@jadeskye: As mentioned its a 3x120mm rad which is mounted up the top of the case, the pump is a Swiftech MCP-655B which I've go floating on a sponge block which is inside the bottom section drive bay. The Block is an Swiftech Apogee GTZ, however I think I want to change it to an XT as due to the bowing plate (made for better contact with 775 socket CPU's) I don't feel its entirely the best choice for a socket 1366 configuration. The coolant is actually high performance engine coolant and distilled water.
What I'd really like are some nice better flow 140mm fans for the intakes, the stock ones don't seem to push that much (especially against the Coolermaster 120mm Low Noise LED fans I'm using for the radiator), also I need more red light sources... I want a healthy glow in there.
i've assembled about 20 i7 watercooled machines and i find that the HK3.0 is the best CPU block. might wanna give it some thought=)
Also i reccomend the Zalman Z3 120mm fans for radiator air pushing, they're quiet as hell as really push some air, i don't know too much about 140s though, sorry =)
I use these http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=4375 in red for my radiator fans, I find them to be one of the best 120's on the market. The radiator is one of this low air flow resistance XSPC ones, which allows me to run those at lower voltages with little impact to the over all cooling performance. That coupled with the fact that I've got the pump resting on a sponge block and not bolted to the chassis (which causes a butt load of hum) means that when I turn down the fans on my fan controller the rig is almost completely silent.
Too bad my past unemployment kept me from buying the water cooling setup I wanted to.
Here's my olde rig.
Complete with dust.
Specs: Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 with a fairly standard old Tuniq Tower cooler, overclocked to a modest 3.6GHz Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 . Ram: 4GB Corsair DDR2 (ye olde 800mhz, though I can always overclock that) avec 4-4-4-12 timings. Video: Geforce 8800GT with a much better cooler, overclocked to 700/1750/1000MHz so that it's actually usable in this day and age. Hard Drives: 2x500GB Samsung 7200RPM, RAID 1 (just in case). 1.61GB Samsung* Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling Silencer 700 watt. Case: Antec 900 with some extra holes for cable routing and some actual dust filters (not like they're doing much good). Sound Card: Asus Xonar D2X. Speakers: Logitech 5300e 5.1 surround. Monitors: Dell 22" 2209WA and an old Dell 19" E196FP. Mouse: Logitech MX1000 (their first laser mouse). Keyboard: Logitech S510 keyboard, with included mouse tossed aside because it's garbage. OS: Windows the Seventh.
I built a mATX machine, spent about $450, bought the video card and PSU used, but both have warranties. XFX 2nd lifetime warranty.
mobo: gigabyte ma785gmt-ud2h CPU: AMD Phenom x2 555 (unlocked to x4) 3.2ghz GPU: XFX HD 4870 1gb PSU: Corsair 620HX Ram: 1x2gb DDR3 1600 (working on an other 2gb stick) OS: Windows 7 64bit HDD: WD 250gb 7200 sata (small but gets the job done) Mon: 32" pannasonic 1080p LCD
So far its been running great, only game I have so far is Crysis, but was getting 32-38 FPS on high, 1900x1080, 2xAA. Pretty satisfied since I only have one 2gb stick of ram.
The following took place between 1PM and 9PM on November 14th 2009 :p.
Motherboard: GA-P55-UD3P
CPU: Intel Core i7 - 860
GPU: Sapphire HD5850
RAM: G.Skill 2x2 GB @ 1333Mhz
PSU: Thermaltake TR2-550W
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
HDD: 1TB Western Digital
Monitor: 19'' LG Flatron W1934S
Case: NZXT TEMPEST
That setup cost quite a fortune. I am thankful for the help of my dad because if it wasn't for him I would have never dreamed of it. The last 5 months have been a blast so far, running games to their full potential is truly amazing and especially with recent games; namely Bad Company 2 and Just Cause 2.It brings life to games and
Here are a couple of screenshots of what I like to call "Ace Gunner" :D.
This is the system which I shall be building next week, so I think I could technically call it my current PC specifications... :)
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case. Motherboard: Asus P6TD Deluxe Motherboard. Processor: Intel Core i7 920. Aftermarket Cooler: Titan Fenrir X-Mas Edition. Storage: 2x 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3. Memory: 6GB Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D. Sound Card: Creative Xi-Fi Gamer. Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 5870. Power Supply: XFX 850W Black. Card Reader: Akasa Brand. DVD Drives: 2x LG Sata DVD+RW Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
Probably going to get a Intel Solid State Drive at some point as well, but that feels more like a luxury item at the moment and my two Samsung Spinpoint's should do just fine. Will post some pictures once it's built and running. Oh and also, Sata DVD Drives for the win. Hate IDE cables.
CPU: Intel Quad Core i7 920 Motherboard: Asus P6T Memory: 6GB Corsair Optics: Pioneer Blueray Reader/Writer Storage: 64 GB SSD, 500GB HDD, 1TB External HDD GPU: ATI XFX 4890, although I'll upgrade soon to a 5870. Monitor: Benq 2420, seriously, a great 24 inch monitor, usb ports, 2ms response time and two HDMI ports. Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout
I just use the fan cooling, although I'll probably have to upgrade when I get my GPU, and my power is a Coolermaster 600W, which I'll also have to upgrade. @TrueEnglishGent: We have very similar systems.
@DCFGS3: Love the Storm Scout, I have my other PC running out of one of those and it makes a for a totally sweet looking rigs provided you get you LED's on in the side intakes and keep things clean.
" @DCFGS3: Love the Storm Scout, I have my other PC running out of one of those and it makes a for a totally sweet looking rigs provided you get you LED's on in the side intakes and keep things clean. "
Yeah but I don't have that side fan set up, I forget why, may not have come with it or I was worried about power.
At the risk of being a bit off topic, does anyone know any good liquid cooling systems that aren't very pricey? Will I need one with the new GPU and bigger power unit?
Man, it took forever to find out all that information. I have another computer built almost exactly like this one. I had them built around October 2008, and they have served me well thus far, though I think they are finally starting to show their age. I'm fine with that though. They'll last me a few more years when I'll do another complete upgrade.
4gb ram core2 duo t9300 @ 2.5ghz geforce 8600m gt 15in screen 1080p 320gb hdd specs from my 2 year old xps 1530. I love this laptop. haven't had the money to build a proper desktop yet
Sony Vaio PCG K15 bought it back in 03. Still worth like 1400 bucks
This one has a little less features than mine. Compared to my crappy lil' compaq 610 the sony is 'out ten times slower, It is broken now : ( My 610 also has a stuck- down right click key.
I have a inspiron 15(128 MB CPU) with 4 gigs of ram. It sucks but im actually considering buying a ViDock 2 with ati 5670 (http://www.villagetronic.com/vidock2/index.html)
Mobo: Asus P6T CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.3GHz Cooling: Noctua heatsink GPU: Asus GTX 480 on the way(8800gt in there for the time being) RAM: 6gb DDR3 PSU: corsair 750w Optical Drive: LG GBW H20l blu-ray burner, GGC h20l BD/HDDVD combo rom HDD: WD 1tb black drive + 1.5tb green drive Sound: integrated Monitor: dell p2310h and panasonic 50g10 KB/M: Logitech G15 rev 2 and g500 Case: Antec Twelve Hundred
After 2.5 years of use my mother board died few days ago because of my brother, so instead of spending money on old tech, I decided to do some upgrading (new CPU, RAM, Windows 7 and motherboard).
CPU: Intel Core i5 750 2.66 GHz @ 3.6 GHz with Zalman 9900NT Cooler Motherboard: Asus P7P55D-E PRO Memory: 2 x 2GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 GPU: XFX GTX 280 Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence ST Hard Drives: 2x Seagate and 1x Western Digital PSU: PC Power & Cooling 750 W Case: Antec 1200
HD5870 Eyefinity 6's in action! It's a shame the 8 pin PCI-E molex converters are so damn ugly compared to my braided 6pin's. Also... they could not have a worse color for CrossfireX bridges if they tried, straightout of a mid 70's car interior that brown is.
Second photo is mean to be showing off the lighting, but the camera is pretty bad at picking up the cathode glow.
@solidamus90: One can never have to much horse power :D
@Geno: Yep, Tis quite nice being able to crank Just Cause 2 up to max and not drop a frame. Shame theres no WHQL cert driver for them yet though (running on Cat 10.3b preview at the moment)
Would have been SLI GTX480's if they weren't something of a let down.
AMD Phenom II x4 965 3.4Ghz Processor 4 GB DDR3 G.Skill 1333 Mhz RAM (Soon to be 8Gb. Just have to get around to ordering it.) 2x ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB in CrossfireX 750 GB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive MSI 790FX-GD70 Gaming Series Motherboard Cooler Master HAF 922 Case Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W power supply Windows 7 64-Bit Home Premium Logitech MK300 wireless mouse and keyboard (May be getting a new mouse. I adore the keyboard.) 23" 1080P Acer monitor
Seems quite speedy. I just built it under a month ago. It seems to be able to run Just Cause 2 quite well on maxed settings with an average of 55-60 fps with the odd drop to 30-40 when things get berserk.
And yes, Crossfire bridges are but ugly. I have a double sized bridge for my 5770s. It came with my motherboard because PCI slots 1 and 3 are able to do Crossfire in x16 while 2 and 4 are not. You can run quad Crossfire in x8 but I don't think that's necessary. So yes, I get double the puke brown coloured Crossfire connector.
" HD5870 Eyefinity 6's in action! It's a shame the 8 pin PCI-E molex converters are so damn ugly compared to my braided 6pin's. Also... they could not have a worse color for CrossfireX bridges if they tried, straightout of a mid 70's car interior that brown is. Second photo is mean to be showing off the lighting, but the camera is pretty bad at picking up the cathode glow. Edit: Broken Sentence. "
Dual nVidia GeForce GTX280's 750 GB SATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM 19 in 1 media reader (with Bluetooth) Creative/Sound Blaster X-Fi (Realtek HD) (2 speakers/subwoofer) Fans/Liquid Cooling Razer Lycosa (gaming keyboard) Razer DeathAdder (gaming mouse) Razer eXactMat (gaming surface speed/control sides) *Purchase plans for the future: 2TB and the Razer Naga as I'm getting into RTS more & the Razer Moray. I have a set of gaming head phones that I can plug into my sound card, extremely comfortable, with detachable boom/mic, 6 channel headphone amplifier, but I can't wear headphones for long at all due to some surgical nerve damage, so the Razer Morays are to replace the headphones.
So I've just ordered a EK Supreme HF Full Nickel and a bunch of Bitspower Matt black 1/4" Compression fittings (created with Tygon 3603 in mind). Should give me something to do over my break from work the week after next.
2 4870's, Q6600, Gigabyte X48-DS4, 1TB & 650GB HDD's, LG W2343T, 4GB DDR2, A G5, G15 and LifeChat headset OS has been XP 32, Vista 32, Vista 64 and 7 Professional 64 bit (which is by far my fave).
It's getting a bit old, but it's serving me well still; added the second 4870 and the 1TB HDD not that long ago :D
@gunslingerNZ: Nope, this one is my own brain child built out of stuff I've read positive things about. The UD5 for instance is identical to the Extreme but without the North Bridge water block, which is entirely un-neccesary as theres no memory controller on the north bridge on the X58 and P55 chipsets. That being said HardOCP is my most trusted source for hardware reviews. You think this setup is nuts you should see the custom build a mate of mine did for his 4 way crossfire 4870X2 build, that was truely epic.
Also, what would be the best kind of setup for a graphic intensive PC (NOT mac...that's right). There's plenty of specs about apple stuff, but never good ol intel et al
So my new CPU block and fittings arrived, unfortunately I misjudged the size of the fittings so I won't be able to install until next week. I had to order in some 45 and 90 degree angular connector's to accommodate the size of the compression fittings (they won't fit side by side on the EK Supreme HF and my Reservoir).
Anyway size problems aside the fittings are gorgeous, they've been designed specifically for the Tygon 3603 tubing that I use. I had a quite check with some off cuts and it's a perfect fit and make installation much more pleasant than by existing 1/4" barb and clamp setup. The block is really nice to, mirror finished base with a real nice solid feel and weight to it (much meatier than the Apogee GTZ I've been using). I've already installed the type 1 jet plate in the block, from what I have read this is the best jet plate to use in a system only loop due to the high turbulence it creates due to the way it restricts the flow (I use an MCP-655 pump so the restriction isn't a worry).
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