Topic: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread (Read 368165 times)

Fletch · « **Reply #100 on:** 07 Jul 2008, 23:22 »

I'm currently looking for info on portable (or close to) gaming computers ... I'm in China with about 8000RMB. (think it's a bit over $1000 USD, but I'm not sure the comparative market prices are the same)
If I can get specs and information to print out, I can probably find somewhere to sell/build it.

Dimmukane · « **Reply #101 on:** 08 Jul 2008, 07:33 »

A quick glance at Newegg shows a somewhat limited selection. FrozenCPU.com is a bit better. Tiny cases run about 80$ on average, same with motherboards. You'd probably have to be careful about what size video card you get...9500GS's and 8500 GT's have pretty decent performance, good size and price, but they aren't nearly as powerful as 9800GT/4870's. Which won't even fit in slim cases. Actually, I'd avoid slim cases if I were you, they cut down your options even more.

MarkTBSc · « **Reply #102 on:** 08 Jul 2008, 08:27 »

I'd reccomend the outervision extreme site's "Power supply calculator" and the "Overclock calculator":
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp

They allow you to make sure you're not under or over-specing your PSU for the system you've got.

I'll also point out that the worst source for noise in a PC is the piower supply. Most cheap PSUs aren't in fact quiet, they're cheap Chinese tat which roar when they get warm. I wonder why so far no-one's built a liquid cooled PSU for silent PCs.

Finally, excellent article here:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/07/08/is-more-memory-better/1

On memory and how it relates to 32/64 bit systems. of particular note is that your memory address allocation is shared between all devices using memory. So if you max out your ram to 4gb and use a 512Mb video card then you're only using 3.5Gb of that ram. The other 512Mb is wasted.

Fletch · « **Reply #103 on:** 11 Jul 2008, 22:12 »

Quote

cpu :Intel CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2400MHz 1540
MB: asus p35 800
Ram :G SKILL 4GB DDR2-800 w/Heatpipe Coolina(2x2GB) 400*2
Video Card: XFX Geforce 9600GT 512MB quiet PCI-E 1399
Sound Card: Onboard Sound
Hard Drive: seagate SATA 10,000RPM 74GB 1000
CD/DVD: Pioneer Blu-Rav Burner SATA(black) 1280
Ext.Drive: 1TB USB2.0/Ext SATA Samsung Hard Drive 1550
Case: Antec P-80B 1280
Power Supply :Thermaltake 680A 680w 780
CPU Cooling: ASUS V60 300

This is the specs I've been recommended by a local (read: Chinese) computer dealer after showing them some stuff from Puget. Any opinions? It's through a friend, but I still don't trust them as far as I can throw them.

Dimmukane · « **Reply #104 on:** 12 Jul 2008, 12:53 »

That's pretty good. I have a 9600GT, actually. Runs everything I throw at it pretty well.

MarkTBSc · « **Reply #105 on:** 12 Jul 2008, 14:15 »

Are those numbers next to the components the prices? If so what currency are they in because they look massively overpriced. Also, I'd lose 2 of the 4gb of RAM and upgrade the 9600GT to an 8800GT. You don't really need four gigs of RAM and the heatpipe cooling is probably waaay more than they need,

Fletch · « **Reply #106 on:** 12 Jul 2008, 21:27 »

8800GT is better than a 9600GT? I can't seem to find anything definite to back this up.

Links?
The prices are in Chinese currency (RMB, I'm working in China) so you can roughly divide by 7 or so to get american, canadian or australian. (check current rates for a better idea)
I might be able to get better prices if I go to a second dealer, but I'm still deciding what parts I want.
It is really hot & humid here - how much could that affect my need for good heatsinks?

Dimmukane · « **Reply #107 on:** 12 Jul 2008, 21:45 »

An 9600GT is about par with a 8800GT. It's only slightly weaker, by maybe 5-10%, but it's also cheaper. I got mine for about 190 plus tax, factory overclocked. Mine idles at about 51 degrees Celsius, doesn't ever get hotter than 65, if that's any help.

MarkTBSc · « **Reply #108 on:** 13 Jul 2008, 05:10 »

My bad, I was getting the 9600 and the 6800 confused in my head. I'm just a big fan of the 8800 models (not the GTS model though) and they're one I actually have some experience with.

As for the prices in Chinese currency, fair enough. That one threw me for a loop. I was terrified you were talking in Dollars which would have been really scary. For some reason there are electronic items that seem to be much more expensive in the US than over here in the UK.

As for the heat and humidity... I'm not sure. It's going to lower the MTBF on your PSU but I'm not sure about the thermal capacity of moist air over dry air. I'm guessing it's going to make cooling harder but then it all becomes a matter of extra fans, the noise they make and whether you want to go all the way into liquid cooling.

dennis · « **Reply #109 on:** 13 Jul 2008, 09:16 »

I believe humid air has a higher heat capacity than dry air, unfortunately, humid air is also going to be warmer than dry air in general, and since radiative cooling depends entirely on temperature differential, it's probably no help.

notselfcreated · « **Reply #110 on:** 17 Jul 2008, 13:07 »

Question! Last month I built a computer. It's loosely based off of Toms Hardware "$500 Gaming PC" from last April. It is very loud. Sounds like a jet engine.

Pentium e2180 2GHz
8800 GT
2GB PC6400 DDR2

Plus cheap Intel motherboard, good CPU fan, etc.

Well, I cheaped out on the case, which was a mistake (at least the included 450W PSU seems to be working without any problems). There were no fans, but a local PC shop gave me a couple of their el-cheapo fans. There's an 80mm exhaust fan and a 120mm intake fan in the lower front. (The case is too narrow to fit bigger than an 80mm exhaust). The main offender noise-wise is the 120mm intake.

OK, so my question boils down to two things:

1. What is the optimum fan configuration? Is it simply more = better? There is a small grill on the side that could maybe accommodate an 80mm; should I put one there?

2. Is an intake fan really necessary? Especially since there aren't really vents in the front faceplate. If it is, can anyone recommend an inexpensive, quiet 120mm? Should I even go so far as to cut vents into the plastic of the faceplate?

Melodic · « **Reply #111 on:** 17 Jul 2008, 13:53 »

If you're concerned about noise, more fans definitely != better. As long as your 8800GT is running within safe heat ranges, there's no reason to slap fans around your case like postage stamps. Not to mention, you're barely scraping by with that PSU, and adding more fans will probably just overload the poor thing. If you're really worried about sound & heat, I suggest buying a strong aftermarket heatsink for your GPU and strapping it on with above-average paste. The 8800 line in particular has some really shit heatsinks stock, and since they're designed to only run at 55% maximum capacity, what you'd be hearing at 100% would be a hurricane inside your computer.

notselfcreated · « **Reply #112 on:** 17 Jul 2008, 21:13 »

Quote from: Melodic on 17 Jul 2008, 13:53

If you're concerned about noise, more fans definitely != better. As long as your 8800GT is running within safe heat ranges, there's no reason to slap fans around your case like postage stamps. Not to mention, you're barely scraping by with that PSU, and adding more fans will probably just overload the poor thing. If you're really worried about sound & heat, I suggest buying a strong aftermarket heatsink for your GPU and strapping it on with above-average paste. The 8800 line in particular has some really shit heatsinks stock, and since they're designed to only run at 55% maximum capacity, what you'd be hearing at 100% would be a hurricane inside your computer.

Wouldn't the heatsinks included with an 8800 vary greatly depending on the manufacturer?

Melodic · « **Reply #113 on:** 19 Jul 2008, 20:09 »

In theory yes, but application no. While different manufacturers may alter the stock heatsink, it's usually slight enough that it doesn't contrast itself from the original.

notselfcreated · « **Reply #114 on:** 22 Jul 2008, 11:09 »

OK, got another one here...

Suppose I wanted to let both an 8800GT and an old MX440 PCI live inside of my PC. Would there be conflicts if I installed the Forceware for both of these cards at once?

As far as why I would do such a thing... FFVII for the PC does not like GF8s, but it would probably play nice with a GF4.

MarkTBSc · « **Reply #115 on:** 23 Jul 2008, 01:39 »

Ok, I might as well address the fan thing here.

The whole point of a fan is to have air moving over a heatsink. That drains the heat out of the heatsink by Convective heat transmission (i.e the sink warms the air around it which then carries that heat away) and keeps the sink at a comfortable temperature. One of the worst mistakes to make is just to think that more fans = better. Too many people just get a bunch of small fans and strap them to every opening of the case, blowing air inwards. The problem there is that if they're all blowing air in then where does it come out?! All you've done is slightly raised the pressure inside the case and probably ruined the cooling. In a situation like that, a single 120mm fan would actually be better than ten 80mm versions. It's not just about the fans, it's about the airflow.

First trick to use? Ducting. If you can construct a simple cardboard duct that connects your single 120mm fan (bigger, slower and quieter) to the CPU heatsink and from there to an outflow vent then you will have great cooling efficiency for very little noise. Same with the graphics card. Ducting kicks ass.

Conventional tower PC cases actually suck from a cooling perspective. They require air to be sucked in and blown out. Much better would be a Chimney design similar to the Mac G4 Cube. A central vertical shaft through the computer that uses the tendency of hot air to rise to cool the PC without the use of fans.

As far as power supplies go, there is only one truely silent one that offers a decent output. Silverstone do a 300w version that is actually a 500w stepped down and uses a massive heatsink. I believe it should be possible to construct a water-cooled PSU, but I doubt you'll ever be able to buy one because of safety concerns.

Fletch · « **Reply #116 on:** 24 Jul 2008, 02:29 »

I'm still working on what to get; everything bar cpu & motherboard is set - does anyone have any good suggestions on what I should be looking for in a gaming pc? should it be different if I want to link a couple of gtx280's together? What stats can I base opinions from with motherboards?

Melodic · « **Reply #117 on:** 26 Jul 2008, 11:46 »

Get an Asus P5B mobo. Or a P5WDH/DX if you're feeling particularly fancy. I love my P5W.

As for CPUs, take your pick. Quad-core seems to be the new big "thing", so get a Core 2 Quad in your price range.

dennis · « **Reply #118 on:** 11 Aug 2008, 07:15 »

Quote from: notselfcreated on 22 Jul 2008, 11:09

OK, got another one here...

Suppose I wanted to let both an 8800GT and an old MX440 PCI live inside of my PC. Would there be conflicts if I installed the Forceware for both of these cards at once?

As far as why I would do such a thing... FFVII for the PC does not like GF8s, but it would probably play nice with a GF4.

Theoretically, no.

Spluff · « **Reply #119 on:** 31 Aug 2008, 01:32 »

Quote from: Fletch on 24 Jul 2008, 02:29

I'm still working on what to get; everything bar cpu & motherboard is set - does anyone have any good suggestions on what I should be looking for in a gaming pc? should it be different if I want to link a couple of gtx280's together? What stats can I base opinions from with motherboards?

Honestly, I wouldn't go for the 280 at the moment, unless you've got an infinite budget. Link up two 4870s and you've got a ridiculously powerful rig for much much less (easily more powerful than a 280 for less money) .

est · « **Reply #120 on:** 31 Aug 2008, 19:19 »

I wouldn't even spring for two 4870s. Either one 4870 or two 4850s is the best price-performance gfx dealybobber at the moment. Although, looking at the date on the original post it is possible they were not about at the time & you have already bought a gtx280 or two by now.

3Z3VH · « **Reply #121 on:** 07 Sep 2008, 01:01 »

I just finished watercooling my PC, and it is super quiet now. Seriously, I get more noise from my hard drives spinning (7200RPM drives even, not 10k RPM monsters) than from the 4x 120mm fans in my case. Also, I got the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W PSU, and it makes no noise at all. I went with all Enermax Enlobal (Magnetic) Bearing fans because they are so silent. There isn't really a need for a full passive setup unless you have the case right next to your ear at all times. Just get the right components, and you will not hear a peep out of your computer.

Here is a peek inside mine... it isn't 100% done yet as I have to drill a hole in my case to mount the fill-port, rather than leaving it flopped over the other tube like that. Also, sorry for the image quality, I took the picture with my iPhone, and half the lights in the room were off.

MarkTBSc · « **Reply #122 on:** 07 Sep 2008, 03:45 »

For anyone who's rebuilding their machine, adding extra drives, reinstalling the operating system... If you have anything that's important to you, like photos or your email backup or anythng, be sure you copy it off onto disks before starting work. I've just done a complete rebuild and I was sure all my important data was on my 120Gb ide hard disk. It turned out it wasn't and I formatted the drive containing six years worth of photos and eight years worth of email.

The pain is immense.

Thankfully I chose to dual-boot linux so I have access to a lot of undelete software. I'll have to see what I can do.

3Z3VH · « **Reply #123 on:** 08 Sep 2008, 12:35 »

Best drive and partition recovery software I have ever used was something called TestDisk. It is cross-platform, so you can find it for whatever OS you need, but I got the best results booting from DOS or Linux (without X) and running it. It certainly isn't a pretty program, but it gets the job done, and it gets it done well.

I have also been told that TestDisk comes with Knoppix, but I have never tried, so YMMV.

Fletch · « **Reply #124 on:** 11 Sep 2008, 01:30 »

Well, I don't have an infinite budget, but a small budget does stretch pretty far when I want to throw money at a computer. I haven't bought anything yet, mainly due to the amazing number of people trying to get me to buy something reasonably priced. (3, - 6,000 rmb, instead of 16, - 20,000 rmb)
I've never been in a country where everyone is so convinced they know what you want to buy better than they do - to the point where they will order what you didn't want.

I'm currently trying to get a computer that will reasonably support upgrading to a second gtx280 in the future. I saw it done on the interwebs. (can't find it now)

est · « **Reply #125 on:** 15 Sep 2008, 22:51 »

I am pretty sure that while I have placed a ban on buying any upgrades until Christmas the next set of upgrades I get will include a cheap/DIY watercooling setup. Only problem I find is that there doesn't seem to be much room inside my case. I got an Antec 900 and while it looks huge there is a fairly limited amount of space inside. Also, I have a raid card and a few drives inside the machine taking up a large amount of space, so that might cause some problems.

After I get all my tax crap out of the way I will have to re-assess what I am doing with all this crap. I am pretty sure I don't need this RAID card in here, because it takes forever to load up and doesn't give enough of a benefit. I could replace it with a Velociraptor for the boot drive plus my existing storage drive and be done with it, or perhaps even streamline is further using one Velociraptor drive and some kind of low-power linux fileserver box for the keeping of all my junx and the running of torrents, etc. Yesssssss.

3Z3VH · « **Reply #126 on:** 15 Sep 2008, 23:11 »

From my experience watercooling isn't cheap if you want to do it right

The setup you see above cost me $400 in parts, and I just happened to have bought the perfect case for this setup before I ever jumped on the watercooling thing. With a single GPU in the loop, you could knock about $100 off of that, but even still I wouldn't call it cheap.

My best word of advice though, is do NOT buy a "kit" if you want any better results than your current air cooling setup (Of course, Petra's kits are the exception to this rule, since they build their "kits" from the same individual pieces most people would buy).

Also, depending on the goal you have with watercooling, your pieces will differ greatly... If you are going for silence, and never going to overclock, you would go for a smaller pump, and possibly a larger radiator than you would otherwise use if your only concern was overclocking.

For a basic parts list of what I did...
CPU Block: EK Supreme Acetal (Best rated CPU block on the market)
GPU Blocks: D-Tek Fuzion2 w/fitted UniSinks for the ram and mosfets on the card (Best rated non-full-coverage GPU block on the market)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 (Best evaporation and stain resistant tubing available, and it has a great bend radius) I used 7/16" tubing because it worked aesthetically, and for good cooling, and still fits on 1/2" barbs.
Radiator: Swiftech MCR-220 (Best rated radiator that would fit in my case)
Pump: Swiftech MCP655-Vario (Best rated, and variable speed made it easy to bleed, and quiet, though even set at full I can't even hear it)

I decided not to use a reservoir since I transport my case regularly for LAN parties, and did not want to worry about spills, instead I went with a fill-port. The downside is bleeding takes longer. With a fill-port you can get a simple clamp to put on the fill tube that ensures air will never get into the circuit during transport. With a reservoir... it isn't as easy, and you risk spilling inside your car/computer.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #127 on:** 04 Nov 2008, 14:22 »

Does anyone know offhand what the problem was between Cornerstone P1500 monitors and 7900gs cards? I had a problem when I originally bought the card, but I forgot how I fixed it, and I think it is happening again, but now I can't find anything on it.

dennis · « **Reply #128 on:** 09 Jan 2009, 10:55 »

I'm waiting for UPS to arrive with my new computer parts. They have a tendency to not ring the doorbell and just slap on a "we missed you" label.

I ordered:

Antec P182 case
Enermax modu82+ 625W power supply
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo 8400 (9.0x333MHz=3.0GHz) cpu
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 memory
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB HD
EVGA Geforce GTX260 core 216 55nm SC vid car
Tuniq Tower 120 cooler

MrBlu · « **Reply #129 on:** 09 Jan 2009, 20:53 »

Feh.

My Sub $500 Gaming Machine is...:

Mobo + CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7300

BIOSTAR TForce TP43D2A7 LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
GPU + RAM: OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N1066SR2GK - Retail

POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-DH Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

PSU: APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 500W ATX Power Supply

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (Or you could spend $8 extra and get a 250 or even 320GB HDD)

DVD Drive: SAMSUNG 20X DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model TS-H653N

Case: Rosewill R226-P-BK 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Total cost: $483.92

Don't trust Tom's Hardware. Ever.

dennis · « **Reply #130 on:** 11 Jan 2009, 07:02 »

What's wrong with Tom's Hardware?

Had a couple of fit issues with my build, but nothing a ten inch bastard file couldn't fix. The retaining clip for the tuniq tower 120 was a little too wide and wouldn't fit between the chipset heatsinks. Everything went into the P182 ok, eventually. The cable management in that case is excellent. I have most of the cables running behind the mobo tray. I'll post photos later. Currently reinstalling some steam games.

est · « **Reply #131 on:** 11 Jan 2009, 19:18 »

Nice gear picks, Dennis. I am hopefully about to do a bit of a hardware refresh myself. It's my birthday in uh, oh shit, 8 days I guess. Huh, cool. Anyway, I am planning some kind of hardware update for my birthday.

Currently have Antec 900 case, Antec 1000w psu, nForce 650i-based mobo, Core duo2 E6750 (2.66ghz), 4gb ram, Radeon 4870 512mb and a coulpe of hdds. It's a decent enough machine, but the cpu and mobo are getting on a bit. Gonna definitely be getting a 150gb Velociraptor and I already have a new case, but here's the rest of the planned spec:

Antec Mini-P180 case - already have
Antec TruPower 1000w psu - already have
DFI LanParty Jnr P45 mATX mobo - to buy (best mATX mobo I can find at the moment)
Core2 duo E8500 (3.16ghz) cpu - to buy (don't want to go quad yet, not worth it for what I use it for - ie: games)
4 gb ram - already have (future plan is to go to 8gb, but not at the moment)
Radeon 4870 512mb - already have
WD Velociraptor 150gb - to buy

So like I said, the current upgrade is the new hdd for about $250. The mobo is about $230 and the cpu is about $280, so I am looking at between $750 and 800 if I want to upgrade all three at the same time (which would make sense really, seeing as I will need to re-install for the hdd and probably for the mobo.)

dennis · « **Reply #132 on:** 13 Jan 2009, 14:11 »

My build photos!

example:

bluerobin427 · « **Reply #133 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 10:41 »

I'm liking that sub-$500 system. I'm starting to look around for what's good in computers (I feel so out of the loop and I've only not been paying attention for about 7 or 8 months) because I'm pretty desperately in need of a gaming computer upgrade. The one I'm using is about 4 and a half years old, so almost anything's an upgrade, but I wasn't sure how much I'd have to spend. I WAS thinking about spending more than $500, but I'd need a monitor and an OS (for some reason my brain's not Linux friendly so I'm sticking with Windows), which would bring it up closer to the $1000-$1200 range that I was thinking about. Still, what would your first recommendations on upgrades for that system be?

EDIT: I guess I should say I'm pretty handy with the software side of computers but my hardware experience is sorely lacking. I'm planning on building it myself and I've been around/helped other people build so I know enough to not screw it up (hopefully anyway). That's my main reason for asking. My big fear is that I'll order stuff, try and put it together, and it won't start because parts are incompatible or something like that. Not really a huge deal if I know what's wrong, but it'd still be annoying.

Also, do you guys have recommendations for good wireless cards/adapters? It doesn't have to be awesome because I'm just in an apartment and the router's pretty central, but I really want the connection to be reliable.

dennis · « **Reply #134 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 18:28 »

My video card recommendation for a sub $500 system is the Geforce 9600. You can find one for about $100 and they perform very well. For a little more, you can move up to the 9800, but you get less bang for the buck.

What is your current system and what components are you thinking about replacing?

In a 4+ year old system, you've probably got an AGP mobo, and AGP video cards are obsolete and hard to find (and expensive). For about $60-100 you can find a decent budget mobo in either LGA775 (Intel Core 2) or Socket AM2 (AMD Athlon and Phenom procs). You'll need 2 gigs of RAM minimum, and luckily DDR2 is dirt cheap lately, so look at about $30 for a 2 gig matched pair kit of PC6400 or PC5300. You can probably keep your hard drives, but I find it's easier and still cost-effective to just get a new HD at that point since a clean install of Windows is highly recommended if you're switching out so many components. $60 will buy you a good 320-500 GB SATA2 drive.

est · « **Reply #135 on:** 26 Jan 2009, 19:33 »

Thanks for the build photos, Dennis. You just made me want to spend money I don't have on new parts I don't need. Thanks a lot.

dennis · « **Reply #136 on:** 02 Feb 2009, 13:01 »

Muahahaha.

It is sweet to be running all the games at max settings. Sweeeeet.

I am so much better in L4D now that my computer can keep up.

est · « **Reply #137 on:** 02 Feb 2009, 16:49 »

So ok, I just bought a 150gb VelociRaptor (with Han giggling at me and calling me a nerd every time I named it thus) and am picking up a DFI LanParty Jnr mATX P45 mobo either today or tomorrow. These will be going into my mini P180 post-haste. I have decided not to upgrade my cpu just yet, as this can be quite easily done at some later date (ie: when I gots more moneys).

I'll take pics when I build/rebuild. I may/may not also be putting in fairly crap watercooling gear at the same time. It'll be fun!

GuitarFreak · « **Reply #138 on:** 05 Feb 2009, 17:59 »

My new build D:

Voltage isn't right on there.

[email protected] 1.43v testing, Foxconn Blackops, BFG 8800GTX OC w/HR-03 Plus (dead

), 4GB Patriot DDR3-1800 testing, Corsair 620HX, Auzentech X-Fi Prelude, 1.3TB storage, Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, Cosmos S, 28" Hanns-G + 22" Gateway monitors, Logitech Z5500 speakers

est · « **Reply #139 on:** 05 Feb 2009, 21:42 »

Fuck yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!

I mean uh, nice rig.

Ok, pics time.

New case, outer (and I still haven't taken the plastic off yet. Scared of scratchessssssss):

New case, inner:

New mobo, DFI LanParty Jr (mATX P45/ICH10R board):

Mobo, PSU and DVD drive in place. No drive cage, just put the lower drive bay fan in place:

With drive bay in place:

CPU fan (Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, of course) in place blowing upward because it wouldn't fit the board otherwise:

Shot showing the top and bottom compartments:

I'm pretty happy with the layout. Hot air from the CPU fan is thrown up through the 200mm "Bigboy" exhaust. I'm pretty sure that thing can handle it. Have the drive bay fan pulling air straight through onto the graphics card and an extra fan pulling air through up near the cpu.

After reading a bunch of stuff online I expected that my dvd drive wouldn't fit up top. However, it fits quite easily so I am not sure what people are smoking. As a result of this I have a shitload of space down in the bottom 5.25" drive bays (bottom-right of the second and last pics) and a fair amount of space in the drive bay area holding the fan.

When I decide to go with watercooling I will probably put a drive bay res down the bottom and put the pump up next to the video card with the fan blowing over it, as I have heard some pumps can get hot. The TRU120E will go, replaced by a cpu block. I will put the 1x120 rad I was given outside the rear exhaust port. At the moment I am trying to figure out if I should leave one fan inside and push-pull through the rad or just pull through with one fan on the outside. Either way there is plenty of room in this relatively small case.

Oh and I guess for e-peen embiggening my specs are now: DFI LanParty Jnr mobo, E6750@stock for the moment while I test everything out, 4gb OCZ Reaper ddr2 ram, Radeon 4870@860 core/910 ram, a 150gb VelociRaptor for OS and apps and another 500gb drive for general data.

est · « **Reply #140 on:** 05 Feb 2009, 21:56 »

Oh ps: that is Han's foot, hello Han's foot!

clockworkjames · « **Reply #141 on:** 05 Feb 2009, 22:13 »

Fans blow better than they suck so I might rethink your HSF to make it blow out the back but have the fan mounted so it blows towards the fins as opposed to sucking it through them.

Whoever has the tuniq tower, nice! Is old as shit but still one of the best 755 coolers available.

I would post pics of my rig with it's lovely additions (q9550, 4gb 8500 dominator and sli9600's (stfu, they are the best in sli cards available))but I would not want to shame you with the awesome.

The mini antec is also SEXY AS FUCK. Good choice on the mobo too, I really like your build.

Oh and the cosmos, fuck you all for having sexy rigs.

est · « **Reply #142 on:** 05 Feb 2009, 22:49 »

Thanks for the comments & tips. Generally people tell watercoolers to put a fan onto the radiator so that it pulls the air through rather than pushing it, as you get a better throughput due to air resistance mumbo jumbo. I applied this reasoning to my HSF. I may be wrong perhaps? I am not sure. I will see how I go and also see if there is room to mount it beneath the HS (from memory I don't think I can. The northbridge HS gets in the way, which is the reason for the lateral mount in the first place.)

McTaggart · « **Reply #143 on:** 06 Feb 2009, 03:37 »

Heh, so I bought a bunch of parts and accidently a P180 mini to put them in (I thought is was a vanilla P180) so I went and bought a P182 so I could get it all to fit. After looking at that, est, it looks like I could have gone for an mATX motherboard instead and my 4870 would've fitted fine.

But then I would've lost out on the chance to drop another 4870 in down the track. Oh well, now I have a spare pretty case.

est · « **Reply #144 on:** 07 Feb 2009, 01:36 »

The LanParty Jr has Crossfire available on it. I could probably put two 4870s into this case, but the heat issues would be interesting to solve. I know people put 2x 4850s into this kind of setup, so mostly it's just making sure there's enough airflow.

McTaggart · « **Reply #145 on:** 07 Feb 2009, 19:10 »

I had a look around before measuring the 4870 and thinking it wouldn't fit and there were no mATX AM2+ motherboards with Crossfire that were cheaper than the case I'd intended to get and in stock in Perth. It's all built and working now, save for tweaks like a big, quiet heatsink and maybe quieter case fans.

clockworkjames · « **Reply #146 on:** 08 Feb 2009, 03:43 »

I bouht big ezpensive pretty and quiet fans... neglected to remember that my boot drive is the loudest thing in my room by far.

Shit.

GuitarFreak · « **Reply #147 on:** 11 Feb 2009, 06:36 »

Quote from: est on 05 Feb 2009, 21:42

Fuck yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!

I mean uh, nice rig.

Ok, pics time.

New case, outer (and I still haven't taken the plastic off yet. Scared of scratchessssssss):

New case, inner:

New mobo, DFI LanParty Jr (mATX P45/ICH10R board):

Mobo, PSU and DVD drive in place. No drive cage, just put the lower drive bay fan in place:

With drive bay in place:

CPU fan (Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, of course) in place blowing upward because it wouldn't fit the board otherwise:

Shot showing the top and bottom compartments:

I'm pretty happy with the layout. Hot air from the CPU fan is thrown up through the 200mm "Bigboy" exhaust. I'm pretty sure that thing can handle it. Have the drive bay fan pulling air straight through onto the graphics card and an extra fan pulling air through up near the cpu.

After reading a bunch of stuff online I expected that my dvd drive wouldn't fit up top. However, it fits quite easily so I am not sure what people are smoking. As a result of this I have a shitload of space down in the bottom 5.25" drive bays (bottom-right of the second and last pics) and a fair amount of space in the drive bay area holding the fan.

When I decide to go with watercooling I will probably put a drive bay res down the bottom and put the pump up next to the video card with the fan blowing over it, as I have heard some pumps can get hot. The TRU120E will go, replaced by a cpu block. I will put the 1x120 rad I was given outside the rear exhaust port. At the moment I am trying to figure out if I should leave one fan inside and push-pull through the rad or just pull through with one fan on the outside. Either way there is plenty of room in this relatively small case.

Oh and I guess for e-peen embiggening my specs are now: DFI LanParty Jnr mobo, E6750@stock for the moment while I test everything out, 4gb OCZ Reaper ddr2 ram, Radeon 4870@860 core/910 ram, a 150gb VelociRaptor for OS and apps and another 500gb drive for general data.

Nice rig. +1 for the TRUE

Also, I have most of my watercooling parts, still need the rad and pump, but I have the rest. I got a swiftech apogee GTZ for the CPU and I'll also WC my NB since the blackops is awesome like that. Need to pick up another top for the NB though since the one on the board is aluminum.

yay!

dennis · « **Reply #148 on:** 12 Feb 2009, 21:18 »

GuitarFreak: nice build. That Foxconn BlackOps is a serious piece of hardware. Also, impressive OC on the e8600. I got my e8400 up to 3.6 with stock volts. I hit 4+ stable for 4 hours with minor volt increases, but my memory wouldn't stay stable past that (I'm just running DDR2 800). Also, how are you liking the Cosmos S? I considered it, but I decided to go for quiet, since this would be the third computer in my small office. Also, I previously had an Antec P150 that I liked.

Est: Nice! I'd never considered going small form factor before, but you might have changed my mind. My previous build had a Lanparty NF4 board, but I decided to go with the Gigabyte this time to save some money. What kind of temps are you getting in your case?

clockworkjames: It was me with the Tuniq Tower. I've never used any other 775 coolers before, but I can't really see a compelling reason to switch. I am amazed at the efficiency of this cooler. I'm afraid it might break my mobo in half someday, but I do like it anyway.

---

Anyone got any recommendations for PWM fan controllers? The Tuniq has a manual fan, and I've got an Enermax Cluster (which are going for like, $7 on Newegg right now with a rebate) for the middle chamber, so I thought I'd put in a controller.

est · « **Reply #149 on:** 12 Feb 2009, 21:47 »

Couple of things:

GuitarFreak, nice block! I am pretty sure that is the block I want when I finally get a decent one. (or an EK, not 100% but I think the Swiftech is easier for me to get).

Dennis, since buying my board I've noticed a lot more mATX stuff coming out. Asus is bringing out an mATX range in the Republic of Gamers series with the suffix "Gene". Looks pretty good for a high-end enthusiast board (aka $$$) but I am still really happy with my LanParty Jr.

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