Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
UK EditionUK US EditionUS CA EditionCanada AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Black Friday
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Codes
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • Community guidelines
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
Subscribe now
Don't miss these
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
Gaming PCs I build multiple gaming PCs a month and this is my favorite so far this year—here's what you'd need to build it yourself
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
Gaming PCs Moody and wooden, this PC and I have a lot in common: Asus ProArt Case PA401, Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 9070 XT build
A white gaming PC built using a Thermaltake PC case, Cooler Master fans, and an AMD CPU.
Gaming PCs I've taken a proper bargain of a case from Thermaltake and built a gorgeous white PC with it
A custom DIY walnut wooden ITX PC case by MXC Builds
PC Cases If anything were to convince me to try out carpentry it would be this gorgeous DIY mini walnut PC case housing an Asus ProArt RTX 5080
Arctic's Xtender PC case on a white desk with various parts being installed to build a functional gaming PC.
Hardware I build loads of gaming PCs and this is the first to make me regret my decisions with my own personal rig—here's what you need to build it yourself
Two PC cases on a yellow background with the PC Gamer recommends badge in the upper right corner.
PC Cases The best PC cases in 2025: These are the chassis I'd use for my next gaming build
The HYTE Y70 mid-tower PC case in taro milk purple floats in the funky Black Friday deal void.
PC Cases This Black Friday, the much coveted pastel colorways for the Hyte Y70 PC case are only $180
The Hyte X50 PC case on a desk ready to be built into for testing and review.
PC Cases Hyte X50 PC case review
Three PC cases on a pink background with the PC Gamer logo in the top right.
PC Cases I'm surrounded by PC cases I've reviewed and these are the best PC case deals I'd go for this Prime Day
A terrible gaming PC built into a plastic jug
Gaming PCs This €130 gaming PC in a plastic jug churns out a whole 15 fps in Fortnite and might be the best/worst DIY build I've ever seen
A promotional image of the SilverStone SST-FLP02 retro-styled PC case
PC Cases The age of beige is back! SilverStone's new case is a glorious nod to PCs of the 1980s and 90s
Retro-style PC housing built using white Lego-style bricks.
PC Cases Rather than buy a brand new PC case, one Redditor elects to make their own out of Lego-style bricks
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
PC Cases Asus ProArt Case PA401 review
Two of the best PC cases with the PC Gamer Recommended badge in the top right.
PC Cases The best fish tank PC case in 2025: I've tested heaps of stylish chassis but only a few have earned my recommendation
Corsair Frame 4500X ATX PC case throughout a PC build for testing.
PC Cases Corsair Frame 4500X review
Popular
  • Black Friday Live!
  • Best PC gear
  • Arc Raiders
  • PC Gaming Show
  • Quizzes
  1. Hardware
  2. PC Cases

Build of the week: Project Eris

Features
By James Davenport published 4 April 2016

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 1 of 24
Page 1 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 2 of 24
Page 2 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 3 of 24
Page 3 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 4 of 24
Page 4 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 5 of 24
Page 5 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 6 of 24
Page 6 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 7 of 24
Page 7 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 8 of 24
Page 8 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 9 of 24
Page 9 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 10 of 24
Page 10 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 11 of 24
Page 11 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 12 of 24
Page 12 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 13 of 24
Page 13 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 14 of 24
Page 14 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 15 of 24
Page 15 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 16 of 24
Page 16 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 17 of 24
Page 17 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 18 of 24
Page 18 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 19 of 24
Page 19 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 20 of 24
Page 20 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 21 of 24
Page 21 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 22 of 24
Page 22 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 23 of 24
Page 23 of 24

This week we're taking a long, luxurious look at Project Eris, a custom build from Adam Braithwaite of modder collective Darwin PC. Project Eris a small but powerful mini ITX computer housed in an open frame. Braithwaite says everything in the project is custom, form the fully acrylic watercooling loop to the handmade cables. He described his process to me over email:

"For the theme, I wanted to get as close as possible to pure red and black, which meant anything that wasn't black or red would be removed, covered or painted. So the first mod I did for the build was a custom laser-cut motherboard tray. This black plexi piece was designed to cover the silver backplate of the case, as well as giving a good surface to mount the pump and to add detailing work.

The other custom plexi parts I had cut are the cover for the power supply compartment, and the I/O shield for the motherboard to hide the metal sockets. The I/O shield was made from three plexi pieces, which I glued together. I used a vinyl cutter to make the detailing work to match the MSI red PCB-style graphics, which I think really adds a unique style to the build."

I think Braithwaite is on point. Project Eris is a slick, small build with a bold personality that can hold its own against the bulkiest systems out there (seriously, the D-Frame cae is one sturdy chassis). Nice work, Adam.

Check out the Darwin PC projects page for more information on Project Eris and other builds.

Components:

Mobo: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G
Chassis: In Win D-Frame Mini
CPU: Intel i5-6600K
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
PSU: Corsair HX750
SSD: Crucial MX200 M.2 250 GB
Cooling: Full EK Water Blocks water loop, Mayhems Havoc 240mm radiator, Mayhems X1 Red coolant
Misc: E22 Teleois custom sleeved cables

Mods:

- Full custom acrylic watercooling loop with Mayhems X1 red
- Custom laser cut motherboard tray with vinyl detailing
- Custom IO shield with vinyl detailing
- Custom PSU compartment cover with vinyl detailing
- Under motherboard RGB LED lighting
- Coldzero custom GTX 980 Ti backplate
- Custom cables featuring E22 Teleios sleeving
- Black painted thumb nuts for EK CPU water block
- Custom EK logo badge for CPU water block
- Black vinyl stickers for motherboard capacitors
- Red vinyl pin-striping on GTX 980 Ti PCB edge
- Black plexi WLAN card cover

Page 24 of 24
Page 24 of 24
James Davenport
James Davenport
Social Links Navigation

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles. 

Deals not to miss
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
I build multiple gaming PCs a month and this is my favorite so far this year—here's what you'd need to build it yourself
 
 
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
Moody and wooden, this PC and I have a lot in common: Asus ProArt Case PA401, Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 9070 XT build
 
 
A white gaming PC built using a Thermaltake PC case, Cooler Master fans, and an AMD CPU.
I've taken a proper bargain of a case from Thermaltake and built a gorgeous white PC with it
 
 
A custom DIY walnut wooden ITX PC case by MXC Builds
If anything were to convince me to try out carpentry it would be this gorgeous DIY mini walnut PC case housing an Asus ProArt RTX 5080
 
 
Arctic's Xtender PC case on a white desk with various parts being installed to build a functional gaming PC.
I build loads of gaming PCs and this is the first to make me regret my decisions with my own personal rig—here's what you need to build it yourself
 
 
Two PC cases on a yellow background with the PC Gamer recommends badge in the upper right corner.
The best PC cases in 2025: These are the chassis I'd use for my next gaming build
 
 
Latest in PC Cases
The HYTE Y70 mid-tower PC case in taro milk purple floats in the funky Black Friday deal void.
This Black Friday, the much coveted pastel colorways for the Hyte Y70 PC case are only $180
 
 
A photo of the Thermal Grizzly Der8enchtable test platform next to its retail packaging
Thermal Grizzly Der8enchtable review
 
 
Thermaltake View 390 Air chassis on a desk. We're building a PC into it for testing and comparison with other PC cases.
Thermaltake View 390 Air review
 
 
A screenshot of Dbrand's companion cube Steam Machine case
Dbrand has teased a render of a Portal companion cube Steam Machine case, so you can... put a case around your case?
 
 
A promotional image of the SilverStone SST-FLP02 retro-styled PC case
The age of beige is back! SilverStone's new case is a glorious nod to PCs of the 1980s and 90s
 
 
Fractal Design North
A UK retailer has honoured a redditor's £20 Fractal Design PC case purchase: 'You made it go viral. So we did what we believe is right—we owned it.'
 
 
Latest in Features
Operator control system
Xenopurge turns Aliens into a stressful desk job and somehow manages to capture the movie perfectly
 
 
Battlefield 6 California Resistance update
Despite Battlefield 6's server browser utterly failing at its one job, good things are happening in Portal
 
 
Ella Purnell (Lucy MacLean) in FALLOUT SEASON 2 Photo Credit: Lorenzo Sisti / Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC
I'm impatiently waiting for Fallout Season 2 by calculating the odds of my favorite New Vegas characters making an appearance
 
 
Elden Ring Reforged mod
Enormous mod Elden Ring Reforged refreshes and rebalances every inch of the game, works with Seamless Co-op, and even throws in a Crackdown orb-style scavenger hunt
 
 
The hero of Moonlighter 2 running with a sword and full backpack.
Moonlighter 2 made me reckon with how 'cozy' a shopkeeping roguelite with a heavy helping of Hades can get
 
 
The trading screen in Insider Trading.
This Balatro-inspired stock-trading roguelike marks the first time I've ever screwed up in a deckbuilder by making my deck too good
 
 
  1. MSI and Asus gaming monitors on a green background with the PC Gamer recommended logo in the top right
    1
    Best gaming monitors in 2025: the pixel-perfect panels I'd buy myself
  2. 2
    The best fish tank PC case in 2025: I've tested heaps of stylish chassis but only a few have earned my recommendation
  3. 3
    Best gaming laptop 2025: I've tested the best laptops for gaming of this generation and here are the ones I recommend
  4. 4
    Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming
  5. 5
    Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC
  1. Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 10 gaming laptop
    1
    Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 10 gaming laptop review
  2. 2
    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 review – CoD at its most obnoxious
  3. 3
    LG UltraGear 27GX790A OLED gaming monitor review
  4. 4
    Thermal Grizzly Der8enchtable review
  5. 5
    Thermaltake View 390 Air review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...