This is my second build, a personal PC for all my needs, which are as follows: BF3, BF2:PR, CS:GO, Insurgency, BL2/BLPS, word processing, Lightroom and LightZone. “Bang for buck” was most definitely not one of my intentions, nor was the pursuit of chart-topping performance, as I like to stick to the philosophy that good things usually come out of striking a balance between two extremes.
I originally planned to put the Kraken G10 on the 280X; however, a series of setbacks made me extremely exhausted and I think it's going to be at least a week before I summon the energy and patience to try it again. The first 2 times, I didn't plug in the + 2 part of the 6 + 2 PCIe power connectors. Then, I failed to realize that the PSU end of one of the connectors had fallen out. Then, I accidentally disabled HD 4600. Then I thought to install Catalyst with my HD 5450 first, then try my luck with the 280X, but it didn't work. 4 hours later, I had done enough stock cooler installations/removals to have used up about half a tube of MX-4, and I was spent. I'm going to have to deal with the banshee Vapor-X fans for a bit longer.
I'm thinking right now that my 280X requires the fan connector to be connected. Otherwise, it won't start. This shouldn't have been an issue, but my 280X uses one of those mini GPU fan connectors that aren't compatible with regular 2/3/4 pin fans. But then again, that makes very little sense because in half of all the G10 reviews, the reviewers don't even bother plugging the 92mm G10 fan into the card itself, and it runs fine. I'm so confused right now.
CPU: Core i7-4790K
COOLER: U9B SE2
MEM: 8GB XPG 1.0 DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24
BOARD: Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5
STORAGE: 128GB SP610 + 1TB WD Blue + 500GB Seagate 5mm Ultrathin
PSU: G2 750W
CASE: Arc Mini R2
MISC: Cougar Turbine 120mm fan as exhaust, G10 + Kraken X31 laying around doing nothing
Luckily, the sun was out today, despite it being very cold outside. Conditions were stellar for a mini photo-shoot. Some pictures that I took with the D7000, still very big after compression:
That's all for now. Gotta go get Build #3's pictures up and running.