Builder’s Showcase – Adrian Waters

A few years ago I started a little series in which I showcase a PC builder/modder that has an impressive portfolio of builds and projects. Essentially, for these builders to catch my attention and get featured, they have to have at least a handful or so of unique builds, in which the majority of them are small-form-factor (SFF). After a long hiatus, the series is back and we are going to hit the ground running with a builder that caught my eye rather quickly on Instagram because of the level of quality and creativity in his work.

Adrian Waters is an Australian PC enthusiast that mostly builds PCs for friends and family, but enjoys putting in a bit of extra work to make these PCs stand out as unique and memorable. Whether it’s just a few adjustments to add a color theme, or a fully custom build, all of his work leaves a lasting impression. Below is an interview with him, as well as details and pictures of some of his most impressive work. Enjoy!

Adrian Waters
@8oishplus

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from, how old are you, what do you do for a living, etc.

“I’m an Australian Army veteran, living near Sydney. I currently work in the financial services industry in the banking sector. I was an infantry officer and discharged when my children came along so my wife could return to work and focus on her career. I completed a Masters degree in Finance in my spare time and transitioned to my new career when the kids were old enough.”

How and when did you become a PC enthusiast? How did you turn into a PC modder? (Give us a short description of your PC history)

“Well, I have always enjoyed PC games, even when I was a kid. My uncle was a PC gamer and we would go over to his house and play what are now classics (Wing Commander II, Diablo). The actual modding of PCs is a pretty new interest. It happened when I moved house after discharging from military service. My PC didn’t make the journey in one piece so I thought I should have a go at making my own. My computer before that had been a prebuilt from Scorptec (Australian PC enthusiast company) and so I thought I would just go to Youtube and watch a few videos (a skill that got me through my Masters). I discovered the community and the creativity of PC modders and I was hooked.”

What is your favorite build that you’ve worked on and why?

“Rust is my favourite. My first real build after the death of my prebuilt was Organ Harvest, a custom water loop build that was nice to look at but pretty unoriginal. Rust was the first build where I went out on a limb and did something different. Yuel Beast wasn’t sending their cases internationally at the time so I had their case sent to my best friend in North Carolina and he sent it to me. Somewhere along the way it got pretty scuffed up (US postal service) so I received a product that needed to be repainted. I thought at the time the lines of the case looked a lot like architectural motifs of contemporary international modern residential buildings. It thought it would pair really well with a Corten Steel look. I was really happy the with the way it turned out and it’s still my daily driver. Also, all my other builds have been for other people so it’s special because it’s mine.”

Most if not all of your modded builds are SFF, why is it that you favor SFF builds?

“I like the challenge of the smaller builds now (price, thermal, performance, noise tradeoffs and balancing). Working in a mid-tower is pretty boring unless it’s at the extreme high end (See my build The Bendz). My builds don’t really need to be SFF. If you go to r/mffpc or my Instagram page, you can see a lot of my builds are ITX but above the 20 litre threshold. I think this is because true SFF pc cases tend to be really expensive or really ugly and since I am just building PC’s as a hobby for friends who want a reasonably priced daily driver I tend to land on nice looking itx cases above the SFF volume.”

If you could give advice to anyone considering getting into modding PC’s what would you say to them?

“Go for it, start with your own pc until you get confidence, and start with things that won’t void warranty.”

If you could give advice to anyone considering making the change to SFF PC’s what would you say to help them decide?

“Start with an matx build and work your way down SFF.”

Is there any other builder/modder that you admire? Who and why?

“@akmodtw. I don’t know anything about them except what they post on their instagram page. What I really like about his builds is that he pushes the boundaries of what is possible without leaning on easy crutches like RGB. He takes the time to make something really unique that doesn’t look just look like a recombination of existing parts. His work has a tasteful, classic, and timeless quality that I’m sure we can look back on in 10 years and not cringe in horror.”

Can you tell us a little about any current or future projects coming up?

“I’m not really a professional. I just build a pc when one of my friends or family asks for one. The general deal is that they will pay for all the parts and then I’ll pay for all the aesthetic upgrades (paracord, paint etc). So I don’t really have a pipeline. I do have a spare Yuel Beast Motif Monument under my desk waiting for a special occasion. I have some ideas I want to try with it that I think will be great.”

Rust (Yuel Beast Motif Monument)

“Rust is my current daily driver. The case was stripped of paint and then sprayed with a vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and salt solution to rust it. It was then covered with a few satin clear coats to hold the rust in place. I love this thing, I’m very proud of it even though it’s much simpler in execution than a lot of my more extravagant builds.”

MOBO: ASRock Z390-M-ITX/ac
CPU: Intel Core i7 8700K
GPU: MSI RTX 2070 Aero
RAM: Kingston HyperX FURY RGB 32GB DDR4 3000MHz Memory
SSD: Samsung 1TB 970 EVO nvme m.2
PSU: Corsair SF600
Cooling: Noctua C14 – with Chromax 1500rpm 140mm fans