First ever build log - Sandybridge - with pics :)

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 17:56

I built my first PC about when I was 14 years old (7 years ago) and I remember the buzz I got from it when it all worked and booted for the first time! Since then I've had probably 4/5 builds however none have given me that thrill and so coinciding with the release of SandyBridge I decided that I wanted to build a PC that will give me that buzz again!

Now I don't have any awesomely cool case mods or such planned but I will try and make it a good log and regularly update with pics and benches once all complete.

So without further a do lets crack on

Build Name: Orange Glory :cool:

Idea: The build is based around the Xigmatek Utgard case which I already have after an impulse buy. I want to keep a very tight colour scheme (nothing that wasn't either orange or black) and more fundamentally for this to be the highest quality build I've ever done with the most attention to detail.

For those who haven't seen the internals of the Utgard or want an idea of the theme:

The Components

Intel Core i5 2500K
MSI P67A-GD65
GeIL Value Plus RAM (2x2GB DDR3 PC12800)
2x Palit GTX460 Sonic 2GB GDDR5
1TB Samsung F1 HDD
SilverStone ST75F (750W) PSU
LG DVD-RW
Xigmatek Utgard Case

All these components came from various sources. The core components CPU, mobo and RAM came from ocuk as I never order core components from anywhere else. Both the 460s and the PSU are second hand and come from the members market. While the DVD-RW, HDD and case all come from my last build.

Cooling

Thermalright Venomous X Black

3x 120mm Xigmatek XLF -F1253 and 2x 140mm Xigmatek XLF-F1453

These are in addition to the stock cooling of the case.

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:01

So today most of the components have arrived:

The RAM and PSU haven't arrived yet however just to run intial tests I'm going to use some Corsair Dominator DDR3 I have knocking around. However the first thing to do was get rid of the "old" i3 setup in my case:

The mobo/RAM/cpu has now been sold to a more loving home who will hopefully keep it for more than 3 months

Dark_Angel · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:05

Hi there, hotlinking isn't allowed. Could you please rehost the pics in your first post on something like imageshack please?

Looking forward to reading your build log

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:08

Ah yer forgot about hotlinking my bad! Will ninja them into my dropbox!

Upon arrival and the joy of unboxing I proceeded with mounting the CPU and Venomous X Black. First impression is that the gun metal/shiny black look of the VX black is awesome and should really go well with the theme! I was also quite happy with just how easy it was to mount! So far a definite recommendation, but the proof of the pudding will be in the temps later!

Also I like the uncluttered look of the GD65 especially now they've done away with IDE and other old school connectors!

Dark_Angel · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:10

Thanks and no problems.

anuraj · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:10

Nice, more pics when you get some more done please! are you going to use the xlf on the cpu cooler or the supplied one with the cooler

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:26

anuraj said:
Nice, more pics when you get some more done please! are you going to use the xlf on the cpu cooler or the supplied one with the cooler

Yup got a picture of that coming including a test lighting

Had I known when ordering that the VX also supports 140mm then I'd have ordered four 140mm fans and used two on the heatsink however for the moment with what I've got it'll be two 120mm fans.

So you may be asking what are my plans for the two 140mm fans I already have if not for the VX. Well the Utgard comes supplied with a top 170mm fan but this can be replaced with 2x120 OR 2x140mm fans. The latter being my plan:

shadow_boxer · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:28

Great fans those Xigmatek F1253, move a substantial amount of air. Have 3 in my Coolermaster Dominator CM690 (see link in thread for images) but they do get noisy when at more than 60% so wouldn't want them on my CPU heatsink.

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:37

To get an impression of what it will look like I ran a test of the fans and got to say I like how it looks!

As you might be able to tell from the above pic that I actually installed a "full" system in there as a first test. No errors, clean installed
Windows 7 (64) and consequently booted to Windows first time with no errors. However the next pic clearly shows that cable management is going to be tedious (and this pic isn't with the new PSU or 2nd gfx card):

p.s. sorry for blurriness, rubbish camphone!

Notes

Notice that the Palit GTX460 comes with an orange fan hence why I chose them!

Also I'm trying to make sure all cables are either black or orange hence the orange SATA cables which I pinched from an old Gigabyte board. Sadly there is very little in the way or orange braided cables (although I'm not surprised) however I have noticed that BitFenix make orange sleeved fan cable extensions which I am going to order tomorrow:

Great fans those Xigmatek F1253, move a substantial amount of air. Have 3 in my Coolermaster Dominator CM690 (see link in thread for images) but they do get noisy when at more than 60% so wouldn't want them on my CPU heatsink.

They are all going to be linked to a Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus fan controller so when not stressing the system I can turn them down.

Too Tall · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:52

Why didnt you route the cables as you needed them, i find it much easier to put them where i need them rather than put everything together and sort it from there

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:55

Thats it for today.

Tomorrow (hopefully complete with more packages) I will start on the full build.

My question for today though is:

At present I can only have 1x 120mm intake at the front of the case as they need to mounted on something e.g. a HDD cage. Only one cage comes with the Utgard and I would like two (if anything just for the extra intake) however I can't find anyone who sells the Xigmatek HDD cage. Does anyone know if they're universal i.e. if I bought a Lian-Li HDD cage (which I've been eyeing up) would it fit in my case?

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:57

nrenz123 said:
Why didnt you route the cables as you needed them, i find it much easier to put them where i need them rather than put everything together and sort it from there

Thats my old PSU and that was only a test run. The mobo will be coming out when my new PSU arrives and so I didn't want to waste a lot of time cable routing for a 30min spin up

shadow_boxer · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:59

Do you mean something like the Scythe Kama Bay.

AlexTrickle · 13 Jan 2011 at 19:03

shadow_boxer said:
Do you mean something like the Scythe Kama Bay.

That looks perfect. Didn't know you could get a bay fan mount like that.

Will look into it

shadow_boxer · 13 Jan 2011 at 19:08

Yeah. Thought that was what you were after. It's quite pricey for what it is, unfortunately OcUK don't stock it so can't link from where I got it from. The included fan is very quiet. Few pics of it in the link in sig. (I have it installed as the top one in the front bezel).

anuraj · 14 Jan 2011 at 16:00

When are you going to post some more pics I cant wait

AlexTrickle · 14 Jan 2011 at 18:11

Apologies for the slow update on todays work but good news; my RAM and PSU have now arrived which means I can start the full build as I know all the core components work.

Things I've noticed about the PSU:

Its pretty big and only just fits in the PSU space of my case and consequently its fan (facing downwards) is not perfectly alligned with the fan space on the bottom of the case. I'd approximate about a quarter of the fan's area is lost, will this affect PSU temps (and consequently efficiency/output) much?

Also the 8 pin and 24pin cables are too short to be nicely routed around the back of the PC so I've ordered some BitFenix orange braided 8pin and 24pin extension cables. Hopefully should arrive monday at the latest.

Fingers crossed they won't be too garish!

Here is a pic of all components installed:

anuraj · 14 Jan 2011 at 18:14

Hope so to can you post a pic of what it is looking like at the moment.

Gary* · 14 Jan 2011 at 18:15

How come you opted for 2GB 460's?

AlexTrickle · 14 Jan 2011 at 18:21

Gary* said:
How come you opted for 2GB 460's?

A bit unnecessary I realise however as I picked both of them for £180 I wasn't going to complain especially as they were Palit as I'd been waiting for. One of those times you have to love the members market!

Edit: Just about to start the cabling. Going to start with the mammoth amount of front panel connectors that comes with the Utgard (many of which I will leave behind the case as I don't need. Will update with pics as I progress although this is likely to be time consuming