BUILD ANALL-AMD GAMING POWERHOUSE

LENGTH OF TIME: 3-4 HOURS LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM

1 Gut the PC

The Phanteks NV7 may be the biggest and roomiest case that I’ve ever built in for Maximum PC, but it’s still worth getting all the innards out now so it’s easy to build in later. This really is a beast, weighing nearly 17kg without any components in it, meaning it can be carried by one person, but you need to bend your knees when lifting it. The chassis also has removable panels on every side apart from the base, so it’s good to just spend some time removing those as well. Most can be removed by hand, but some have screws and thumbscrews, so keep that screwdriver nearby, refer to the manual, and for the love of all things holy, make sure you keep everything together and separated from your other components.

2 CPU in, cooler prepped

Now, we turn our attention to the ASRock X670E Pro RS motherboard, which we take out and rest back on top of its box. We also grab the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU, plus the NZXT Kraken Elite X73 RGB AIO. First, in shot 2a, the CPU goes into the socket with the label facing the right way up—just drop it on so it feels like it’s in place and not moving, then lower the retention arm. Then, in shot 2b, we screw the standoffs into the motherboard ready for the cooler. We’d intended to use a different cooler for this build, but it was covered in dust and generally not in the best condition, so we repurposed the NZXT from a previous build. It’s a supersimple installation with no backplate required—just the four screws you can see here.

1

2a

2b

BUILD IT!STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

3

4a

4b

3 Memory lights the corners of my mobo