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Straya M8!

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So I really liked the Asrock M8 when it first came out but decided 550 for a case/mobo/psu was a little much and I wasn't in the market to build a new pc anyway. I was browsing on newegg and found the M8 for 200 dollars as an open box... I couldn't resist. I figured if it was open box I'd probably have parts missing but as long as the case was complete I would be happy. Well I got the M8, opened it up and literally everything was there. This was an open box and I think that's all that someone did, open the box. The only thing I could find that wasn't "stock" was the top fans were reconfigured to blow out instead of one in one out. I would have done this anyway, so score. 

 

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This is the case, in all it's glory!

 

 

 

This is the first mini-itx case I've ever built. Actually this is the first non full ATX pc I've ever built. My current PC has an AMD 8350 and a 7990 in a NZXT Phantom Full tower case. It's loud, it is huge, and it's HOT. If I put it in a room with the door shut, it will literally raise the temperature of the room 3-7 degrees which makes me uncomfortable. On top of this I had so much fan noise that I couldn't really use it in a bedroom.

 

So, I got the case, 8gb of laptop ram (Seriously why laptop ram? I don't get it.) a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD and an Intel Pentium G3220. I put my old AMD 6850 video card (1gb ram, old and slow) and was happy to play League of Legends maxed out at 1080p. 

 

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It's actually just a tiny amount bigger than an xbox one. The thickness is noticeably bigger but the M8 has handles so it's easier to carry around than an xbone. 

 

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M8 with AMD 6850 gpu.

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I put my 7990 in the case... just because... I wanted to see if it was possible. I figured it wouldn't be because this is just a hot card by nature. To get it to fit I had to cut some of the metal shroud out... This is a long card. 

 

this is the part I had to cut. You can't see it unless you remove the top fan panels so it doesn't really matter at all. (that isn't the 7990 in there, that's the MSI 980)

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This is the 7990 installed. It sets directly on the PSU power cable. Super long card!

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The 7990 was idling at 80c and hitting 103c while playing LoL at 1080p. It just won't work in this case. I even took the cooler off and put new thermal paste and pads and while it did help, it's still hitting those temps, just not as fast. 

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MSI 980 twin frozr vs 7990 reference cooler. 

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AMD 6850, AMD 7990, MSI 980.

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This is the MSI 980 installed. I thought the temps would be higher since the fans don't really have much room to move air. They set about an inch away from the other side of the case, very little room for air flow. I was setting at 43c at idle/light web browsing which lets the fans stay off. They don't even spin until 50c (I think it's 50c might be 55c). 

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Fast forward to today...

 

 

 

 

This arrived and made my pp tingle. 

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980 next to titan x

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I just put the Titan X in and I'm idling at 48c-50c and the fans are only running about 12%. I'm pretty excited with this small build. It is so much easier to transport. The handles are probably my favorite feature of the case. I haven't been able to test it at full load yet but I'll update once I do.

 

Future upgrade include an i5 cpu (undecided as to which one I'm going to go with), another 8gb stick of ram and a 2tb samsung 2.5in hdd for storage. After that I'm pretty much done with it. I might do a psu upgrade as it's only 450w and the titan x recommends 600w. I'll have to see if I actually need it, maybe when I upgrade the cpu as the dual core pentium really doesn't use much. 

 

I think I might get this cooler for the titan x in a couple of months. It really depends on the temps, but I like the cooler look also. I have the Asus card and putting evga backplate on it seems odd to me. 

http://www.evga.com/products/Product.aspx?pn=100-FS-2990-B9

 

Case pro vs con.

 

Pro:

Small in size.

 

Very well built.

 

Built in handles.

 

Case lock to prevent people from getting in.

 

Con:

Heat is a major issue in this case. 

 

When the fans ramp up for gaming it gets super loud.

 

Working on it is a pain, everything is tightly crammed in there. Changing the bottom fan direction you have to tear down everything, the only thing that stays in the case is the motherboard itself, everything else has to be either removed or unbolted to get to fan screws. Taking out the gpu you have to remove the top two handles, the side panels, 2 screws holding the metal bracket in place, 2 screws holding the gpu in place and the top fan panel. I've gotten pretty good at removing things though so it's not a long process now. 

 

Case lock doesn't work after removing everything. It sometimes will lock the side panels in place but if you move them in just the right way they will come unlocked. 


Monarch - A Gaming PC Build Log

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Hi all,

 

I'm new to the community here and want to start with a thank you to everyone here. I recently complete my build list and will be putting the fallowing computer together. I have experience upgrading parts in PCs, but this will be my first fully custom build. The community here was awesome and helped me make my decisions on what I wanted to put in my PC.

 

List:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_OR 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler  ($82.51 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($139.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($97.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($349.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT H440 (Orange/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($131.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($94.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1227.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-28 14:19 EDT-0400

 

Project Name:

 

Monarch

 

Goals:

 

Main: Build a computer that I could play 1080p games on at a consistent 60fps

Secondary: Build a PC that allows me to get experience with over clocking

Tertiary: Upgradable, more on this later, but I wanted to focus on "good bones" so I could keep upgrading as funds and my experience increase

 

Story:

 

As mentioned, this is my first attempt at a fully custom PC. I have a core idea of what I want to accomplish. This is what generated the original parts lis. After that, I found the NZXT H440 (Orange/Black) and fell in love. I have seen so many PC's with the blue and red themes, and they look great. I wanted something that, for me, was a little different. I know this isn’t the first or only orange build, but it seems less common. I have to imagine this is true because it was much more difficult to find matching parts for everything.

 

The most difficult form me find was actually the RAM. I know you can orange RAM without too much searching, but I really liked the way the Avexir Core Series looked. The LED lighting on the top has a cool, be muted look to it. Unfortunately, it seemed to only be available in the aforementioned red and blue, at least in the states. But! I am happy to say I did find a seller on eBay that had orange, in Italy. This did limit me to 2 8g 1600 sticks, but that is fine.

 

With all of the parts selected and ordered we are off to the races. I will be receiving everything today and probably one or two tomorrow and will be updating with (hopefully) videos of the build, and also pictures.

 

Part Selection:

 

GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card

 

            This seemed to be the best rout at this point. I was fairly set on the GTX 970 and this model seems to be the best for overclocking from what I could find. My biggest issue is going to be the blue LED logo, but I think this might actually pop nicely over the orange backdrop. We will see. I know I can do a custom LED swap if needed at a later date.

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor

 

            Again, seems to be a good processor for overclocking and gaming. I would have preferred to go with an i7 as I do more than just game on this PC. But, as the focus was on gaming, I put the money into the GPU instead. Besides, as I haven’t done any over clocking before, and would rather wreck an i5 then an i7 (knock on wood). If this becomes an issue, I can always upgrade at a later date. The i5 will get me where I want to go for now.

 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

 

            It’s ORANGE. Really, after deciding I wanted to go with a Z97X for over clocking I didn’t care about much else. I would have preferred to go with an Asus, but that is for my next project ;)  (fingers crossed) . From what I can tell, this is still a great mother board, probably better than the Asus I was looking at. It also supports SLI which is something I want to do at some point.

 

CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_OR 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler

 

            This is where things get a little tricky. I could have gone with a AIO cooler for this system, but I really want to do a custom water loop system at some point (budget, time, ect). This computer has the option to be very nice, and quite. This cooler has a low dBs rating AND it orange. I am concerned that it will be too bulky and ruin the look of the build, but we will see. This part is slated for future up grade, one way or another. Besides, I want to learn over clocking on a fan cooled unit before I switch to water cooled so I can experience first hand what, if any, the differences are.

 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

 

            A simple SSD, just went with whatever. I have an SSD on my laptop and I don’t think I can go back now :D. I will add a mechanical HD later for mass storage.

 

Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

            A solid PSU and it is modular. I went with 650 watts because I want to have some room to grow and not worry about maxing it out. I don’t like to run PSU past 80% as I feel they are much better if they are “coasting”. It’s more for head room then anything, and I wanted modular, ’cause

 

Case: NZXT H440 (Orange/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case

 

            Beautiful, windowed, and flexible. This really was the lynch pin that made a lot of my other choices for me. I love the esthetic, plus it’s very versatile. I really appreciate the way that the colors are pronounced, but again, subtle. If this case had any more orang on it, I feel it would look to… aggressive? I don’t know – just – not for me. This one is perfect for my tastes.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I will update as things come in and progess is made. Thanks again to this awesome community, feel free to comment below if you have any thoughts or suggestions. I posted this here to share, but also to learn. Your advice is welcome and appreciated.

 

 

 

The Obliterator MK2, X79, 7950, Core X9

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So how did this start. Well, @Imabigmac posted "Does EVGA think it is 2013?". I was so amazed with the deals that I picked up a X79 SLI. (Wanted a 590, but it was sold out.) So I bought it. So here is the build.

 

 

CPU: 6 Core 2011 CPU.

Motherboard: EVGA X79 SLI

Graphics Card:  MSI TwinFrozr III 7950

SSD: Adata SP600

RAM: G.skill Sniper Series 1x8 2400 

Case: ThermalTake Core X9 @Trik'Stari :)

Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

Optical Drive: 24x LG

PSU: EVGA Supernova 850G2

 

@tmcclelland455 @terrytek @Jumper118  @KingCry  @TheGingerKid  @ProKoN  @Lays 

My Son Revived Gaming build. (The Noir)

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I am sorta new to Building. My first Rig seemed outdated, so I have decided to rebuild it for my son. I will be Calling this system Black Noir. 

 I will be using old parts from my previous build, I will only list parts that are going to be re-used and when I purchase new parts Ill list them.

 

At this time, I will list the parts I do have and anything else I will list. Hope I get some inputs.

 

MOB: Asus p8Z68-V Pro 

CPU: Intel core i5-2500K Cpu D 3.30ghz (it will get overclocked.

MEM: Corsair Vengeance 16 gig of memory

PSU:  CoolMaster GX 650

CASE:  Cool Master HAF 912

GPU: Unkown

CPU: Cooler Unknow

 

I  will start off With the modding of the case, I will upload pictures.

 

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Black and White Build V1.0

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Black and White Build

 

 

I started off going for an all white build, but ran into some problems.  I couldn't get the Define R5 in white ANYWHERE.  I thought I had found it at one point from Tigerdirect Business, only to order it and wait several days and find out they were waiting for a response from Fractal.  At this point I had them refund my money and went with a black R5.  So I would have to say all in all, it came out to my liking. I recycled the video card and data storage drives from my old rig, other than that everything shiny new.

 

CPU - Intel Core I7 4790K

Motherboard - Asus Saberooth Z97 Mark S 

RAM - Kingston HyperX Fury White 16GB @ 1866Mhz

Case - Fractal Design Define R5 Black Window

Video Card - Galaxy Hall Of Fame edition GTX770

CPU Cooler - NZXT Kraken X61

SSD - Samsung 840 Pro

HDD1 - WD Black 2TB

HDD2 - WD Black 1TB

PSU - Corsair AX860i

Additional Case fans - Noctua NF-A14 PWM

 

 

 

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$4 PC improved

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(First post here, please be nice ;))
 
To start off, there is a place near me selling older HP/Compaq pre-builts with Core2 Duos. I went to buy, well, Core2 Duo machines to mess about with and scrap. What I found in the sell pile has been my gaming machine ever since. The original machine is as listed:

  • Pentium G630 (stock Intel cooler)
  • 2GB Samsung RAM
  • Biostar H61MLC
  • WD Blue 160GB (With Windows 7 32-bit)
  • Cheap Foxconn mini tower
  • Cheap 480W PSU

I have since upgraded it with new and used components. I am using the computer on a Samsung 24" 1080p monitor with a 1440x900 generic as a satellite monitor.

  • GTX 650 (Bought from a friend; $40)
  • 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600 (single blue stick) (NewEgg sale; $52.99)
  • second WD Blue 160GB (from a $4 prebuilt)
  • Corsair CX430 (gift from parents; ~$43)
  • random DVD-RW drive (from a $4 prebuilt)
  • random card reader (from a $4 prebuilt)
  • Windows 8.1 Professional 64-bit (from a teacher)

Total cost to me (and gifts from parents): $144.

I will upgrade to a faster processor before eventually building a whole new computer.

Project Blue - Friends first build

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A friend of mine called me up because his friend wanted to build a sub $1000 (including monitor and windows) gaming PC.
I'm now friends with that guy, and we decided on the parts a bit over a week ago. Just yesterday the last of the parts came in and he started his first computer build with me teaching him.
He had me do cable management though.

The Specs
CPU - Intel Core I5 4690K
Motherboard - ASRock Z97m Pro 4
RAM - G.Skill Ares Series 2x4GB @ 1600Mhz
Case - Fractal Design Arc Mini R2.
GPU - Sapphire R9 280 Dual-X
CPU Cooler - Hyper 212 Evo
HDD - WD Blue 1TB
PSU - EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W.
Additional Fans - Some unused 120mm Coolermaster fan I had laying around.
Lights - NZXT Hue.

Monitor - Acer H236HL.

I actually kinda forgot to take pictures while building :wacko:. It was kinda exciting for him since hes never worked on a computer before.
I do have some of the completed computer though. Sorry about low res, I'm hopefully going back over to help him with setting up windows, drivers and all that stuff. Maybe with actual daylight my camera won't have a hard time seeing everything.
Its probably nothing impressive for this board, but he wanted me to post it since hes proud of it, and I think it looks pretty good.


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[WIP] - - - - - Parvum Green Karnage II: The Sequel

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18214492726_9db8ebb86f_b.jpg
 
Hi 
 
another project
 
this one is weird, at beginning, it was supposed to be the next level of the Green Carnage (the one in the Corsair 780t)
but some one call me and no choice to sell it 
 
but this one is still green and white and have some custom work with same theme, and i really love this theme
 
i said why not start a new one with a funny name 
 
and finnaly:
 
Green Karnage II:  The Sequel
 
:facepalm:   :ROFL:
 
and have 2 sponsor for this one, first Parvum System, want to say thanks to Justin, one of the greatest guy, we need more like him, Daz and Gdesmo
 
and the second one is Hexagon PC, want to say thanks to Blake, i think its the first one who understand my madness hahaha 
18053123008_1d00a9776d_n.jpg
 
 
Build setup/parts listing :
 
 
Case
Parvum System S2.0 with 360 rad option and custom work
 
 
Components
Gigabyte X99M-Gaming5 mATX Motherboard
Intel i7-5930K CPU
Crucial 16gb (4 x 4) DDR4 2400 RAM
Silverstone ST1500 PSU (Overkill but already have it)
Galaxy GTX780HOF
SAMSUNG 951 M.2 SSD 512gb (if i can receive it)
 
 
Cooling
Parvum X1.0 white Fans (7x)
Darkside Slkim Radiator 1 x 360 and 1 x 240
Parvum Custom reservoir
EK-DDC Cover Kit (black) painted white
EK-DDC pump top clear
Bitspower white C47 Hard tubing Fittings
Bitspower white Angled 45° and 90°
Bitspower white spacer 
Darkside stop plug
Bitspower Tube 10/12mm
EK-Supremacy - Nickel CPU Waterblock
EK-FC780 GTX HOF - White Acetal+Nickel (2x)
Snef Computer Design custom Backplate 
EK-FC Terminal - Plexi
Dazmode Protector, Distilled water and Feser Green UV dye
 
 
Sleeving, lighting and misc.
Sleeving job done by Hexagon PC with Paracord in white and green 
Darkside 12" white and UV LED strip 
Swiftech PWM Fan Splitter
 
 
 
Justin of Parvum sent me some pics of the case before they ship it 
the case is at UPS facility at 5 minutes from my home, will receive it monday
like usual, look at great work they did, 
 
 
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Dragonblood 3.0 (LD PC-V7 inside)

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Hey guys,

 

I yould like to share my personal build to all of you nerds.

 

 

The specs :

 

I7 4770k

MSI z87-gd65 gaming

PNY gtx 970 x2

Hyper X fury 8go DDR3 1866mhz x2

Samsung 840EVO

2.5TB of HDD in multiple hard drives (storage, games, etc...)

Corsair RM 750

LD PC-V7

NZXT sentry mix 2

Phobya RGB led strip with remote

 

 

Cooling :

 

Alphacool nexxos 30mm radiator 240mm + 360mm

Corsair SP120 quiet x6

EK WB GTX 970 waterblock + backplate

EK WB supremacy

Laing DDC 3.25

Alphacool 13-19mm chrome fittings

Primochill primoflex crystal clear 13-19mm

Mayhems pastel red

 

 

Pictures :

 

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Overclocking :

 

The CPU overclocking is a bit tricky on my chip. I can achieve 4.4ghz witch stability but a pretty huge Vcore... And i sadly canot achieve 4.5 with full stability. If someone is a pro overclocker here i'll take it ! More on that really soon.

 

The GPU OC is easyer. I overclock with EVGA precision X.

Stock clock is 1050mhz. I have 3 profiles.

The first one is the "everytime stable" with core offset +200 and mem clock offset +300

The second one is "stable is most of the 3D apps" with +240/+400

The last one is "prey to not crash" with +280/+400 and voltage +87mV

I can achieve most of the benchmark with the last profile but at the cost of some artifacts.

 

The temps are really good with 50celcius on the third profile, 45 on the second and 40 on the first. Idle temps are 30. The two cards have the same temps most of the time.

 

Benchmarking :

 

Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0 FPS:
122.8
Score:
5137
Min FPS:
40.6
Max FPS:
214.6

Extreme HD preset

 

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 FPS:
122.0
Score:
3073
Min FPS:
38.5
Max FPS:
 
258.0
 

All maxed out fullscreen 1080p

 

Firestrike :

 

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4940577

 

I have done all the benchmarks with the cpu at 4.5ghz.

 

More bench incoming !

 

 

Thank you for the reading, peace and prosperity, dragonborn.

When yo desk on point

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It looked sexy so I took a photo

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My first PC build; how it went

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Hello, recently I have build my first gaming PC with money I got for my birthday and I think it went well. I chose the AMD FX6300 processor as its 6 cores are good for multitasking. I am hoping to streaming and rendering which I am hoping will utilize more cores (I have 6)  as my other option on team blue was an i3 with dual cores and hyperthreading. I decided to go with the MSI Geforce 2G GTX960 for my GPU because it has a much lower TDP than the R9 280x on the AMD side and similar benchmarks and games I am playing. Motherboard was Asus M5A78L micro atx board, budget dictated this choice. 2x4gb HyperX Fury 1333MHz DDR3, 1TB WD Blue HDD because soon I will be getting an SSD for games and OS so I didn't want anything bigger for the time being. I got the Corsair Carbide Spec 01 mid tower as it was fairly cheap, looked well built and fitted my colour scheme. I chose the XFX Pro semi modular 650watt PSU as I like my PC being tidy and not having loads of fixed cables will help with that, PSU was also well reviewed. I got a couple more Corsair AF120 fans to go with my case fan. I also needed 2 3pin splitter as the motherboard only has 1 3pin slot. The build went well despite a few problems I encountered, I bent a pin in my CPU when installing it which I has to straighten back out but I am pretty sure it was just a grounding pin and it wasnt bent to bad. I used a credit card to push it back straight as it wasnt fitting in my socket. I also had problems as my RAM wouldnt go all the way in and first time I booted it one of the ram sticks was in the wrong slot so the dual channel wasnt working meaning I had 4GB of ram. My PC booted first time which was a releif as a new system builder. After installing drivers I decided to download Battlefield 4 as I was suprised at just how good it was performing. On Ultra preset I was averaging 60 FPS after trying most maps but I decided to turn it down high and I was frequently hitting 100FPS on 64 player maps and averiging over 85 FPS and frame drops were never noticable as my Monitor (BenQ GL2250) is capped at 60Hz refresh rate so the game was so playable and looked beutiful, a massive improvement from my last system which struggled to hit 60 FPS low. All these framerates were at 1080p. I will include some pictures of my rig (sorry about the blurriness, phone camera). Bye

IMG_20150530_121959560.jpg IMG_20150530_121935329.jpg IMG_20150530_122018909.jpg

PS What do you think of my cable management? How can I improve it? Most the stuff I ran round the back and took out what I needed though the front.

My first PC build

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KIF458I.jpg

 

Hey guys,

 

This is my first PC build, please don't be too harsh on me... I know some of the parts might have been slightly too much but for the prices it seemed really logical.

 

It's not the best but I am proud of my machine!

 

Parts List:

ThermalTake Versa H22 - $39.99

I7 4790K - $279.99

MSI Z97 Gaming 5 (Used) - $93.61

MSI GTX 970 - $  309.99

Crucial Ballistix Sport (2x4gb) - $ 56.99

Crucial MX 100 256gb SSD - $114.99 (WHY DID I PAY SO MUCH FOR THIS?!?!)

WD Blue 1TB - $54.99

Corsair H60 - $64.99 (Should've got the H80i)

Corsair CX600M - $59.99

Windows 8.1 - $69.99

Corsair SP120 PWM Twin Pack - $30.59

Corsair SP120 3 pin Twin Pack - $27.99

Corsair AF120 Twin Pack - $28.99

Corsair AF120 Single - $17.99

 

Overclocked: 4.7Ghz @ 1.295 Volts (Couldn't get 4.8 stable and didn't want to go over 1.3 volts )

 

Benchmarks:

 

Fire Strike:

Graphics Score: 12201

Physics Score: 13057

Combined: 4521

Overall: 10517

 

Cinebench:

CPU: 921

Open GL: 157.07

 

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Avg: 103.43 FPS

Max: 152.03 FPS

Min: 68.67 FPS

 

Future Plans:

Maybe removing ssd and 3.5" drive cages

I already want a new case! 

 

What are other benchmarks that I could use for free?

 

Thanks for reading!

Killer Lightning

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My rig  is over kill for what i need, but new hardware and building is a lot of fun and a great hobby. The core of this build, the i7, was bought September 2014 and will be my CPU for at least 2-3 more years.

 

I chose the Air 240 because it's small but still has enough room for my Lightning (barely), H105, and RM1000. Building in this case wasnt to bad and its layed out very nicely.

 

Also replaced my MOBO with an ASRock Z97M. I have owned a Z77 Extreme 6 and was very impressed with it (with a 3570K)OC nicely and the UEFI was basic and layed out very good. Wasnt very happy with the MSI Z97M Gaming, couldnt hold a stable OC above 4.6Ghz for more than 20 min of AIDA 64 and the UEFI was layed out very poorly.

 

The 290X Lightning will be replaced in a few months, waiting to see what the new 390x and 980Ti are going to perform. 

 

Specs and pics in my profile.

 

 

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First time liquid cooling

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This is my first water-cooling build and I was pretty confident in myself so I went for a rigid tube build. I think it looks pretty nice and wanted to share with the rest of you! I can throw in more better quality pictures in later if requested. Enjoy! :)

 

Specs:

MSI z97 Krait Edition

i5 4690k

EVGA Nvidia GTX970 SC ACX2.0

HyperX Fury 8GB White

Fractal Design S

Corsair CX600M

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB

Seagate 1TB SSHD

 

Monitor: 

Acer B286hk

 

Watercooling:

Primochill PETG tubing

EK Supremacy MX

EK-FC970 GTX ACX

Primochill ghost compression fittings

Koolance PMP 450 Pump

Corsair SP120 PWM Performance fans

Black Ice Nemesis L-Series 360 Rad

Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 250

XSPC D5 Multiport Acetal Top

 

11167915_1135711996444100_1918681259521481495_n.jpg 11350459_1135712056444094_7675537130871924265_n.jpg 11014826_10155601809795103_5354252998276010811_n.jpg

Black/Red Noctis 450 Build Log

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Hey fellow LTT forum users! I'm Afiq from Singapore and in a week's time, I will be starting a build log of my friend's PC! Yay! Anyway, I've got my parts list here, hope you guys can give me advice!

 

Btw no need for OS or peripherals, my friend has that covered haha! he's looking to use this for 4K gaming I guess since he said he has a 4K monitor. 

 

He's looking to splurge about SGD$2500, which is around USD$1855. Btw, how about a name for this build? Have no ideas at all, help!

 

Hope you all will enjoy this build log once it starts in a week or so, in the meantime, ciao!

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($325.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($139.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card  ($547.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: NZXT Noctis 450 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($139.99 @ Directron) 
Total: $1708.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-31 02:51 EDT-0400

Alienware Area 51 ALX restoration.

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Hi guys. Please note this will be a quite long winded affair. It's not a custom build and it won't contain many, if any, case mods. It's just me restoring what I feel to be one of the best cases ever made. The quality just oozes from every crevice. It won't look terribly nice inside but it never did. However, this case is all about the outside.
 
Just think of this as a more electronics based build log, rather than one with lots of shiny parts.
 
About a year ago now I gave my Area 51 ALX to my step son. It was his 21st and after buying my dream rig I simply had too many rigs and had to get rid. I hate selling stuff I would rather give it away free (to family and friends of course) so at the time it was no biggy. However, I did regret it a little because the Alienware is just so lovely and well built. Not only that but good examples are incredibly rare (due to the size and weight they are so easy to damage) and when new at retail this was a rig that starts at £2700 minimum.
 
So any way, enough digressing. I originally bought the chassis along with a 1200w PSU in 2010. The rig was originally manufactured in 2008 and was sold as a dream rig (I ran the Dell service code and saw the specs. 980x, two 5970s etc).
 
When I got it it was pretty much mark free and in mint condition. Everything worked too, there was just a cold boot issue with the PSU that would happen every couple of months or so. When I gave it to my step son it had a hex core Westmere ES chip in it clocked to 1.8ghz with two 670s and so on. I took out the 670s and put those into the Dark Carnival AMD rig and gave him that as a replacement.
 
Since then I have been going to and fro over it. I had to cut into the left side panel because the 670s were over heating which kinda ruined the originality of the case. This sucks, and was why I have been humming and harring as to whether I should keep it or just take it to the dump. However, after doing some digging I found a new side panel on Ebay USA for $20. Sadly it will cost me around £100 to get it here, but I feel it's worth it.
 
After rigorous testing I found that the PSU was definitely at fault. A while back I bought some cables (braided extensions) and the 24 pin was wired up incorrectly and caused a short, buring out three 12v wires. I took them from anothter unused rail and all was well again, but it seems the PSU never fully recovered. This is a big issue, as the internal IO board that controls the front panel, roof vents and lights uses a proprietary power connector. This means you can't just fit a standard power supply, as nothing would work.
 
Bummer... Here is the IO board in question. It's about half the size of a ITX motherboard to give you some idea of the scale of it.
 
io%20board_zpsdhm3fraq.jpg
 
As you can see it's quite a complex beasty and has a 10 pin proprietary power connector. After many hours of running search strings through Google I finally managed some success, and, dug up these two images.
 
pins%202_zps0wbl6rgw.jpg
 
IO%20board%20pin%20outs_zps0wijqira.png
 
They are both identical, aside from the fact that one clever little person correctly identified that one of the 5v lines is a 5vSB. 
 
SB stands for "Stand By" and is used for "Power On" features, such as keyboard power on and/or mouse power on.
 
Setting +5v rather than +5vSB eliminates the possibility of using those features.
 
Thankfully when inspecting the 24 pin ATX connector we come across this...
 
24pin_zpse6pagvkl.jpeg
 
Note, one pink 5vSB. So the upshot of this is that I *should* be able to basically buy one of these (already ordered)
 
24%20pin_zpszzrcmlrz.jpg
 
And then strip into the wires, running the Alienware's 10 pin connector from it..
 
Here is the rig here (well, this is not my pic but this is what it looks like)
 
area%2051%201_zpsy5chq6nq.jpg
 
Here is where the PSU mounts. I will probably have to hand make some sort of plate to adapt it to take a regular PSU.
 
area%2051%20psu_zpsndwfihje.jpg
 
Proposed specifications.
 
Intel 2ghz Ivybridge ES, 8 core 16 thread 60w.
Ram - TBC
Motherboard - custom painted Gigabyte X79 UD3
Graphics card - MSI Titan Black 6gb
Hard drives - TBC, though I have about 8 spare]
SSD - 100gb Intel 320 series
Power supply - Corsair RM 750
Mods - possible internal painting, carbon 5.25 cover possibly with a screen in.
 
One more shot for now. This is the right side panel where all of the hard drives go.
 
area%2051%20hard%20driveds_zpsqf8ywlnv.j
 
It's an amazing feat of engineering. You really would think it couldn't be any better, then you realise that it's all completely lit with LEDs that connect to a battery pack, so even with no power going into the rig it still lights up.
 
As I mentioned before, this won't be a terribly exciting log. Well, not unless you are into electronics and the hacking of. I will post pics as I go :)
 
Yeah I know, TL:DR :D

The Flying Buffalo

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I'll start off with a bit of backstory; I've enjoyed using and tinkering with computers since I was 12 (currently 15), and that started with my old HP Pavillion, then I worked m way up to a full gaming desktop last year, sold those 2 then built this. I don't regret any parts except the CPU, I can't play games like GTA V and FC4 (yet).
 I chose Mini-ITX because I wanted a smaller form factor to make it easier for transportation to LAN parties and friends houses,  I don't regret any parts except the CPU, but it budget constraints didn't allow me to get anything more so I can't play games like GTA V and FC4 (yet), but it does look pretty nice. My next upgrade will definitely be an i5, then probably an AIO liquid cooler.
 Now for the parts reviews;
 CPU: This CPU is good at what it does, even plays most of my games, but like mentioned above, can't play newer AAA titles because it's only a dual core. Haven't tried OCing yet but will soon.
 MOBO: Great little motherboard, all the ports are in good positions except the HD audio (right behind the PCI-E slot) and it looks great too.
 RAM: Honestly not much to say, cheap, fast, and pretty good looking.
 SSD: This is the first SSD I've owned, so Windows boot compared to my old HDD is SO FAST, I love it.
 GPU: First Nvidia GPU so I was really excited, it's maxed out every game I've played at 1080P with great FPS, but my CPU is holding back the potential of this card. It's nice and small, matches my MOBO, fast, and comes with a lot of goodies! However I didn't get a copy of the Witcher 3 from Memory Express because they ran out. Is there another way I can get a free copy?
 Case: Good looking, SFF, 200MM fan included, all black sleeved front IO connectors, and a top panel window! my only problems with this case were that the instructions were terrible, and one of the standoffs was bent a lot and I had to bend it back.
 PSU: didn't have to pay anything for this because I had it lying around, it's very reliable, semi modular, and quiet. What more could you want? My only gripe is that the 24pin cable is WAY too tough, and it looks bad.
 OS: I had an extra copy so I got it for free, and it's better than Windows 8...
 Overall I love this new PC, having this SFF case is fantastic, but the CPU is holding it back. I feel like I made good decisions when it came to the parts with my budget and the store i was shopping at.
Sorry for the huge pictures...

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Watercooled 980ti Mini ITX Build!

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This build is going to be built specifically for 4K gaming in a tiny Hardline watercooled enclosure!

The build parts:
Corsair 250D case.
Gtx 980ti (most likely gigabyte G1 gaming/wind force edition) with EK waterblock.
Msi z97i - gaming ACK Mini ITX motherboard.
i7 4790k with EK supremacy Evo waterblock.
16gb Kingston HyperX fury 1866mhz Ram.
Alphacool ST30 240mm radiator
XSPC 140mm 35mm thick Radiator
Noctua NF-A14 x1 2000rpm
Noctua NF-F12 x2 2000rpm
EK DDC pump with bitspower Magic cube/heat sink
EK 110/250 reseviour
Bitspower fittings
EK hardline Tube 16-13mm
EK Evo green coolant
Corsair HX1000i PSU with green cables
WD 3TB green HDD
Samsung 250GB SSD

Just have to wait for the some of the parts to arrive first then I'll post first pics.

Project Veneno (Main Build)

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The first time it was built Looked like this

 

Case: Aerocool GT-A Black Edition

MB: Asus H81M-E

CPU: Intel I7 4790k

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport Kit 16GB 2x8GB 1600Mhz CL9

GPU: Asus ROG Striker GTX 760 4GB

SSD: 480GB PNY Optima

HDD: 3TB Seagate Barracuda

PSU: Aerocool Strike-X 600W

CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i

Cooling: 4x Corsair SP120 Performance Edition

 

IMG_2277-Editar.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile last week a deal came up.

 
Z87 MSI MPower Max and 16Gb more of ram
 

2015-05-15%2017.21.26.jpg
 
2015-05-15%2017.21.52.jpg
 

IMG_2357-Editar.jpg
 
IMG_2379.jpg
 
IMG_2346.jpg
 
_MG_2393.jpg

 

Case: Aerocool GT-A Black Edition

MB: Z87 MSI MPower Max

CPU: Intel I7 4790k

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport Kit 32GB 4x8GB 1600Mhz CL9

GPU: Asus ROG Striker GTX 760 4GB

SSD: 480GB PNY Optima

HDD: 3TB Seagate Barracuda

PSU: Aerocool Strike-X 600W

CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i

Cooling: 4x Corsair SP120 Performance Edition

 

All in place:

 

IMG_2303-Editar-2-2.jpg

 

Keyboard: Ozone Strike Pro
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013
Mouse Pad: Aerocool Strike-X Superpad
Headphones: Razer Kraken 7.1 USB
Monitor: HP Pavilion 22xi IPS
Controller: MLG Mad Catz Pro Circuit Controller
Audio: Panasonic SA-HE7 5.1

First build is very nearly complete!

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My first build is very nearly complete! Again...

I had a Cooler Master N400 and a Gigabyte Z97P-D3 and it was all up and running, but the motherboard had a problem so I sent it back, and didnt really like the case as it isnt ideal for cable management and I wanted a window, so since it didnt cost a bomb, I bought a new one!

Ill list specs and prices below and please tell me what you think! (btw, im not planning on playing the latest games out there now, just to let you know as this is a budget build aswell.)

 

Case: Corsair SPEC 03 (White LED) - £57 including p&p
Motherboard: MSI Z97S Krait SLI edition - £85

(This is coming either tomorrow or the day after)
Processor: Intel Core i3-4160 (stock cooler) - £90
RAM: 8GB HyperX FURY (2x4GB white) £50
GPU: Gigabyte 2GB GTX 960 Windforce 2 OC - £165
PSU: Corsair CX600M - £60

(I know this might be a little bit overkill, but I bought it in anticipation of getting an R9 280)

Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit - £25
(This only cost me so little as I only had to buy the product key)
Optical Drive: ASUS CD/DVD writer - £13
Fans: I am wanting to get AF140s for the front 2, and AF120s (I believe their AFs, the white LED ones, might be SPs) for the top 2, these arnt a huge problem as of right now, buy I will be buying them in the coming weeks. - around £40 (depending on what i decide to do!)

(My case has 2 120mm White LED fans in it, which will do for now [I might just use the front 2 now as the top 2, as they are also transparent and it saves me money])

Fan Controller: I am wanting to get a NZXT Sentry Mesh controller - £20

(Again, this isnt a huge problem and will buy in the coming weeks)

Total Cost: Around £605
 

I am very happy with how this has turned out and cannot wait to get it all built up! Let me know what you think, or what you would do different (keep in mind the budget I was aiming for was around £600) I will post pictures of the finished product if I remember!

Thanks!

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