First Ever Build - Supervision required :p

panyan · 1 Apr 2011 at 09:14

Right then, this is my first ever build. I have ordered:

- 2500k
- Noctua D-14
- 4gb Corsair XMS3
- Sapphire 5850 1gb
- Antec 300
- Corsair 600w Builder Series
- MSI GD65
- 500GB Caviar Blue

As i take delivery over the next week i will be taking photos and showing you my assembly.

Your job p) as seasoned professionals is to show me if i am going wrong anywhere before i make the mistake of destroying all my components in a school boy error!

To start us off, ive got a picture of my ram and cpu

I also got a second hand antec 300 with fans and a dvd writer already installed, but royal mail dropped it and ive been trying for two days to use pliers to reshape the corner back to being a corner! at the moment i cant even remove the side panel! bloody royal mail *mad*

UPDATE 1: 2/4/11

right then, i have decided to wait until i get the psu and test the fans and dvd drive, and then i will decide whether to return the case. I have used pliers to gently bend the metal back to a reasonable shape to get the side panel off.

got my delivery of the noctua d14 today

UPDATE 2: 5/4/2011

city link finally bothered to delivery my stuff, as well as DPD and the royal mail!

and the infamous ram to bump it up to 8gb

Update 3: 7/4/2011

ive got all my stuff now, im just going to follow the guide and hopefully if you see any issues arising early, you can point them out for me

the MSI GD65 that i got for a great price

and the corsair 600w

come to think of it - i love all my components

Update 4: 8/4/2011

First day of building today!

lots of pics for you!

PSU fitted

LOTS of cables!

drives fitted

All back back... apart from case

Case with all cables nicely managed

Start Step 3 of the building guide!

ooooh yeah!

porn on OC's?!

sorting out noctua d14 back plate

board waiting to recieve cooler and noctua lurking in the background

cleaned with IPA and with the mx-4

OOOHHHH! BABY!

decent clearance

very good clearance between the xms3 and d14

from the other side

is it ok to wrap the fan cables around to make it neater or are they going to melt :/

UPDATE 5: 10/4/2011

its all in the case

perhaps i should have chosen a smaller cooler...

MSI is my new favourite mobo manufacturer for neat little additions like this

the supercharger header

VERY messy front panel connectors

i need to order two back plates

noctua + 5850 = no space for plugging in cables :/

panyan · 1 Apr 2011 at 13:46

joxang said:
Good luck m8 . Don't hesitate to post and ask if you need any help.

thanks, i will definately be taking lots of photos as i go along and might even make a video to explain what i am doing so i can remember when i want to build my next one

panyan · 2 Apr 2011 at 12:02

update 1: 2/4/11 see top

panyan · 2 Apr 2011 at 23:45

Bloody hell - ive just shelled out £20 on an assortment of different types of screws and standoffs - last time i buy a second hand case!

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 08:14

ION said:
Ha you get what u pay for ( ha i should know have a lian li ). But just make sure to ground urself before u install anything and ull be fine .
Oh and make sure u line up the cpu right, other than that it's easy . Also always hold anything by it's side's just incase (again static) that goes for everything ram, cpu and gpu.

Btw with ur motherboard make sure u have the B3 stepping model.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=5&subid=1906

yep yep, thanks mate, i should say that ive been fixing pc's for years - ive just never built one from the ground up

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 09:18

bledd. said:
One mini tip..

When putting your motherboard into the case, double check that you've got all the correct mounting pins in the case (no extra ones or any missing)

Then place the motherboard on top of them, now half tighten the outer 4 screws, make sure there's still a little room for it to move around.

Put the rest of the screws in, again, half tight. Once they're all in place, tighten them up.

If you don't do this, it can be a nightmare trying to get the last few in, and you can crack your motherboard if a screw puts too much lateral pressure on the board.

mmm, nice, thanks - that will be useful

Im just trying to decide how im going to mount my noctua D14 - before or after i put the d14 in the case?

1) install heatsink backplate -> install heatsink -> lower motherboard into place

2) install heatsink backplate -> lower motherboard into place -> install heatsink

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 09:56

Seraph said:
install the noctua before the mobo in the case pretty sure space will be very very tight in there with it all in

but will i have space to access the mobo screws with the noctua in?

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 23:27

bledd. said:
Just take your time and ask on here if you're no 100% sure about something, people are always happy to help

reeceLAV said:
gl with build.

Thanks very much you guys, im getting the mobo, psu and hdd tommorow hopefully so ill upload a few more pics - im gonna wait till i get everything to start putting it together so i dont rush becuase i am excited

panyan · 4 Apr 2011 at 22:18

ARGH!!! my mobo, psu and hdd was meant to come today, i didnt leave the house at all and the tracking said it was loaded in the van ready for delivery... and at 8pm it said it was back at the warehouse!!!

I HATE city link!!! they have done this before to me!!!

panyan · 5 Apr 2011 at 18:15

ive gone update 2 in the first post

ALSO guys, with my MSI GD65, it says that i shouldnt use standoffs - can this be right?! perhaps i misread their taiwanese-english

panyan · 7 Apr 2011 at 22:54

UPDATE 3 - all stuff arrived, start to build

panyan · 8 Apr 2011 at 23:12

UPDATE 4 - day 1 of building!

panyan · 9 Apr 2011 at 10:51

JeffyB said:
Enjoy the build, you look like your doing fine and have chosen nicely balanced components. We're all here to help should you need any

thanks

im off to screwfix now to get a decent screwdriver that is long enough to get past the d14

panyan · 10 Apr 2011 at 22:56

UPDATE 5

I know nobody actually reads this, but i am adding it as i go along to all my builds so that i know what i have done at what date

since last time i have added a 30GB vertex ssd, made the 500gb WD a media drive and cut a new window:

i found a cheap piece of A3 perspex and thought i;d cut a new window for my Home Rig seeing as it was an awful day.

Anyway, i was playing with the design and i wanted the window as central as possible so that you miss anything, and i thought it was cool to keep the honeycomb air vents over the noctua

1) original coolermaster panel

i dont like it because of the air vent on the acrylic, the one extra rounded corner and its general small size

2) this is it without the side panel, what i did was import this into photoshop and then play with the layers to find the best place for the window - i saw this method whilst browsing the interwebs and i thought this was a good method

3) then i put in the original design and i thought it looked silly - it covers the main past of the components i like to look at - the area around the cpu...

4) i did not know whether the A3 acrylic would stretch as far down as to cover both air vents, but i tried it anyway and used the good old ruler to make sure it would all be fine

I didnt want just a plain square becuase this is my gaming rig, different to my uni rig, and so i wanted some more detailing with the honeycomb effect at the edge.

Anyway, what i did was to cover the whole lot in 3m 3434 masking tape, draw the dimensions of the perspex, draw the cut line ~2cm within that to allow for piping and the double sided tape. I used an old template for the rounded corners.

To do the honeycomb bit, i drew two lines, one 1cm from the edge of the perspex, the other 3cm from the edge, then worked out that i needed 3x 5cm sections to make it look in proportion and used a set square for the 45 degree edges

I used the dremel + speedclic + metal cutting discs to do the straight edges and then for the honeycomb section i used the "thin metal cutting discs" which are for more intricate work. I then gave it a quick file with the metal files.

This is the second window i have cut, it look me from midday to 5.30 with a lot of regular breaks, it is very hard on your hands and requires a lot of attention to keep it going where you want

This is it on the computer, as i am using it now, but i am waiting for the piping to come in the post...

ill update with a final picture when the perspex is in

BTW, some of the pictures are of the other window i did, it is just to get the general idea

EDIT: oh yeah, ive also got rid of the old ram and have got 16GB of ballistix

panyan · 15 Sep 2011 at 10:18

this will probably the VERY final update:

i have tidied up the cables, put on the piping and stuck the perspex inside

i had a few problems with the perspex:

- i had to buy foamed masking tape as the piping stuck in 2mm

- the 140mm noctua fan had to be moved down becuase it wouldnt allow the side panel, it was hitting it

- the side panel doesnt actually fit on properly at the top due to the fact i didnt account for the exhaust case fan which hits the edge of the perspex, but it is screwed on and working lov-er-ly

anyway, here are some pictures of the final stages and some glamour shots

it has been a long and fascinating process to get it how i want it, but i think this is the final revision of this build

panyan · 15 Sep 2011 at 16:08

macmodder said:
Is the foam tape you used easy to get hold of? how strong does it feel?

3M 9546 High Performance PE Foam Tape

Total: £12.45

just search online, easy enough to get hold of, it is by the 3m company - it is the best stuff known to mankind - i could hang my computer off it from the ceiling! anyway, i put a strip all around, pressed it down - strong as a rock

panyan · 15 Sep 2011 at 21:49

shamzzz said:
side window looks awesome, good job!

thanks, there are indepth photos and tips on the previous page

panyan · 16 Sep 2011 at 23:23

alex2k10 said:
Nice work for a first build. Window looks good as well congrats.

chigley said:
Great job, looks fantastic!
Well done

thanks - that means a lot