Inside the Adamantium-Pro: The Work-and-Play Workstation That Sets the Bar

Series: Building the SGS Stack — Part 1 · Hardware Deep-Dive

Over the next few weeks we’ll pull back the curtain on every layer of my daily toolkit—hardware, software, networking, and the automation glue in between. Treat each chapter as a snapshot in time: what’s working now, the roads not taken, and the upgrade paths already penciled into our roadmap. My hope is that you’ll find ideas to borrow (or pitfalls to dodge) while watching how a “no-compromises” system evolves under real-world pressure.

Inside the Adamantium-Pro: The Work-and-Play Workstation That Sets the Bar

Two years in, still unconstrained.

When I built the Adamantium-Pro series for my own desk at SeraphimGate Systems, the brief was simple: no compromises. The machine had to crunch AI models during the day, compile code between meetings, render 4 K timelines after hours, and still have headroom for a stress-relieving gaming session. Below is the hardware foundation that lets it do that—and why those parts made the cut.

1 Build Philosophy & Case

• Phanteks Eclipse G500A — straight-through mesh airflow, tool-less front panel, and space for 420 mm radiators.

  • Why it matters: Quiet thermal headroom = longer component life and sustained boost clocks.

• Cable routing is hidden behind a hinged steel door; nothing flaps around to impede airflow.

Every build need a solid base, good airflow is mandatory and aesthetics matter as well.

2 Motherboard & Platform

• Gigabyte Aorus Z790 Master

  • Massive 20-phase VRM keeps the 14900KS fed without throttling.

  • Three PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots for absurdly fast NVMe storage (future-proofing).

  • On-board 10 GbE keeps NAS transfers north of 1 GB/s to our Kronos-NAS build.

3 CPU: Intel Core i9-14900KS (Upgraded from 13900K)

• Binned silicon; all-core 6.2 GHz without exotic cooling.

• ~10 % faster in Stable Diffusion batch inference than the 13900K—upgrade justified.

• Cooled by a DeepCool LS720 AIO (see §6).

• While the new AMD 9000 series CPUs with 3d cache have finally take the all around performacne crown the 14900KS is still a phenomonal chip - after Intel was able to tame it power draw and BSOD issues with BIOS updates.

Can do 36000 point CB runs for hours on end and stay below 90 °C

4 Memory

• 64 GB G.Skill DDR5-6000 (2 × 32 GB, XMP I)

  • Sweet spot where latency stays reasonable yet bandwidth doubles old DDR4 rigs.

  • 64 GB lets big LLM context windows fit in RAM without paging.

5 Graphics

• Gigabyte RTX 4090 Aorus Master

  • 24 GB VRAM = local 70 B parameter models, 8 K video edits, and path-traced games at 4 K/144 Hz.

  • Triple-fan cooler + case airflow keep it below 65 °C even in Blender.

  • NVENC dual encoder rev 4 for simultaneous recording and streaming—handy when we film demo content.

The Aorus 4090 stays cool even running flat out. Great for running larger LLMs or Cyberpunk in 4k

6 Power & Thermals

• Aorus 1200 W Platinum PSU—overhead for RTX 4090 transients; Platinum efficiency keeps the power bill sane.

• Cooling Stack

  • CPU: DeepCool LS720 360 mm AIO—quietly tames the 14900KS’ 300 W bursts.

  • Case fans: 3 × 140 mm Phanteks D30 intake plus a 330RPM Noctua for additional exhaust grunt.

  • Noise floor: 33 dBA idle, 42 dBA sustained render.

System will draw 550+ watts in multicore CB

7 Storage

Purpose	Drive / Array	Notes
OS / Apps (boot)	1 TB WD Black SN850X	PCIe 4.0 boot, 7,400 MB/s
Ultra-fast write cache	Intel Optane 905P 280 GB	Endurance & latency weapon for heavy compiles
Bulk project & game storage	4 TB Crucial P3 Plus (CT4000)	Sustains 6 GB/s, plenty of headroom

8 Real-World Performance

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/134864173

9 Peripherals & Desk Setup

Component	Why We Picked It
Monitor: Gigabyte Aorus FV43U (43 ″, 4 K, 144 Hz)	One giant canvas or four 1080p “quads.” Gaming bliss + spreadsheet acreage.
Secondary display / travel rig: MSI Titan GT77 12UGS	Via StarDock Multiplicity it works as a KVM-free second screen at home, full desktop on the road.
Audio: Creative Labs X5 DAC/amp + VZR Model One headset	Hi-res playback, plus crystal-clear Teams calls without the gamer-RGB circus.
Webcam: Logitech Brio	4 K optics and Windows Hello for near-instant, password-less logins.
Keyboard: Cloud Nine Ergonomic TKL	Split-layout comfort; separate 10-key pad lives on standby for spreadsheet days.
Macro / game pad: Razer Tartarus Pro	Doubles as a 32-key productivity macro deck.
Controller: Razer Wolverine Ultimate	Low-latency wired pad for impromptu Halo sessions.

10 Upgrade Path & Longevity

• DDR5 capacity doubles as 64 GB DIMMs hit reasonable prices—512 GB eventual ceiling.

• PCIe 5.0 GPU slot keeps options open for a future RTX 6090 (if the 4090 ever blinks).

• All standard ATX parts mean upgrade path is wide open.

11 Lessons You Can Steal

1. Budget for headroom, not just today’s load. The PSU and chassis airflow looked oversize in 2023; they’re merely adequate now.

2. Fast cache > fancy RAID. An Optane stick shaved build times more than striped TLC drives ever could.

3. Peripherals are part of the build. A 43-inch 144 Hz panel and Windows Hello cam add daily quality-of-life gains no benchmark captures.

What’s Next in the Series

4. Part 2 – Core Software & OS Tweaks: why I still lean on Windows 11, Stardock Object Desktop, and a dash of PowerShell to keep everything humming.

5. Part 3 – Networking & Edge Services: UniFi topology, Kronos-NAS, and the tricks that make 10 GbE practical.

6. Part 4 – Automation & AI-Augmented Workflows: tying it all together with RMM, Atera, and a few custom GPT agents.

7. Stay tuned—and tell me which rabbit holes you’d like us to dig into first.

Thinking about an “Adamantium-Pro” of your own? Let’s spec the exact balance of CPU, GPU, and thermals your workloads demand. Contact us for a consult.