Rooster; the work log.

This build was completed in November 2009. If you would like to skip to the end photos, click here.



http://www.burr-oc.com/images/rooster/rooster_black.jpg


Hi folks,

This is a work log for the rig hereby known as "Rooster". Work began on Rooster last Friday, 9-18-2009.

There are several design goals with this machine.

1. Must be small (tiny?)
2. Must be water cooled
3. Must accommodate full length video cards
4. Should be LAN ready and extremely mobile
5. Cooling should be comparable in quality to a great air cooler (such as a TRUE)
6. All work must be performed by me; (eg: no CNC shops, sponsors, or outside help)
7. The color theme is black and red, think: Rooster ;)
8. Strive for work quality that is on a level with MDPC

Hardware Build out:

• Intel i7 860 golden batch (original build had a retail Intel Core i5 750)
• Asus Maximus III GENE (uATX)
• 2x2 (4GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 7-7-7-20 @ 1.65v
• Kingston/Intel X25-Mainstream, 80GB
• Koolance 340 WB, (currently the only low profile socket 1156 WB)
• Danger Den GTS 240 radiator (red)
• XSPC Bay Res Pump Combo
• 3x Delta 60mm fans
• 1x Vantec 92mm "Tornado" fan
• 2x 120mm Scythe "Slipstream" 110cfm (for rad)
• PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1200w (existing equipment)
• Thermaltake LANbox uATX case
• Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme (don't want to go deaf w/ those deltas)

I choose a combination of parts that would get me closest to my design goals. The most obvious challenge for me was the cooling. How could I attain high end cooling with about 3.5 inches of clearance? I had to find a low profile block which is why I ended up with the 340 by Koolance. I know that some people despise Koolance, just know that I would have slapped my EK supreme in there if it would fit. Luckily the innards of this block is not ALU so no worries there folks :p:

The next major problem was my non modular PSU. I've got some creative ideas about that; so without further delay I'll post some pictures of the progress I made over the weekend in a little bit. Thanks for reading! :up:


First things first, here's the parts that have arrived so far:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ter/parts1.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/fittings.jpg


Poor vanilla case... time to dismantle :up:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...illa_front.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...nilla_left.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...nilla_back.jpg

Looking a little tight... for now

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...nilla_case.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...illa_case3.jpg


About Radiator placement... The rad will be mounted under the mainboard. There is roughly a 1/4" clearance for air to escape up from around the MB. This is really why I needed the 110 cfm slipstream fans so that they can "cram" as much cooling as possible into the rad.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../rad_trace.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...er/rad_cut.jpg



Applying some paint...

I've realized I'm not a very good painter. There are a few spots where the spray ran so I'll have to sand it and fix. :( That's what I get for rushing... :rolleyes:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ting_parts.jpg


The MB tray isn't looking too good. yet. I'll take another photo once it's closer to being finished. (need to cut more and clean up the rough edges. I experimented with the holes but I don't like them at all)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...up_mb_tray.jpg


PCI blanks (red on the inside and black on the outside)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...pci_covers.jpg


finally a sneak preview of Rooster with the air/electrical box attached:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k..._front_bez.jpg

Somehow this beast of a PSU needs to fit. Yup that's a PPC 1200w TurboCool. Wish me luck.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../dirty_psu.jpg

Somehow I fit the PSU in the case after mutilating the 5.25" bay. I cut the bay right down the center and repainted. TT is using some really thick metal these days. I was both impressed and annoyed at its thickness!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k..._bay_metal.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ut_chipped.jpg

and back to the makeshift paint booth for this part... it's chipping really easily

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ay_repaint.jpg

The build is getting closer... I fit the PSU in with the modded 5.25 bay to see how everything would line up. The PSU wireloom is a little tight, I might remove it. I'm not even sure it looks very good TBH.

Looking good so far...Hope all that fits in there when you start building.

Looking good so far. I've always liked the LanBox, but no one really seems to use them.

i believe this is the first i5 build here on the forum??? if so, kudos to you my friend. :up::clap: maybe i'm wrong, but i don't think i am... idk. lol :shrug:

Wow i love case modding, subscribed! :up:

Thanks all... Today I'm trying to decide if I should murder that PSU or not. :shrug:

Edit: I decided _not_ to murder mod that PSU... Mainly because of the costs associated with the mod and also the original cost of the PSU. I'd hate to void the warranty just for some bling effect. Unfortunately I don't think there's a chance in hell this rig will make MDPC without the murder mod. (shrug)

On the plus side, that's money saved I can put toward the graphics card!

Good news, I decided to do a "hybrid" murder mod! I'm running regular cables into the air/electrical box and using extensions from there! I figure this is better than modding a $600 PSU.

Also, I was lucky enough to purchase an ATi 5870 and it's on the way! Newegg sold out almost as fast as they came up for sale... (lets hope the darn thing fits)

Ok ok, one more update before I gota get some sleep... ;)


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ans_shroud.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...fan_screws.jpg

The bottom fans are being used as a shroud. I just cut the fan posts out and removed the fan blades. :up: A lot better value to use some dead 120mm fans compared to the cost of a shroud ($20 or so?).

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...screws_top.jpg


This trick was pretty easy. I just used the included short rad screws with a skinny screw driver to install the shrouds. Then I just used regular self tapping fan screws to affix the shroud and the fans together.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k..._fans_nice.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...rind_marks.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...nice_close.jpg
I have more pics I'll post up tomorrow. Gnight all.

Newegg just got the Asus Maximus III Gene in stock so I ordered it right away. First the 5870, and now the Gene; what a coincidence?

Either way ETA is Friday for the video carfd and motherboard. Also, my LEDs for the fan controller should be here today. Did I mention I'm changing the blue LEDs (on the sunbeam rheobus extreme) out for red? ;)

Also trying to decide which LEDs to use in the front of the case. There is a red LED for HDD and blue for power. I'm thinking a white LED for power would look better. Either white or red for sure. :up:

Here's an update on what I accomplished last night... Basically cutting down the 7" bays to 5.25" standards. I was disappointed that I had to cut these down. I was expecting them to be standard sizes. TT support couldn't supply the parts either unfortunately, but they were good about responding and trying to help. :rolleyes:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...unfinished.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...om_524_cut.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...es_mounted.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...nted_clean.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...oller_dark.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k..._525_cover.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...s_mounted2.jpg


This wiring needs to be cleaned up!!!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...h_wireloom.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...es_in_cage.jpg

Oh, do I look forward to seeing this one! Subscribed :up:

Thanks for staying tuned guys. I gotta say I'm desperately trying to improve my camera situation and photo taking skills for all of you. So far I'm stuck with an extremely mediocre Kodak EasyShare C633 and well. It is what it is (my nice way of saying it's kinda crappy). My parents do have a better camera so once I can make it over to their house I'll have some better shots for you. :rolleyes: Lets hope my old man doesn't force me to have a drink because I have a strict policy of no drinking and modding! </cheese>


***Update!*** Equipment that's on order (ETA early next week)
:chicken: Matrix Orbital LK202-24-USB-R LCD readout
:chicken: Asus Maximus III Gene (should be here today)
:chicken: HIS ATi 5870
:chicken: Murdermod cable sleeving, connectors, and heatshrink
:chicken: Misc extension cables for the PSU sleeving



*** Photo Update *** The Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme LED Mod
I took out the basic blue LEDs and replaced them with some high quality frozen CPU LEDs. I was so excited to start work on this that I forgot to take photos of the blue LEDs! Lets start with the fans!

delta 60mm = 39.5 cfm
delta 60mm = 39.5 cfm
sunon 60mm (8000 rpm) = 56 cfm
vantec "tornado" 92mm = 110 cfm
scythe "slipstream" 120mm = 110cfm
scythe "slipstream" 120mm = 110cfm

Total CFM for all fans (including rad fans) = 465
Will Rooster fly?

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../thedeltas.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...er/tornado.jpg

Make no mistake, these are noise makers! (the little green bugger on the end is the loudest @ 56dBA)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/all_fans.jpg

on to the rheobus mod

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...lasunbeam3.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...lasunbeam2.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...llasunbeam.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...heat_sinks.jpg

All I can say about this mod is you're better off cutting the leads and re-soldering to the existing LED posts. I failed to make sure which side of each LED was positive and negative, so when I tested it only half of the LEDs were lighting up. Forgive me, it was late. :shrug:

So after a few choice words I desoldered everything again and matched up the polarity on the LEDs correctly. It took about two hours to do this twice.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/all_leds.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...single_led.jpg

lights out! ooooo nice ....r e d

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...furrydark3.jpg

(notice they are faded from weak to bright -- the LEDs increase intensity as the fan power is turned up)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...sdarkfades.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...furrydark3.jpg
oooh red rheobus extreme and bearskin, does it get any better?!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...sfurrydark.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...furrydark2.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...bus_shiney.jpg


That's all for now... With luck I'll have a brand new motherboard to show you tonight~! :woot: thanks again guys, keep the comments coming!


Edit: how could I forget to include a photo of my dedicated little helpers (Max and Lucy)
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...er/thedogs.jpg

Awwwwww, dogs!

Great project and photos, Vinas :up: Love to see people fit liquid cooling in those small cases.

Max and Lucy look to be doing more napping than helping :)

Bad news people... This of the worst possible news when building up a rig and that's what happened to me!~!!!!!!!1 I blew up my PC power & cooling 1200w turbo cool... a SIX HUNDRED dollar psu.. gone

Here's what happened: I got the initial plumbing and wiring done (minus the murder mod) and wanted to fire it up just to check out the new Maximus III bios screen... Everything ran fine for about 5 minutes and "boom" a huge ass explosion like a mother:banana::banana::banana::banana:ing car bomb went off in my case... tons of smoke poured out of this PSU like it was a smoke machine. I literally stood there stunned before I pulled the plug.

So, _very_ dead PSU. It was only 1.5 years old so I HOPE PPC desides to do the right thing and honor their warranty. I checked on it and the Turbo Cool series has a 7 year...

TBH I don't know wht caused the explosion... I'm on my backup PPC 500w silencer and it's running like breeze with that. So the good news is that everything is fine - board, cpu, ram, ssd... Just the PSU is toast.

The project isn't over but this will be a big delay depending on what PC Power & Cooling say.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shazza

Great project and photos, Vinas :up: Love to see people fit liquid cooling in those small cases.

Max and Lucy look to be doing more napping than helping :)

---

Thanks a lot Shaz! Ya I though it would be cool with a small case. Imagine walking into a LAN with this thing... ppl will be like "wtf is that?"

The build is alive now. I'm actually typing this message from Rooster. Once the video card and front LCD comes in I'll post pics. (UPS says they'll be here tomorrow)

Hi guys, just a small update. The system is up and running but I've got some wire management to do, and I need to wait for the new PSU to do it. PPC issued an RMA for the blown PSU, luckily.

The system is up and running at 4GHz! Pictures will be posted as soon as I get the Matrix Orbital LCD put in and I get my murdermod sleeving done. Right now it's looking ugly but I needed to make sure everything ran.

Oh and the 5870 came in yesterday! What a beauty eh?

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0975.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0976.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0977.jpg


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0978.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0979.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0980.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0984.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0981.jpg

Started some sleeving last night. A single 24pin atx connector took me about 4 hours! I'll just say it right now; those pins are a pain in the ass to remove. It didn't turn out as good as I wanted, but I'm not going to be doing this again (that's for sure). :hitself:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0987.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0988.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_0989.jpg

Commendable shot at the sleeving. Get a few clips to hold them in place and it'll be all good :)

also, SMEXY vid card :up:

drools at 5870... :shocked::shocked:

how were you able to get one so fast???

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by W34513

drools at 5870... :shocked::shocked:

how were you able to get one so fast???

---

Waited up on release day and ordered at 11:59pm :eleph:

LOL! thats friggin awesome.

wow nice............. 5870.... talk about a card that goes with your color scheme! looks awesome and nice job getting all that lc gear into that box!

Nice build log Vina.

I'm thinking about putting my E8400 out to pasture and stepping up to a Core I5 750 with an EVGA P55 FTW board. How you liking your I5 so far? You have any regrets not going for the Core I7 socket 1366s?

I've got two of those 38mm fans but they're so friggin loud, are you planning on having them on the fan controller?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by W34513

I've got two of those 38mm fans but they're so friggin loud, are you planning on having them on the fan controller?

---

Yes. Fan controller very necessary!!! I think people will eventually go crazy w/o a controller. TBH it is very quiet with good airflow at half speed. All of my fans are connected to a port on my fan controller... it's kinda cool. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by millertime359

Nice build log Vina.

I'm thinking about putting my E8400 out to pasture and stepping up to a Core I5 750 with an EVGA P55 FTW board. How you liking your I5 so far? You have any regrets not going for the Core I7 socket 1366s?

---

Hi Miller. I'm glad you asked because I went from an e8400 @ 4.2GHz to this!

If HT is important to you I'd go with the 860 or d0 920. For me, I mostly game and sometimes encode video files. The "sometimes encodes" part is why I bought a quad. I noticed that several people disable HT for supposedly better overclocks. So IMHO if you are going to OC, you may as well put that extra money into a better video card. Or the other school of thought could be the opposite. Buy a cheaper vid and put that saved cash into a better CPU.

Clock for clock with HT enabled the 860 usually out performs the 750. So if that is worth $80 then go for it! To me it wasn't and so far this CPU has been a gem. Really either way you should be a happy camper!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vinas

Yes. Fan controller very necessary!!! I think people will eventually go crazy w/o a controller. TBH it is very quiet with good airflow at half speed. All of my fans are connected to a port on my fan controller... it's kinda cool. ;)


Hi Miller. I'm glad you asked because I went from an e8400 @ 4.2GHz to this!

If HT is important to you I'd go with the 860 or d0 920. For me, I mostly game and sometimes encode video files. The "sometimes encodes" part is why I bought a quad. I noticed that several people disable HT for supposedly better overclocks. So IMHO if you are going to OC, you may as well put that extra money into a better video card. Or the other school of thought could be the opposite. Buy a cheaper vid and put that saved cash into a better CPU.

Clock for clock with HT enabled the 860 usually out performs the 750. So if that is worth $80 then go for it! To me it wasn't and so far this CPU has been a gem. Really either way you should be a happy camper!

---

I was thinking the same thing. I mostly game myself and it seems HT doesn't help with that at all. I also heard the same about HT getting in the way of clocks. Seeing it seems most guys just shut it off anyways, why spend the extra $80 for it. I won't be getting mine for a few weeks I think, but glad to hear you are happy with it. Makes it seem i am heading in the right direction here. :)

Well guys, the system is about complete. I just need to finish up the face plate for the LCD. The paint on the front peeled off a little because I had tape holding the LCD face plate on while the glue set. I had to custom cut holes for the LCD (the 3.5 tray was about 1/4" small)... Anyway another layer of paint is needed to tidy the front up.

Other than that it came out pretty good. Sure it's cramped but the wiring and plumbing is all very clean. The system is making just about 18K in vantage. I think that's pretty good for a single card system. :up:

To get that score I'm running the i5 CPU @ 4233MHz and the 5870 @ 930/1310. Not a killer OC, but it's what I decided was good for daily use.

*pics to follow later*

So it's nearing the end of my photo log. Basically you'll see some of the insides, some of the wiring, and the finished product right now!~ ;)

It's really difficult to get good shots of the inside... The camera doesn't even fit in the case, just to give you an idea. :lol:

Believe me when I say my shoddy camera does not do this rig justice. The reds are red (not orange like the camera makes it look) and the white LEDS are pure white, not blue.

PCIe, ATX, cpu12v, sata, case switch leds, sata cable, all sleeved :up:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_0995.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...es100_1000.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_1003.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...es100_0999.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...es100_0997.jpg

My white LED creation for the reservoir lighting
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...es100_0996.jpg


The hole I had to cut on the back side of the front panel... My 3.5 LCD wouldn't fit because of the rectangular ALU posts sticking out on each side... So I had to grind them down! By this time I'm starting to get a little annoyed at the non standard slots in the case!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_1005.jpg


Moving on to a few inside shots... :up:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1017.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1018.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_1015.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_1014.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_1013.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_1011.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...st100_1010.jpg



And finally a completed photo at long last!!! Thanks to my friend NewPants for giving me an internal USB cable for my LCD so I could complete the build!


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1034.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1036.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1035.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1044.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1033.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1054.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1024.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1049.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1041.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1040.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1037.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...ed100_1032.jpg


That's all I have!

Cheers and thanks for viewing my first major work log! I hope it was exciting to see what can be done with such a small case... Also, check out what it can do in Vantage. Pretty big performance outa this cube!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...er_vantage.jpg

Ps: I may update the log once my PPC 1200 turbocool comes back from RMA. If I can find a sunny day I'll take her outside and get some proper photos!!!

Very nice! :clap: congrats on the first i5 build!

congrats on an AWESOME build!

It came out nice dude. I'll be follow in your footsteps here soon. Plan to see a build log within the next few weeks :)

Thanks guys. Even though my camera skills are crap! There might me a possibility for a second 5870 if I'm lucky.... and of course some better pics! :-)

Well, I was in a fender bender this weekend (lady on cell ran into me at a stop light) so I don't know that I'll have spare cash for another 5870. It's not like it's really needed though TBH.

So here's a 3dmark 06 run. I'm very happy with the performance of this little box all things considered. It's small, water cooled, quad pumped, and can game like nobodies business! ;)

http://www.burr-oc.com/images/rooste...6_rooster.jpeg

This really came out well, Vinas. I am totally amazed that you got all that stuff in the little case. My jaw dropped when I saw your fan selections and then you put a 5870 in there - amazing! Nice job!!!

Thanks Shazz and everyone else for following the build.

So I promised an update once I got the PSU situation under control. It looks like it will be another month or so before I get my TurboCool 1200 back from RMA, so I stopped in at a local PC store and picked up this 850w Corsair... I needed another PSU for my file server anyway. At $150 I think this was a pretty good deal.

Being a die hard PC Power and Cooling fanboi, it was a pretty difficult decision to go for the Cosair! I did it because my max stable OC was being limited by the 500w silencer, that and lets face it Rooster is too small for the 1200w beast to fit in there comfortably. So far I have been very impressed by the build quality of this PSU. Being a single rail with a continuous rating of 850 @ 50C, I feel that this was the best PSU for the buck. I placed this above the 1100w Corsair mainly because of size, and I feel this single rail unit is more capable w/ a single 70amp rail than the dual rail behemoth.

anyway, check it out -- a beauty (too bad it wasn't red instead of yellow tho) what's up with the felt bag??? Kinda neat in a very nerdy way. :p:


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1059.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1062.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1066.jpg

Yes, that is a Yate Loon 140mm cooling fan. Like I said, Corsair impressed me... I have to admit the unit is not as heavy as a PPC, but the quality seems good still. Very worth the money IMHO.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1067.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1068.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1065.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1070.jpg

Hope to see it back up again. :up:

Are you going to resleeve any of it so the heatshrink goes over the connectors like the last one?

awesome worklog and cute pitbull!! :) I like the radiator also, the red is hot. (no pun intended)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by millertime359

Hope to see it back up again. :up:

---

Thanks Miller, I finished installing and rewiring the PSU (what a job). Being the neat freak that I am it took me about 1.5 hours to get it all installed. You see since the case is so small I must remove the side window each time I want to get to the wires! :eek:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by punkrockpolak

Are you going to resleeve any of it so the heatshrink goes over the connectors like the last one?

---

Since I ran the cables under the whole case, I used extenders and just sleeved those. So, luckily I didn't need to resleeve anything! :cool:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ohms

awesome worklog and cute pitbull!! :) I like the radiator also, the red is hot. (no pun intended)

---

hah! Thanks very much. The red/black theme is definitely the way to go these days! This yellow PSU doesn't look all that bad either. I thought about painting it red, but realized it looked pretty good as is. Sometime in the near future I will post the grand finale complete with more vantage scores!!! :up:

Well done there mate, looks good.

Sweet looking LANbox! Perfect for transport =)
But I have to tell you...Your helpers looks awfully lazy, I hope you don't pay em much ; )

So with school and work I am so busy I haven't posted any more pictures. I just wanted to update a tiny bit just incase anyone saw my sig and was wondering what was up.

I met a guy, who knew a guy, that had a brother, that was selling a cherry picked i7 860 so I jumped on it. :D Okay, I lie, I found this on e-bay and could not resist the batch number. It is a good batch and heat was kind of an issue in this build. So enough justifying!!! (My old lady was not impressed either.) But the i5 is a superb chip. Mine was just pretty hot compared to a golden 860.

Got this chip for $217:up: I can run it at 4GHz @ 1.3vcore with about the same performance of my i5 (which was at 4.2).
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...eri7860cpu.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...8604GHz20k.jpg


PS: My PC Power and Cooling 1200w TurboCool came back a couple weeks ago. If I end up putting it back in, I'll get some pics and another update. Really though the corsair looks quite nice though, so it could be a while. :up:

wow very awsome. Ive been wanting to do something very similar. excellent job

Nice mate real nice super cool rig. One issue those slipstreams are no where near 110cfm i have them on my radiator and they suck some serious ass compared to yate;s.

Ask and you shall receive!

(lame attempt at humor)

Thanks to you OnOff, I purchased and installed the deltas I had wanted for a while. :-) They are $30 a piece so a little expensive, but since this is my hobby I figured what the hell. :p:

All of the lights are installed except for the case feet LEDs. The resister the manufacturer used started smoking within 30 seconds. So I ripped out the LEDs and am just using the clear feet. The black light sines thru them a bit so it is a pretty neat looking effect. I highly recommend staying away from the logisys clear case feet for serious risk of fire hazard. Also, the 'lazer led' is not very bright at all. The LED puck is though and looks pretty badass mounted under my res... (pics soon i hope)

Turns out that Intel x18 is a little faster than my x25m. (maybe skewed because the Os was on the x25) Since newegg had them for $50 off, and I had filled my 80g x25... :shakes: So now I'm running these in raid 0. If anyone wants to see the HD Tune of each drive and the raid set let me know and I'll post them up. :up:

So this weekend I added on some parts I had been waiting to do... And since I have a nasty cold I figured it's a good time to stay indoors and work on rooster. Here's a shot of this weekends fun. :up: I think the build is complete (for) now!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1194.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1199.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1196.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1185.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1191.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1186.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1187.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1176.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1178.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1182.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/100_1183.jpg

So it's been two months since the Rooster build was first started. Thanks to the support from all of you here I've learned a lot along the way about case modding. Without a great site like XS, with the most awesome build logs, this build would not have been possible! :p: The community we have here is a very talented bunch. With out a doubt there are more skilled modders here than I, but without them Rooster would still be a pipe dream! Had I not seen the awesome builds here I would not think this kind of hobby even existed, and I would not have known where to begin on this build.

Would I have done things differently in this build? You betcha, but this was a fun and exciting two month build. I've learn a lot along the way (like how to take better photos, and powedercoating looks much better than spray paint!).

Well, I guess this is the end of the photo journey for this build. Those that followed the build know I promised a grand finale photo shoot! Well, here it is.

Thanks again to everyone that commented my build log and the rest of the modders out there. I will be updating the first post with the final pictures here.

Cheers!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gs100_1209.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1281.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1280.jpg


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1286.jpg


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gs100_1212.jpg


The 'other' SSD, rad box, and wire cage.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1238.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1238.jpg


More shots of the handle. I think of this as the red "mane' on the roosters head.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1288.jpg


Here are my helpers for this shoot.


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1283.jpg


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1284.jpg


Time to get up close and personal.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1254.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1252.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gs100_1291.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1292.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gs100_1210.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1211.jpg


Lets open it up.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gs100_1230.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1275.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1265.jpg

The red color looks like candy. I want to eat it.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1249.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1267.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1268.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1262.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1234.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1225.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1246.jpg

I forgot to take the red electrical tape off the res. :rolleyes:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1245.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1249.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1258.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../s100_1222.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1235.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../g100_1224.jpg

Okay the lights don't turn out so good with my cam. :shrug:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gl100_1295.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gl100_1296.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...gl100_1297.jpg

The end. :D