THE CONCEPT

IT’S FAIR TO SAY that when we first set eyes upon the G.Skill Z5i in its glorious review photoshoot, we were impressed. Even the photographer turned around to us and said: “I’ve shot a lot of big old PC boxes for you guys, but this thing is nice”. And we have to agree with that sentiment.

On first appearance, the Z5i is an exceptionally beautiful chassis, complete with an aluminum frame, curved tempered glass panels and baked in RGB lighting, including a neat little underglow that makes us think back to the glory days (if you can call them that) right at the start of the FastandFurious franchise.

And it got us thinking about what exactly to build inside this thing? We wanted something a little special, a little different, and a bit more high-end. So we decided to grab a hold of our AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, gather together a few choice parts from manufacturers across the globe, and set to work, with the aim of building a fantastic ITX work of art. Or at least, that was the plan.

Of course, getting parts right now is a challenge and something that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. So, we appreciate it’s not exactly realistic to build this rig, not least when a $700 GPU is still being listed at over double its RRP price, and for a stock reference card at that. Frustrating? Very.