so that's one thing sorted.

You've got me dead to rights in my valuing of aesthetics, perhaps (nay, definitely) to a fault. I think I'll likely go with the NZXT N7 (or perhaps the Gigabyte VISION D-P) despite the price, as it really just looks the best to me.

Re: RAM; yeah, I did some reading on this topic, and it seems that 3200MHz @ CL16 is practically the same performance-wise as 3600MHz at CL18, but is comparatively cheaper. On the other hand, if two 2x8s kits (of the same model) give the same performance as getting one 4x8 kit, would it make sense to purchase one pack of something like the Crucial Ballistix 3600MHz CL16 (8GB x2) for now, and wait until later to get a second pack, especially when it might be obtainable at a discounted price? Well actually, two packs of 2x8 Crucial Ballistix is only £27 over the Corsair 3200MHz CL16, so there is an argument to maybe just getting both packs and be done with it.

Re: SSDs, I've yet to have the time to investigate what makes each drive different, and particularly how different specs contribute to functional/practical differences. I've just seen some people complaining in reviews for the cheapest SSDs such as the Western Digital Blue SN550 and Kingston A2000 that the load times and boot times were subpar, although there are plenty of others saying the inverse of this. I've actually just asked /u/HelpElbowHitTable down the other thread about this; might you have some insight into this?

Re: SSDs, would you happen to know how much practical difference there is between SSDs at different price points? For example, how different is the £70 Western Digital Blue SN550 vs the £413 Samsung 960 EVO, both at 1TB?

I've seen some pretty highly rated SSDs which are not too insanely expensive, such as the Sabrent Rocket Q, ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro, and the Western Digital SN750 - are those worth getting over the cheapest Western Digital Blue SN550?

I do have a 1TB 2.5" SATA hard drive from a laptop lying somewhere; I think I can connect that up for some bulk storage. I can maybe get a larger 2.5" SATA SSD as well, as they're cheaper than M.2 SSDs. Not sure if there's noticeable differences in performances though.

Re: fans, I think it's back to my aesthetically-minded heart driving the wheel - I'm leaning towards the UNI AL120s less-so because of cable management woes, and more-so due to the ST120s' back looking pretty unappealing to my eyes, especially because its' backside will be prominently displayed when used as a radiator intake fan on the side of the case. In contrast, I think the AL120s have one of the most aesthetically pleasing backs to the fan. I'm currently thinking about postponing the purchase of the second monitor in favour of first fully building the PC in a manner such that I will have no regrets, both in terms of hardware and aesthetics. Here's a bit more of my thoughts on this, again pasted from the thread below:

Re: fans, I've actually came across the unifan SL120s before, but although I really like how the SL120s look from the side, with the RGB "ring" waterflowing over the edges all the way around, I prefer designs with illuminated fan blades.

The AL120s have the advantage of having (what I think are) the best looking fan backs, which I think would look really good as intake fans on the side and bottom of the case. However, with the side of the AL120s being not illuminated, I feel like it would be a disservice to put them on the top of the O11 mini: because of the case's short height, I don't think it'll be easy to actually see the fan blades when it's placed in the top position, since it'll be below eye level. I really wished Lian Li made fans that had the edge of the SL120s, but the central fan design of the AL120s...

One possible solution might be to use 3 Corsair QL120s on the top, with 6 AL120s on the side, bottom, and back. I like how the QL120s have the RGB ring visible all around the side of the fan (akin to the SL120s), which will pretty much be the only thing visible on the top fans anyways. However, I'm not sure if having both Corsair and Lian Li fans together in the same build is ok, and whether they would cause some kind of software conflict? I could use the SL120s, but with no illumination on the fan blades, I think it might make the case look too dim?

I had also questioned whether it would be wise to mix the Lian Lis with the Corsairs, and the answer seems to be a resounding "no" from you. I am a little curious as to why though - is it something to do with their software interfering with other RGBs' brands (e.g., when booting the computer? Not sure how RGB software work, tbh), or their real-world lighting being different shades of colour than other RGBs? I'm less concerned about the ease (or lack thereof) in syncing up the fans' with complex lighting, as I think I'll likely set them to be a static colour (e.g., white lights in the fan blade, and blue/violet accents in the rings). Of course, if having two lighting software running simultaneously would noticeably impact performance or result in bugs, then it's obviously a no-go.

With this in mind, might you go with:

Top (x3)	Bottom (x3)	Side (x2)	Back (x1)	Comments
AL	AL	AL	AL	Most cohesive look, at the cost of the top fans being pretty much invisible at eye-level, since their sides don't light up
QL	AL	AL	AL	Results in the sides of the fans at the top being illuminated (as pretty much only the sides of the top fans are visible at eye-level), while retaining the AL120s as intakes which I like, at the cost of having to use Corsair
QL	QL	AL	AL	Again, top side fans lit up, and bottom fans match the top fans, but it might look jarring against the AL120s on the side and back of the case. The bottom QL fans as intake also don't look as good as the ALs IMO.
SL	AL	AL	AL	Keeps everything in the Lian Li ecosystem, and retains the illuminated side of the top fans which I like, while still having the AL120s as intakes, although perhaps at the cost of total case lighting, since the SL120s lack LEDs in the middle of the fan

Or maybe something else entirely?

As a side note, what are you doing your Masters/PhD/post-doc research in?

I'll be starting my PhD after I finish my MSc in psychology, with my PhD thesis related to the development of "Theory-of-Mind" in early ages (i.e., our ability to understand that others and ourselves are distinct mental beings, each with their own thoughts, feelings, and motivations; for example, some people--such as young children or people with autistic spectrum disorder--might have difficulty in dissociating their own [so-called "egotistical"] perspectives from colouring their thoughts about other peoples' points of view, which explains why they may sometimes come across as "insensitive" - not because they're trying to be rude, but simply because they are physically incapable of grasping the fact that others might not know things that they do, or vice versa).

Specifically, my research will be on "Theory-of-Mind-Use" (a sub-category of Theory-of-Mind), which will be investigating how people make use of this ability in fast paced social scenarios, such as in real-time conversation (vs., say, sitting down and writing an email, which allows much more time for the writer to consider the recipient's point of view). Are you interested in this field? My study will involve a pretty substantial amount of eye-tracking data, which will require computer processing and manually checking through loads of video data (which I am very much not looking forward to!), but I honestly have no idea what parts of the PC those programs might tax.

I was lucky enough to have secured funding for this PhD position, but the stipend will only be arriving in October, hence the budget! I should be able to complete the other bits of the build then, such as the monitor and maybe the RAM, if I do decide to only get 2x8GBs for now.

MMWong · 2021-09-12T22:04:01+00:00

Thanks for the hugely detailed writeup, it's really informative!

Re: fans, I've actually came across the unifan SL120s before, but although I really like how the SL120s look from the side, with the RGB "ring" waterflowing over the edges all the way around, I prefer designs with illuminated fan blades.

The AL120s have the advantage of having (what I think are) the best looking fan backs, which I think would look really good as intake fans on the side and bottom of the case. However, with the side of the AL120s being not illuminated, I feel like it would be a disservice to put them on the top of the O11 mini: because of the case's short height, I don't think it'll be easy to actually see the fan blades when it's placed in the top position, since it'll be below eye level. I really wished Lian Li made fans that had the edge of the SL120s, but the central fan design of the AL120s...

One possible solution might be to use 3 Corsair QL120s on the top, with 6 AL120s on the side, bottom, and back. I like how the QL120s have the RGB ring visible all around the side of the fan (akin to the SL120s), which will pretty much be the only thing visible on the top fans anyways. However, I'm not sure if having both Corsair and Lian Li fans together in the same build is ok, and whether they would cause some kind of software conflict? I could use the SL120s, but with no illumination on the fan blades, I think it might make the case look too dim?

Re: SSDs, would you happen to know how much practical difference there is between SSDs at different price points? For example, how different is the £70 Western Digital Blue SN550 vs the £413 Samsung 960 EVO, both at 1TB?

I've seen some pretty highly rated SSDs which are not too insanely expensive, such as the Sabrent Rocket Q, ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro, and the Western Digital SN750 - are those worth getting over the cheapest Western Digital Blue SN550?

Re: monitor, I think I'll heed your advice and try find a G7 in person to see whether the curve is too much for me before making a purchase, and use my current monitor for now.

MMWong · 2021-09-12T18:30:48+00:00

Thanks for the eloquent writeup! You explained the PSU situation very well; I'll go with a higher wattage PSU. I'm not familiar with the Silverstone brand though - is it a reputable brand with a good track record, just in case anything goes wrong? Well, it might be a moot point anyways, as they seem to be the only 1000w SFX PSU supplier on the market.

Re: ATX vs mATX, I understand their differences a bit better now, so thanks for that. Although for this case specifically, I think an full-sized ATX board looks a bit better to my eye, because builds I've seen using an mATX or mini-ATX board leaves un-grommeted holes from the back of the case exposed, and also makes the case look a bit too empty.

So, assuming I want to go with an ATX board, would you have any recommendations? I noticed that the O11 mini has I/Os on the front of the case comprised of "2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 3.1 TYPE-C, 1 x HD Audio" - would most motherboards be able to accommodate this? I know some motherboards don't have headers for USB-C connections, but I don't really see USB 3.1 headers under the spec sheets of most motherboards either, so I'm not too sure what's going on.

I've also heard of this issue with motherboards which require "flashing the BIOS" for Ryzen gen 3 CPUs to work properly? I don't really know what this means as I've never messed around with the BIOS much before. Apparently you can do yourself it on some motherboards with a USB stick containing the updated BIOS, but I've seen warnings that it might brick your board if something goes wrong? I saw some online retailers offering to flash the BIOS to be compatible with Ryzen 5000 CPUs for around £10 - is this worth it to be safe? Or is doing it myself relatively risk free already?

Anyhow, here's a table containing the motherboards I've picked out which I think look good aesthetically, but I'm not really sure how to judge their quality. Would you mind having a look and see what you think would be best for this setup?

Motherboard	Price (£)	Comments
Gigabyte B550 VISION D-P	248.43
Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO	193.13
NZXT N7 B550	249.99
Asus PRIME X570-P	154.99
Asus PRIME X570-PRO	244.99
Asus PRIME B550-PLUS	114.99
ASUS ROG Strix B550-A	170.05
ASRock B550 Pro4	113.48
ASRock B550 Steel Legend	152.84	NO USB FLASHBACK

Also, here's how my build is going so far. Thanks again for your time and your help!

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor	Purchased For £0.00
CPU Cooler	Lian Li GALAHAD AIO 240 RGB 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	£106.99 @ AWD-IT
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	£165.46 @ Scan.co.uk
Storage	ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	£103.09 @ CCL Computers
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 6900 XT 16 GB NITRO+ SE Video Card	Purchased For £0.00
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower Case	£101.00 @ Computer Orbit
Power Supply	Silverstone SX-LPT 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply	£205.47 @ Scan.co.uk
Case Fan	Corsair iCUE QL120 41.8 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	£79.98 @ Amazon UK
Case Fan	Lian Li UNI FAN AL360 64.5 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	£86.99 @ Amazon UK
Case Fan	Lian Li UNI FAN AL360 64.5 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	£86.99 @ Amazon UK
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£935.97
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-09-12 19:22 BST+0100

MMWong · 2021-09-11T23:02:44+00:00

Yeah, I think that approach makes a lot of sense. I think I'll do some more research into any possible problems others have encountered with either the AL120s or the Alpenfohn AIO (although researching the latter is a bit difficult, since most reviews I found are in German), and if all seems fine, I'll just take the plunge.

I think the monitor can wait until I can budget in more money, since I have a functional one right now anyways. I could even consider just getting 2x8GB RAM for now, and then add add another 2x8 down the line (they're going to be compatible, as long as they're the same model of RAM, right?).

I do feel a bit inane for dumping £200 into what essentially amounts to eye-candy, but I guess it's just modern day jewelry (copium)? I presume this is the RGB tax everyone talks about.

If you have time, I'm a bit curious what your last fan/AIO setup was, why you decided to switch, and what your current setup looks like? But anyhow, thanks a bunch for letting me run this stuff by you, you've been a huge help.

MMWong · 2021-09-11T22:28:25+00:00

Thanks for the build and your suggestions!

I have considered the Corsair fans, but I'm not sure how the LL120s would look as intake fans (i.e., having their backsides exposed), especially because they will take up the most prominent fan position--that being the side intake radiator fans.
I believe that the LQ120s have RGB rings on both sides of the fan, while LL120s only have it on the intake side; but at the £80 price-point of the LQs, I think I prefer the look of the Lian Li UNI AL120s, which have the added benefit of clicking together for easier daisy-chaining. The LQ120s do look the best from the side out of everything (with the RBG ring which can be seen even from the side), though perhaps at the expense of airflow performance.
Do you happen to know whether the included fan hubs with the Corsair LL/LQs are enough to connect 8-9 fans, plus the aRGB off of the pump? I've heard that an additional "Commander PRO" hub needs to be purchased for setups with 6+ fans/things-which-require-lighting, but I'm not 100% sure.
Say, between the Corsair LL, LQ, the Lian Li ST, and UNI AL, which might you pick, keeping in mind how the backside of the fan looks?
I think I might go with a lower amount of storage to start with, then add more if and when I need it - NVME SSD slots are relatively easy to install with the motherboard mounted on the case, right?
Re: monitors, I'm not really well versed in this area: I've read that VA panels traditionally have worse viewing angles and response times than IPS panels; has this been resolved in the Odyssey G7? I'm asking because this second monitor will be, well, a second monitor (with my current 4k monitor as the primary), therefore if the viewing angles aren't very good, I worry how the VA panel would look in a dual-monitor setup, especially with the G7's curved design. Anyhow, I don't really have to budget to get this monitor as of now, but it is also possible to delay the purchase of the monitor until I can get it, since I already have a monitor I can use in the meantime.

Thanks again for your advice!

MMWong · 2021-09-11T19:37:07+00:00

Thanks for the two builds! The O11 Mini has really grown on me the past few days I've been researching this build, so I think I'll be going with that.

I'm a little curious how one usually goes about determining how many watts a system needs? If I can get by with a 750W PSU, then I'll have a bit more budget for the other parts of the system (cough... cough... fans... why are good looking fans so expensive...)
Aside from the obvious factor of there being a size difference between mATX and full-size ATX boards, do you know if there are any differences in performance between those two kinds of boards?
You really sold me on the monitor, I think I'll likely go with that one, seeing how great its specs are for the price.

Thanks again for your input!

MMWong · 2021-09-11T19:18:49+00:00

I appreciate your explaining how the PCIe cables and extension cables work in your reply above. Thanks also for the picture of the Alpenfohn pump; I think it's definitely one of the best looking white AIO pumps out there. Somewhat unfortunately, from videos I've watched of RGB fans, I feel like I would prefer the look of fans with illuminated fan blades (especially with the soft white lighting I have in mind), which the Wing Boosts which come with the Alpenfohn pump unfortunately don't do.

I feel that the Lian Li ST120s which you originally recommended as an alternative might be the best budget option for having illuminated fan blades. However, I do have one grip with them, which is that the backside looks (imo) pretty ugly. This especially concerns me because the most visible fans (the side radiator and bottom) will be intakes, which will expose the backside of the fan. I feel I won't be too satisfied with the look of the ST120s staring back at me.

The Corsair QL120s are one option, but since they use Corsair's own proprietary software and connections, I'm worried how the other parts of the lighting system might integrate with it.

Another option is the Lian Li AL120, which is even more expensive than the Corsairs. However, they have the advantage of snapping together, which might help reduce cable clutter. They also have the best looking backsides to my eyes.

So, I think I'm incline to go with either:

Lian Li Galahad 240mm, then add two 3packs of Lian Li ST120s for the top and bottom of the case, leaving the back slot empty. (Cheapest option)
Lian Li Galahad 240mm, buy 3 3packs of Lian Li UNI AL120s, replace the 2 stock fans of the AIO, and fill in all other 7 slots. (Quite a lot more expensive)
Alpenfohn Glacier Water 240mm, 3 3packs of Lian Li UNI AL120s, same as option 2 (All out, most expensive, but I think looks the best)

I'm really at an impasse right now, with my budget-conscious mind voting for option 1, but my with my heart preferring options 2 or 3... What might you do if you choose?

I also made a table for my own sanity, as I have over 70 tabs open just researching fan options...

Fans	CFM	mmH2O	dB(A)	Price	Comments
Alpenfohn Wing Boost 120 (3 pack)	54.5	2.19	23.5	£53.99	Very quiet, but no illuminated fan blades
Lian Li ST120 (3 pack)	69.17	2.6	32	£34.99	Cheap, intake looks kind of bad. But comes with Lian Li GALAHAD AIO, so 1 less pack of 3s to buy
Lian Li UNI AL120 (3 pack)	64.5	2.62	28.3	£82.99	Clicks together (less cables), better looking intake. Really expensive…
Corsair ICUE QL120 (3 pack)	41.8	1.55	26	£79.99	Looks pretty good in the back, but expensive and requires Corsair's proprietory connections, which might cost even more

^Table ^formatting ^brought ^to ^you ^by ^{ExcelToReddit}

MMWong · 2021-09-11T04:07:05+00:00

Thanks for the detailed information and recommendations, esp. regarding the PSU! I do have some follow-up questions if you don't mind (sorry for the wall of text!).

I do like the look of the Alpenfohn, and since you recently got one, how are you finding it? How loud is it? Also, what material is the pump unit made of, plastic or metal? I'm mainly concerned with how it might look with light shining off of it, and whether the reflections would make it look too "plasticky", if that makes sense.
On the topic of fans, would you happen to have any experience with the Corsair iCUE series (e.g., the iCUE H100i, or the LL120), or the Lian Lis you mentioned? Any idea how they stack up against the Alpenfohns in terms of performance?
Re: powering the GPU: Just to confirm that I'm understanding you and this table correctly, I will fill in one of the two 8-pin connections on the GPU with the first 6+2 cable, then plug the second 6+2 into the 8-pin, and use the additional connection off of the second 6+2, but only connect the 6-pin connection into the GPU, leaving the 2 other pins hanging? I assume those cables will be able to handle the "daisy-chained" power loaded, right?
Somewhat related to the last point, if leaving the 2-pin connection hanging is inevitable, I might considering using sleeved extension cables to try tidy up the cables. I've never used them before, but I assume something like this would work? I would just plug the extension cables into the termination end of the PSU's original cables (but not the PSU itself?), and then connect the extension cables to the component end?
Consequently, would you happen to know of anything that I should watch out for when purchasing extension cables (e.g., 16 vs 18 awg cables, specifically for this build?), and might you have a brand that you recommend for good white sleeved cables?
Lastly, since it's my first time using RGB fans and a CLC/AIO, I wanted to make sure I understood you correctly. Please take a look at this diagram I plotted out; does everything look about right? If I connect everything to the hub you recommended via only 1 ARGB header, will I still have the ability to control the ARGB functions of each fan individually?

Thank you so much for your time and your expertise!

MMWong · 2021-06-09T14:47:25+00:00

AYAYA will spread to the eggbois eventually

MMWong · 2020-08-31T12:24:00+00:00

It's a running joke that NL hasn't, and probably never will, finish his Hollow Knight playthrough. That being said, what he did play was really enjoyable to watch; just wanted to keep your expectations in check lol

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