my rebuild/upgrade

[SGwillis]

Well i decided that with a bit of sad news within the family, i will rebuild and upgrade my pc to take my mind off things. its not going to be a rushed job and will most probably take a while as i want everything to be done right first time. Also i had a clear out down my garage aswel which means i got tonnes of room to mod my pc without having to tidy the work space up because the misses wants to cook/watch tv/go to sleep

Currently running Q6600 w/ scythe ninja, 8800GTS 640MB, 2gig titanium OCZ pc6400, 400, 250 and a 74gig hard drives, DS3R mobo, corsair HX520 PSU, all housed within a akasa mirage

my current plans are -

* Change Case To a Lian li V1000 with a custom matt black finish
* change mobo to a P5K-E or similar
* upgrade to 4 or 8 gig or ram
* make HDD as silent as possible
* Maybe upgrade the graphics, they suit my needs at the mo so not sure


i do have a bad habit of expecting the insides to be as simple as possible so cable tidying is one of the highest things on my list (i need a new hobby:p: )

any input would be greatly appricated

[munim]

P5K-E is a good motherboard, I run one myself but it's NB cooling is crap so you should add a chipset cooler from Noctua or Thermalright.

[Nazu]

I wouldn't replace the mobo. Get a faster videocard, 4GB ram or a invest in fans/cpu cooler that you can minimize the noise of your pc (dunno if you're as much as silence freak as I am :P)

[SGwillis]

invest in fans/cpu cooler that you can minimize the noise of your pc (dunno if you're as much as silence freak as I am :P)

thats most probably the second thing on my list after making the interals tidy, looking at getting a few good rated fans ,7V mod them, as i want it to be rather silent :)

[SGwillis]

looks like the case and motherboard has been sorted, V1000 + PsK-E :)

got a lenghty shopping list for tomorrow

need some primer, few cans of matt black paint, a scalpul :eek:, some tape (starting to sound like a plot to a horror film) a few other bits

colour scheme im thinking red/black or blue/black.

any input as always is appricated :)

[Tonucci]

I think that upgrading your GTS will yield small gains at an relatively high cost, unless you get an dual gpu card. But then, I would not get an expensive card right now, because next gen cards from both camps are going to be released very soon. Since you said it will take a while, I'd wait fot the new GPUs.

Your mobo is good, no point in upgrading it imo, unless you have an specific reason.

Unless you use some specific apps that uses alot of memory, you will be hard pressed to fill 4Gb, 8gb will only stress your mobo mem controller in this case. 4Gb of reasonably priced ram is enough for 1+ years of gaming IMO.

Case choice is subjective, so just go with the one you like (I myself dont like to spend alot on cases, as they dont improve my FPS), along with silenced HDDs.

[ExodusC]

If I were you, I would probably grab another two gigs of RAM and maybe another 74GB HDD so you can go RAID. (The GA-P35-DS3R supports RAID, doesn't it?)

I would probably hold off on upgrading the video card, wait for RV770 or GT-200. An 8800GTS should last just fine until then. (I'm on a 7800GTX, it's almost 3 years old now, I think it's almost time for an upgrade for me.)

[SGwillis]

the reason for the upgrade of motherboard is that i will be using it in another build that will be clocked quite a bit and the DS3R board so far has been a very stable clocking board. another reason is the P5K has wifi so when i get round to making a HTPC it will b used in there.

excuse my ignorance, but would having 8gig be a bad thing if i wasnt using it all the time ? i occassionally use a bit of maya,3dmax and photoshop so its not like i would not be using quite spec hungary programs

thanks for the help

SG

[ExodusC]

excuse my ignorance, but would having 8gig be a bad thing if i wasnt using it all the time ? i occassionally use a bit of maya,3dmax and photoshop so its not like i would not be using quite spec hungary programs
I have yet to max out my RAM usage with 4GB on XP64 or Vista 64 using similar programs. I know of some people that use 8GB and turn off the page file, but even then I wonder if they can fill 8GB of RAM.

[SGwillis]

just a small update today :) basically went out and bought enough paint to compete with Crown, small tools to help along with the modding and also a tidy out to get more space

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P010608_1653.jpg

not bad for a days work on sunday :) garage might look smaller than it is but bear in mind there is a astra behind me aswel :001_tt2:

next step is to wait for the case to arrive :)

also just placed an order for the following

2 x Blowhole Trim 1 Metre
3 x YATE LOON 120mm - D12SH-12
4 x Acousti Anti-vibration 120mm Fan Gasket Black
5 x Black Heatshrink 500mm piece (For 3-4mm Braiding)
2 x 3mm Black Cable Braid / Sleeving
3 x 4mm Black Cable Braid / Sleeving

[SGwillis]

well i had abusy day today, postie arrived nice and early bringing me my fans etc (thanks tom @ Chilled PC for another speedy service ) and also my new case and motherboard :)

so the day starts with me, stripping the case down (well what i can :) ) and getting them all ready to be primed.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1116.jpg

an in action shot :) they glow alot in the light!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1145.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_134101.jpg

all done

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_114501.jpg

once i had sprayed most the bay covers, stealth drive and fan cover, it was time to start priming the panels

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1341.jpg

whilst waiting for things to dry spent a bit of time braiding my fans and also the power switch lead + activity lights cable

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1353.jpg

with the braiding finished it was on to first coat of black

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1414.jpg

new colour stealth drive

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1728.jpg

new look fan cover with anti vibration gasket attached

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1653.jpg

one of the side panels drying

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1754.jpg

whilst waiting i was having a play about with some stuff i had left over from a different mod, what you think ?

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P030608_1645.jpg


so whats next i hear you say, well i need more paint first of all :) but i need to de rivet the case, spray it, re rivet it, cup of tea, whilst trying to think of some different things i can try, got a few in mind but you will have to wait

Til next time

SG

[Nazu]

Looks good :up: Are you planning to paint the inside of the case too?

[SGwillis]

Looks good :up: Are you planning to paint the inside of the case too?

case will be de-riveted, sprayed, some carbon fibre detailing and then rivited back together :) then i can start on the hardware :)

[SGwillis]

**** small update ****


had a evening in the garage :)

firstly took the heatsinks off my motherboard ready for when my new ones turn up :)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P050608_1814.jpg

secondly i started some work on the case, started by cutting some holes to route the front panel wires behind the motherboard tray and up to where the connectors are.

once i had done that i was having a play about with another idea i had, basically going to sector off the case so that the motherboard is the only visible thing once everything is finished, the other parts will be fenced off

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P050608_2229.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P050608_222901.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P050608_2230.jpg

again as always feedback is welcome :)

[Sir_Loin]

Things are looking nice thus far. I like your well planned, methodical approach...that's how things get done. :up:

[SGwillis]

did a little bit of work this evening but have a full day at it 2mora, expect an update on sunday as im going out tomorrow night :)

[SGwillis]

didnt get much done this weekend due to drinking a bit too much on saturday and sunbathing on sunday :) however got a few more things ready to order, some more braiding as i run out :rolleyes: new mosfet, NB and SB coolers, more paint, again i ran out :( and some sound damping material


i got a week or two away from doing this little project but it gives me time to plan more :)

[Sir_Loin]

Similar weekend here :) Monday, I was definitely a bit rough, but I did get a lot of repairs done around the house...and felt good doing it. :D

Walking away from a project often brings unplanned inspriration. Take your time :up:

[SGwillis]

i've come up with a few ideas to make the install alot neater however is there any particular way i can extend some of the cables from my psu ?

[ultimeus]

looks great :up:

[Sir_Loin]

i've come up with a few ideas to make the install alot neater however is there any particular way i can extend some of the cables from my psu ?

Depending on where you are on warranty with the psu, you could splice in some additional wire, or you could make some extensions that plug into existing connectors.

[SGwillis]

im not sure about warrenty on the psu, something i will have to check up on, in reguards to extending the wiring, are there any mod shops that do extension wiring ? or is it a d.i.y jobby ?

[sobih25]

good painting job!

[SGwillis]

few odds hiccups this evening, took my pc parts out of my old mirage case, set them up ghetto style (on top of the motherboard box) and thought thats a strong burning smell, touched the CPU cooler and it was so hot it was untouchable :eek: so set up a few more fans which seem to b doing the job.

later on just using the pc to chat away on MSN, when all of a sudden, no monitor output and both my screens stop working, turned pc off, cleared cmos, worked then stoped :eek: turn pc back on and there was a high pitch whinging noise, switched off and on and it went :eek: so i spent the last hour or so making sure i got back ups of all the files i need off here incase it goes for good. waiting for payday to come around so i can put my order in and get things moving, last order of paint to arrive, got new mosfet,nb + sb coolers comming aswel as more braiding goodness.


hopefully get the case all sorted before the end of this month, fingers crossed

[SGwillis]

little bit of a update ready for the weekend, this week im going to concentrate on the cable management a bit, decided that with the hard drives the best way to get the cables tidy would be to cut two holes in the floor of where the drive tower is in the case and invert my hard drives so i can have the connectors facing down and then i can run the cables under the bottom of the platform and should be able to hide the wires, might not have explained myself very good then :rofl: well be doing other cuts to the case aswel, for example there is a hole cut as standard on the platform above the psu, i will be extending it to allow a better direction for the 4 pin motherboard power connector to get to the motherboard. sounds like a lot of work however i think i can get it done this weekend :) expect some pics to hopefully show the design better than i explained it :P

[SGwillis]

lack of pictures from last weekend as there was not much done, sanded the whole case down ready for another coat of paint, ordered more braiding,mosfet and SB cooling and some more thermal paste, hopefully when all this stuff arrives i can do a big update as im looking to

[1] finish off the case, painting,stand off mounts and front panel cables braided
[2] transfer current equipment over to new case
[3] most probably find something else that will take up most my time

so looking to do a bulk update mid week next :)

[Sir_Loin]

Cool :up:

[SGwillis]

well i been fiddling about a bit with the case and got a bit done and a small set back :(

i gave the panels, and the main body of the case a final coat of clear laquer, after i sorted out a bit of a problem with the paint on one of the panels.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P290608_1632.jpg

once that was done i moved on to the rear I/O panel. i want to make the rear of the case as minimalist as possible in reguards to colour, so i sprayed the panel black and a really good thing about the backplate on the P5K-E is that the "which hole is for what input" bit is pressed in to the plate, so even when sprayed black, you can still see the writing on back.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P290608_2012.jpg

next on my list to do was finish off some of the wiring, im still waiting for the last bit of my kit to finish off braiding anything i can :) so the front panel audio/firewire/usb is on hold however the activity lights and power switch have been finished. so i put the lights and switch back in, looking pretty good if i may say so myself!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P290608_2017.jpg

however!!!!! whilst trying to route the wires to make sure everything was tidy tidy the wires connected to the vandal switch! which was a bummer so i suppose i will have to learn to re-connect that soon.


hopefully should start recieving some of the cooling stuff next week, so i will start putting the motherboard in soon followed by making the side panels whole again and installing the fans

but the best news is its taking shape now :)

[SGwillis]

just had my new arrivals from Chilled PC today, apart from tonnes and tonnes of braiding stuff i also had theses delivered

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P010708_2316.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P010708_2319.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P010708_2331.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P010708_233301.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P010708_2347.jpg

first impressions are good, quite heavy but very cold to touch which is good :D

just got to finish the rest of the project off :)

[SGwillis]

managed to spare a few hours this evening to have a fiddle with my hard drives and also my dvd drive. as you can see from the pic, plain harddrive, remove sticky labels as they are out of warrenty anyway

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_1804.jpg

a few measurements, a few cuts and DA DAH! you will notice the bubbles and a fold on the drive, that was pre-pushing them all out which took forever!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_1809.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_180901.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_1844.jpg


and a few of the dvd drive

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_192701.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_1904.jpg

like i said before i want to run my harddrives inverted so that i can run the cables from them under the platform in the case to make as many cables invisible as possible, however i did confuse a few people so i made a mock up photo of what it will look like when it is set up.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_184601.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P040708_1846.jpg

tomorrow now i shall cut the floor using a template i made up this evening and also i will be edging the cut and spraying it black once more. i got one of the doors put back together, just glad i remembered how they go back together :)


more updates tomorrow night or sunday night most probably

comments.............. FIRE AWAY!!! :)

[SGwillis]

another small update as im getting towards the end of the case mod and moving on to installing everything :)

firstly something i thought would happen actually happened :p braided my sata cables :)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P060708_163601.jpg

once that was done i tidyed up the hole i made yesteray for the wires and fed them all thru so that i could judge if i needed smaller/bigger wires

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P060708_1734.jpg

once that was sorted i got around to sorting the front of the case out and putting the fascia(sp?) back on. im looking at getting another one with the holes on them as the one solid plate looks out of place :(

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P060708_1754.jpg

and to round the little update up a bit of a insight to how the case shall look when finished with reguards to wires


now you see them

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P060708_1756.jpg

now you dont :)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/sgw1987/P060708_1759.jpg

[theToX]

looking good. i plan on painting the inside of my case black next week.

[SGwillis]

well its been a long time since i updated, theres been more planning done a one or two hiccups but all sorted now, firstly i broke my vandel switch that came with my case :( but a new one is on its way to me along with some other goodies.


planning wise i was thinking of something that would be practical for me to use daily but something prephaps not common on desktops, so i have come up with an idea! on the front of the V1000 there is a smallish li lian logo on a panel that i believe i can pop/force out my idea is to take it out and replace it with a fingerprint scanner. seeing as i go on loads of forums etc and have different passwords for each it would be practical to stop me from remembering them all and hopefully (although i dunno if i can do it) is either get it to start/shut down the pc or maybe sort of like a safety device where i need to fingerprint scan before i shut the pc off, stopping anyone from turning my pc off say if it is rendering or encoding, this will all boil down to the sort of electronic/programing skillage needed to set it up


this weekend is my birthday weekend so might not be any updates but im off from wednesday til monday so who knows :)