Actually Good: $2400 Starforge Pre-Built Gaming PC Review (Lowkey Fractal Terra ITX)

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This review looks at the Starforge "Lowkey," a limited edition mini-ITX pre-built PC assembled and designed by Starforge Systems, a Texas-based system integrator (SI) that builds gaming PCs. This is part of our prebuilt gaming PC reviews series and gives us a more positive product to look at, following a series of less well-designed products in review recently. We previously reviewed Starforge's Horizon II Ultra gaming PC and found it to be overall good quality, with a few issues on screw torque and attention to detail items. Starforge is owned by streamers who are part of OTK, such as Asmongold, Tips, and others, and started after the collapse of Artesian Builds. You can learn about that story below.
Watch our previous Starforge Horizon II Ultra review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWq8moKCjZqoh7c
Watch the Collapse of Artesian Builds: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmPbfpxtntN1aJo
Watch our HW News episode about the US Govt bans: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpu9oZKmqZJ6nNU
Correction: The chart software truncated the X-axis label for the frequency spectrum plot. The last two frequencies in the range are 10,000 Hz and 20,000 Hz. This has been resolved going forward by expanding the 'buffer' space between the axis label and the axis line itself.
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If a pre-built PC isn't your style, consider going DIY with some of the parts below:
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D on Newegg: howl.me/cllaalhBBgZ
AMD R7 7800X3D on Amazon: geni.us/bah9
NVIDIA RTX 4090 on Amazon: geni.us/cCOH
AMD RX 7900 XT on Newegg: howl.me/clk984JJPpe
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Starforge Pre-Built Lowkey Gaming PC Review
03:08 - Who Starforge Is
03:57 - Tear-Down of Starforge PC
10:47 - Tear-Down Inspection Pass
11:11 - Starforge Customer Support for Intel
12:34 - Intel Settings Rant
13:48 - Interesting BIOS Changes
15:12 - Intel Microcode Bug
17:20 - Starforge Thermals (CPU Only)
18:12 - Starforge Fan Curve (CPU Only)
18:35 - Starforge Frequency vs. Temperature
19:04 - Starforge 13600KF vs Intel Default
20:10 - GPU Full Load Thermals
20:43 - Fan Change Test
21:22 - AIRFLOW ANIMATION
23:03 - Noise Levels in Hemi-Anechoic Chamber
23:50 - Acoustic Frequency Spectrum
25:09 - Power Consumption Testing
25:55 - Software & Bloat Inspection
26:52 - Packaging Inspection
28:28 - Conclusion
** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! **
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Steve Burke: Host, Testing, Writing
Patrick Lathan: Testing, Writing
Vitalii Makhnovets: Video Editing, Camera
Andrew Coleman: 3D Animation

[@GamersNexus]

Note: The chart software truncated the X-axis label for the frequency spectrum plot. The last two frequencies in the range are 10,000 Hz and 20,000 Hz. This has been resolved going forward by expanding the 'buffer' space between the axis label and the axis line itself. Support our independent reviews and get our coaster pack in return! store.gamersnexus.net/products/3d-coaster-pack-4-component-coasters Watch our previous Starforge Horizon II Ultra review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWq8moKCjZqoh7c Watch the Collapse of Artesian Builds: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmPbfpxtntN1aJo Watch our HW News episode about the US Govt bans: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpu9oZKmqZJ6nNU

[@dontmatter4423]

aaaand assmongold is gonna react to this once again

[@InekoBK]

I'm looking forward to the Asmongold reaction to this review 😄

[@matthewwilson3673]

I am a 3D artist, would like to be involved in making 3D animations for yall if you are looking for additional talent

[@henrythegreatamerican8136]

$2400? How about getting us an "actually good" pre-built PC for under $1200?

[@shaneeslick]

G'day Steve, You didn't say who actually did the Airflow Animation, Was it Andrew or ??? like always though so cool

[@dscarmo]

"Actually good" is probably the highest praise possible from GN

[@Spartan_Jackal]

it's like the coveted "not bad" rating from LockpickingLawyer

[@breakupgoogle]

Basically god tier for gn

[@slackerdc]

Actually good > It's Fine > Better than Dell > Not recommended that's really it for the rating system

[@samiraperi467]

@@Spartan_Jackal Isn't there also the unattainable "would use"?

[@vasudevmenon2496]

Yep 👍🏼

[@hilerga1]

Starforge winner of GN’s most prestigious awards, including: “No complaints presently” “To Starforge’s credit” And most coveted: “That’s pretty cool as well”

[@tetra1974]

You screwed good screw guy! You are a hero that screws good!

[@w花b]

​@@tetra1974 Stop screwing with them... Do you have lose screw?

[@macelius]

You forgot "actually good", but another commenter got us covered lol.

[@teekanne15]

“No complaints presently” is the biggest compliment you can get in germany.

[@rangledangle3371]

That airflow graphic is the most helpful thing I've ever seen.

[@GamersNexus]

That's awesome to read! Thank you! We're trying to do more of those!

[@joshwhite522]

@@GamersNexusplease do, I found it incredibly useful for understanding the fan configuration and about air pressure.

[@bluephreakr]

The graphics were clean. Just make sure the next time that tube animation is shown before going into the "3D world" made for the animation, that you don't inadvertently introduce a photo-sensitivity risk for persons prone to epileptic seizures. Aside from that, it's fantastic.

[@VGJunky]

Agreed, really cool

[@shaneeslick]

@@GamersNexus Yeah the Animations you do for so many Explanations are always Awesome 😍

[@drackar]

"they didn't include paper and it's missing a fraction of an inch of paint" being the worst actual flaws with a system is, hands down, the most impressive build quality you've ever reviewed.

[@SovietsniperYT]

I know right? Starforge is doing very well given the fact that the biggest issues with this system are the missing paint and no paperwork. Where compared to the four Dell systems, two iBuypower systems, the $5000 Skytech system and especially the Corsair owned Origin PC $6600 system it's no contest.

[@robnlarie]

Steve didn't really mention that cable at 8:23. He said it wouldn't hurt anything, so I guess that means it passes.

[@bengrogan9710]

​@@robnlarie it looks like a USB header, if it were something repeatedly unplugged hed have made more of a point of cable fatigue

[@Marcelis]

Rising from the ashes of Artesian😅

[@davidbondy2250]

Compared to the far bigger OEMs and SIs that have butchered trivially simple things like installing coolers in the wrong fucking direction or downclocking a 5800X3D, Starforge has been more or less perfect. I'm super impressed with what they've been able to do.

[@stop_tryharding]

The Intel Settings Rant might just be your finest work yet.

[@CosmicElegy]

idk.. that EK business diagram is definitely up there

[@s3rm0n56]

i dunno, testing the old microcode without including the new one which is intel's claimed fix is not ideal

[@s3rm0n56]

@@auturgicflosculator2183 so how would that be known if the new microcode isn't tested? What you said makes no sense.

[@s3rm0n56]

@@auturgicflosculator2183 none of what is in this video shows where degradation if any comes from, but the new microcode has been out for nearly a month, what is the point of using an outdated one at all except to compare the latest "fix" to earlier versions which contributed to or caused the degradation

[@s3rm0n56]

​@@auturgicflosculator2183 extending warranty by 2 years for all 13/14th gen shows they are concerned about the issue and the impact it may have for the end user. I think you'll find in the end all the doom and gloom and fear the tech youtubers have spun regarding the issue has benefited them in terms of clicks views and revenue but the reality is the issue is pretty simple and many people have had fixes for months since it became apparent there were problems with high voltages, but that messaging isn't as lucrative. my question is why even include the obsolete 0x125 microcode in this testing and not the new one which has been out for nearly a month, unless the goal is again just ragging on intel

[@cbdemented]

I need to give a shoutout to Starforge's customer service. I own what I guess you would call a modified Voyager edition, that I won as part of a contest sponsored by a couple of gamers and administrated by Vast. Super long story short, when I won, the SI was supposed to have been Artesian, and the money for the build, a 12700kf with a 3080, ended up disappearing with everyone else's when they went tango uniform. Vast scrambled and a did what it had to (big shout out to them for making it right with their own money when they could have just walked away), and went to SF as a brand new integrator, who in turn built the system and got it shipped out to me. Took awhile because of the totality of the situation, but they eventually got it to me. Because of the time that passed, and the amount of money the build was supposed to be, they upgraded the system to a 13700kf with a 4080...and then allowed me to further upgrade it to a 13900k by paying the difference, which was surprisingly small. Time has gone on, and I too have run into the 13900k stability issues, feeling pretty sure I was in the group with the oxidation issue considering when I got the CPU. Just 2 weeks ago, while watching a build on stream, I mentioned that I was getting ready to RMA the CPU to Intel, and SF basically Insisted that I use my warranty and let them take care of it. I really didn't feel that they should have to pay for Intel's mistake, but they not only insisted on stream, but SF CS reached out by email a couple of days later as well. They handled the issue, trusted me when I said I knew what I was doing and cross shipped a CPU for me, without making me send back the entire rig. They kept me up to speed every step of the way as to what was happening, refunded the hold for the cross ship as soon as they got the 13900k back, and it's now up and running, with the new microcode, and stable as can be. Things I had no idea might be related to the CPU are now totally fine (random crashes of KZbin video tabs or Twitch/Kick stream tabs). I even just ran a game that had always crashed with the video memory error, on the first try, while running OBS, overlays and everything else that EA says you need to turn off before running a game as well as 3 browsers with at least 50 tabs open, Teams, Outlook, and Discord, and it came right up and ran perfectly. I'd never run an Unreal Engine game that came up/ran for me without some sort of headache or crash when I tried to start it (especially one from EA) before this RMA was completed. I've never had a personal prebuilt rig ever, except for this one. I've been building all my own desktops/servers since 1995. Starforge is the only one I'd buy one from now, and who I recommend when someone asks (3 of my employees have now bought systems from them).

[@nosuchanimal]

Long story long. 😅

[@HalianTheProtogen]

Now _that's_ customer service done right.

[@Xerpocalypse_]

That is some *stellar* customer service.

[@annebokma4637]

​@@nosuchanimalgood read though 😊

[@Lishtenbird]

"So we bought a pre-built, and drilled a CPU." ...well, that escalated quickly.

[@Wehra96]

milled :)

[@BricketPC12]

With CNC

[@stermyslides6214]

At this point nothing surprises me.

[@kisspeteristvan]

well that's a couple minutes on any milling machines cnc or no cnc , workholding is a bit tricky tho .

[@PandaGin]

Can someone tell Asmongold, leave out the context of the CNC milling and just confuse him.

[@secondleasegamer8312]

Really glad to hear. Streamer owners aside, knowing that much of the Starforge team were the builders behind Artesian Builds which lost their job because the CEO of Artesian Builds ran his business into the ground trying to become an e-celebrity. Seeing all these guys given another chance to shine, and then seeing them do so damned well is very heartwarming.

[@lightworker2956]

Knowing that Artesian Builds had a team this good makes it even more tragic / dumb that the CEO ran his company into the ground. As you say though, happy these guys found another place to shine.

[@scottwatrous]

So in this case they just joined up with ACTUAL e-celebrities vs a wannabe? L all of MAO

[@jeremyf1901]

Does anyone else feel good finally seeing a positive review? It’s nice to see a competent company actually care for their customers. Thanks, GN!

[@moldyshishkabob]

I'm also glad to see positive reviews, because it means I actually have something to recommend to any friends of mine interested in upgrades! Though I will note that one had an iffy system from Starforge, the customer service was good and he ended up getting a new one that runs with little to no issue.

[@asimepuse]

Thanks, Steve!

[@iFaFo_0]

As a guy who constantly builds itx systems, that is beautiful work. Excellent cable management and presentation.

[@misterthegeoff9767]

yeah I wish I could cable manage like that in my ITX system, it took 3 attempts before I didn't have a cable come loose and rub against the bottom fan in my NR200 and in the grand scheme of things that barely counts as SFF

[@Raubhenxd]

I missed these, back to you Steve!

[@GamersNexus]

I love doing the prebuilt reviews! Really fun to work on. We have more coming!

[@azrealone]

@@GamersNexus Thanks Steve.

[@kazefw3834]

​@@GamersNexusThanks Steve

[@jamesbarlett246]

​@@GamersNexuswhen you purchase a prebuilt how does the channel recover the money spent? Or do you take it as a loss and make up for it another way?

[@zenaxel]

@@GamersNexus Thanks, Steve !

[@iainh]

The attention to detail in this build is commendable; the BIOS config and the cable management are stellar. It's great to see this from a systems integrator - let's hope they maintain this high quality for a long time.

[@sethporter3145]

A postive pre built PC review? Not what I subscribed for, 0 stars!!!!

[@siliconhawk]

was waiting for the roast.

[@jessiethedude]

😂😂

[@avyam7509]

😂😂

[@Boss_Fight_Index_muki]

So for anyone saying this is a ripoff for what you pay for. tbf, Asmond has openly said they cannot match the price of any given build if you were to build the system yourself. And comparing to other SIs, StarForge doesn't seem to be more expensive.

[@HyperMario64]

I thought the price was fair given the overhead going into building these, operating the company, doing customer support, insuring shipping damage and so on. I don't think they are making a lot of money on a build like this one.

[@bamenvy]

In actuality they're one of the lowest markups among SIs with one of the best rated delivered products. Enthusiasts that don't consult builders or techs have a hard time calculating the value of knowledge, experience, and time invested for putting these together (plus, of course, warranties, the building, paychecks, etc).

[@irispettson]

@@bamenvy Yeah, and for a small form factor case like this, it seems pretty fair when they are delivering a good product. Especially since they seems to have watched GNs review of the case and implemented the correct changes (such as the CPU cooler fan and the fan at the bottom). If they're providing some extra value, then it's more than fair.

[@rawhide_kobayashi]

my brother in christ, you can walk into bestbuy and get a prebuilt with an AIO lc with the same specs for a thousand bucks less - obviously it won't be ITX, though... but you will get more performance as a result of the (hopeful!) lack of throttling...

[@GreaterSociety]

​@@rawhide_kobayashiclown

[@chriku]

The intro already sounds like this could become another timeless GN classic

[@LeLe-pm2pr]

I don't think they're ever gonna top the 14700k review, I remember this one almost word for word.

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

*They can do it MUCH better, and build into an AMD system, with an ASRock motherboard, an AMD Ryzen CPU (like an 5800X3D or even an 7800X3D) and an Radeon GPU ( like an RX-6800XT, or even an RX-7900 GRE !)*

[@SomeoneCalledAdrian]

@@gertjanvandermeij4265yeah AMD options would be nice

[@w花b]

​@@gertjanvandermeij4265 And then do some linux gaming

[@robnlarie]

8:39 Thank you Starforge for including proper specs for RAM! I have a huge gripe about this with other SI's and I'm a stickler for good RAM.

[@Creepus_Explodus]

The long awaited return of agent Beve Sturk going undercover

[@nktslp3650]

Thanks Beve.

[@SpikeTheBear]

@@nktslp3650 Back to you Sturk

[@EssJay1095]

I love Beef Stew

[@iLoveTheseRemoras]

Undercover Bever

[@UnityGuy]

Dude that case actually looks so good for a prebuilt. Love to see small form factor since they are such a pain to build yourself and take some real skill.

[@Fever_Dream]

Asmongold will never shut up about this.

[@justaguyfromeurope]

Came here for this comment. :))))

[@AdamTheFirst_]

Cant wait LMAO

[@silentcoyotecreations]

100% 😂

[@astreakaito5625]

lol

[@tangodown2721]

Waiting for the vid drop

[@zanar_fm]

After this video I spent half an hour disassembling my Terra to flip the case fan and got an immediate 4-6º improvement in FFXIV. Thank you.

[@robbertbobbert795]

23:02 "Now we'll get into noise testing in this chamber" .. slick use of "this chamber" to mess with that drinking game lol

[@sumikomei]

I immediately thought the same thing lmao

[@gt4lex]

I wondered what youw ere refering to, then thought of THE game, so I lost, and now you lose too.

[@yusefaslam9675]

Steve is keeping yous sober

[@DarthCiliatus]

@@gt4lex I lost the game.

[@gt4lex]

@@DarthCiliatus This was a mistake, I feel like I'm gonna be losing a lot in the short term future

[@somapapp2944]

Amazing video as always GN team! The animation was amazing, great idea and makes it easy to understand what Steve is talking about. One very minor mistake i found tho was at 24:04 on the frequency spectrum chart. 10,000 and 20,000 Hz were 1,000 and 2,000 Hz respectively on the horizontal axis. Not really important, but thought i'd give a heads up just in case. Thank you so much for your hard work guys!

[@GamersNexus]

Wow, that's really strange. It's all set correctly in the spreadsheet software, but some reason saving it as a PNG is truncating a few pixels on that axis label. Thank you for identifying that. I've expanded the "buffer" space between the label and the axis line itself and that seems to have resolved the issue, so that'll be fixed going forward. Very weird!

[@breakupgoogle]

op crushed it with the useful comment. a rare site in the YT

[@guccipucci69420]

@@breakupgooglesight*

[@Monkeykong314]

The animations for the airflow segment was a cool idea

[@gn0s1s]

Yeah really easy to understand the positive / negative pressure gradients created. Cool!

[@Xerethane]

That air flow explanation was amazing, it makes so much sense but must have taken ages (and lots of quality tools, and money) to figure out. Well done! Also well done to Starforge! Passing a GN review is the gold standard in my eyes.

[@eaikki]

that Intel Settings rant that Steve does so well, WILL NEVER GROW OLD!!!

[@SvenHeidemann-uo2yl]

I picture the office guy meme, with pins and threads connecting settings with Steves face over it 😁

[@saricubra2867]

I miss the Alder Lake and Zen 3 era when everything was simple.

[@waynerowlinson6177]

I love that you are brutally honest with all of your reviews, which would make this one an A++ moment for the people at Starforge. I can only imagine the extreme anxiety they would have at the beginning of the video and how it would change into a huge celebration at the end. Great video (as usual).

[@jedimastapeb]

Consistently killing it with the quality journalism. The content you all have been releasing is outstanding. You literally have not missed on a single video I’ve watched. Getting a channel milled into a CPU for a more thorough investigation? You must be protected at all costs.

[@GamersNexus]

Thank you! It was fun for testing and learning!

[@starwolf7365]

The best part about videos like this with starforge... I get to watch it twice. The original. And then Asmon's additional 20 minute reaction.

[@raitoningupurazuma]

The airflow animation was superb

[@sarahh2072]

I love watching people talk about things they are super passionate about. Love the full QA on everything. This is so fascinating!

[@Deriak27Forever]

"Actually Good" IT'S BEEN SO LONG

[@Mighty_Dork]

The quadruple overlaid graph presentation that ended at about 19:03 was well done. Well paced, explained etc. Really shows how each of these values are connected

[@sergentboucherie]

Great it's barely noon and I HAVE to get drunk because of Steve. Thanks Steve

[@GamersNexus]

You don't HAVE to do it!

[@sergentboucherie]

@@GamersNexus That sounds like a challenge!

[@NuSpirit_]

@@GamersNexus sure we don't. And then when I go sleep at 1am I will hear your voice from the corner of my room "you didn't do a shot when I said it" - as if! 😂

[@TheInfidel_SlavaUA]

@@GamersNexus GAME ON !

[@steven7297]

@@sergentboucheriedrinking hurts my head and just gets me sleepy no point

[@GrinningKestrel]

First time commenting here in like 3 years, but I specifically wanted to call out how amazing that animation was. Do this more often, PLEASE. *retroactively throws money in two weeks*

[@XxDeViLBrInGeRxX]

I can't wait for the next episode of "Sawing CPUs IN HALF!" starring Phil Swift from Flextape

[@boldCactuslad]

That's a lot of damage!

[@k3salieri]

And we fixed it with ONLY Flextape.

[@dmitryivanov2587]

The person in charge of graphs is doing an awesome job. Informative, pleasant to look at, clear axes, reasonable colors, animations driving attention but not too distracting - everything is great.

[@Freddie1980]

I don't who Asmon is but typically I avoid 'KZbinr' products like the Intel avoids responsibility as they have a reputation of being over hyped rubbish but it's good to see someone not ripping the complete arse out of their fans for once.

[@_Ekaros]

Pre-builts are much harder market than one might think. So the premium is not actually that massive. Considering things like warranty in this case especially due to Intel being mess...

[@chrisinsocalif]

"Brought to you by the ridge wallet, raycon, manscape and war thunder!"

[@dojelnotmyrealname4018]

In this case it's not really a "youtuber" product in the traditional sense. Yes, it's a company owned by a youtuber org, but it's not merch, they just have invested in these people to operate mostly indepedently.

[@Dawelio]

I'm with you on that one and I'm not one for such KZbin personalities as well. Although when watching Asmongold's video of him reacting to GN's previous review of their first pre-built, I gotta say though, the dude seems legit and very genuine. As in throughout the video, he frequently paused and gave some very legit, genuine and valid points as to how and why they do certain things. Seems very clear minded, as an business owner and how even the smaller things with these pre-builts can have huge financial impacts on their company, so that is why they invest in those things, even though it might be a higher upfront cost. They do win on it in the long run, both in terms of limiting the amount of returns, RMA's, technician costs for said returns, shipping back and forth, and perhaps the most important; customer satisfaction.

[@GreaterSociety]

It's always interesting to see someone's opinion of asmongold who has never heard of him and isn't tainted by rumors or stories they've heard of him, especially from people whonhate him

[@estamnar6092]

Please please please keep doing the animations, they are so helpful.

[@jannegrey593]

That was a good review. Sad to see instructions missing (and paint), but overall it's great to see them improve those few flaws they had. And extending warranty is also great move.

[@DustinHarms]

Y'know, it's really good to see an overall excellent SI build every once in a while. Like, it's good to know there are some SIs that are obviously trying to do an outstanding job, sometimes going above and beyond, even if they sometimes slip. Really fantastic to see and honestly makes me way more confident recommending them now that GN has done this rigorous review.

[@aurioh]

One note on the older BIOS is the Asus doesn’t let you undervolt on anything past the 104 Microcode, so they might have deliberately avoided the newer BIOS to undervolt it for temperatures. I have the same motherboard in a Terra and kept mine on the same BIOS before the Intel issue was known + updated because it helped significantly with the stated thermals (although as noted the thermal sensors seem to have been misaligned before).

[@JomeFromWork]

Steve: The engraving is "enhlkdekopsnbcoph" Me: I know, that's how you pronounce it.

[@AgentMalice]

What does it mean??

[@Grandwigg]

No joke, I came to the comments this time so l to see if anyone had actually done the work for a full translation. No luck so far.

[@SomeoneGreenPlane]

​@@Grandwigg You can look up Scandinavian runes on Wikipedia and use that to translate. When i did i got this result: ᛊᛏᚨᚱᚠᛟᚱᚷᛖ ᛊᛃᛊᛏᛖᛗᛊ starforge sjstems Scandinavian runes don't have an equivalent for the letter Y so you use J instead. I wasted like 5 mins lol

[@Sigurd-ue1vh]

It says 'Star Forge Systems'​@@Grandwigg

[@Grandwigg]

@@Sigurd-ue1vh thanks! Kinda on the nose, but understandable. I think I should start collecting typefaces for various fictional world languages and make stencils and stuff with them. (The Hylian and Shiekah script, Tolkien Elvish, Klingon , SG-1 Ancient, and so on. Make stuff with them for fun. I have two of them already - Shiekah and Ancient)

[@DocHuckleberry09]

As someone who struggles to visualize a conversation surrounding positive and negative pressure, I can imagine the future use case for these types of animations and it gets me really excited for the future use case. Brilliant and going above and beyond in more innovative ways with every video. Love to see it GN team

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

I like what starforge is doing. They are also very upfront about it costing way more than building one yourself which is obvious to most people but ive really liked their approach to everything.

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

*They can do it MUCH better, and build into an AMD system, with an ASRock motherboard, an AMD Ryzen CPU (like an 5800X3D or even an 7800X3D) and an Radeon GPU ( like an RX-6800XT, or even an RX-7900 GRE !)* Lose all the ASUS parts, and that 13th gen Intel crap CPU !

[@123Suffering456]

@@gertjanvandermeij4265 I think the Radeon is debatable. If the customer wants to play any games at all with Raytracing, they're not going to have a good time with a Radeon. So I get why they chose Nvidia.

[@hifuncautismboi2350]

​@@gertjanvandermeij4265I'll be the first to admit that Intel is on fire and Nvidia can't make a consumer friendly product but like ima be honest... This is one of the most AMD shill replies I've ever seen It just reeks of "AMD GODLY CAN DO NO WRONG" They are a quarter trillion dollar company Their first goal is making money and getting good PR Even if it hurts the consumer

[@misterthegeoff9767]

@@gertjanvandermeij4265 they have AMD rigs on their site but the sad reality is a lot of customers will specify intel, and of course the intel one is the right one for GN to review as it's the most likely to be borked.

[@kklap3219]

​@@gertjanvandermeij4265 its almost like if it was that simple, they would just do it. Its almost like running a business is so much more than u just building your pc with your favourite parts.

[@westleyvanzant]

Such insanely high quality content and analysis. The mix of visual information like the animations to the drilling your own thermocouple into the processor is top notch.

[@Ginghamphatts]

13:00 is so well delivered. It gave me second-hand stress! And shoutout to the edit on that part, too.

[@shaneeslick]

Steve is AWESOME at his Explaining Rants

[@michallacki9462]

Watching a positive review from Steve feels illegal. Awesome vid. Great work guys!

[@djn00dle]

I'll never buy a pre-built, but i appreciate your dedication to review them honestly and anonymously. I'm also glad that Starforge is actually putting out good products.

[@JoeStuffzAlt]

I'm the same. I do like knowing "if you got to go prebuilt and can afford it, go with these guys". If we can get brands that are consistently good, that especially lowers the chance that one of us will suggest the dud.

[@bradnotbrad]

For these itx builds I would consider paying an extra 200$ for all the compatibility checks to be done for me and the hours of assembly if I knew it was being done right. The markup on this being 500$ and knowing that I could have got a 4080 instead of a 4070 make this a tough sell

[@Jobocan.]

@@bradnotbrad I did a pcpartpicker list with the same components, this is a 900$ markup, not 500.

[@jjjg409]

@@bradnotbrad The problem with getting a pre-built is you don't know if someone is whipping these things out in 10 minutes flat. Yes it makes it easy for you but also they are throwing your shit together and possibly damaging your hundreds of dollar parts. That's just me but you do you.

[@Hullbreachdetected]

I find it interesting how companies pull off different aspects of the industrial sector. Steve's reviews are always interesting. Sigma males plan and build their own rig, of course.

[@martinpedersen4886]

Finally a pre-build test again! Always fun to watch.

[@POVwithRC]

Getting some next level demonstrator animations this time around. Well done. I hope you know the effort is recognized. The way the panel bounces 😘

[@TNTspaz]

From everything I've seen from the people who do own them. Their CS is insanely impressive and active. Even with just helping as a minor technical support line. They are willing to answer all and every question. The person they have answering emails has such a different tone and feels like a real person compared to all the other companies I've unfortunately had dealings with. The guy they have on the stream a lot will even actively try and help out if you have any questions. No matter how stupid they may seem.

[@wenicu3]

Hopefully Asmon gives us an update on the screw guy

[@aapje]

He got screwed.

[@BoraHorzaGobuchul]

Hopefully not total recall style

[@Hullbreachdetected]

What guy? Ah, the one that disappeared on the same day?

[@KevinJDildonik]

Stop being toxic about employees. Imagine if people were after your job like this. What Steve absolutely knew happened and said in the video, is that they probably didn't have torque drivers at the factory. Since it's a new company, for all you know, the torque drivers were delayed in shipping and hadn't arrived yet. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to think it is "one guy". Bad managers love trying to find someone to blame. Don't be that guy. Good managers try to figure out process improvements. In this case, it was just making sure assembly has properly calibrated torque drivers. End of.

[@ShroudedWolf51]

Knowing him, he will never shut up about the bloody screw guy. It's exactly the kind of thing his audience of predominantly children can latch onto and make his equivalent of "floor gang".

[@cppctek]

The airflow animation was so good ! I love that especially excuse I know people will find that useful in who are visual learners. I’m really glad to see they overall did a good job with this build. ❤

[@Dudi4PoLFr]

Oh boy can what to see Asmongold doing a 2h react video that will make 3x views that this review.

[@RobertFixit]

Most definitely a 5x return LOL …and I will watch every minute of it.

[@Tilt_TM]

Here to say that I'm 100% watching both videos all the way through

[@breakupgoogle]

Oh yea def watching both

[@orimoreau3138]

Surrogate friends are cringe

[@solosnek]

I found GN through Asmongold. Was building my first PC around the time, nowadays I watch GN's new and old videos constantly.

[@MrWesleyDP]

I bought two systems from Starforge in April of this year, largely based upon GN's relatively positive review (screw torque aside) and their positive response to GN's concerns. I have to say both my wife and myself have been impressed with our computers and would definitely recommend them to anyone that really doesn't want to build their own system.

[@AlexSchendel]

Oooh can we expect more GN blender animations in the future? I like this.

[@XFourty7]

$2400 for a 13600k and a 4070 super? o.O you'd have to service it for 10 years to make it worth it lmao

[@Dan-Simms]

They did very well here, the fan configs was of extra attention detail that normal SIs wouldn't catch, especially changing from the default cpu cooler fan.

[@Wrigglevision]

Agreed. If I were ever in the market for a prebuilt, this is probably where I'd look first.

[@updog4L]

The only thing that confused me is why they used a P12 for a case exhaust. Wouldn't an F12 make more sense? Since you want more airflow than pressure for case fans

[@TNTspaz]

@@updog4L Two things. You gotta think under the context that these are built en mass. As well as the fact they have to buy in bulk. That is normally the answer to why they didn't do something that would make sense for your personal build.

[@ameister8219]

Love the airflow animation! Perfectly explains the reason for the fan as exhaust rather than intake.

[@sfarsitulumi]

The Intel recommend settings rant should be made into a separate video

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

*They can do it MUCH better, and build into an AMD system, with an ASRock motherboard, an AMD Ryzen CPU (like an 5800X3D or even an 7800X3D) and an Radeon GPU ( like an RX-6800XT, or even an RX-7900 GRE !)* Lose all the ASUS parts, and that 13th gen Intel crap CPU !

[@nichfra]

The graphic was great to make the airflow explanation more clear and easy to follow.

[@ryandemboski6313]

YESS i was so happy to see this uploaded 15 mins ago, I’ve been rewatching your older prebuilt reviews lately 😂

[@TurboTwinky28]

man I love this series so much, Its so entertaining to see how SI's and OEMs cut corners or demonstrate competency

[@travisholt92]

"I probably can forensically identify whoever installed it.. So.. Keep that in case that's useful" 🤣💀

[@Tacowish]

The animation was very informative. Glad you guys took the extra effort to include it.

[@NickVu1]

Missed opportunity to call coasters as fluid bearing. Or even fluid dynamic bearing. Also I dont think the screw guy got another chance because Asmon is of the mind, and I quote. "Sometimes you ve git to do what you ve got to do, you know? Get it to the back yard and deal with it". So if you still got access to Artisan's property, maybe it would be a good investigative piece, to check if the lawn is freshly dug up. 😅

[@richardfarmer6570]

Thanks for pointing out that bottom exhaust works better in a sandwich style case, some people are convinced you want bottom intake since hot air rises. Hard to convince them that any airflow from a fan will overcome this.

[@RadioactiveLobster]

And the Fan Guy at Starforge who put the bottom fan in upside down on accident wipes the sweat from their brow and looks around nervously. "Yeah, totally meant to do that."

[@KevinJDildonik]

Stop being toxic about employees. Imagine if it was you. What happens in 90% of these cases is that the people absolutely know, but maybe they're pushed to shove units out too fast. Or they just have an idiot boss who said put in how how I say or you're fired. You know this is how it goes at your own job. The company needs to make improvements. It is very rare that firing is the solution. Education, management, and processes are key.

[@frankjohnson123]

ah yes, just some rudimentary thermal physics really

[@RadioactiveLobster]

@@KevinJDildonik Did you see that? No?? Well, that was the joke. You missed it.

[@mad_max21]

@@KevinJDildonik Found the sweaty fan guy.

[@volvo09]

​@@KevinJDildonikit's a joke... The system was clearly well built.

[@Baldilocs]

I'm just your average dad who lacks time and has wanted a prebuild for awhile. I haven't pulled the trigger, because they' all arguably suck and not getting ripped off is more important to me. Thank you for doing these reviews GN and pumped to see one that finally is good!

[@DanteTh3Devil]

Can't tell if Steve is being sarcastic but If you look closely, the runes clearly spell "STARFORGESYSTEMS".

[@civkcidgib]

I had to make sure someone else saw that before making the comment myself Edit: I am an idiot

[@volvo09]

Of course he's joking

[@SahiPie]

Literal no shit Sherlock moment

[@Astronomine]

Pretty sure it says "Eternal September"

[@w7bUxhwRYUo8Lv]

Do we really need to explain this one?

[@MarkSerenadesYou]

The airflow animation was amazing. There's so many tech reviewers out there now, but ya'll really are showing off your niche and expertise.

[@PashaSlavaUkraine]

Thanks for your hard work Steve.

[@w0lfyovi294]

The new graphics for the cooling of the case overall is so helpful to understand the airflow mechanics, thank you for making it and I can't wait to see it more in the future.

[@bigjoegrizzly5935]

He got that "READ IT BOY!" Case 😂😂😂

[@glenakatsr]

Fantastic airflow demonstration, animations like this is why you are a class above other channels, well done to you and your team

[@William.N]

Little did Steve know the runes say, "Thanks, Steve." (Joke)

[@xyzero1682]

"There it is dood"

[@marcel-q1m]

(no joke)

[@BigDrewski1000]

And six seconds in i'm reminded yet again why i'm a GN subscriber. You rarely see extra effort like this anymore.

[@Real_MisterSir]

Inb4 another case of "GN reacts to Asmongold who reacts to GN's reaction to Asmongold's SI company's prebuilt system, as a follow up to the previous GN test of Starforge's prebuilt, that Asmongold also reacted to". This feels like some infinite KZbin monetization content glitch that even Jensen Huang would be envious of. Back to you, Steve.

[@volvo09]

Are they reaction streamers? I don't know him. I watched one of their guys for a bit but didn't really care, just too much talking over something I could make my own mind up over.

[@Real_MisterSir]

@@volvo09 He's the one featured in the clips, guy with long hair (not Steve). I guess you can call him a reaction streamer but its broader than that. He's one of the most famous streamers who aren't tied to any specific genre or niche or game etc.

[@SawsePapi]

@@Real_MisterSir asmongold is a prominent WoW streamer... thats how he built his audience

[@Real_MisterSir]

@@SawsePapi Yes and xQc is a prominent OW streamer, that's how he built his audience. Well, I mean, he was, now he's just known by most as a react streamer. As is Asmon -even if that's not how he grew his audience nor it being the only thing he does. Asmon plays a lot of games, and ofc WoW and Diablo being very core to him, and I won't pretend that he and someone like xQc are the same. But to most people nowadays, the broad image of both are "react streamer", so for someone uninitiated who'd need a summary of what their content overarchingly is about if they were to go search for it right now, that's what would be more accurate.

[@arashnonexistent9033]

its a big family and you aint in it

[@PlanetLinuxChannel]

Okay, an absolutely amazing job with the case airflow animation! It was so well done and made it really easy to follow along with your explanation!

[@ryansheldon6046]

That 3D animation was fire.

[@die_hertz]

Experimenting with 104 vs 105 vs 116 ucode on my 13900HX laptop I suspected something fishy, the numbers weren't adding up. In the end I went with the newer microcode as it seemed more stable in benchmarks, nice that you've finally put this debate of "104 better" to rest

[@scottg7321]

2:40 That is not how it says to clean the coasters. The instructions say to use a brush and soap and I find that works best, especially with the motherboard coaster where sticky soda can get between the capacitors

[@tooitchy]

i don't buy prebuilts, but goddamn starforge has just skyrocketed to my recommendations to people who refuse to build their own and don't want me to build them a pc!

[@florianhug8069]

1:07 idk why i had to let out quick laugh when Schlagg's face popped up

[@yc_030]

I missed these prebuilt reviews

[@krowfields]

i really love your under-cover review content!! would yall consider making an over all under-cover reviews playlist sometime in the future? :) theyre some of my favs to rewatch.

[@xiph90]

The engravings on the case say "Starforge Systems." I don't know much about Norse runes but it's a simple substitution cypher.

[@danieln6700]

That animation for cooling was really good. Excellent good quality review.

[@limitbreaker9797]

That 7mm of missing paint would BOTHER THE HELL OUTTA ME

[@scottwatrous]

I'd just shave off a little on the other side so it at least matches, lol. I don't mind the gap, it looks kinda nice actually. Just should be even.

[@Didymuss1]

Not to detract from the Starforge fellas, the Terra requires good cable management, lest cables go into fans or you prevent the gullwing doors closing. Their channeling of the PSU cables is ideal. You *can* squeeze a full fat fan in the bottom, I did, but it does make cabling both tighter and more difficult. The exhaust fan on the bottom is effectively a requirement if you're going for any hardware above "moderate" power requirement, as well.

[@ViewTube_Emperor_of_Mankind]

Cannot wait for Asmongold to make this a 3hr stream.

[@ForsytheGaming]

I built this case for a buddy, I was ready for hell like previous ITX cases I'd done and was shocked with how smoothly it went. The center shifting design is how they all should be done.

[@Daniele-PierreDuLac]

Wish you guys had gotten hands on the Frieren pc. That would have been sweet.

[@GamersNexus]

Didn't see that one! Just looked it up. Not familiar with the series, but the paint job is great, especially the tree!

[@Tilt_TM]

@@GamersNexus Frieren is an absolutely fantastic series

[@Frigobar_Ranamelonico]

​@@Tilt_TMIt can compete with log horizon for how boring it is

[@Quicks1lvr]

​@@Frigobar_Ranamelonicolol okay

[@Frigobar_Ranamelonico]

@@Quicks1lvr lol, what? It's a fact that it is way too slow in is narrative like log horizon. And I wouldn't call it intriguing too begin with, it's quite overrated.

[@xezekial]

In order to undervolt with B760, you had to use x104 micro code. Not sure if that changed. Using newer microcode to perform undervolt would result in undervolt settings just being ignored. This isn't a problem on Z690/Z790... Just B series intel boards

[@llamapi3]

I love how it looks. That's clean af.

[@volvo09]

Super clean cabling, and that's a cool little case.

[@mrq1]

Had to stop the video after that incredible graphic and come to the comments to say: "Please do more!!" You guys did a tremendous job here and I would love to see more of these concepts explained this way.

[@TerranEmperor]

I used this case with 7800x3d and 7900xtx and I love it

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

Indeed, *They can do it MUCH better, and build into an AMD system, with an ASRock motherboard, an AMD Ryzen CPU (like an 5800X3D or even an 7800X3D) and an Radeon GPU ( like an RX-6800XT, or even an RX-7900 GRE !)* Lose all the ASUS parts, and that 13th gen Intel crap CPU !

[@skringo]

Glad to see some great improvement going forward into S.I.'s and computer oriented media. This definitely puts to shame a lot of early reviewers and outlets. I'm glad to have watched this channel as long as I have for unbiased , highly technical/informational data and presentation. Bravo Steve, you're amazing as always (:

[@TrueNebiross]

Waiting for Asmon to react XD

[@ln2pro629]

You mean A**mongoled, right? Lol

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

*They can do it MUCH better, and build into an AMD system, with an ASRock motherboard, an AMD Ryzen CPU (like an 5800X3D or even an 7800X3D) and an Radeon GPU ( like an RX-6800XT, or even an RX-7900 GRE !)* Lose all the ASUS parts, and that 13th gen Intel crap CPU !