Hello Everyone. The time has come again for me to start a new Project. For years I have wanted to do a Star Wars themed build but with so many 'inspired' builds out there, I wanted to wait until I had a really unique idea. Enter Star Wars: The Force Awakens. After watching this movie, I knew exactly what I wanted to build. Having wanted the build to be specific, nothing stood out more than to do a build based around Stormtrooper Leader, Captain Phasma. Not only her powerful presence, but her physical traits are quite distinguishable as well; chromium armor, accompanied by a black cape with a deep red stripe along the edge, this to me was the perfect idea for a build.

Build Plans:
The idea behind the build is to really embrace the aesthetics of the character as well as allegiance to the First Order, while still maintaining my typical design style.

I want to start by thanking all the sponsors for this build as this would not have happened without them

Main Hardware
Case - InWin 909
Power Supply - Silverstone ST1100-TI 1100W Titanium
CPU - Intel i9 7900X
Motherboard – EVGA x299 DARK
RAM - Hyper X Predator RGB DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz
GPU – NVIDIA Titan Xp Star Wars Galactic Empire Edition
Storage
Intel Optane 800P M.2 118GB
Intel 905P 960GB PCI-E
(2)Hyper X Predator RGB SSD 960GB


Watercooling & Extras
Custom distribution block as well as reservoir
All other watercooling components will be by EKWB - I will update this as the parts are finalized and arrive
Fans:
(2)140mm Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap
(3) 120mm Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax.black.swap

Quite a few parts have arrived over the past weeks, so lets get started with the motherboard. EVGA was kind enough to send over their X299 DARK motherboard, a board I have long wanted to use since it was announced back at Computex.

As you can tell from the overall looks of the board, it already has such a Star Wars vibe to it.

Active VRM cooling, which definitely gives this an old school vibe to it. I'm happy to see the small details EVGA has put into this board.

90 degree fan headers as well as 24 pin are two things I absolutely love about this board. I wish more manufacturers would adopt this.


No RGB headers here. EVGA hasn't jumped onto the RGB train until the release of the X299 FTW-K board, which personally I have no problem with. Although, while it would be nice to at least have a header, I understand this board was not designed to be a "showoff" motherboard.

Few more shots showing off the details of the board.


I was stocked to see they included a bench table, something I've never seen included before. This made testing the hardware feel much more professional than using the box or even installing onto the chassis. Something I cant do yet as the case isn't fully assembled.

For this build, Intel was kind enough to supply me with a 7900X.

As well as an Optane 800p 118GB which I will be using as a main OS boot drive and the beastly Optane 905P 960GB as primary storage. This drive is insane!



Quick shot of the 800P installed on the board. The fan actively cools both M.2 sockets on the board and channels the air up and out through the top area.