750W Thermaltake Modular PSU
DFI UT X58-T3eH8
Core i7 920 @ 20 X 200 1.325V
CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
768 MB EVGA 8800GTX
1 X 36GB WD Raptor
2 X 150GB WD RAPTORS
1 X SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB
1 X Maxtor 6L300S0 300GB
16 X NEC DVD Burner
7 120mm Yate Loon LED Intake Fan
4 120MM Yate Loon Exhaust Fan
28" HANNSPREE Monitor
Watercooling Loop:
1 X PA120.3
1 X PA120.2
2 X Laing DDC's w/EK-DDC Dual Turbo Top
7 X Yate Loon Blue LED Intake Fans
4 X Yate Loon Blue LED Exhaust Fans
1 X Swiftech GTZ
1 X GPU EK Fullcover Waterblock
1 X XSPC Dual Bay Reservoir 5.25" with Bubble Window
Thx! I really like to see your setup with the horizontal mobo mounting.
There isn't much clearance at the bottom of the rad if you let it rest on the caster rivets like I did on mine. However, if you remove the bays top plate and not re-use it unlike I did, you can mount the rad about another 1/2 to 3/4" higher.
Last edited by mjassbong; 07-17-2007 at 09:08 AM.
Coolpix FTW just kiddingBecause that's all I know how to use properly <- full noob auto focus
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mjassbong...sweet built i must say...a coupla questions tho'
1) you mentioned replacing the PCP&C 1kw (length=23cm) for an Ultra X3, was it bec it didnt fit with the pa120.3, u reckon it'll fit a pa120.3 (push pull with 38mm fans) with a 22cm psu?
2) havent seen an actual 343b, so im not too clear abt u removing the top bay panel, whats that for anyway, keep the top panel frm flexing?
Thx
Hey Mjassbong,
I gotta say, in order to get ready for some of my posts here at Xtreme, I looked at a great many pictures and components, and yours may take the cake. Seriously, hats off to you!
A few questions if you dont mind:
1 How long once you had all the components on hand did it take to get all the stuff in the case and fully set up for first boot?
2 If it is not a secret, how much did all that cost? Do you live under an overpass now that you own the best rig on the planet?
3 Could you give us a few HD Tach numbers on the RAID 0 x4 SCSI setup? I have seen some testing of RAID 0 with 4 enterprise drives at the techreport, but never really saw any large difference over RAID 0 with 2 Raptors. How much better is it?
It is time for you to enter that suckka into some mod contests and start taking home the cash!
Jay
Those SCSI drives arnt for speed (although they will be faster due to the better controller) they are meant for reliability.
Sure you can go buy a couple SATA drives and put them in raid and get similar performance but you don't have the Scalability and Reliability that SCSI controllers and drives provide...
But yes he does have a very impressive rig...
Yin|Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3|Swiftech XT -> GTX240 -> DDC+ w/ Petra's|2600K @ 5.0GHz @1.368V |4 x 4 GB G.Skill Eco DDR3-1600-8-8-8-24|Asus DirectCUII GTX670|120 GB Crucial M4|2 x 2 TB Seagate LP(Raid-0)|Plextor 755-SA|Auzentech Prelude 7.1|Seasonic M12-700|Lian-Li PC-6077B (Heavily Modded)
Squire|Shuttle SD36G5M| R.I.P.
In what sense? Not trying to be argumentative, but we use both SCSI and SATA file storage/sever and RAID systems in our lab with Red Hat and Debian and for the most part, none of us in the lab can tell a difference. We seem to get much more bang for the buck from simple 250 GB Caviar drives. Care to add a bit more info?
If we could all get more folks behind projects like Ubuntu, the computing road ahead will be better for us all,
Jay
Jay
[1]
The PCP&C 1kw will fit with a PA120.3 mounted but will leave no room for the PSU cables and running tubes to the rad. The Ultra X3 is 19cm in lenght and there are 2 things that helped with the clearance between the psu and the rad. (1) X3 modular cables are thin and flexible. I managed to tuck some of the cables underneath the psu. (2) I had to cut both the top and bottom fan shrouds from the LL343B Fan Module so that the PA120.3 can be mounted further toward the front, providing about another 1.5" of clearance.
Cut along red line to top (shown) and bottom of this fan module. Result is image on the right.
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With your 22cm psu, it should fit with a PA120.3 push+pull config. provided you mod the 3x5.25 Fan Module by cutting the shrouds. OR, get this bay module instead:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=3704
One more additional option is to mount the rad with barbs at the top if there's not enough clearance to run tubes at the bottom.
[2]
I should call that piece plate instead of panel. Yes, that top plate is to keep the bay cage firm. But once you mounted a rad, it is very firm even without that top plate.
For the most part you won't be able to tell a difference with smaller raids. And yes simple drives do give the best bang for your buck (although I wouldn't trust my data to a Caviar drive) The newest Seagates give you the best bang for your buck... which is why I got them over Raptors and got a X-Fi Elite Pro instead...
Where the benefit to SCSI comes in is when you have large raids (5+ drives) and have a lot of simataneous access to those drives.
For example here at work we run 10 76 GB SCSI drives in raid 5 for our file server. At any given time there is at least 150 people accessing that raid. Currently SCSI controllers can handle that way better then SATA controllers and offload almost (if not all) all of the load from the CPU. Why do you think there are SCSI controllers out there with P4 equiv. processors and 2+ GB of ram?
Then there is the reliability factor... SCSI drives and controllers are plain just built to last. Run two servers... one with SATA drives and one with SCSI drives... the SCSI server will outlast the SATA one by a long shot. There is a 4 x 36GB Raid Tower sitting here that as been used for over 5 years with constant daily access without even the slightest hitch. Don't see that with SATA...
Is that to say SATA is incapable of all that... no... The technology just has not matured enough yet. Gotta think about how long SCSI has been around... SATA is still an infant in comparison.
Is that also to say SCSI is worth it for everyone? No... I don't use SCSI... I use SATA at home. I have a 1.5 TB raid 5 on my new server made up of SATA Seagates. And I use an external drive for backup... good enough. SCSI is more for mission critical servers that can't afford even the slightest bit of down time. Such as work here where up to 300 employee's coudl be caused to not be able to work due to a Server problem.
Last edited by Bun-Bun; 07-18-2007 at 10:12 AM.
Yin|Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3|Swiftech XT -> GTX240 -> DDC+ w/ Petra's|2600K @ 5.0GHz @1.368V |4 x 4 GB G.Skill Eco DDR3-1600-8-8-8-24|Asus DirectCUII GTX670|120 GB Crucial M4|2 x 2 TB Seagate LP(Raid-0)|Plextor 755-SA|Auzentech Prelude 7.1|Seasonic M12-700|Lian-Li PC-6077B (Heavily Modded)
Squire|Shuttle SD36G5M| R.I.P.
Thanks very much. I never thought about entering any contests. The built was out of personal enjoyment and for my own use. But now I may submit this to NV SLIzone rig of the month![]()
1. Once I had all of the components and determined the components placement inside the case, I'd say it took me about 3 weekends to set it all up. The minor details, such as cable sleevings, case mods, lightings, etc. took a lot of time.
2. LOL! Fortunately I still have a roof over my head. But ever since this rig was completed, my meals consist of only Cup O'noodles (j/k). This rig costs me between $4500 to $5k with the Dell 30" but excluding the following because they were migrated from my previous system:
- SCSI setup and SATA drives
- Plextor DVD
- 1 x PA120.3
- D5 pump
3. There are alot of benches with comparisons between various enterprise SCSI drives, most notably Seagate, Maxtor and Fujitsu at storagereview.com. There are also benches comparing between Raptors and SCSI. Here's direct link: http://www.storagereview.com/WD1500ADFD.sr?page=0%2C0
But I will do some benches of my own and will include HD performances along with 3dmark06 on my SLI set up.
Bub-Bun: Well put! I've used SCSI since the days of Ultra2 to now at Ultra320 and never once did any of the drives ever failed. I've set up servers at home using IDE RAID and had numerous drive failures.
I agree that SCSI is not for everyone, especially at home for mostly gaming. Where you see SCSI shining performance is in the server environment with multiple users and multiple instant file access. Then why am I using SCSI? Well (1) for reliability, (2) video editing?, (3) I got the drivess off Ebay for almost the same price of a Raptor. I even got a great deal on the controller. So, why not SCSI eventhough I have to deal with heat?![]()
mjassbong,
What a beautiful setup!!
I have spent a couple of weeks looking at all kinds of cases and as I read your writeup, it became clear that this is the case for me.
I will be utilizing two MCR-320 Radiators for the two loops. I'll mount the first one on the right side vertically, like you did, but where do you suggest mounting the 2nd MCR-320? It looks like the radiator would be too long to mount on the removable panel on top.
The system will utilize two CDROMs and a 5.25" fan controller. That will be mounted on the left side. The other question is where can I mount the six hard drives? I suppose I could mount them in an internal cage somewhere.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Rick
Cascade Rick,
If you absolutely must have optical drives, then you can use a MCR320 on the right, a MCR220 on the left and a MCR220 up top. The case has an optional top panel designed to fit an MCR220 perfectly. Mjassbong chose to use Thermochill rads, so the optional top radiator panel cannot be used.
I was the person who talked Mjassbong out of optical drives. This is the day of USB2 and Firewire2, not to mention other options such as eSata2, SAS2 and Ultra3Scsi. Mjassbong has his dvdrw drive in an external case that sits on his desktop. That is what I would recommend to you.
As for HDDs, I hinted to Mjassbong that he should look at the Mountain Mods HDD brackets, and he heeded my advice. That is what I suggest to mount six HDDs. If more HDDs are needed, more MM HDD brackets can be requisitioned.
Cheers.
IanY,
Yeah, that case is so universial, you can do just about anything with it. I suppose I could use two of the MCR220s and not have to cut any metal.
Now, I just need to find those MM HDD brackets.
Here are the two loops I am thinking about implementing using two MCR220s:
Loop1: Res->Petra Pump->MCR220->MCR220->CPU->PWM->Res
Loop2: Res->Petra Pump->MCR320->NB->SB->GTX->Res
Regards,
Rick
Cascades Rick,
The MM HDD brackets are easily found and readily available. Buy them here for cheap. I suggest black ones to blend in with the LL case.
http://www.mountainmods.com/index.php?cPath=21_34_65
You can use two MCR220s and one MCR320, and yet use up to three more PA120.1s if you deem necessary. All that without cutting anything. Alternatively, as I suggested, you can use two MCR320s, one MCR220 and up to three MCR120QPs or three PA120.1s. More radiators are even possible with a little imagination, subject to your budget, which probably is unlimited.
I suggest three loops. I suggest not mixing anything with the CPU.
res>pump>MCR320>cpu>res
res>pump>MCR320>gpu>res
res>pump>NB>SB>pwm>res
Possibilities are limitless and you can even break the pwm from the NB/SB. If you have the budget, we have the way
Regards.
IanY: You are pretty much a part of soul and spirit of this system. You are now officially my hardware consultant
Cascades: What IanY said. You can get the brackets from mountainmods.com. I had 6 drives also (4 SCSIs and 2 SATAs) but had to sacrifice 1 SATA because of space. After the build was completed, again with another IanY suggestion, there is a way for me to add that 1 left-over drive. I could have installed 2 more sets of MM brackets on the main components side and have a total of 12 drives but I chose not to. I wanted to keep that side clean at all cost.
As of right now, that extra drive is externally connected to a SATA port on the back of the Striker board.
These are what I had to give up.
For this.
Not one regret!
Last edited by mjassbong; 07-18-2007 at 01:25 PM.
Hey.. that's a dangerous statement... to which address do I send my invoice for my monthly retainer fee? After that, I hold people hostage with per diems
You know the real good news ?... Remember the Swiftech MCR120QPs with fixed 3/8 barbs? Well, they are not as good as PA120.1s but they are more skinny and three of them would fit nicely in a LL 343B. I just heard from Swiftech that they are moving to screw on barbs. You know what that means? We can have 1/4" barbs on one of those MCR120QPs and cool the OCZFlexx in a separate loop with a reliable less powerful pump like the D-Tek DB1. We can also route the NB and SB to the other two single radiators. That leaves the whole top dual radiator available for cooling expansion! Let's say we have two PA120.2s cooling two G92s.. on two separate loops, instead of stuffing two hot G92s into one PA120.3. This leaves open 3 optical bays for your optical stuff.. which is perfect for your Plex, your Matrix Orb and your X-fi Bay !!! hoooray !!
Have you seen my buddy Doubage's 343B? Another masterpiece.
{Edit: actually I saw that you posted in the update thread.. so you know about this work of art}
Initial Thread
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...hlight=doubage
Update/Upgrade
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...hlight=doubage
Last edited by IanY; 07-18-2007 at 05:40 PM.
That things crazy! Thanks for the pics.
IanY: LOL! See, I rest my case. My wallet is already empty and my bank accounts dried from this rig. If you keep on providing more valuable info, personally I will have to declare bankruptcy. But this is good news, indeed, for those others who are looking to build new rig with a 343B.
Your friend's rig is where I got some of the inspirations from
Boxcar: Thanks mate!
Gotcha...thx for taking the trouble to explain in detail+pix, man this's really xtremesystems, all the sweet builts and mods...plus experienced advice, suppose Thx are in order to IanY for advising you on getting it right and coming with a nice built for all to see. Anymore pix![]()
Cheers All![]()
Thx cablesguy. IanY doesn't need any Thx from me because he will be sending me his invoices insteadj/k. He shall, forever, have my gratitude.
Mjassbong,
What's your feeling on those Akasa sound dampeners? I'm considering adding some to my HTPC rig, and inside my pump/res external enclosure, but unless they are effective I might pass for the Damptek or Acoustipak stuff.
i7 920@4.0 Ghz | Asus Rampage III Extreme | 12GB Corsair Dominator 15000
ATI Radeon 5870 x2 | Samsung LN55B650 55" 1080p + Samsung LT4665N 46" 1080p LCD TVs
Koolance CPU-350/Vid-AR587 on Koolance ERM-2K3U
Zalman HD160XT HTPC | Intel X25-M 160GB SSD + 2x VelociRaptors | Thermaltake Toughpower 1200w PSU
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