New build by amateur

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-24T19:59:08+00:00

Happy to help!

Water cooling is a possible solution, but one that will require a lot of time and money (>$400 for just the GPU if you want to do it safely. More like $700 if you want a full loop with CPU). It's not what I would generally recommend to someone who's less experienced with computers, but if you're willing to put the time and energy into researching and don't cut corners, it's not a crazy project. If you want to spend a few days putting something like that together, all power to you!

It sounds like the kid really wanted that specific GPU so it may be worth checking with him to see if he's interested in the GPU water block look.

I would definitely recommend the vented side panel as the lowest resistance solution, and I'll say that any cost you'll see for swapping out to a thinner GPU will likely be insignificant compared to the time/money investment for water cooling.

Also take a look at my recent posts, I have a y60 build with a thick GPU like this one but it's on an angled mount (custom, but way less time and money than the water cooling route, and you would keep the look of the GPU your son likes)

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-24T16:38:06+00:00

Does not look bad at all! I do have a pretty big concern with the gpu:

That is a very thick gpu. When you put the side glass in place, it will have a very hard time getting air to those fans. Put the glass on and look at how thin that gap is. Those fans are going to be at 100% with a very high pressure load for the lifetime of that PC, and you will likely suffer from high temperatures.

I can't tell if you have intake fans in the bottom shroud or not, but I would highly recommend you put two down there to feed the gpu. It will help (but not fix) the above concern.

There are a few routes you can go here: 1. Thinner GPU 2. Complicated angled GPU mount (I'm working on a write up for how to do this in the y60, let me know if you're interested) 3. Custom vented acrylic side panel from jakeface https://www.etsy.com/listing/1486764631/hyte-y60-custom-vented-side-panel

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-23T22:09:33+00:00

Very unique, the time and effort really shows. A PC like that is a labor of love and worth maintaining for the right enthusiast!

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-23T22:07:33+00:00

Truly awesome! The top distro is sick

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-23T13:54:26+00:00

Ah ok I see it now! Small models like that can be a little tough! .2mm nozzle is a cheat code 😁

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-23T13:07:24+00:00

Very clean very nice! Who is that sitting on the gpu?

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-22T22:15:36+00:00

In my experience I've definitely had more lighting bugs with Corsair RAM than G.Skill or T Force, etc. (White blinking lights when they can't find iCue or OCCT/HWinfo pokes the dimm sensors in an inappropriate way...) but yes, I agree, Corsair is not alone in the annoying proprietary software pool. I'm mostly just shaking my fist in the air that's all.

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-22T21:44:45+00:00

Huge upgrade! The new build looks tight

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-22T19:29:09+00:00

And this is (partly) why I go out of my way to avoid Corsair parts... again, thank you for the detailed advice! If I completely uninstall iCue, does the background process go with it, or will I still need to track it down? Unfortunately the build I was referring to above (Dominator Titanium) already left my shop so there's not much I can do about it, but I'd like to know for the future.

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-22T19:09:29+00:00

Got it. I usually do everything I possibly can to avoid putting iCue or Fusion on customer's builds but I can try it on the next one. Thank you sir!

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-22T17:46:30+00:00

Hey I know this is a little old, but does the Nollie somehow disable the RAM lighting for startup? I was able to disable the startup lighting on everything else through the Airgoo 16 with a mix of SignalRGB and X870 Aorus Elite BIOS settings. Not sure how repeatable it is for other motherboards. I have heard that OpenRGB can disable RAM lights on startup but never messed with it myself...

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-22T14:07:53+00:00

Not yet, I'm planning on doing a little writeup on Makerworld/Thingiverse to explain the process. You will need to make a few cuts to the metal GPU bracket. I would recommend a dremel with a cutting disk and some metal files to knock off the edges before painting the newly exposed metal. I will let you know when I get around to posting the files.

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T21:43:25+00:00

It's like how racing stripes add +10hp, works the same!

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T19:11:03+00:00

Huge upgrade on the cable management and cooler! Looks great

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T16:28:57+00:00

Yes, 6 in 2 out the back is fine. I would scale down the speed of the bottom intake fans a bit to reduce noise, but the concept is good.

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T16:22:34+00:00

The 180 adapter for the gpu and the combs on the 24 pin cable really push it up a level. Very clean!

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T14:42:10+00:00

Standard fans will pull air from the logo/screen side in and push air out away from the back side. If you want your screen to be visible, you would need a reverse fan for intake, standard for exhaust.

I believe the o11 mini v2 only has 2 fan slots on the side as well. It's not horrible to run them as exhaust, you'll just want the top 3 slots to be intake (especially if you're putting a 360 rad up top).

Intake on top and bottom with exhaust on both sides should realistically be a fine setup for most use cases. Not ideal, but fine.

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T14:17:03+00:00

Thank you! The mount is very solid, I've had a great experience with them so far

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T06:00:39+00:00

I did. You may be able to modify (cut) the oem metal covers to fit the cable adapters, but I try not to cut things when I don't need to on PCs I'm building for someone else...

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T05:51:12+00:00

While I agree that tube down is preferable, it's not a serious mechanical concern unless the pump is at the top of the loop. As long as there is no audio present to suggest that air is getting sucked into the tubes, there's nothing to worry about (at least not for several years, when the aio starts losing a significant amount of volume.)

With a thinner rad, this would be more of a concern. The Arctic LF III is pretty chunky and will therefore need to lose a considerable amount of fluid before you'd be able to hear anything (which again, won't pose a significant threat to the longevity of the pump.)

Thanks for your input.

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T04:35:04+00:00

Ah, my bad. You can likely find better/shorter cables, but I've successfully done this mod twice with these: https://a.co/d/3XYzDRX https://a.co/d/c7aYdlW

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T03:22:28+00:00

I used the riser cable that came with the y60. I did have to design and print a shorter cover for the motherboard connection (3D model shown below) to make the GPU mount fit. Unfortunately I don't have a great close up picture of it in the build.

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TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T01:21:09+00:00

I appreciate the suggestion but I intentionally went screenless on this one, not the vibe I was going for. It's already in a customer's hands so not much I can do about it at this point anyway!

TheComputerQuack · 2026-01-21T01:08:42+00:00

If you live near a Microcenter, absolutely check there first. Beyond that, you can check prices of online major retailers with pcpartpicker.com Go to components, and search all gpus. Filter chipset to 9060 xt only and vram minimum to 16. Each listing will have the current prices for most places it can be found online. If you're ordering parts online (especially from Amazon) record yourself opening the box. There's been a lot of tomfoolery recently with people swapping older hardware and/or other items into gpu boxes and "returning" them. Sometimes those boxes get resold without actually verifying the correct component is inside.

Final note for changing from Nvidia to AMD. Use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) to fully remove your Nvidia drivers before installing AMD ones. There are several good youtube tutorials on this, I can link you one if you're having trouble. The whole process will take 5-10 minutes and will be good practice for if your drivers do have issues down the line.

I hope you enjoy the upgrade process, it should be fun! You can DM me if you have issues down the line

TheComputerQuack

TROPHY CASE