Zoso77

Here is my build, my 3rd. Let's call it "Blues Master" since I like listening to that genre. I basically was moving my 1 year old build over to this case.

I went with "Safety Blue" paint. All the black cases look great, but I wanted some contrast. The "Safety Blue" was the closest shade I could find to match the color of my usual office, the Airbus A320 cockpit. I did paint the back side panel black, again for contrast with the blue.

I swapped out the front and top 230's for blue ones from CM. The side fans are 3 Silverstones since I needed one spot open to accomodate the Coolit Domino cooler (a great first intro to water cooling). I did drill out all the rivets for painting. It makes it easy to get good paint coverage and the riveting process is just another opportunity to learn something. I used 2 coats of primer and 3 coats color on everything. I had never done much sleeving/heat shrinking either so I bought a $25 heat gun and gave it a go, not bad for a first attempt at a cleaner look.

I'm running a clocked AMD 9950 Black edition at 3.0ghz. The 932 has a poorly designed opening for the backing plate for the AMD CPU. Its too small on one side...but it's workable, eventually I will cut out the opening to accomodate it without restriction. The video card is only a clocked Sapphire Radeon HD3650 and I plan to upgrade to the 4890 in the next month and maybe Crossfire with another as prices drop.

I've learned a lot by looking at other builds, so here is my contribution with some shots of mine. I welcome constructive criticism and if you like it, all the better.

Attached Thumbnails

         

Zoso77

Second set of "Blues Master" pics...

Attached Thumbnails

         

Zoso77

Final set, "Blues Master"....

Attached Thumbnails

       

Chaos Assasson

imo that blue does not look that good with the black but thats just me.

EuroFix

Nice work there
+1
That blue is sure unusual choice but considering decor of your usual office, a choice not surprising.
Strangley, it kinda commands attention...
Actualy, why is that particular blue color used in airplane cockpits? Was there some study made long time ago which shows that this color contributes to pilot's ability to concentrate, stay awake etc or was it just an accidental choice way back and it has become a 'tradition' ?

Zoso77

Not sure why, but I assume Boeing (they use a brown color) and Airbus desired a color that provided contrast, doesn't reflect and is calming to the eye. Inside aircraft avionics cases, blue is frequently seen, so this color for my build is not odd...just not usually seen inside PC's. Actually, my case needs a little more gray in it to match Airbus. For what it's worth Douglas Aircraft used a light blue in the cockpit....Russian Migs use blue as well.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________

Build log - "Blues Master"

Zoso77

I decided I would take advantage of the vast space in the 932 to complete the updraft air cooling profile and add a little bling to the build.

With the bottom and front of my case acting as intakes and the back and top handling the exhaust, I added one more Silverstone 120mm intake fan to the front. The bottom Blue CM 230 looks nice, but the flow as we all know is not enthusiastic. The extra velocity of the little Blue Silverstone upstairs can't hurt. When I hold my hand on top of the case, it does seem like there is slightly more positive pressure. I cheated and used blue tie wraps and done right, it is secure, attractive and vibration resistant.

I thought about using a fan controller, but even with my fans at 100%, there isn't excessive fan noise...pretty quiet actually. The Silverstone is a excellent choice for low noise in a 120mm.

I'm an old (51) dude and with Pandora and Youtube, sound is important for my PC. A friend, donated a 1980 vintage Technics amp to me for free. So I cleaned, repainted and undermounted it to my desk. I paired it with some New (as in Egg) Yamaha speakers and it sounds great!!!

The integrated audio on top line motherboards is actually pretty decent, so don't forget to get rid of the crummy PC speakers and get some listenable audio coming out of your HAF build.

When I have the lights out, queuing up "The Blue", by David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) with a bit of fine Scotch + two cubes and the computer world seems just right.

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________

Build log - "Blues Master"

Zoso77

The pump on my Coolit Domino failed and while I was waiting for a warranty replacement, I thought I would try the Zalman CNPS9900 LED air cooler.

After seeing the results, I don't think I will toy around with these small water cooling units again. It appears obvious that unless you want to go with a grown up water setup, air is pretty cost effective and reliable as stone.

With exactly the same setup and overclock as before, compared to the Domino, the Zalman actually keeps my CPU 3 degrees cooler at both idle and peak load. With a 15% overclock (3.0GHz) and a voltage nudge, my idle is at 43C and under load it peaks around 49C.

I will poke around and get a "real" liquid setup one day, but in the meantime the Zalman copper doughnuts work great. The blue led in the Zalman goes with my theme as well. I don't know how much to attribute to the thermal grease, but this time I used the provided Zalman ZM-STG1 instead of the Artic Silver 5 I had used before.

(also painted the case bottom fan adapter for color match with the rest of the rig.)

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________

Build log - "Blues Master"

Sno

Nice detail and paint job. Looks like you might need some blue sata cables

__________________


My Modded CM 690 Boots up Folding as much as it can.

the_milk_man

yikes...... the 9900 is known around OCN as, um well....... it's not a terrible cooler but it's pretty low on the aftermarket cooling totem.

If you are looking into all-in-one water coolers I would suggest the Corsair H50. It's gotten good reviews from what I've seen.

EDIT: what brand 120mm to 80mm fan adapter is that and where did you buy it?

__________________
17952 -

**The Megahalems Club **

HARDER STYLEZ OF OCN CLUB