Build Log

Associate
Joined
11 Dec 2009
Posts
530
Location
Barnsley
Well finally got around to putting my new rig together that stulid kindly helped me spec up.

Spec thread is here:-
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18307564

Basic specs of this rig are:-

Intel Core i5-2500k
Stock Intel Cooler
16gb Corsair Vengeance Blue Ram
MSI Z68A-GD65-G3 Z68 Motherboard
2 x 160gb Seagate 7200.11 in RAID 0 (Liberated from my microserver)
HP Lightscribe 16x DL DVD-RW SATA
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' PSU
Antec 300 Case

Plans are to upgade the cooler, storage and graphics at some point in the future.

Build was pretty simple and no problems so far.
I'll get some pics of the finished article as I may want some cable routing advice.

I re-routed a few cables in the case and busted out some zip ties.

Then I did a quick dry build on my test bed. (AKA a big plastic box)

CPU in cooler installed, memory installed and DVD drive hooked up along with PSU.

Booted off of a bootable windows xp disc and ran prime95 & speed fan for about 3 hours. Initially temps soared upto about 75degrees however these quickly settled to a maximum of 65degrees at full load. (I expect this is down to the themal paste setting)

After this I rebooted in to memtest and let that do 4 passes before slotting it all into the case.

Have to say I'm pretty impressed and the 2500k seems to offer a tangible performance increase over the 2100 I built last week for a friend.
 
Top tip fella. Download ultimatebootcd or a similar boot disk. They are full of useful tools. Memtest, CPU test, HDD diagnostics. I wouldnt have mentioned it if not for you doing a "dry run".

Look forward to seeing the pics.
 
anyway, yeah, that ram looks awesome in there

im thinking of a mod in the future, a camo-like pattern with blue and black...:cool::cool:
 
Try and post some pics of your current case, be easier for someone to suggest what to do once they see what they have to work with (wont be me, mine is spaghetti junction :D)
 
D'OH

Sorry about that, got waylaid by the *ahem* other talk last night and forgot :D

Yeah i think your pretty much stuck with that, due to the case having no seperate panel for cable management, but as far as it looks its all tied off I see, take it that its just for aesthetics and not causing a airflow issue for your temps?
 
Last edited:
Yeah anything I do would pretty much only be for aesthetic reasons. Temperature wise I'm not having any issues. I was playing around at 3.8ghz and not getting temps over 70deg's with the stock cooler running Prime.
 
It actually looks ok to me, although it lacks cable management its a big airy case and looks to be tons of room around the cables so wont cause any issues, 70c with prime and stock cooler is great imo.

Just put the side panel on and imagine its a beautiful fairy glade behind it :p
 
TBH it will have the lid on 99.9% of the time.

Upgrades I have in mind as & when I can afford it are:-

V.Quiet HDD (Nothing big as I have 5tb of storage on my LAN)
Small SSD to use as a Cache on the Z68 chipset
Discrete Graphics Card
Antec Kuhler (620 or 920 depending on price)
More Fans (Prob Antec TrueQuiets)
More Overclock

As you can probably tell I like to stick with a brand ;)
 
:D GL with that, pop another thread up when ya have the cash and im sure ppl will be able to steer you towards some good products available when your ready
 
the case central section will be able to help out there, they do all sorts of nice mod's in there, the hdd bungey caddy is one of the most ingenious ideas yet
 
Back
Top Bottom