Halli~SPARTA~ Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Like Kram said Pics please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) All photos can be clicked for a 1200px size. The Phantom case can have both sides, the top, and the front removed, which is how I went about the build, everything off, incase you wondered what was going on in the build photos. All the gear, from Overclockers and Ebuyer, all ordered at 8pm one evening. Ebuyer was free delivery and arrived next day, Overclockers came the next day. The IO shield was cool, that's a sponge pad with a metallic back, so offering up the mobo to it was reather easy compared to the usual metal tabs around the edges. Normal size, I was expecting it to be bigger. Modular 100 watt - LOADS of cables. This is what you get with a more high end case, the manual is actually good - in this one the contents page not only lists all the different screws, as you can see it tells you what they are for and lists a reference number so you can find the screws easily as its printed on the plastic bag. Nice touch. Still not idiot proof though, this sense of security it gives you means I still managed to use the wrong mobo screws for the risers LOL. Its only because I was 2 short that I checked lol. Some close ups of the mobo now. Edited July 13, 2014 by Rocky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 (edited) Red or Dead. Nice stuff, Digital codes at bottom edge middle, plenty of sata express, loads of USB3 and USB 2 on the rear, 2 USB3.0 on front panel. Looks very cool lit up. Also has a switchable LED at the IO ports so you can see whats what round the back without pissing around with your phones flash just t plug a USB in. SLI ready, but I am not at that stage yet. Mobo and PSU in, case cables still in the bag there. You can just about make out the drive cages on the right. The trays are great - they are all the same but designed to take a full HDD or a SDD. The SDDs get screwed into place from below, the HDD installs are tool-less as the trays have small pins that pop into the HDD screw holes on the side. There are 3 cages of different sizes and they all come out. So I have one SSD and 2 HDDs in one case, removed the other two so now the large front fan blows right into the case with nothing in the way at all. The case is virtually silent on the slowest fan setting, the PSU fan switches off unless the PC is under load. More photo's tomorrow and some CPU benchmarks. Edited July 13, 2014 by Rocky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 So the Sli thing is not working out, not impressed at all, so the GTX660 is winging its way back to ebuyer. To cheer me up I put in two 120mm corsair fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Nice Rocky, sorry the SLi isn't working out for you. What CPU cooling you got? sorry if i missed it in the thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 (edited) Stock CPU cooling fan that came with the processor I meant those new fans to sook hot air out but I've put them on upside down for that and they are blowing air into the case . I guess that'll be ok though, they'll blow directly onto the back of the graphics card, and as there's nothing in the way, no cables or anything, that'll work out pretty good. Edited July 15, 2014 by Rocky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Stock CPU cooling fan that came with the processor ewwwwwwww! take that POS out Rocky, take out those 2 fans you put in and replace it with this... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Series-All-In-One-Digital-Performance/dp/B009ZN2NH6/ seen as you have the money as you are returning your GPU. Don't leave the stock cooler on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter~SPARTA~ Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 (edited) I agree with Kram about the cooler. The stock coolers are garbage, especially the heat paste that comes with them. It'll hold you over until you can get a better solution in place, but it should not be used for the the long term. I made that mistake with my i7 and eventually the heat paste hardened up and my processor would heat up into the high 90's celsius while under moderate load. I replaced the stock cooler with the Corsair H80 (little brother version of what Kram posted) and now my processor does not go above 50C, even under the heaviest load. I got lucky I noticed the temps on my monitor widget and didn't blow the processor; don't take that risk with your new build. Edit: I see you also have an unlocked i7, I should have mentioned my temp problems were on an i7 950, so no over clocking. If you have any intention of messing around with over clocking at all, after market cooler is a definite MUST have. Edited July 15, 2014 by Hunter~SPARTA~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Thanks guys, I read up on this processor before buying and it turns out they have addressed the thermal paste issue that was causing earlier i7's to overheat, so that sounds re-assuring. I wont be overlocking either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 i have this one.. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CWCH60-Performance-Radiator-All-In-One/dp/B004MYFOE2 does the job for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 When I logged on to youtube last night the recommended video was for the very cooler you linked to above, think it is the same anyway. I have not watched it all because its an hour long lol, but that is some piece of kit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) Okay so the beat is complete, thanks for putting up with me, it's not half as much if if I can;t share it with my Sparta pals! Card in place, fills the full available width of the case, is actually sitting on some of the mobo componants. Needs 1x8 pin power and 1 x 6 pin. View looking up from under the card to the top of the case. Size comparison. Makes the 660 look like a baby, and it is a big card in it's own right. topside Underside, has a protective film to be peeled off before install. Comes in very impressive boxing. Trying to show the red LED tracking on the mobo here... I liked this, two green lights at the power connectors to give confidence that the card is receiving power. Final shot of internals before the cover goes back on. The red fans are a matter of taste obviously, I like them, I know some won't! Benchmarks in the next post... Edited July 16, 2014 by Rocky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 So the purpose of this rig was to (1) decrease processing time for video production and (2) increase framerate by a factor of 2. Video processing tests using Handbrake because it uses all 8 cores, showed that processing time was effectively cut by 2/3rds, which is massive. For gaming, I originally I went for 2 x GTX 660's in SLi mode because I read enough reviews and benchmarks to see that this was achievable with these two cards in SLi. What I did not anticipate or read was that SLi profiles are not available for every game, so more than half my back catalogue would not benefit from SLi. For example, Grid Autosport had a profile in the making, but not ready yet. Watchdogs had a SLi profile, but COH2 does not. So, I sent the new GTX660 back (or rather I will tomorrow!) and got a GTX780 today. Using tomshardware I looked up my GTX660, doubled the frame rate it was getting in those tests, and looked to see which cards were giving that performance, and it was the GTX780. So, same as SLi performance but with one card instead of two. Gaming Benchmarks with Ultra settings, looking to achieve 2x FPS boost, worked out almost spot on in some tests COH2 GTX660 Av 20 Min 2 Max 34 GTX780 Av 41 Min 24 Max 60 GRFS GTX660 Av 26 Min 20 Max 36 GTX780 Av 51 Min 43 Max 61 Tomb Raider 2013 GTX660 Av 41 Min 23 Max 61 (frame rate capped?) GTX780 Av 59 Min 44 Max 62 Grid Autospot GTX660 Av 60 Min 46 Max 74 GTX780 Av 101 Min 74 Max 125 Hope that is of interest to someone, for me it's obviously the best PC I've built, I think this is my 3 or 4th and plan on it being my last, hence the spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halli~SPARTA~ Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Really nice, As for the heat sink I would not worry about anything until you go nuts on overclocking I have an I7-2600k and did not realize it was on auto overclock for a month when first installed and the heat was fine @ 4.2 so be assured that the processor will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Really smart Rocky, just see how quickly it gathers dust inside Get some of them air dusters if you haven't already, really good. Such a shame to see the stock cooler on the CPU though on such a fantastic build. Hopefully it will bug you enough to replace it. Perfectionist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PANiC Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 aw man that lolcooler :*( ace build rockster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) Really smart Rocky, just see how quickly it gathers dust inside Get some of them air dusters if you haven't already, really good. Such a shame to see the stock cooler on the CPU though on such a fantastic build. Hopefully it will bug you enough to replace it. Perfectionist? I might have to now you've pointed it out a couple of times, the next priority must surely be to get a higher resolution monitor. I'll look at air dusters, but my dyson cordless with a straw sellotaped to the nozzle usually does a good job ;p Edited July 18, 2014 by Rocky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 So, couple of updates. I was getting sound interference, for example, move the mouse up and down on the desktop, or scroll a webpage up and down and I could hear buzzing through the speakers. I vaguely remembered having the same issue a lot of years ago, but not how I resolved it. Lot's of google chat and not much in the way of solid solutions, so ditched the onboard sound and bought a Asus Xonar 5.1 sound card, fitted it today, seems to have done the trick! Secondly, there's a genuine 50% bargain on a new computer mouse on Amazon.co.uk right now, Logitech G602 , so far I'm liking it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 (edited) On offer http://www.ebuyer.com/644652-corsair-hydro-series-h100i-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler-refurbished-cw-9060009-ww-rf?utm_source=2014-07-31&utm_medium=campaign_email&utm_campaign=B2C_%28Thursday%29_All_FS edit...sorry it says a refurb! ignoreeeeeee Edited July 31, 2014 by Krambo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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