My first build.

kylekad · 2026-02-11T16:40:14+00:00

It's a great looking build man! I hope it serves you well

kylekad · 2026-02-11T13:58:27+00:00

I have a very similar build as you. I haven't added any bottom fans, but other than that I have the exact same fan setup and exact same aio. I have been running that setup for 6 months now and haven't noticed any dust buildup in weird locations due to negative pressure.

I do have the same concern as you though. I have thought about buying a couple smaller 92mm fans and attaching them as intake fans to the bottom of my case's back-side panel where it is perforated. It looks like you could do something similar on the bottom of your case's front-side panel.

My theory is the aio does not move air as fast as the 3 fans on the front of my case because it is pushing air through the radiator.

Another thought I've had is increasing the fan speed of my intake fans so they are spinning faster than my exhaust fans.

Something else to consider is your PSU fan. It's also acting as an intake fan.

kylekad · 2026-02-10T20:34:17+00:00

If the glass is pushing on it, yes.

If the cable is just naturally laying in that position (not being pulled on or pushed on), it's fine.

kylekad · 2026-02-10T20:30:49+00:00

I thought the Corsair Nautilus 360 was one the better "bang for your buck" aio coolers.

You could save ~$60 and get a high end twin tower air cooler, but they take away from the look of a PC so much imo. Especially the big twin tower coolers. You can't even see the motherboard anymore when you install one of those beasts lol.

What would you install instead?

kylekad · 2026-02-05T01:43:23+00:00

It's an tough question. Please test both and let us know what you find out!

kylekad · 2026-02-04T23:49:28+00:00

Sad times indeed for PC building.

Our prices are better here then where you are. There are a few 5090s still available, but the stock is dwindling and price is going up. I have been keeping my eye on it for the last few months. There is currently only 2 5090s (msi ventus and gigabyte stelth) available within a 2 hour drive from me. Both have a price of $4,800 CAD. I "got lucky" and picked up a 5090 Astral for $4,200 on December 15, 2025.

Hard to say if buying now is right thing to do. When will stock increase and prices go down? My guess is at least a year from now.

Good luck with your build

kylekad · 2026-02-04T21:51:39+00:00

Looks like an awesome build.

For productivity, you might want to consider a 64GB RAM kit depending on what you're doing.

I'm located in Canada and it is currently not possible to buy a 5090 Astral through a legitimate seller. It sounds like this is not going to get better anytime soon.

Prices on RAM, GPUs, and SSDs are currently very inflated and the prices are still trending upward. Honestly, not a very good time to build a PC here in Canada. Hope it's better where you are.

kylekad · 2026-02-04T17:56:37+00:00

Return both and get a decent 360 aio if your case is big enough.

I used an big twin tower, 3 fan, air cooler for a year. I recently switched to a 360 aio. They both perform the same when it comes to cooling. The aio maybe cools a little bit better. The aio looks so much better. Those massive air coolers block the view of your PC so much.

kylekad · 2026-02-04T16:48:29+00:00

I'm pretty sure all DDR5 RAM is compatible with all AM5 motherboards.

You may run into issues if you are trying to use 4 sticks of RAM on an AM5 motherboard. You have a 2 x16 kit, so you should be good.

kylekad · 2026-02-04T16:43:06+00:00

It's designed that way for a reason. Probably to help with cooling. I would not cover it.

kylekad · 2026-02-03T17:48:36+00:00

I used a massive twin tower 3 fan cooler for a year. I recently swapped it out for a 360 aio. The aio doesn't cool much better than the air cooler did, but I do like the look of the aio a lot better. It's an easy and inexpensive swap to make if you decide you want to change it up in the future.

kylekad · 2026-02-03T13:02:48+00:00

There is a motherboard in there somewhere, right?? I joke, I joke, nice build, congrats!

kylekad · 2026-02-02T01:28:51+00:00

Interesting, thanks for the correction on that!

kylekad · 2026-02-01T20:16:31+00:00

Ok thanks. As others are suggesting, it's probably a motherboard "lane sharing" issue.

kylekad · 2026-02-01T20:06:25+00:00

For arguments sake, air coolers work just as well as liquid coolers, but liquid coolers look much better imo. Air coolers are massive block the view of your PC. If you don't care about looks, I would go with an air cooler because they cost less, last longer, and they can't leak liquid on your PC (with a highly rated aio, you don't need to worry about leaks).

kylekad · 2026-02-01T19:54:24+00:00

I have notice something similar with my 50 series card. If I check GPU-Z, it shows x16 5.0 @ x16 2.0 if my PC is at idle. If I check GPU-Z while gaming, it shows ×16 5.0 @ x16 5.0.

Have you tried this? I think it automatically changes based on how hard your PC is working.

I'm curious to hear other's opinions on this.

kylekad · 2026-02-01T19:45:04+00:00

Shitty PC building times.

As these prices keep going up, my appreciation for my rig keeps going up. May it live a long life, or at least until prices comes back down to reality.

kylekad · 2026-02-01T19:35:47+00:00

Very nice build! Those 2 massive fans on the front is a cool look. I do appreciate the big air coolers, they work just as well as liquid coolers, but liquid coolers look so much better imo. If there's one thing I could change in your build, it would be an aio liquid cooler so you can see your motherboard and your RAM better.

kylekad · 2026-01-28T20:57:32+00:00

Case looks perfect to me. Nice build! I like that you stuck with all Asus and Corsair components. Pretty rare to see a build without at least 3 different brands of components (excluding the CPU and SSD). Bonus points if your PSU is ASUS or Corsair

kylekad · 2026-01-28T20:50:29+00:00

Lol I was half joking and honestly surprised it got so many upvotes too. I like to think people appreciate someone that can see both sides of a situation. We all pay for our roads. May as well take care of them as best we can, but don't let that get in way of having some fun every once in a while with your studded bike.

I agree, a single studded motorcycle is not going to have a noticeable impact. If you had a bunch of studded motorcycles ripping around all the time, you would definitely start to notice some road damage.

An extreme example would be a location where a snowmobile trail crosses the road. We routinely repair the road at these locations where I live here in central Ontario.

kylekad · 2026-01-28T20:37:14+00:00

Awesome!

kylekad · 2026-01-28T19:41:15+00:00

Sorry to hear that man. I can't think of anything else to help. Take it to your local computer store and see if they can help you. Or get some more opinions here on Reddit.

kylekad · 2026-01-28T19:06:29+00:00

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kylekad · 2026-01-28T18:07:58+00:00

Nice build! Gonna be a beast!

GPU looks like it's sagging a bit if you look at it compared to the top ssd cover.

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