Help Fixing Up Old System

digyerownhole

digyerownhole

digyerownhole

Associate
Joined
3 Aug 2012
Posts
25
Hi all,

I’m after some advice and from reading through some of the threads on these boards this seems like a well-educated and helpful community, so I’m hoping someone will be able to help. Some history…

My PC was purchased June 2009 and I had it overclocked to around 4GHz with a single loop water cooling system on the CPU only. The pump broke twice: the first time I had it repaired (under warranty) and the second time I just gave up with the water cooling. I use the machine for work as well as gaming and couldn’t afford the downtime to send it off again.

I stripped out the res, pump, rad and tubing and replaced with air-cooling and reverted to the default setup in the BIOS (effectively the non-overclocked settings).

Main specs:
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Chipset
i7 950 @ 3.06 8MB Cache (LGA1366)
12GB (6x2GB) PC16000 DDR3/1800mhz Triple Channel Memory (G.SKILL GBTD Series)
GTX295 1792MB 16X PCI Express
Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro
80 GB Intel X25-M SSD
1.5TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 32M Cache 7200RPM
Tagan 1100W TG1100-BZ PipeRock Series Modular
Antec 1200 Case
*I have the spare PSU cables, and the b its and bobs left over from the mobo packaging.

The case is a little worse for wear now, there are spacers and bits missing and I have some loose cabling between PSU and mobo because the power to the mobo is quite temperamental. I’m way too embarrassed to post a picture of what I’ve done to what was once a great machine. Also, the USBs are very slow, and the eSATA connection doesn’t work.

I’d like to get it back in to a good state, and I think I need:
New case
New (bigger SSD) for OS
Will re-use the existing SSD as storage.

I’d also like to keep the mobo as it has a stable OC profile – but I’m unsure of what cooling I might need. I do not have the time, skill, or inclination to setup water cooling with separates.

I wanted to know if using a pre-built system such as http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-006-AN&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2262 will be good enough.

The GTX295 has now become very dirty and is running quite hot (85c under a bit of load). I guess I can just give this a good clean? I’ve seen some vids and blog posts about dismantling and replacing the TIM, so this might be an idea as opposed to a new card. I’m not a big gamer.

So, in summary:
What new case, can I just pick any?
New SSD
What cooling system so I can use the OC profile on the mobo

Budget around £300 or so and looking to do the job later this month as I have some time off.

Thanks in advance...
 
The all in one systems are mostly considered an almost middle ground between air and water cooling. I don't have one myself, but from what I gather, it's not considered a true watercooling solution, and you can get air coolers that cool just as well if you don't want the water cooling solution anymore.

As for a new case, it's mostly just personal taste. My case I love, but others think it looks tacky. Each to their own. Unless you are looking for certain things in the case? (Windows, built in fan controllers, lots of cooling options, lots of space etc).

As for an SSD, I'd probably consider the samsung 830 series (most people on here will probably point you in that direction), pick the size that fits you the best. The 128gig one is £89.99 on OCUK :).

One thing though, having a temperamental power source going to the mobo doesn't sound too healthy. What sort of loose cabling is causing this? Is there any way that you can fix it?
 
Thanks for the reply.

The problem with choosing a case is there are too many to choose from!

I guess I'd appreciate a smaller subset to choose from that:

a) will be OK for my mobo (I think it only has USB 2 not USB 3, for example)
b) Ease of install and setup
c) adequately fit the cooling I need.

On the subject of cooling, will those intermediatery 'water' systems be OK to cool that OC on the CPU (3.06 > ~3.9)? I understood they are quieter. Again, I'm happy to take advice on WhatEverWorks™.
 
Ice213 said:
One thing though, having a temperamental power source going to the mobo doesn't sound too healthy. What sort of loose cabling is causing this? Is there any way that you can fix it?
Click to expand...

Ugh... well, I found the root cause of the power problem. It's a loose 24EATX on the mobo. Where the power cable was previously fitted, the routing of the cable and the sharp angle as it was presented to the connector has caused a tenuous connection.

The issue with it in the new case (Cooler Master 690 II) is there is so much tension in this cable every time I try to lie it flat on the cable mgmnt side of the case, it causes the connection to the mobo to fail.

powerbr.jpg


As you can see, it's sticking out miles. I'm going to try to pull a bit more of it through to the other side. If that doesn't work, it looks like another £300 on a new mobo/processor because I don't know what else I can do.
 
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