Madness-Murder Jr

[theseeker]

I forgot to post this one. Once again, a boatload wires!

[theseeker]

This project has really been a joy to watch and it's nice to see it come together. Those pesky wires always make it a challenge to finish off nicely, but you've given me a lot of great ideas for an SLI build. The pictures are improving and looking good.

Press on! hehe

Thanks BA! I am pressing on!!!
Were it not for you and the rest of the M|M group, I would be a drift at sea!
Many thanks guys and gal You know who you are

[headala]

Seeker, I think it looks great. I, too, really like the hdd's mounted there. Looks like some kind of mega server or something. Also....I hate to tell you this...but you need to shorten your wires

[shazza]

I am watching this with interest. I can just imagine you staring at your cables, having a sip o' scotch, staring again, repeat ...

You'll get it sorted, I'm sure. Cable management is the most frustrating part of the build, but rewarding once you get it the way you want it.

[Zeus]

theseeker, i'm with headala on this, if you shorten the sata power cables you're getting rid of the loops and it will look very clean. If you ever plan to rearrange the harddisk setup you might have a problem though. Actually, having some length on the cables is not bad as long is it's all organized. In that pic it doesn't loook bad at all and above all, it will be out of sight.

Oh and yes, the horizontal mount looks good indeed.

[N19h7m4r3]

Quick! Put the faceplate on, then forget about them!

I always find some place to hide my mess

[exemay]

this is coming along niceley!

i just wanna ask about the HDD's, how are they cooled with that MM faceplate on the case?

[theseeker]

Seeker, I think it looks great. I, too, really like the hdd's mounted there. Looks like some kind of mega server or something. Also....I hate to tell you this...but you need to shorten your wires

Thanks Alan...they should be cut, but they wont be.

I am watching this with interest. I can just imagine you staring at your cables, having a sip o' scotch, staring again, repeat ...

You'll get it sorted, I'm sure. Cable management is the most frustrating part of the build, but rewarding once you get it the way you want it.

You are not kidding!

theseeker, i'm with headala on this, if you shorten the sata power cables you're getting rid of the loops and it will look very clean. If you ever plan to rearrange the harddisk setup you might have a problem though. Actually, having some length on the cables is not bad as long is it's all organized. In that pic it doesn't loook bad at all and above all, it will be out of sight.

Oh and yes, the horizontal mount looks good indeed.

Thanks Zeus!

Quick! Put the faceplate on, then forget about them!

I always find some place to hide my mess

My thought too!

this is coming along niceley!

i just wanna ask about the HDD's, how are they cooled with that MM faceplate on the case?

Thanks! I have a 120 fan at the top. Sorry, didn't show it in the pics.

[ShoNuff]

Hey Rocky...nice job on the sleeving! I am also impressed with the hardware. I gotta say I'm diggin' that blue tubing too! So many good ideas...love the inverted res and drain valve/tubing idea. I'm tearing my system apart and right about now I wish I had done something like that.

[theseeker]

Many thanks ShoNuff!

Unfortunately, tragedy struck after 2.5 days. I had some weird problems with my VC's before I tore the system apart for this build, but I figured it was probably driver bugs. I got a CMOS ERR on my LCD poster today...so I reset the CMOS and everything was fine, or so I thought. I booted again and everything was fine. A few minutes later "POP" and one of my VC's was gone.
I got a bit nervous, did I wire something wrong? I wouldn't think so after at least 48 hours of run time. Taking no chances, I pulled my 1Kw SS Strider out of my server and used it cables on the new rig. Same results. I then popped the Zeus into the server and the server worked fine. It still is four hours later.
Needless to say I have strung out everywhere! However, I did manage to get the i7 to 4.0 with no problems and my temps were excellent. My water temp was consistently between 30-32C and the highest core temp I saw was 64C. I was too busy tweaking to post any screen shots.
Since I will be tearing everything down again, big sigh, I have to decide if I should upgrade the VC's or stick with the 280's. If I do decide to upgrade should I go nuts and get 2x295's or 2x285's?
BTW, I will probably sleeve the Strider as it will totally solve my PCI-e wiring problems! Thoughts?

[SiGfever]

Many thanks ShoNuff!

Unfortunately, tragedy struck after 2.5 days. I had some weird problems with my VC's before I tore the system apart for this build, but I figured it was probably driver bugs. I got a CMOS ERR on my LCD poster today...so I reset the CMOS and everything was fine, or so I thought. I booted again and everything was fine. A few minutes later "POP" and one of my VC's was gone.
I got a bit nervous, did I wire something wrong? I wouldn't think so after at least 48 hours of run time. Taking no chances, I pulled my 1Kw SS Strider out of my server and used it cables on the new rig. Same results. I then popped the Zeus into the server and the server worked fine. It still is four hours later.
Needless to say I have strung out everywhere! However, I did manage to get the i7 to 4.0 with no problems and my temps were excellent. My water temp was consistently between 30-32C and the highest core temp I saw was 64C. I was too busy tweaking to post any screen shots.
Since I will be tearing everything down again, big sigh, I have to decide if I should upgrade the VC's or stick with the 280's. If I do decide to upgrade should I go nuts and get 2x295's or 2x285's?
BTW, I will probably sleeve the Strider as it will totally solve my PCI-e wiring problems! Thoughts?

Sorry to hear this Pal, but I am confident that you will come through this and turn this into lemonade. I knew that you were hooked on sleeving as it becomes addictive, now you have an excuse to drink more and build more.

[BlueAqua]

Maybe it's just a single video card that's the problem and not the motherboard and video card(s). Sorry to hear about the misforurune.

[shazza]

Sorry to hear about the hardware issue ... always a pain when you've put everything together.

285 or 295? Tough decision. I'm delighted with my 285s, but would have to seriously think about the 295 if buying now.

[headala]

Whoa, seeker, so sorry to hear about that. PM me if you need any help troubleshooting, though I imagine you know a lot about it already.

[theseeker]

Sorry to hear this Pal, but I am confident that you will come through this and turn this into lemonade. I knew that you were hooked on sleeving as it becomes addictive, now you have an excuse to drink more and build more.

Thanks John, In this case it may be turning chicken into chicken salad!

Maybe it's just a single video card that's the problem and not the motherboard and video card(s). Sorry to hear about the misforurune.

Thanks BA, the MB seems to check out ok. Once again, should I upgrade the VC's?

Sorry to hear about the hardware issue ... always a pain when you've put everything together.

285 or 295? Tough decision. I'm delighted with my 285s, but would have to seriously think about the 295 if buying now.

Thanks Shazza! Dual 295's are tempting, but from an aesthetic point of view, 2x285's would look better.

Thanks folks!

[BlueAqua]

Keep the 280's, you won't notice any difference going with 285's and 2 280's will be better than one 295. And since quad SLI isn't great I wouldn't get two of them.

Stay with the 280's and keep it simple.

[shazza]

Yeah, the 285s do, I think, look better than the 295s. One of the reason I went with the 285s was I thought the water blocks would be simpler to install and look better/cleaner.

BA is probably right about sticking with 280s, unless you have a use for the one that still works elsewhere...

[BlueAqua]

I do think shazza's 285 blocks are dead sexy, but I don't know if you want to drop a grand on cards and blocks for minor improvement.

[shazza]

I do think shazza's 285 blocks are dead sexy, but I don't know if you want to drop a grand on cards and blocks for minor improvement.

Ouch ... didya have to remind me?

Somebody's gotta keep this economy afloat.

[theseeker]

The new 280's are on their way and I ordered more sleeving. I have decided to use the Strider PSU instead of the zeus. Unfortunately I have sleeve a number of new cables. The good thing is that my VC wiring issue will finally be solved.

[exemay]

have you got a pic of where the fan is mounted above the HDD's and how you did it...u got me intreguied now!

[theseeker]

have you got a pic of where the fan is mounted above the HDD's and how you did it...u got me intreguied now!

I didn't manage to get a pic of that but it was quite simple. Actually there a couple of ways to do it. I have so many old pc parts laying around and I used an old 5.25 L shaped bracket, painted it black and the fan set on top of it.
Anything you have laying around that was intended for 5.25 bays can be modified to make it work. I wired it into my Aquaero and that was it.
I will start again on Friday afternoon and I will post some pics then.

[SAE]

The good thing is that my VC wiring issue will finally be solved.

How? What exactly was the problem - I saw the pic but I think I did not really get it.

[WoodWorker420]

Just finished reading this whole things from the start.

EPIC BUILD!
Congrats. She's a beauty. I will toast with a glass of RYE!

[Zeus]

Sorry to hear about your videocard troubles man. Are you sure the block made good contact with all components on the card it's supposed to make contact with? If not something might have overheated perhaps?

I think the Strider is a modulair psu as well, how about using the cables of the Strider on the Zeus PSU? Don't know if that will fit off course but it will solve your wiring problems and you can still use that Zeus powerhouse.