 So this is something new, it's called Tech Showdown, and if you don't like it, T.S. Get it. Thank you for that. So the challenge is simple, two contestants build computers around a particular theme with some help from Cooler Master, the sponsors providing the Master Case Pro as well as some other stuff, Intel, G.Skill, and Asus also provided some of the hardware, and the judges determined who has best captured the theme of the episode, which this time is... Christmas. Yes, just in time for, well not the holiday, but the Christmas, well the Christmas holiday. Alright, let's get going. I'm building my computer here, so I don't need to go anywhere. I hear this guy opening boxes, but I actually have other plans. Okay, yep, just working over here. What the sh**? Hold on! This is my actual plan. I can reveal it to the camera, but Luke can't know the brilliance of my plan. This will be the happiest computer that ever existed. I have to be very careful with this thing, because it does stuff that I really don't want him to know it does. So, that's gonna stay there. And I need these guys. Okay, so this my friends is the key, the secret ingredient. Yes, that is over three pounds of glitter. Three pounds. Okay, garbage can. Tidiness is key. I didn't know it did that. Okay, well that's fine. So like any Master Fleek constructed build, it starts with the motherboard. And I do have some very interesting plans for the motherboard. We really don't have a lot of time for some of the stuff that I have time for actually. So this module, I don't really think I'm actually gonna be able to use. This will all be used as snow. So all can go right in there or wherever else I do decide to place it. So basically I'm just harvesting these things. I guess this doesn't need to be a super secret anymore, so let's see. Yes, I don't even know if that sound can end up in the video. Probably not. It's tech showdown, not make the most obnoxious computer showdown. This is gonna be like, you know that thing that goes on the front of a ship? A lot of times it's like a lady or a horse or whatever. This will be my version of that. So it's gonna go right up here. I'll see if I can show you guys. I don't know how I'm exactly gonna fix it there yet, but it's gonna go right there. I think that looks classy as hell. So we'll figure that out later. Maybe a little bit more classy than three pounds of glitter, but I don't know. We'll see. Glitter's as classy as it gets. I am really not sure how quickly I'm gonna be able to put all this together. Okay. This looks like a prime candidate for some gussying up, if you know what I mean. Bright orange paint. Bright green paint. Everything we do is primer or fluorescent orange, pink, yellow, or green. What did I do? Well, I'm kind of at a stop. I have no idea where the screws from my case are. I'm gonna waste my whole three hours just trying to find these screws. Did I even do anything with them? The threads for the spare screws that I had do not match. I have literally no idea at all where the screws for my case are. So I don't really know what to do. Are they gonna help me? So I just found the accessories box for another case. It's supposed to be rail mounted in here because it has rail mount things on here. It did not come with mine. So I'm still trying to find motherboard standoffs and stuff. And can't even start. See? It's supposed to be in the drive rail. Right here. The key to any successful paint job is masking. So this will be our experiment. This is where we're gonna find out if this is going to work at all. Go around that side. Sure, just divert your eyes. Oh man. How does this work? Okay. So it goes on kind of a little something like that. Sure. I guess you just kind of go ham. I'm getting it on my hands. That's hopefully fine. Immediately sprinkle on the decorations and allow to dry. Oh what the crap! It's closed! Oh no! Okay. I'm sure all the crafty people in our audience are telling me how much better I could be doing this right now. Okay, I think I'm getting the hang of this. You just put the thing on and then you put the... Okay. There we go. I'm liking that. Oh I did it the wrong color. Now we're doing these guys. This is why I wanted to put the power supply in. Because we have special cables from Cable Mod. And these, oh they do look awesome. Check this out. Yes! Those are great. Hey! We are in business here. So I'm trying to tape his hat to that cable. Hoping that I can make him actually stay there. That's more like it. Focusing on our sparkle power. And the last thing I want is for any of the other cables to be able to stay there. The last thing I want is for any of this to not look tasteful. Yep. I think we've got our technique down. Cable management is crap. But they shouldn't be able to see this. So I don't really care. I'm a little bit worried because I think mine is going to come out more refined looking. And his is going to come out more balls to the wall looking. And I think that really might come down to what the judges decide. And that scares me. So this one, we're going for the red. It is very, very fortunate that I am a genius and thought to set up this canopy here. Because my project relies very heavily on the tasteful application of glitter. If anyone's ever poking around behind the warehouse they're going to wonder why all the rocks sparkle. Alright. So we're going right away with the red. With the tasteful red. I should put this on my plenty of fish profile. I know my way around a glitter bottle. Wait, why do you have a plenty of fish profile? Don't worry about it. I had to meet my wife somehow. So why were you thinking of updating? Well you never know, I might need to meet a new wife somehow. No way to do tasteful glitter, my ass. How does that look? I'm thinking about putting maybe the one that's on the left here and the one that's on the right here as left and right along these side columns. I think that could look pretty cool so I'm going to try to do that. So Brandon pointed out that of course there is a grid on the back of the wrapping paper. So just like the bomb, when I had to draw or cut something out I have no idea what I'm doing. Those edges are way more straight now. Which is good. It's much more clean. Is it seriously too short? It's too short. What a waste of time. Okay. This is starting to come along. It's still not perfect for sure. But it is starting to come along. I need to fold this thing over and then cut it. The next side will go a lot faster than this because now I kind of get how to do it. This seems like a very weird... Oh man. I might have to ditch this idea. I don't think it's going to work. Again, I think I'm just going to move on. The front is fine. It's not great but it's fine. So I'm going to move on to something else just to make sure that I can get everything done. So if glitter were to get into the slots on the motherboard, which it won't because I'm a professional, that would potentially be an issue, yes. This is the professional way to remove the excess glitter from your hands. Now I have a shiny butt. So I'm going to do my patented work on a motherboard from the underside with a counterweight technique. This time I will not be using Titan Xs as my counterweight. I think that would be allowed if you want to go victim. I have taken enough flak for using Titan Xs as counterweights in my time. Wow, look at that! If you're not having the experience of how awesome that is, maybe you need it from my angle. Oh, you're getting glitter everywhere. We all knew that was going to happen. I thought you said it was supposed to be precise. It's very precise. Calm down. Is it very precisely everywhere? Very precisely everywhere I intend it to be. Oh. Where did that screw go? Okay, so I just realized we've used a third of our time already. I might do a full thing across the whole panel. What if we just give it a wreath? Now, it looks like that. I'm getting rather close actually to this being ready to go. Huh? I think that's alright. That works better than I thought it would. Okay. Nice. I think I like that more than the other one. I actually don't have a plan for this. I'm going to have to get a new one. I actually don't have a plan for the pipe cleaners. I was just walking through the store and I kind of saw them and I was like, Oh, wow, those are amazing. I must have them. If I could get sort of a candy cane effect, I think that would be quite tasteful. So I have an idea for how I would do that. I'm really not sure if it's going to work though. Wait, I had not considered how to mask off. Okay, hold on, hold on. Just wait, just wait. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, everyone. Just wait, just wait. Okay. Actually freaking out a little bit right now. What am I going to use for this? I just need something to cover that side while I'm spraying. A divider. So wish me luck. Oh, I contaminated my silver. Oh, crap. I'm supposed to do the silver over here. This may yet work. No guarantees, but this may yet work. Oh my goodness. This is the stupidest thing I've done. It's actually not bad now. Okay. Oh, it's beginning to look a lot like he doesn't know what he's doing, but he's going to fake it all the way. I don't think there's any getting around this. I think the whole thing has to come apart. So I better move fast. Yeah. Lincoln green for the body, red for the back plate, silver. Horses or Christmasy? He's trying to distract me, but I'm not going to let him do it. Unlike some people, I have an awesome build to complete. Yeah, exactly. Pretty awesome. That's not what I said. I didn't need a qualifier with mine. So I secured it at the back and the front. Now I'm just trying to like hide the method that I used for securing it because it looks really ghetto. Man, these are going to shine. Oh, no. Okay. Oh, oh, super balls. Come on. Okay. That is not a good approach. Spectacular. Trying to get some of the glitter off my damn hands. Oh, that's cold. Man, that's cold. Okay, that's cold. I feel like if I can finish, I have a shot at this. Okay. So we're going to go green around the borders and red for the spinning fan in the middle. Silver, this is kind of the centerpiece of the build, and silver is kind of the, you know, the tertiary Christmas colors. So we get right around the fan hub there. That's important. Actually, oh, that looks great. Kind of the snowy, like not quite covered effect on the top. I'm liking that. So this is a glitter spray. Instant sparkle finish, quick drying, a flower safe. That is, wow, that is a very subtle glitter effect. Okay. See, I'm going frantically as well, but I actually cared about the aesthetics of mine. Allow them to appreciate it a little bit better. This is so boring. This whole side is just black. Hey, we're walking this way. That door is blocked. He's not allowed to look now that he moved, right? Go, go, go, go. You got to look over. I didn't see nothing. I didn't see nothing. Oh my God. This is so shiny. Look at this. I like the Snoopy. Is that Snoopy? I can't tell if that's actually Snoopy or just a knockoff. I like this one. Okay, so is it possible for the fan to even work with all the glitter on it? That's my question. How well is that? Kind of. How well is that stuff? Is that a Snoopy? It's not. This glitter is the herpes of the craft world. It's going to be all over the place. I like this. Red and green. Is that some sparkle on the top? Are we judging? Oh, it is. I hope they appreciate the attention to detail of doing each component of my graphics card. The striping on the... Oh my God, this needs to shut up. The striping on the graphics card is insane. You mean the power supply? Yeah, sorry. Yeah, so that candy cane effect took way too... There's a few things I did that took way too long. They pull air this way, but the parts would still get air. I'm assuming these systems actually work. Yeah, but Snoopy's pretty cool. Oh, look, they both do. They both use the cable mod for red and green. Yeah, I really like that. That's a nice touch on both of them. They probably both did that independently. You know, I mean, I really, I gotta say, I like this one a lot better because this one, I mean, they both use the cable mod. This one is just glitter. It is all glitter all the time. Oh, look, even the power supply is glittery. Yes. Not all that glitter is gold. It's a Smash Mouth. Okay, so three herpes. Would it be so wrong for me to plug this in and turn it on and get glitter all over the place? No, it would not be wrong at all. It'll be visually interesting. You know what? We should use that as part of our judgment. This RAM and stuff is gonna get so hot and like melt between the two. Okay, I'm gonna go fine. That's an interesting point. That's a pretty interesting point. Keep going, Burkle. I thought this was gonna go the other way. I thought John was gonna go for mine and Burkle was gonna go for yours. Well, mine's also not as tacky as you assumed it would be. That's true. That's very true. If I had done the entire outside, I really want to do the outside. I don't even know if they've noticed the subtle like glitter frosting that's on my fan grills. Fire up. Okay, you all ready for this? Oh my god. Oh no. Okay. Move it. Bring the camera. Oh, he is going everywhere. Is this gonna destroy the hardware? It should be okay. Oh, there's even glitter on the fans on this GPU. Oh my god. This is...oh, they stopped spinning. That's fine. They stopped spinning. They're not supposed to be spinning. Is that one spinning? See, thank goodness John's there. He's like, oh, they're not supposed to be spinning. Glitter everywhere. Oh, that's fancy. Fancy, fancy. Glitter means good. Hey, Burkle's coming around to me. Yeah. That fan looks ridiculous. Wow. It does. Yeah, like you're the chipset. Wow. Is this possible to squirt out of a fan? No, it's not. Glitter. I did each component of the motherboard separately. That's why the motherboard took so long too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it does seem to work okay. It does seem to work. It's more that it just makes a mess, which is a practical job. I wonder if someone checked if it was exhausting glitter out of the back. Probably. Okay, what do we like about the glitter one? Graphics card, dang. Graphics card, dang. I like the nice juxtaposition of different colors. Look at this guy. Come on, John. Look at this guy. I like the juxtaposition of the different colors. Slayer, like where the I.O. panel is, is silver, and it's the same thing on GP. You have red here, green here, and silver on the fans. You know what? I think this is Linus's, because what guy in his 20s who doesn't have a wife or kids knows how to use glitter properly? I think this is a Luke. You think so? I think this is a Linus. I mean, is this properly? I don't know. That looks pretty properly. It does. Yes. There's no spots that are skipped. It's more that the whole effect strikes me as a little bit messy, you know? Yes. Yes. But they're supposed to be coming up with things they like right now. I think the execution on applying the glitter itself could have been better. I would not have put it on the fans. That's what I don't like. It should not be on the fans. I like more. I want more glitter. Okay, the negative from Taron is glitter all over the place, which is negative. Well, it wasn't all over the place until he turned it on. The outside lack of... Oh, yeah. The lack of stuff on the outside. Yeah, yeah. Okay, what do we like about it? Okay, yeah, Taron. The glitter. I like the glitter. I just don't like that it's going to get all over the place. I would have gone way toned down, and I would have actually done a lot more. You're turning this into what you don't like. What do you like about it? Almost. I don't know. It's kind of funny because even though, like I said, the overall effect is a little bit messy, there was clearly some time and thought that went into this with how whoever's this is, we think Linus is, but whoever's this is put the colors together. So I don't like that. Thanks, Jon. Item number two, what do we like about it? Taron. I mean, I don't know. I like that it's more of a... This doesn't sound great so far. It's pretty tacky, but at the same time, it's Christmas with a little tackiness. Yeah. I like the tackiness. I like the snow. Yeah. I like that it might light on fire if it has to. Sometimes you got to take... Actually, fire hazard does seem more likely with this one. Fire hazard is more fitting with Christmas because how many houses go up from... You have that cotton right next to the power supply. I read it like the whole time. What the hell? Oh, no, Rex. A wooden dry tree. The power supply fan is facing down and goes out here. Yeah, it still makes me nervous. It makes me a little nervous too, but it's not as bad as it could be. Imagine if they put the cotton up here. That would be a lot worse, I think. Okay. Maybe there's some thought into it. Well, for me, it's the attention to detail here. You look at this case compared to the first one. Almost every part of the case and of the build ties into the theme somehow. You have plays wrapping on both sides. This is very well performed. Yes, thank you, Jon. I just needed more time. This side, as you're going to look at, you have green here. It's a very nice effect. Even inside the case, you look at the choices of components, even beyond the obviously Christmassy stuff. You have red heat spreaders on the RAM. It goes with the rest of it. That's really interesting. Taren just figured it out. Taren figured it out. He's like, they both have the same components. I'm thinking my negative would be there's three different hues of green on here. They could have put a little more detail into that. But then again, that is tacky and that does make it fun. Would it like to see a little more glitter? Oh, you just got points deducted for not enough glitter. What? Wow. That is ridiculous. That is fantastic. Glitter isn't even a Christmassy thing. When it's red, green, and silver, it is. I mean, the colors were right. Here's a Christmas bow. Yeah, that doesn't. Glitter. Oh, fine. Well, is it time for us to reveal our glitter build? Yeah, glitter build. Score reveal time now. All right. Okay. So on the count of three, we reveal our cards. Okay. One, two, three. Okay. There's that. I have six, five. So 19 out of three for the glitter build. Okay. Okay. And now the next one, present build. Show them. So it's six, seven, eight. Oh. One, two, one. I'm guessing Luke's was the present one. Yes. All right. Yes, yes, mine was the present build. Glitter build is me. So the present build by two points. We guessed the glitter was you. Yeah, I heard Burkle say, I don't know what guy in his 20s would know how to use glitter. I was like, oh man, all right. Just saying I don't. I learned a lot as a winner. I still chose the glitter as the winner. I like that glitter. So let us know guys in the comments below. Do you want to see more tech showdowns? Want to suggest some themes perhaps? Drop a like on this video if you thought mine was the best. It's funny because a lot of people won't watch to this point and they'll just like it because they liked it. Oh, rude. And as always, don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips for more reviews, tech showdowns, Crafyard Wars, all the other great stuff that we do. See you next time.