Steve's Rig 2015

Started by Skhilled, March 01, 2015, 08:55:22 AM

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Ken.

Quote from: Skhilled on March 28, 2015, 02:51:40 PM
Crap! I forgot to order the anti-static wrist band.  :baghead:

Rosewill RTK-002 Anti-Static Wrist Strap Components Black, Yellow

It will arrive tomorrow...  :whistle:

Hate it when that happens!  :hah:
" If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti

Skhilled

I looked at them and picked one out but for some reason I forgot about it and never added it to the order yesterday. It dawned on me when I was looking for some of Lealer's fabrics for a backgroud pic and one shocked me...not good!

At least, I've got the pics taken. I just need to take some after it is completed tomorrow.

Skhilled

Now, the only other things I will get later for it are some colored fans, matching colored cables and a video card. I haven't decided on the color of the fans and cables yet...maybe blue...as usual, like my other builds. Except for one which had tri-color fans. I'll also need a matching colored keyboard and mouse.

Maxx

I like and use the thermo controlled Blue fans, and you may want check how many fan control plugs you have on the board, for the Thermo  controls? You should find that the new windows will not run so hot, like the Vista does, and much faster, with less stress in the machines inner resources! 

regards,
Maxx

Skhilled

The mobo is designed to accomodate 4 separate fans to be speed-controlled by the BIOS and are easily adjustable. The case can hold up to 10 fans! To add more than 4, I'd have to use a controller similar to this, which I have been looking at:

http://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Technologies-5-4-Inch-Controller-AC-SEN-3-B1/dp/B00KJGYLNM/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1427721827&sr=1-1&keywords=fan+controller

That controls up to 5 fans individually...not including the ones connected to the mobo. You connect the fans directly to it and it fits in a bay just like a dvd player/burner. I plan on getting a nice video card later so it is possible that I may need more than the 3 fans included in the case.

Speaking of fans, I've decided on getting red fans and red cabling. The case comes with one black fan (in the rear) and 2 white fans (in the front).

The case seems very dust resistant! The cutouts for the drive bays actually have holes in them and are fitted with foam that can be cleaned. The bottom of the case has 2 openings for fans AND a removable dust screen for easy cleaning.

OK, back to building...I took a short break.  :hah:

Skhilled

PC is assembled and the wires are hidden VERY well!  :dancebun:

Tomorrow I will install Win 8.1 and probably the MANY, MANY updates it has!  :groan:

Maxx

Good deal Bro and there will be many updates for the next few days or so., :)

regards,
Maxx

Ken.

It's getting close now!
Looking forward to performance details  :happy:
" If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti

Skhilled

Speed is very nice and much improved! Almost 10 sec to boot...without a SSD!

Spent the night updating and adding programs. If I stick my hand on the front panel it stays cold which tells me it is drawing in enough cold air. With my hand on the back it's not as cold but still cool so it's keeping it cool.

So far, an overall great experience. hardware and software installation was very quick and smooth. Even the 60+ windows updates took less than 20 minutes!

I added my previous video card nvidia 8600 GT...yeah, it's old but works very well! And added my old drives so I can get my bookmarks, files, etc...

Ken.

Reusing old cards works well sometimes... my shop PC has a video card that has seen three different setups and still works well, even though it is a little dated by today's standards.  ;D

Sounds like this build is living up to your expectations?
" If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti

Skhilled

Pretty much for what I paid for it. :) There are actually some enhancements I did not expect and consider them as extras. :)

The inside of the case now looks uncluttered and cable-free mostly thanks to the ample room on the right side of the case behind where the mobo sits. Most of the open sides of the case are insulated with foam to keep dust out and can be easily cleaned. Instead of the drives being installed facing front to back...they are sitting sideways. The backside with the cabling is sitting toward the right side of the case where the cables are mostly hidden. The caddies they sit in seem to be made of cheap plastic but if it was hard metal then it would probably rattle and create more noise. ...and it is pretty quiet. I currently have it sitting on a table right next to the keyboard I'm typing on and it is as quiet or less that my previous one that was sitting near the floor! It is actually inches from my face!

The MIC and headphone inputs are on the front of the case (there are inputs in the back via direct MOBO input) instead of the back which is a good thing. Most older cases do not have this. You don't have to climb under a desk to insert the jacks. The BIOS comes with great software to control the fans, voltage, and auto flashing of the BIOS. The MOBO also came with software to use within Windows to control/change some of these on the fly! It has many nice features for the novice like a basic mode and a more advanced mode for overclockers who wish to squeeze every ounce of performance out of their system.

And of course, you can upgrade the hardware to get even more out of it later which will save me money. ;)

Maxx

Glad you got it done!

Have fun, they are real smooth running!

regards,
Max

Skhilled

Got just about everything installed I need...

Ken.

Quote from: Skhilled on April 01, 2015, 09:09:58 AM
Got just about everything installed I need...

Errr... how can we tell with no pictures???  :hah:
" If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti

Skhilled

Haven't processed them yet. Which reminds me...I can now download Nikon Capture NX-D:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/capturenxd/

It is a 296MB download...  :whistle:

But if you've ever tried Lightroom you'll find it's very similar but FREE! Here's some of the features:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/capturenxd/interface/