Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Community guidelines
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • 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
View
Popular
  • Amazon Prime Day Deals
  • Essential Hardware
  • Microsoft
  • AI
  • PC Gaming Show
Recommended reading
The Monochrome 2 mini PC by TheJiral
Hardware This striking two-toned mini PC features a fully customised fanless cooling system for Framework and AMD's new Halo Strix motherboards
A plain looking, ergonomic office chair concealing a gaming PC underneath the seat.
PC Cases Is it a chair? Is it a PC? Actually, this stealth PC build is both—and probably very toasty
The Asus Prime AP202 PC case on a blue gradient background with PC components inside
PC Cases Trick venting solutions look like the hot new thing in PC case design and this low-vented Asus model has me more than a little intrigued
Fractal Design Terra Mini-ITX gaming PC case in Jade green color on a pink background with a PC Gamer Recommended label on top
PC Cases Our top-rated Mini-ITX PC case just went on sale in my favorite color scheme so of course I'm hovering over the buy button
A three screen setup is seen on a desk. These screens are encased in an off-white shell designed to look retro and bring to mind classic CRT housing.
PC Cases Redditor handcrafts retrofuturistic set up that wouldn't look out of place on the set of Alien, with precisely zero 3D printing involved
SuccessfulHost6375's cel shaded, hand-drawn PC case on a desk with a green background
PC Cases 'Couldn't afford a PC so I drew one' says one Redditor after drawing a God-tier cel shaded case mod for his kids to play Minecraft on
Silverstone FLP02 retro PC case on display at Computex trade show
PC Cases This retro PC case has a big red button and a turnkey and it hits me square in the chest with nostalgia
  1. Hardware
  2. Gaming PCs

Build of the week: Victorian Desktop

Features
By Amber Bouman published 29 June 2015

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

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

Sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from a need (a rig that can hold more RAM, perhaps), and sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from an entirely unexpected place. For example, the muse behind this scratch Victorian Desktop build was an antique cast iron grate bought by the builder’s wife, with no specific use in mind. Apparently it wound up in the right hands, because it is now part of a custom case made from solid mahogany.

Overclock.net and ModZoo user Mosquito Mods says the woodworking was the easy part for him; the hardest part was keeping close enough to the theme to be striking and functional but without crossing this line into overdone steampunk.

Keeping a compact shape was a primary goal with this build, which is internally divided. One side is used to house an ATX power supply; the other side contains the hardware (Phoenix Wifi motherboard, a 90 degree PCIe hard rise video card and a “low profile” GPU). Orange LED strips were added to highlight the interior, which is watercooled using a Swiftech MCP35x, a Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool Reservoir and CPU blocks with orange acrylic tubing to match the LEDs. Mosquito Mods recommends using your own experience when shooting for a killer scratch build; he relied on his experience with hand tool woodworking, and to share a build with your friendly modding community. Top notch, Mosquito Mods!

Victorian Desktop parts list

CPU: Intel i5-4690
CPU Cooler: Waterloop is a Swiftech MCP35x, Alphacool Reservoir, Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool CPU blocks, with black Alphacool HT fittings, and orange acrylic tubing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85 Phoenix Wifi
Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares
Power Supply: Silverstone SX600-G 600w SFX
Storage: 120GB Mushkin mSATA (on motherboard)
Other: Orange Darkside LED strips from MNPCTech.com

Page 1 of 7
Page 1 of 7

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

Sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from a need (a rig that can hold more RAM, perhaps), and sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from an entirely unexpected place. For example, the muse behind this scratch Victorian Desktop build was an antique cast iron grate bought by the builder’s wife, with no specific use in mind. Apparently it wound up in the right hands, because it is now part of a custom case made from solid mahogany.

Overclock.net user Mosquito Mods says the woodworking was the easy part for him; the hardest part was keeping close enough to the theme to be striking and functional but without crossing this line into overdone steampunk.

Keeping a compact shape was a primary goal with this build which is internally divided. One side is used to house an ATX power supply; the other side contains the hardware (Phoenix Wifi motherboard, a 90 degree PCIe hard rise video card and a “low profile” GPU). Orange LED strips were added to highlight the interior, which is watercooled using a Swiftech MCP35x, a Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool Reservoir and CPU blocks with orange acrylic tubing to match the LEDs. Mosquito Mods recommends using your own experience when shooting for a killer scratch build; he relied on his experience with hand tool woodworking, and to share a build with your friendly modding community. Top notch, Mosquito Mods!

Victorian Desktop parts list

CPU: Intel i5-4690
CPU Cooler: Waterloop is a Swiftech MCP35x, Alphacool Reservoir, Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool CPU blocks, with black Alphacool HT fittings, and orange acrylic tubing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85 Phoenix Wifi
Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares
Power Supply: Silverstone SX600-G 600w SFX
Storage: 120GB Mushkin mSATA (on motherboard)
Other: Orange Darkside LED strips from MNPCTech.com

Page 2 of 7
Page 2 of 7

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

Sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from a need (a rig that can hold more RAM, perhaps), and sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from an entirely unexpected place. For example, the muse behind this scratch Victorian Desktop build was an antique cast iron grate bought by the builder’s wife, with no specific use in mind. Apparently it wound up in the right hands, because it is now part of a custom case made from solid mahogany.

Overclock.net user Mosquito Mods says the woodworking was the easy part for him; the hardest part was keeping close enough to the theme to be striking and functional but without crossing this line into overdone steampunk.

Keeping a compact shape was a primary goal with this build which is internally divided. One side is used to house an ATX power supply; the other side contains the hardware (Phoenix Wifi motherboard, a 90 degree PCIe hard rise video card and a “low profile” GPU). Orange LED strips were added to highlight the interior, which is watercooled using a Swiftech MCP35x, a Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool Reservoir and CPU blocks with orange acrylic tubing to match the LEDs. Mosquito Mods recommends using your own experience when shooting for a killer scratch build; he relied on his experience with hand tool woodworking, and to share a build with your friendly modding community. Top notch, Mosquito Mods!

Victorian Desktop parts list

CPU: Intel i5-4690
CPU Cooler: Waterloop is a Swiftech MCP35x, Alphacool Reservoir, Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool CPU blocks, with black Alphacool HT fittings, and orange acrylic tubing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85 Phoenix Wifi
Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares
Power Supply: Silverstone SX600-G 600w SFX
Storage: 120GB Mushkin mSATA (on motherboard)
Other: Orange Darkside LED strips from MNPCTech.com

Page 3 of 7
Page 3 of 7

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

Sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from a need (a rig that can hold more RAM, perhaps), and sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from an entirely unexpected place. For example, the muse behind this scratch Victorian Desktop build was an antique cast iron grate bought by the builder’s wife, with no specific use in mind. Apparently it wound up in the right hands, because it is now part of a custom case made from solid mahogany.

Overclock.net user Mosquito Mods says the woodworking was the easy part for him; the hardest part was keeping close enough to the theme to be striking and functional but without crossing this line into overdone steampunk.

Keeping a compact shape was a primary goal with this build which is internally divided. One side is used to house an ATX power supply; the other side contains the hardware (Phoenix Wifi motherboard, a 90 degree PCIe hard rise video card and a “low profile” GPU). Orange LED strips were added to highlight the interior, which is watercooled using a Swiftech MCP35x, a Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool Reservoir and CPU blocks with orange acrylic tubing to match the LEDs. Mosquito Mods recommends using your own experience when shooting for a killer scratch build; he relied on his experience with hand tool woodworking, and to share a build with your friendly modding community. Top notch, Mosquito Mods!

Victorian Desktop parts list

CPU: Intel i5-4690
CPU Cooler: Waterloop is a Swiftech MCP35x, Alphacool Reservoir, Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool CPU blocks, with black Alphacool HT fittings, and orange acrylic tubing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85 Phoenix Wifi
Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares
Power Supply: Silverstone SX600-G 600w SFX
Storage: 120GB Mushkin mSATA (on motherboard)
Other: Orange Darkside LED strips from MNPCTech.com

Page 4 of 7
Page 4 of 7

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

Sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from a need (a rig that can hold more RAM, perhaps), and sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from an entirely unexpected place. For example, the muse behind this scratch Victorian Desktop build was an antique cast iron grate bought by the builder’s wife, with no specific use in mind. Apparently it wound up in the right hands, because it is now part of a custom case made from solid mahogany.

Overclock.net user Mosquito Mods says the woodworking was the easy part for him; the hardest part was keeping close enough to the theme to be striking and functional but without crossing this line into overdone steampunk.

Keeping a compact shape was a primary goal with this build which is internally divided. One side is used to house an ATX power supply; the other side contains the hardware (Phoenix Wifi motherboard, a 90 degree PCIe hard rise video card and a “low profile” GPU). Orange LED strips were added to highlight the interior, which is watercooled using a Swiftech MCP35x, a Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool Reservoir and CPU blocks with orange acrylic tubing to match the LEDs. Mosquito Mods recommends using your own experience when shooting for a killer scratch build; he relied on his experience with hand tool woodworking, and to share a build with your friendly modding community. Top notch, Mosquito Mods!

Victorian Desktop parts list

CPU: Intel i5-4690
CPU Cooler: Waterloop is a Swiftech MCP35x, Alphacool Reservoir, Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool CPU blocks, with black Alphacool HT fittings, and orange acrylic tubing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85 Phoenix Wifi
Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares
Power Supply: Silverstone SX600-G 600w SFX
Storage: 120GB Mushkin mSATA (on motherboard)
Other: Orange Darkside LED strips from MNPCTech.com

Page 5 of 7
Page 5 of 7

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

Sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from a need (a rig that can hold more RAM, perhaps), and sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from an entirely unexpected place. For example, the muse behind this scratch Victorian Desktop build was an antique cast iron grate bought by the builder’s wife, with no specific use in mind. Apparently it wound up in the right hands, because it is now part of a custom case made from solid mahogany.

Overclock.net user Mosquito Mods says the woodworking was the easy part for him; the hardest part was keeping close enough to the theme to be striking and functional but without crossing this line into overdone steampunk.

Keeping a compact shape was a primary goal with this build which is internally divided. One side is used to house an ATX power supply; the other side contains the hardware (Phoenix Wifi motherboard, a 90 degree PCIe hard rise video card and a “low profile” GPU). Orange LED strips were added to highlight the interior, which is watercooled using a Swiftech MCP35x, a Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool Reservoir and CPU blocks with orange acrylic tubing to match the LEDs. Mosquito Mods recommends using your own experience when shooting for a killer scratch build; he relied on his experience with hand tool woodworking, and to share a build with your friendly modding community. Top notch, Mosquito Mods!

Victorian Desktop parts list

CPU: Intel i5-4690
CPU Cooler: Waterloop is a Swiftech MCP35x, Alphacool Reservoir, Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool CPU blocks, with black Alphacool HT fittings, and orange acrylic tubing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85 Phoenix Wifi
Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares
Power Supply: Silverstone SX600-G 600w SFX
Storage: 120GB Mushkin mSATA (on motherboard)

Other: Orange Darkside LED strips from MNPCTech.com

Page 6 of 7
Page 6 of 7

Every Monday, Build of the week highlights a unique rig from the web's most dedicated PC building communities.

Sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from a need (a rig that can hold more RAM, perhaps), and sometimes the inspiration for a build comes from an entirely unexpected place. For example, the muse behind this scratch Victorian Desktop build was an antique cast iron grate bought by the builder’s wife, with no specific use in mind. Apparently it wound up in the right hands, because it is now part of a custom case made from solid mahogany.

Overclock.net user Mosquito Mods says the woodworking was the easy part for him; the hardest part was keeping close enough to the theme to be striking and functional but without crossing this line into overdone steampunk.

Keeping a compact shape was a primary goal with this build which is internally divided. One side is used to house an ATX power supply; the other side contains the hardware (Phoenix Wifi motherboard, a 90 degree PCIe hard rise video card and a “low profile” GPU). Orange LED strips were added to highlight the interior, which is watercooled using a Swiftech MCP35x, a Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool Reservoir and CPU blocks with orange acrylic tubing to match the LEDs. Mosquito Mods recommends using your own experience when shooting for a killer scratch build; he relied on his experience with hand tool woodworking, and to share a build with your friendly modding community. Top notch, Mosquito Mods!

Victorian Desktop parts list

CPU: Intel i5-4690
CPU Cooler: Waterloop is a Swiftech MCP35x, Alphacool Reservoir, Phobya 200mm radiator, Alphacool CPU blocks, with black Alphacool HT fittings, and orange acrylic tubing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B85 Phoenix Wifi
Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares
Power Supply: Silverstone SX600-G 600w SFX
Storage: 120GB Mushkin mSATA (on motherboard)
Other: Orange Darkside LED strips from MNPCTech.com

Page 7 of 7
Page 7 of 7
Amber Bouman
Read more
The Monochrome 2 mini PC by TheJiral
This striking two-toned mini PC features a fully customised fanless cooling system for Framework and AMD's new Halo Strix motherboards
A plain looking, ergonomic office chair concealing a gaming PC underneath the seat.
Is it a chair? Is it a PC? Actually, this stealth PC build is both—and probably very toasty
The Asus Prime AP202 PC case on a blue gradient background with PC components inside
Trick venting solutions look like the hot new thing in PC case design and this low-vented Asus model has me more than a little intrigued
Fractal Design Terra Mini-ITX gaming PC case in Jade green color on a pink background with a PC Gamer Recommended label on top
Our top-rated Mini-ITX PC case just went on sale in my favorite color scheme so of course I'm hovering over the buy button
A three screen setup is seen on a desk. These screens are encased in an off-white shell designed to look retro and bring to mind classic CRT housing.
Redditor handcrafts retrofuturistic set up that wouldn't look out of place on the set of Alien, with precisely zero 3D printing involved
SuccessfulHost6375's cel shaded, hand-drawn PC case on a desk with a green background
'Couldn't afford a PC so I drew one' says one Redditor after drawing a God-tier cel shaded case mod for his kids to play Minecraft on
Latest in Gaming PCs
OXS Storm G2 wireless headline on pink Prime Day 2025 background
This is not the best wireless gaming headset of all time, but it's pretty good and at just $50 that's good enough for me
An image of a Zotac RTX 5090 graphics card next to a Skytech Legacy desktop gaming PC, against a multi-colored pink background, with a white border and a PC Gamer Recommended logo.
It's that classic Prime Day conundrum of 'Do I buy a big boi RTX 5090 graphics card or an entire Ryzen 9800X3D, RTX 5080 gaming PC with a monitor to boot?'
Zotac Mek, CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme, and Skytech Azure gaming PCs on a bright pink background with PC Gamer recommended label on top
I've been tracking down the best Prime Day gaming PC deals all week and Amazon's discounts can't touch what I've found at Newegg
Zotac MEK gaming PC
This Zotac RTX 5080 rig is still $1,000 off and better and cheaper than every other gaming PC deal I've seen over Prime Day
Three gaming PCs on a blue background
These three RX 9070 XT gaming PCs show AMD builds really are killing it for value right now
CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme gaming PC with mouse and keyboard on a blue background
After scouring through gaming PC deals this Prime Day, this is the cheapest rig I'd actually buy
Latest in Features
A screenshot from Everdeep Aurora showing the cat protagonist in the chambers of a regal rabbit
Five new Steam games you probably missed (July 14, 2025)
Fallen London
I've swapped modern live service games for a browser game that's been running since 2009
Four people in armour stand atop a desert landscape. The far left one faces away from camera in black armour, a barbarian with their face covered by a mask stands next to them. A female with medium-length brown hair and white shimmering armour duel wields guns, one held up and one pointing out to her right. Below her outstretched gun an archer crouches, their face obscured by an elaborate headdress.
These 15 PC games died for our sins—can you even remember their names?
Player doing a kickflip in the waterpark map in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4
I would've loved Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 a lot more if it hadn't made the mistake of rolling out time limits for every level
Lea, from Lies of P: Overture, clutches a locket to her chest and tries to maintain her composure.
Lies of P isn't my favourite soulslike, but Overture is one of the best DLCs in the whole genre
Marvel Rivals Season 3 customisation issues: An upper-body shot of Phoenix with her arms out to the side.
If Marvel Rivals doesn't want to reward me with fancy skins for my hard work, then I hope it'll at least give me some of Season 3's new customisation features
  1. Nvidia RTX 5090 and XFX RX 9070 graphics cards
    1
    Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards
  2. 2
    Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner
  3. 3
    Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer
  4. 4
    Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
  5. 5
    Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop
  1. A Mecha Break pilot in a white and pink suit standing before the head of her mech of the same color
    1
    Mecha Break review – Mech fans deserve better than this
  2. 2
    Mycopunk Review: Long live wacky co-op shooters.
  3. 3
    Persona 5: The Phantom X review – More of the same, for better or worse
  4. 4
    NZXT N7 Z890 review
  5. 5
    NZXT N9 X870E review

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

  • 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...