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Hi there OCN.
Well I have some money saved up and continuing till I know what I would like to buy. So if you have any ideas then suggest away, as long as it isn't too expensive or crazy.
My Goal
What do I want to achieve with this upgrade you say? Well, a number of things. Firstly I want to move away from the aggressive, flashy, "ricer" look that I believe I currently have with my HAF 932. I want to achieve a classy, subtle and stylish look to my computer and I think I know how I want to do it. It will involve a new case which I have already picked various accessories to accompany it to reach my goal.
Secondly, I want to increase performance by a noticeable amount but in the storage area. So for this I will be looking at SSD's in a RAID array. For this I may need a little help with a few things (setting up multiple arrays) but that will be for when the new items are delivered (yet to be ordered due to an overlook by OCN)
Thirdly, I want to improve my cooling a little and this also ties in with moving away from an aggressive, flamboyant look. I would like to remove the Megahalem and move to something a little more subtle but can yet pack the same if not more punch.
Lastly, I want to have a little fun as it's been a while since I last did a nice upgrade.
Parts List
Case
To cover my first point of moving to different case, I have not chosen a Lian Li or a Silverstone like some may have thought to be the only choice but a Corsair 800D. It has many nice features that I really like such as the black interior which is a must in this day and age. The hot swappable drive bays which I don't see myself using on a regular basis but makes things much easier when installing and upgrading, and of course, if I ever do need to use it then it's there. I also really like how they've given you the ability to do the cable management, specifically the cover box for the hot swap drive bays, the grommets for the cable holes and the separate section for the PSU.
The case is also water cooling ready which may be an option later down the road when I got a bit more spare money as the budget doesn't permit true water cooling at the moment.
Corsair Obsidian 800D Black Tower Computer Case
![]()
Accessories
As I wont be purchasing a new power supply with this upgrade I wanted to further the professional look with sleeved cables. Unfortunately I'm not really comfortable taking my power supply apart and sleeving each cable individually but it may be a possibility if I read up on it and get some more information as it will be considerably cheaper than doing the following. This is what I will be buying if I don't choose to sleeve the PSU myself. I will buy these in each type. 24-Pin, 8-Pin and 6-Pin. Only for visible cables. All others and existing PSU cables with be taped or cable tied behind the tray.
25cm NZXT Black Motherboard Power Extension Cable
![]()
Further to the accessories will be a fan controller. A nice sleek brushed aluminium one is what I had in mind for this upgrade. Possibly with a touch screen. This is yet to be decided but this is the sort of controller I am interested in. Hopefully you guys here can help me with this bit. Must have multiple channels and would be preferred if I could hook up multiple fans to one channel. Would like time, date, temperatures and of course fan speeds. Here is the sort of style I am looking for:
NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller, Black
![]()
Cooling
I am looking to remove the Megahalems as it doesn't really fit in with what I am tying to achieve with this upgrade. So I was looking for something that could pack the same punch but was quieter and a bit prettier to look at. For this I have chose the Corsair H70. From what I have seen, it performs just a bit better than the Megahalems, it's less intrusive and fits with the style of the case. The radiator is a little thicker than I would have liked though but i will just have to see some pictures of it mounted in the 800D. Just a side note, if I were to pick the H70 for this upgrade then I would have one of the fans mounted on the back of the case rather than the whole setup on the inside.
Corsair H70 Hydro Series CPU Cooler
![]()
I also need to choose a colour scheme, I have chose black and white. I will replace the Corsair fans with these, Xigmatek white LED 120mm's, which I think will compliment the case but not add too much flash. I know I said earlier I wanted to get away from flashy lights and a "ricer" look but I don't think these fans give that impression due to their environment. Plus only one will be on show. But the light from others will subtly illuminate the case. I will be using these up top and on the visible side of the radiator. They also offer good performance as well as looking great.
Xigmatek XLF-F1254 Blackline White LED 120mm
![]()
Watercooling may now be an option to consider although I will start a separate thread concerning this. As i'm not sure what I need in terms of measurements and hardware.
I have a thread here discussing it - http://www.overclock.net/water-cooli...arts-list.html
Performance
For the performance upgrade I was looking at getting two SSD's and placing them in a RAID array, specifically RAID-0. I will be using these drives for the OS and primary programs. Steam client, Google Chrome, all my diagnosing, stress testing and overclocking utilities included, as well as a select few regularly played games. I have chose the Corsair F60's as they offer great read and write speeds and also offer good warranty and customer service that I have had from Corsair in the past.
60GB SSD Corsair Force Series Solid State Drive
![]()
Remaining & Existing Parts
This will all accompany my sig rig which consists of:
Intel Core i7 920 - Overclocked at 4.0Ghz
Corsair Dominators - 1600Mhz
Asus P6TD Deluxe - X58
Asus Xonar D2
EVGA GTX470
Asus 7300LE
2 Western Digital Caviar Blacks - RAID-0
Corsair 750TX - 750 Watt
Sorry about the really long post. I like being thorough and explaining why I have picked the things I did. Thanks for looking and I hope I hear from you soon!
Well I have some money saved up and continuing till I know what I would like to buy. So if you have any ideas then suggest away, as long as it isn't too expensive or crazy.
My Goal
What do I want to achieve with this upgrade you say? Well, a number of things. Firstly I want to move away from the aggressive, flashy, "ricer" look that I believe I currently have with my HAF 932. I want to achieve a classy, subtle and stylish look to my computer and I think I know how I want to do it. It will involve a new case which I have already picked various accessories to accompany it to reach my goal.
Secondly, I want to increase performance by a noticeable amount but in the storage area. So for this I will be looking at SSD's in a RAID array. For this I may need a little help with a few things (setting up multiple arrays) but that will be for when the new items are delivered (yet to be ordered due to an overlook by OCN)
Thirdly, I want to improve my cooling a little and this also ties in with moving away from an aggressive, flamboyant look. I would like to remove the Megahalem and move to something a little more subtle but can yet pack the same if not more punch.
Lastly, I want to have a little fun as it's been a while since I last did a nice upgrade.
Parts List
Case
To cover my first point of moving to different case, I have not chosen a Lian Li or a Silverstone like some may have thought to be the only choice but a Corsair 800D. It has many nice features that I really like such as the black interior which is a must in this day and age. The hot swappable drive bays which I don't see myself using on a regular basis but makes things much easier when installing and upgrading, and of course, if I ever do need to use it then it's there. I also really like how they've given you the ability to do the cable management, specifically the cover box for the hot swap drive bays, the grommets for the cable holes and the separate section for the PSU.
The case is also water cooling ready which may be an option later down the road when I got a bit more spare money as the budget doesn't permit true water cooling at the moment.
Corsair Obsidian 800D Black Tower Computer Case
Accessories
As I wont be purchasing a new power supply with this upgrade I wanted to further the professional look with sleeved cables. Unfortunately I'm not really comfortable taking my power supply apart and sleeving each cable individually but it may be a possibility if I read up on it and get some more information as it will be considerably cheaper than doing the following. This is what I will be buying if I don't choose to sleeve the PSU myself. I will buy these in each type. 24-Pin, 8-Pin and 6-Pin. Only for visible cables. All others and existing PSU cables with be taped or cable tied behind the tray.
25cm NZXT Black Motherboard Power Extension Cable
Further to the accessories will be a fan controller. A nice sleek brushed aluminium one is what I had in mind for this upgrade. Possibly with a touch screen. This is yet to be decided but this is the sort of controller I am interested in. Hopefully you guys here can help me with this bit. Must have multiple channels and would be preferred if I could hook up multiple fans to one channel. Would like time, date, temperatures and of course fan speeds. Here is the sort of style I am looking for:
NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller, Black
Cooling
I am looking to remove the Megahalems as it doesn't really fit in with what I am tying to achieve with this upgrade. So I was looking for something that could pack the same punch but was quieter and a bit prettier to look at. For this I have chose the Corsair H70. From what I have seen, it performs just a bit better than the Megahalems, it's less intrusive and fits with the style of the case. The radiator is a little thicker than I would have liked though but i will just have to see some pictures of it mounted in the 800D. Just a side note, if I were to pick the H70 for this upgrade then I would have one of the fans mounted on the back of the case rather than the whole setup on the inside.
Corsair H70 Hydro Series CPU Cooler
I also need to choose a colour scheme, I have chose black and white. I will replace the Corsair fans with these, Xigmatek white LED 120mm's, which I think will compliment the case but not add too much flash. I know I said earlier I wanted to get away from flashy lights and a "ricer" look but I don't think these fans give that impression due to their environment. Plus only one will be on show. But the light from others will subtly illuminate the case. I will be using these up top and on the visible side of the radiator. They also offer good performance as well as looking great.
Xigmatek XLF-F1254 Blackline White LED 120mm
Watercooling may now be an option to consider although I will start a separate thread concerning this. As i'm not sure what I need in terms of measurements and hardware.
I have a thread here discussing it - http://www.overclock.net/water-cooli...arts-list.html
Performance
For the performance upgrade I was looking at getting two SSD's and placing them in a RAID array, specifically RAID-0. I will be using these drives for the OS and primary programs. Steam client, Google Chrome, all my diagnosing, stress testing and overclocking utilities included, as well as a select few regularly played games. I have chose the Corsair F60's as they offer great read and write speeds and also offer good warranty and customer service that I have had from Corsair in the past.
60GB SSD Corsair Force Series Solid State Drive
Remaining & Existing Parts
This will all accompany my sig rig which consists of:
Intel Core i7 920 - Overclocked at 4.0Ghz
Corsair Dominators - 1600Mhz
Asus P6TD Deluxe - X58
Asus Xonar D2
EVGA GTX470
Asus 7300LE
2 Western Digital Caviar Blacks - RAID-0
Corsair 750TX - 750 Watt
Sorry about the really long post. I like being thorough and explaining why I have picked the things I did. Thanks for looking and I hope I hear from you soon!
