This sleek build pulls off the wooden accents without looking like a Fractal clone, while still getting that premium Lian Li build quality. The Lancool 217's dual 170mm front fans move serious air at whisper-quiet levels, and paired with the vertical GPU mount, this thing looks as good as it performs. Temps came in surprisingly low considering the Intel CPU and vertical configuration.

RGB duties are handled by SignalRGB rather than Gigabyte's Control Center, which has really poor lighting implementation. SignalRGB also ditched their subscription model in favor of one-time effect purchases you actually own, so no monthly fees just to make your RAM do a rainbow wave (basic effects are free).

The Intel voltage fiasco put a damper on LGA1700's reputation, but recent BIOS updates have ironed out those issues. The 13700F may not top the gaming charts, but it's still one of the best CPUs today, and that 8P/8E core configuration really shines in multi-threaded workloads. Streamers, engineers, and tab hoarders rejoice: you're not running out of threads anytime soon.

Yes, you're on DDR4 here, but with DDR5 pricing still being what it is, 32GB of RAM is a fair tradeoff. Realistically, you'll be comfortable until AM6 drops and memory prices (hopefully) return to earth. The Lancool 217 has plenty of room and the darkFlash PMT850 has plenty of juice should you want to drop in a beefier GPU down the road. It's rated B tier on the SPL PSU tier list and features full ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 compliance.

Specs:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-13700F (8P/8E – Arctic MX-7)
• GPU: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Gaming OC 12GB¹
• RAM: 32GB DDR4-3600 CL18 (2x16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro)
• Storage: WD Black SN7100 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X DDR4 ATX
• PSU: darkFlash PMT850 850W 80+ Gold Fully Modular ATX 3.1
• Case: Lian Li Lancool 217 ATX Mid Tower
• Cooling: Thermalright Frozen Notte 240mm ARGB AIO
• Connectivity: Gigabyte GC-WBAX210 WiFi 6E + Bluetooth 5.2
• Extras: PCI-E 4.0 x16 & 3.0 x1 Riser Cables, 3D Printed Wifi Card Stand², Additional Accessories³

This system comes with a fresh Windows 11 Pro installation (other than preinstalled apps⁴) and will require initial setup on first boot.

¹The GPU's ring RGB around the fans is tied to the PWM signal, which means under certain conditions (boot, BIOS, etc.) it flickers pretty badly. The card has a zero-fan mode, so you'll see no RGB or flickering on the desktop and under light usage. Flickering is minimal as the card ramps up, and under gaming loads it's basically nonexistent. If you're susceptible to this sort of thing during boot or light usage, I'd consider a different build.
²The WiFi card and PCIe 3.0 cable would otherwise be floating in midair without the 3D printed support stand. I printed this out of PETG for some thermal resistance, and it slots into the mounting holes for a SATA drive.
³WiFi antenna (uninstalled for shipping), remaining case accessories, PSU cables and accessories, and AIO accessories.
⁴Preinstalled apps include SignalRGB, Steam, NVIDIA App, and Sandisk Dashboard.