My build: i5 2500k on Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

[gee3000]

I've been putting together my new rig for BF3 to replace my ageing E8400 on P35 with 5770, thought I'd make a thread dedicated to it instead of making separate threads in various sections asking for advice...

The bits:

• Silverstone Raven 2 RV02 Limited Edition White
• Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
• Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
• Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9)
• Corsair H-50 CPU Water Cooler (recycled from my old system)
• OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

I've put my old bits into the RV02 for now, finishing up should be as easy as changing the motherboard and fans, and adding the new graphics card (excuse the bad pictures, I have terrible lighting in my room)

Current issues and plans:

• I've had to RMA the motherboard because it wouldn't start up, displaying 00 on the dr debug led. Expecting the replacement back on Tuesday.
• Also returned the 6950 as I felt I needed something stronger, still trying to decide what to go for: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18334351
• All 3 of the bottom 180mm case fans are faulty, they make a very loud clanking noise when turned on. I read that applying pressure to the middle should sort out the misalignment, however this seemed to cause the middle fan to lose a blade. The fan now makes the whole case wobble because of the imbalance so I've left it off for now. I loosened the fixings on all fans and this seemed to resolve the clanking noise issue, but the fans are still too loud for my liking. I watched a Youtube review on this case (same version) and the guy says the 3 fans are fairly quiet. Should I consider replacing all 3 fans or is it worth RMA'ing them with Silverstone?
• I want to fit 2 x Enermax Cluster 120mm White LED fans onto the H-50 in the top exhaust for a bit of lighting in the case to make use of the window, can anyone verify the Clusters will be suitable for the Corsair H-50 in push/pull config and not a pile of pants?

To do:

• Add BitFenix white braided extensions to all cables
• Remove the hard drive cage and add this hdd tray into the 5.25" bays: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=249&area=en
• Replace the rubber pads on the feet with felt or something to make the heavy son of a bitch easier to move.

 

[gee3000]

OcUK won't RMA the damn motherboard because there are bent pins!!!! How the hell could that have happened, I had no problems fitting the CPU and posted it to them with the plastic cover intact! Left OcUK a message and hopefully they will be able to sort out a replacement or something. This is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare order/build ¬_¬

 

[gee3000]

Good news! I think AsRock have accepted my RMA, stating they 'may be able offer me a guarantee', so I'll have to get it sent out to them.

Meanwhile can anyone confirm the following for me please:

1. Are the Enermax Cluster 120mm LED fans suitable for the H50?
2. Which decent, quieter 180mm fans would be good to replace the AP181's?

 

[gee3000]

Thanks for the advice everyone, will bear that in mind if things don't go to plan.

so what you contacted asrock direcly?

Yeah I emailed them from their website and got a response within 24-48 hours, asking me to confirm I will cover all costs and send them the serial number.

 

[gee3000]

Updates

1. Mobo sent back to ASRock for a replacement
2. 2 x 120mm Enermax Cluster fans on order
3. 3 x AP fans being replaced by RMA (all 6 will be on sale soon!)
4. 3 x Phobya G-Silent 18 180mm fans (white) on order to replace the AP's

 

[gee3000]

Graphics card

Someone please help me choose a graphics card lol:

• Gainward GeForce GTX 570 Phantom 1280MB - £270
• Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 OC WINDFORCE 3X 1280MB - £270
• Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 SOC WINDFORCE 3X 1280MB - £290

(Prices are from elsewhere, not OcUK)

The Gigabytes seem stronger but I'm leaning towards that Gainward card cos it looks hot as holy hell! But to judge whether the looks are worth the performance compromise I need to know what sort of performance difference there is between the cards compared to the Phantom?

I'm also an OC-noob so would prefer a solid out-of-the-box performer than one that would require tinkering.

Also, I'm currently using the Corsair HX520W PSU from my old rid, do I need to upgrade that too? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[gee3000]

Good luck dude Corsair will do just fine, but more horse power wouldn't hurt your system tho.

Thanks mate

Love your case btw... I've been looking at the raven. Is it be or does the raven 2 look better then the raven 3

Thanks. I've always thought the Raven 2 is the best looking case around, and in white it looks extra special Can't wait until this is complete.

 

[gee3000]

Updates

Just put an order in for the following:

• 1 x Gainward GeForce® GTX 570 1280MB "Golden Sample" Goes Like Hell
• 2 x Enermax Cluster 120mm White LED Fan
• 3 x Silverstone FM181 180mm White Fan

Super sad but I may end up spending my birthday (this saturday) putting all of this together as the replacement motherboard is now on its way back to me too

 

[gee3000]

so asrock didn't make any fuss about the bent pins?

my extreme7 has found its way to ocuk who are ment to forward it on to asrock due to being over 28days since I bought it, so hoping they don't come back to me with the bent pins excuse rather then sending it to asrock.

OcUK seem to make their own law when it comes to motherboards DOA due to bent pins They didn't offer to pass my board onto ASRock, all I got was a blunt rejection and a bill for £21.00, I'd be surprised of they help you free of charge, unless you are 'special' lol.

ASRock didn't make a fuss, I explained via email and they requested a few details, after which they sent me address to send to and requested £15 cash in the parcel for returns cost.

Good luck with your board

 

[gee3000]

well I'm not special after all, they've done the old warranty void routine.

I phoned upto ask as I as told they'd have to send it to asrock due to over 28 days since order, but the guy I spoke to said they don't deal directly with asrock. so due to miis-information its cost me £35 more than it would have going diectl to asrock.

oh and to top it all off the guy I spoke to straight out called me a liar, after he said only way to damage the pins was to drop something in it or touch the pins and I said I did neither just put the cpu into the socket and closed it.

you say you emailed asrock from their website, do you mean the contact technical support from under support?

Exact same scenario as mine, at no point whatsoever was the board mistreated. Anyway, I've been placing my orders elsewhere since

Check this page out: http://www.asrock.com/support/index.asp?cat=RMA

 

[gee3000]

but that says north america only, how did they agree to uk?

would be helpful if you either sent me via trust or post on here the outline of what you said in the email, I'll just need to change it to extreme7 rather than extreme4 gen3 and my details.

They didn't really make a fuss to be honest, and they're actually based in Netherlands. I've Trusted you copies of the emails, let me know if there's anything you don't understand.

 

[gee3000]

Ok thank you, will look into it when I'm fully awake. did they happen to agree on refunding the cost of postage to them after they'd tested the motherboard and agreed on the replacement?

how much did the postage cost? think I may have misunderstood the £15 part of your post #21, so you mean they asked for £15 to cover the cost when they return it to you?

No I didn't receive any refund whatsoever, this £160.00 motherboard ended up costing me £211.00 due to the following;

• £5 to send it to OcUK
• £10 RMA rejection fee by OcUK for inspecting a return
• £11 return postage fee by OcUK as if I needed my damaged board back by such an expensive delivery service
• £10 to send it to ASRock
• £15 return postage fee from ASRock - from NL and delivered within 2 days.

I receive my board today, it's a brand new sealed replacement however it also has ONE BROKEN PIN! It was properly packaged in a stiff UPS box, no damage to the packaging, plastic cover was in the socket as usual, yet still 1 pin was bent. Luckily it was just the 1 and I managed to straighten it with a pin instead of going through all that hassle again.

I really don't know how OcUK refuse to accept that boards can arrive damaged I'm just glad it's sorted and I have my rig up and running, at least I learnt that spending £20,000+ with a company doesn't deserve you any courtesy. I run a ecommerce store myself that does multi-million pound turnover and wouldn't allow a single one of my customers to suffer the disappointment I have.

Anyway, venting over... will post some updated pics soon.

 

[gee3000]

£10 to send to asrock?

what did you send via? looking on parcel2go its giving me £15.20 + vat ~£18 as the cheapest option via dhl europlus and thats without any insurance(well £50 while the motherboard is worth £200+).

oh and the fact about it coming damaged, tell that to the guy I spoke to yesterday
according to him the socket is strictly tested via lasers or some other rubbish(I didn't pay much attention) and the pins aren't damaged when they leave the manufacturer and due to the plastic protector the only way they can be damaged is after you take that cap off and either drop something on the pins or touch them.

if the pin came damaged then it either happened during transit to you or the qa isn't upto snuff and it happened during the board manufature, eith way asrock should be exchange it without charging you for delivery cost etc.

due to this I'm thinking of just cutting my losses and selling the board as faulty and getting an asus or gigabyte, would save the other headachs the asrock seem to provide reading the threads.

oh and test all 4 ram slots to check that the bent pin hasn't buggered them up, as you've unbent it it should be ok but best to check.

I have a business account with a Aramex so I get good rates to Europe Try Royal Mail International Signed For with insurance or Royal Mail Air Sure.

god dammit now i want a raven ! i had my hear set on the 650d !
god damn beaufiul cases !!!!

Haha glad you like it mate. Wait until you see the finished pics this weekend

 

[gee3000]

Not entirely happy with my Gainward GTX 570 "Golden Sample", it's way too loud ;/ Was considering changing over for a Gigabyte GTX 570 SOC but I'm hearing the MSI TwinFrozr III is far superior in quality, performance and quietness... available for £300 at the moment. Bah and I started off with a £200 6950 lol..

And this sexy lump is screaming to be in my system, not bad at all for £90:
» http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/power_supplies/hale90_650w

 

[gee3000]

Hi a bit off topic but related to warranties, doesn't OC UK offer a no question asked no quibble warranty for a month for a nominal fee just like another competitor? This is the reason I choose to buy stuff from that competitor.

I don't think so, you of course have no quibble rights to return within 7 days under the DSR, otherwise OcUK accept the return of faulty parts within 28 days. This is subject to testing, so if no fault is found then you are charged £21.00. Check here for full details: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/support.php

 

[gee3000]

Regardless of what they offer, as I have previously stated you have far more rights under the sales of goods act.

Yeah in hindsight I should have sent it to OcUK under the Sales of Goods Act but I wasn't aware the problem was caused by missing pins (it just wouldn't start up and I didn't check the pins) so I assumed OcUK wouldn't have a problem replacing it. When it was returned to me at cost I became reluctant to send it back to OcUK in case of another rejection and more cost, so took the hassle-free way out.

 

[gee3000]

To avoid having this thread locked, can we please refrain from further conversation regarding OcUK and RMA's. Thanks to everyone for their advice

 

[gee3000]

My replacement board from ASRock has been running absolutely fine, no issues at all

Tidied up the cables today, here are some current pics:

Yet to do:

1. Replace Gainward GTX 570 "Golden Sample" with MSI GTX 570 Twin Frozr III
2. Find a suitable fan controller for the 3 x Silverstone 180mm fans
3. Replace PSU with NZXT Hale90 650w
4. Add white pre-braided cable extensions

 

[gee3000]

wth? the photos where showing 1 minute now getting that they've been removed.

is the nzxt psu actually any good? would stich to known brands such as corsair.

My bad, they came up really small so I've reuploaded them.

According to a few reviews I've watched/read the NZXT PSU seems pretty good. I'm going for aesthetics tbh, the current HX520w will go back into my old rig.

 

[gee3000]

I need some advice. I have all 3 of my Silverstone FM181 case fans connected to 1 motherboard header using a (1 x female 3pin) to (3 x male 3pin) splitter (the bundle of red and black cables in image 3 above). The FM181's aren't PWM, instead they each come with an additional 2pin connector and a PCI bracket fan controller to control the speed: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=222&area=usa

My problem is I don't want to fit 3 PCI brackets to control 3 fans, I would rather 1 knob to control all 3 fans. The BitFenix Hydra is designed to control upto 9 fans and accepts 2pin cables, however it's designed to adjust fan LED power not speed, but I'm wondering if it would still control the speed of the FM181's if I plugged the 2pin connectors into it? http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/accessories/hydra (complete electronics noob here)