Hey guys,

Since I had a long break for CNY, I planned for a few minor improvements to my PC

1) I recently replaced my work PC 1TB HDD to SSD, so without a use for this drive anymore I brought it back to fill up another empty SATA slot. I mount it in the case HDD cage using a 3.5" to 2.5" adaptor.


2) I decided I want to maximise the cooling performance so firstly I changed out the front 3x120mm case stock fans with 2x140mm & 1x120mm Scythe Kaze Flex RGB fans in a 140-120-140 arrangement


Why such an oddly sized fan array?
Scythe's 140mm & 120mm has a higher RPM range and better efficiency at pushing air thru, however the Nexus Air case only can support 3x120 or 2x140 fan sizes. By going with a round 140mm fan size I can just about squeeze a 120mm square fan in between.

Why Scythe RGB fans?
No reason in particular, it was the cheapest 140mm round fan I can find and the RGB is just an extra plus.

I also replaced all fan mounting screws with rubber fan stubs to dampen any vibrations coming from these case fans including the rear stock fan. I then moved the stock case fans to the top mount so they can vent heat out the top.

3) With greater airflow comes more dust intake into the case. To tackle this issue I did 2 additions.

At front I put on 3x 140mm fine mesh filters.


These are magnetic so they stick on the steel front grille really well. It also helps that this particular case has a flat front grille profile.

As you can see it already captured a noticeable amount of dust particles.

The next addition is a bit more janky as I fashioned out rear filters from a fine porous filter bag secured to the case walls with magnetic stripes. It helps to keep dust out while remain breathable for air/heat to go thru


The top portion above the rear fan also gotten the filter.

Lastly I wanted some spare USB ports at the rear since all mobo rear ports are used and I had a free voucher from Shopee, so I gotten a rear panel USB 2.0 expansion. It sits hidden above the GPU top most PCIE slot.


Lastly lastly, just for the heck of it because I had another free Shopee voucher, I replaced the PCIE slots screws with a set of thumbscrews that you would find on premium branded cases.


Imho it helps elevate to look more expensive than a typical budget case.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Mar 1 2024, 11:39 PM

Oh and I added a CPU cooler & GPU combi support holder during the same update.


Full details is at my Mugen 5 review tered https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...ost&p=109215207

During last Raya weekend I wanted to fine tune my RAM timings because why not

A summary post I put up in RAM Handbook tered if this is too long https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...ost&p=109966938

My hellish journey of RAM tuning actually started on Friday nite when this time, I didnt want to repeat killing my Windows OS again thru boot looping instability, I therefore made a scratch boot OS on my spare HDD so that can I use for test boots and all the RAM testing. Lesson learnt, in case this Windows corrupts , I can ditch it to reinstall and redo easily. Luckily this time I didnt have to do that and maybe its because this round had a better bios

And coming to that, I had on Bios 5.01 for my Asrock B660M PG Riptide mobo, I did try XMP 3600MHZ @Gear1 again but while it booted to Windows (YAY!) it was still not stable to pass a RAM test (boo!).
It still managed to set an Aida64 benchmark as baseline:


So started on Saturday morning, by keeping speeds at 3466MHZ while maintaining Gear1 mode and voltage at XMP 1.35V, I step by step lower timings, starting with CL, then both tRCD & tRP, then tRAS, each time going thru hours of testing (Memtest86, TestMemPro, TM5 w/ Absolut).
Once tRAS passes, I rinse & repeat again by reducing CL, then the rest, again and again finally end up with


Before it was XMP default CL18-22-22-42
The final timings that I feel comfortable to drop down is CL16-18-18-37 HECK YEAH!

Theoretically my First Word Latency went from a poor 10.3ns down to 9.2ns.

I could probably try go further down but the last tRAS drop to 36 caused TM5 to CTD so bumping up a notch I finally stopped. And because I ran out of tuning days, it was ady Monday nite...

Compared before & after, Aida64 showed some significant gains in Read (+1890), Write (+6962) & Copy (+6180) but the big change comes from Latency (-17.5ns !)

Stress testings then began...
MemTest86 - ALL PASSED


TestMem5 with Absolut & Extreme profiles - ALL PASSED


HCI MemtestPro & Intel BurnTest - BOTH PASSED


Running OCCT RAM test (AVX2 for 1Hr) had failed before but this round IT PASSED TOO!


In between, I did more other testings; TestMem5 with 1usmus, Windows Memory Diagnostics, Intel XTU RAM test, XTU benchmark (scored 7192 points), YCrunch, Prime95, Cinebench 15,20,23 - ALL PASSED...

So I spent most of last weekend just waiting and waiting and waiting for the various RAM test to complete, each and every run.
At end of it all...



This will be my setup going forward from now unless I encounter any later instability issues. I did have some niggling boot issues tho...

Wassup guys!

During the long weekend holidays, I made some additions to my PC.

The biggest one that I added is LGA1700 ILM replacement frame! Yes, I finally made the jump!


This in particular is Shopee/China clone of Thermalright's version which is a clone of DerBauer's version. Cloneception haha.

Although at half the price of TR's its not a cheap arsed clone as looks exactly like TR's and it fits just as perfectly plus it also has insulating contact pads similar to stock ILM.


Installation was pretty easy, but I did take a bit more precaution to ensure even pressure on all 4 sides:
1. Following GN method, I back rotated the screws until the threads fall into the hole with a click sound. Then give it a 90 degree turn to latch onto the thread grooves.
2. Once all screws are secured, I used liquid paper to mark each screw datum point.
3. Starting from Screw 1 then I turned 180 degrees, doing the same with Screw 4, then Screw 2, then Screw 3 in cross pattern.
4. Once I feel resistance, I continue tighten in 90 degrees instead.
5. I tighten down until I feel a hard wall where it cannot go anymore. With this method I found that Screw 1, 2, 4 stops nearly same position while Screw 3 needed a bit more angle to fully tighten.


I found that with this method, I had no problems booting up at first go and I didn't even have to default RAM speed, it was perfectly stable.

Results I got is 91oC @174W with ambient 32oC as compared to previous max of 96oC @173W with ambient 29oC (before the LGA frame), so if I normalise temps to delta T ambient, I am actually 8oC lower with the new contact frame. Looking at the chart, I can say it works really well for my case.


Stability test went smoothly, in fact I read that some modders had to turn off XMP but I booted with my XMPed tuned RAM settings and passed Intel extreme burn test. Idle temps hovering at 4oC above ambient.


This post has been edited by babylon52281: Sep 29 2024, 12:41 AM

Next update I put in was some grommets for the PSU shroud cover where I find most cases, even expensive ones, don't have.

Because there are no ready sized ones, I modded some general purpose oval ones by selecting a length longer than the holes to cover and I cut off the roundels. This gives an oblong which matches the hole.

Next addition is adding a used 500 GB WD Black HDD as extra storage which I harvested from my workplace since we are switching over to SSD now. With this I maxed out all the SATA ports on my mobo. I still have a spare NVME M2 port remaining...



This post has been edited by babylon52281: Sep 29 2024, 12:16 AM

Next addon is probably something for the future, seeing that my GPU is 2 slots which meant the only PCIE slot is not practical for use bumping up against that GPU.

So I gotten a X1 riser in order to 'move' that slot away to make use of it.


However I have nothing planned for it so it remains open for now.



This post has been edited by babylon52281: Sep 29 2024, 12:23 AM

Last to add, you can see most of my mods seen here are quality of life stuff & for performance sake but haha I finally gave in to the RGB virus! Just for looks I added an ARGB strip lighting. Behold my PC now spews rainbow vomit!



With its magnetic backing I mounted it closer to the glass side. Now it is a true gamers PC LOL!

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Sep 29 2024, 12:30 AM

Hi guys,

New updates time! It is something that I keep pushing back for a long while mainly because I have a workaround so far. The mod this time is an add-in BE200 Wifi7 M.2 card. Coming as a set, it includes a plethora of stuff; PCIE slot brackets, Wifi antennas & RF cables to the card, screws & screwdrivers too



I didnt want to use either of those PCIE bracket rather I wanted to make use of the mobo own mounting for Wifi sockets. Due to the VRM heatsinks, there is no easy way to slot in the antenna connectors without taking out that VRM heatsink but to do that I would have to remove the mobo as well.

But because I am lazy, I tried using tweezers to guide the antenna sockets under the VRM heatsink and into the mobo built-in IO shield. It was a finicky procedure, not able to see under while making sure the orientation is matching to the IO shield.


Once the GPU is installed, the wifi card practically 'disappears' from view:


With the antennas installed here is how the rear IO looks:


This post has been edited by babylon52281: Apr 1 2025, 01:25 AM

Another new addition more towards the future is a PCIE to M.2 NVME add-in card. This goes with the previously installed X1 riser cable to convert the mobo sole free X1 PCIE slot for extra SSD storage in the future.

And lastly with the GPU being extra heavy for some reason, I also need to add 3 Gundams to hold it in place to prevent catastrophic sagging.