[Xyxox]

Hi all. I'm new to Overclock.net but not new to building PCs.

I've been wanting to try WOW in 3D and try a few 3D FPS games, too. No way my current PC will handle any of this so I decided to build a machine. It will primarily be a gaming computer but I'll do some photo and video editing with it, too, not to mention a bit of CAD. I've purchased the parts and am just waiting for some pieces to arrive. Here's the list of what I will be using:

• Corsair HX850W 850W Modular PSU
• Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7-B3 Motherboard
• Intel Core i7-2600K CPU
• CoolerMaster V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP
• Corsair Vengeance 8GB PC15000 1866 DDR3
• [email protected] Galaxy GeForce GTX560Ti GC (will do SLI)
• LifesGood BH10 Blu-ray writer (3D ready)
• [email protected] Crucial C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC (will do RAID 0)
• Western Digital Velociraptor WD4500HLHX 450GB (extra storage)
• Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 case
• Scythe Kaze Master Pro 5.25" 6 channel fan controller
• Logisys 4" dual Cold Cathode kit w/sleeved wires
• Rosewill RCR-IM5001 USB2.0 75 in 1 card reader
• Acer GD235HZ monitor
• Logitech G510 keyboard
• Razer Naga mouse
• Logitech G13 Programmable Gameboard
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
• Netgear N600 USB Wireless NIC (for the build)
• NvidiaGeForce 3D Stereo Glasses Kit with Emitter

The monitor has arrived. I got the video cards on sale at my local CompUSA for $229.99 each which after I receive the $30 MIR back will have cost me $199.99 each.

I also have the CPU, RAM, ODD, PSU, fan controller, CPU cooler, cold cathode kit, G510 keyboard, OS, and NIC.

The motherboard and case arrived Friday but I was at the Cubs opening day so they will try again on Monday. I bought the case on sale for $109.99 and will be getting a MIR for $30 on that, too. Price was the final determining factor for the case choice and so I decided to go with a blue light theme on the build.

I got the Coolermaster V8 for $30 before I decided on a case, so I'm not happy with the red LEDs on it. I'll be replacing the fan and doing some small mods to alter the look.

I woke up yesterday to find an email from Newegg selling the Crucial SSDs for $199.99 each, so I immediately ordered two (which I'm glad for as they sold out). I had ordered the Velociraptor earlier in the week, so will now use it for storage. I may get a second and do a RAID 0 with it.

I'll need to read the manual for the MB as I'm not sure if I want to use the Intel SATA III chipset or the Marvell chipset for the boot drives. I know the Crucial drives have a Marvell controller, so they may work better on the Marvell chipset, but I'm not sure if the MB will let me use a drive on that chipset as the boot drive. I would think that it should, but you never can tell until you actually verify.

My ultimate overclocking goal is to overclock the CPU to at least 4.77 GHz. This is a purely sentimental goal as the first computer I ever built ran on the 8088 at 4.77 MHz. That was over 25 years ago.

I'll post some pics over the coming days.

 

[L3gacy]

sounds good, take pics after you get everything.

 

[Xyxox]

So here are some pics of what I have so far. First, the two 560Ti cards:

The case arrived today, but as there is no removable motherboard tray, it's not going to see much use to begin with:

The motherboard also arrived today:

CPU and RAM:

Since I have the PSU, I could get some initial testing out of the way as I await the arrival of the hard drives:

The ACER monitor:

The CPU Cooler and some of what I'll be doing a small mod with. I'm still waiting on some flashing blue LEDs and a couple of other things. Since the mods I'll be doing are focused exclusively on the fan, I can still use this cooler and just remove the fan when I'm ready to insert the newly modded fan:

Case bling and cable management:

Fans, fan controller, and sleeved cables:

The Optical disk drive and a wireless NIC I bought for the build since I won't have an ethernet connection where I'll be working. The wireless NIC will become the connection for my existing workstation after the build:

And my tech station where most of the work will be done prior to installation in the case:

 

[taintedmind]

Nice stuff there.
Ironic, same day as I throw my 2 week old (I know...) Antec 902 out someone buys a new one.

 

[Xyxox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taintedmind Nice stuff there. Ironic, same day as I throw my 2 week old (I know...) Antec 902 out someone buys a new one.

I'll have you know this is an Antec 902 V3 which means it has the cheesy USB 3.0 port with the cable you plug into a USB 3.0 port in the back.

If I had researched OCN more before I ordered this case last week, I might have bit the bullet and gone ahead with a Case Labs case. Oh well, this build was planned to be air cooled from the start, so I'll wait for a Case Labs case until my next build and do water cooling on it.

 

[Xyxox]

Drives just arrived and I'd get started building except a package was missing the Arctic Silver Thermal Compound. Newegg was great about it and refunded the cash so I had to order again. Any way, I'll use the time to mod the fan for the Coolermaster V8. Here's what came today:

 

[Xyxox]

The mod work on the CPU fan is coming along:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMESTfe2vPU&feature=player_profilepage[/ame]

Edited to add an updated video. This video shows where I'm going with this simple mod:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FKN1udxYk[/ame]

 

[Xyxox]

Final video on the CPU Cooler mod. Should have the thermal grease on Monday afternoon, then the fun begins.

You Tube

 

[Xyxox]

Thermalgrease arrived this afternoon. RAID built. Windows installed (in about ten minutes, love the SSD RAID 0). Using just one of the 560Ti cards right now. Playing games. Will case the machine tomorrow and post pictures later.

 

[robwadeson]

How much does everything total up to? Nice log

 

[tvm777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xyxox;13037932
The mod work on the CPU fan is coming along:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMESTfe2vPU&feature=player_profilepage

Edited to add an updated video. This video shows where I'm going with this simple mod:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FKN1udxYk

Hello and nice work and well buyed rig

excuse me for my ignorance, but what are the kind of "hard disk"?
and what kind of mod you made to that both leds?

 

[Xyxox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robwadeson How much does everything total up to? Nice log

$3K

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvm777 Hello and nice work and well buyed rig excuse me for my ignorance, but what are the kind of "hard disk"? and what kind of mod you made to that both leds?

I'm using 2 of the Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration on the Intel chipset SATA III 6gps ports. After formatting and overhead they yield a total of 238GB of storage space which I am using exclusively for the operating system and application installation. This keeps everything moving very fast, though I must perform some benchmark tests to give exact speeds, boot time from the moment I turn on the computer to the moment Windows is ready for login is 54 seconds, and 30 seconds of that time is BIOS load. From the moment I enter my password until Windows is completely up and running is about another three seconds, and it takes five seconds for my USB wireless NIC to connect to the network

. I've alsp got one 450 GB Western Digital Velociraptor drive running on a SATA III port on the Marvell chipset for additional file storage.

On the LED lights for the CPU cooler, the existing red LED lights were hot glued in place. I removed them, cut and separated the wireds then used heat wrap to make sure the ends were covered. I then hot glued the new LEDs in place. I purchased 3.3 volt 20ma blue blinking LEDs from a place online and got the required resistors from Radio Shack in order to run the LEDs from a 12 volt source. I made two sets of two LEDs and each set of two run in parallel, so the required resistors on each set were 220 Ohm at 1/2 watt. Since I purchased ten total LEDs and only used 4 in this mod, I'll probably end up installing more in the case, so maybe I'll write up a quick tutorial since adding LEDs is a simple mod for a case, taking pictures along the way. The one thing with LEDs that you have to keep in mind is, polarity is important. There is a positive lead and a negative lead and you must supply the power correctly for it to work.

Sadly, I've been busy with my home theater network the past few days and have not yet had a chance to case this machine. Will hopefully get a chance tomorrow.

 

[Speedster159]

Sub

 

[Xyxox]

I've cased the system. Here's a shpt of the cable management before buttoning up the side with no window:

I've got solid overclocks of 4.4GHz on the CPU and 900 MHz on each of the GPUs without touching voltage. I've run some tests on increased voltage that look promising, but I have a BIGADV FAH work unit running on this solid CPU overclock right now and won't change things until it's finished. I believe I have some increased voltage configs that will get me up to 1 GHz on the GPUs, but temps will be a problem. I'm pretty sure I can get to 5 GHz on the CPU with acceptable temps.

 

[THEoBZ]

Awesome thread! Sweet build!

+ Rep, welcome to the forums!

 

[Xyxox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by THEoBZ;13249248
Awesome thread! Sweet build!

+ Rep, welcome to the forums!

Thanks!

I've found FAH to be the best stability test of all. I've had GPU overclock configs pass through Furmark only to crash later on FAH. My 4.5 GHz OC of the CPU (with no voltage changes other than motherboard auromatic changes) went through Prime95 with flying colors only to crash on FAH SMP.

As far as I'm concerned, no GPU OC is stable unless it can run an FAH GPU client solid for 24 hours and no CPU OC is stable unless it can run an FAH CPU client (preferably a BIGADV WU) for 36 hours.