The Open Air Build Guide

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It’s always exciting when you finally decide you want to build your own PC! I know I was really looking forward to actually building my own PC. My old setup was from high school and was using onboard graphics, which… yikes! Then, a few years ago, I saw this wicked case at Micro Center and knew what I had to do.

I was really interested in a white or white and black theme and decided to use mostly ASUS ROG Strix components. It went almost perfectly according to plan except for finding that all-white Strix 3070. That said, it all turned out great because I got my follow-up choice, the 3070 KO! 

I bet you’ll be in a similar boat trying to figure out what to use it for and imagine how you want your first gaming PC to look like. Well, I hope my parts list, photos, and insight will help inspire you to build your first real gaming PC with us at Micro Center!

Case: Thermaltake - Core P3 Tempered Glass ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case - Snow

 To me, it feels like you either pick a case you like or a graphics card you like and then make the build around that part. For me, it all started with the Core P3. After seeing this case online, I had to go see it in person at my store. I love that about Micro Center - being able to see all the parts up close and in person. This really helped solidify my ideal dream build and the courage to put the whole thing together.

 Processor: AMD - Ryzen 7 5700X Vermeer 3.4GHz 8-Core AM4 Boxed Processor

The Ryzen 7 was the perfect choice for my first gaming CPU. The 8-core, 16-thread processor with a boost up to 4.5GHz was powerful enough for my needs. I was able to get more into video editing as my new gaming PC was a beast and could handle 4k video footage. It was a blessing to be able to edit again with no hiccups! 

Of course, I took advantage of the bundle specials and saved some money in the process. 

Heatsink/WaterCooler: ASUS - ROG Strix LC II 360 ARGB All-in-one AIO Liquid CPU Cooler - White 

 Like I said, Strix all the way! The triple fan Liquid Cooler fits so well in this case and fills it out nicely! My temperatures were perfectly fine sitting around 60-70 degrees Celsius during gaming! Aura sync worked perfectly with my ASUS motherboard.  

Thermal Paste: Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut Thermal Grease - 1g

 I know it comes with some standard paste, but I wanted something better and everyone I asked recommended thermal Grizzly. So, I went with the Kryonaut. It was so easy to reapply my own paste. 

 Motherboard: ASUS X570 ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WI-FI) AMD AM4 ATX Motherboard

 The Strix board I used may not be available anymore, but we do have a great model with similar specs – the Crosshair VIII Hero. And it has the only thing I would have changed about my motherboard: built-in WiFi and Bluetooth! While I prefer to be hard-wired into the internet, and I can connect a long cable from my router, I can’t connect Bluetooth devices without another USB dongle. The Crosshair VIII has both built-in, so no extra dongles and it’ll work without the extra-long ethernet cable!  

Graphics Card: ASUS- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Dual Overclocked Dual Fan 12GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card

While we don’t carry this ASUS 3070 GPU anymore, that doesn’t mean you can’t fully lean into ASUS. If I was building my rig today, I would have gone with the new ASUS 4070 OC GPU because it’s around the same price point bought my GPU for and would have cranked out a ridiculously high amount of frames for all of the games I had in mind on my 1440p setup. 

RAM: G.Skill - Trident Z Neo Series RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3600 PC4-28800 CL16 Dual Channel Memory Kit F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC - Black 

You might be thinking “Why didn’t he just go with the Trident Royals?” Believe me, I tried but I could barely find them when I built this a few years ago. If you want to jump for the sleeker-looking Royals now, they’re readily available! Either way, I love my G.Skill Trident Z Neo’s, they have been performing excellently! 

Hard Drive: Samsung - 870 EVO 250GB SSD 3-bit MLC V-NAND SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive (boot drive) & Samsung - 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB M.2 NVMe Interface PCIe 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND 3 bit MLC Technology (additional Storage)

My high school PC was a barebones kit with just integrated graphics and only one hard drive. After having an issue with my boot drive a long time ago, I learned my lesson and went with a multi-drive system to prevent losing all data from file corruption. I strongly suggest you do the same. 

Power Supply: ASUS - ROG Thor Platinum II 1000 Watt 80 Plus Platinum ATX Fully Modular Power Supply

This power supply was another MUST-HAVE for my build because the case allowed me to show off its LCD display and customized RGB! The display is a great way to tune your system and check power usage. Plus, it was perfect for my ROG theme and the case made it look like it’s floating! 

Case Fans: Lian Li - UNI FAN SL120 Fluid Dynamic Bearing 120mm Case Fan - 3 Pack White

Everyone loves the Uni Fans from Lian-Li! With the new “daisy-chain” technology, I was able to use 2 cables for 3 fans. This really helps simplify the cable management process. I was so stoked to upgrade my stock fans from my AIO.

RGB Add-ons: Lian Li - Strimer Plus V2 24-pin power extension & Lian Li - 8-Pin Addressable RGB V2 Power Extension 

Not mandatory, but very fun to have and customize! I love the patterns Lian Li includes with their controller! You can even use the L-connect software for more customization! 

Surge Protector: APC - SurgeArrest Home/Office Surge Protector, 10 Outlets, 4,320 Joules, 2-USB Type-A w/ 6 ft. Cord - Black 

Since this was the best PC build I ever made, I knew better than to use my old dusty power strips at home. I really liked how this APC model has so many outlets and a few built-in usb ports! 

 The Parts List can be found over on our Custom PC Builder!

https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=7ecffe14-e6d6-4c3c-96b4-3d042002c8fb

More from the Micro Center Community:

Looking for more information about Building a PC? We’ve got PC Build Guides as well as articles on How to Choose Parts for you Custom PC Build, Product Reviews, and Part Comparisons. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to post a new discussion and the Community will be happy to help!

Julia_V

just noticed the figure and the tiny raspberry pi (?) on the bottom corner. nice