New Build Almost Done + Pics

Ranmier

Ranmier

Ranmier

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Joined
2 May 2012
Posts
56
Wasn't sure if this was the correct place, but thanks to some sound advice from members on here have almost complete my first build and figured I would post some pics etc..

Build Spec:
Asus M5A99X EVO 990X Socket AM3+ ATX Motherboard
AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+
Corsair 120GB Force 3 SSD
Sapphire HD 6870 1GB GDDR5
NZXT Hale82 750W Modular PSU
NZXT Phantom 410 Case - Gunmetal
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (Still waiting on this :mad:).
2 x Seagate 1TB Barracuda HDD (from old computer)

Spent about 3 hours this afternoon coming to terms with the complexity of wires and figuring out which way around things went, fun times :rolleyes:

Waiting on the RAM and then will install the other harddrives as I have them in my main computer at the moment.

Plans for watercooling the CPU and colour coding in some fans and lights. Really want to take a dremel to the side panel too, but that can wait until after.

All in all I'm very happy, especially with the quality of the Phantom 410 case.

Pics








 
Thanks, looked through a lot of other build logs and tried to pay attention. Its not all secure yet as I'm still moving stuff around. Once I'm done ill cable tie some of the loose wires out of the way.

Think the only problem I really encountered was fitting the heatsink. Didn't realise (and didn't read) that you have to take off the black front cover to fit it. Was a little confused for a while.


PS the case makes it all pretty easy too :)
 
I'm presuming that as you went for a dozer cpu that you're not really going to be gaming much...more editing or rendering or something?
 
I'm not a fan of Intel, for a long time, so chose that cpu for its price and performance. I do game but not heavily and I'm a man happy with medium settings.

I use a few software packages, especially some of the simulation programs which will take (some) advantage of the 8 cores. Not too sure if the mathematical programs I use such as R and Maple will/can use multi core but I'm sure its going to be better than what I have currently :)
 
A little update for ya'll.

Ram arrived today (Thanks OcUK) plug it in... get all excited and .... nothing.

Motherboard won't accept the FX-8 chip until it gets a bios update, and my old amd chip isn't compatible so I can't even boot it to flash myself. Think I have to wait till next week to phone them for a new bios chip (others have had similar problems).

Gutted really. So hopefully next week I can post up some benchmarks for you all to gander at and compare to the Intel chips :)
 
CPU fan looks like it came from an old Pentium 4 system, hurry with the watercooling! :D


Ranmier said:
A little update for ya'll.

Motherboard won't accept the FX-8 chip until it gets a bios update, and my old amd chip isn't compatible so I can't even boot it to flash myself. Think I have to wait till next week to phone them for a new bios chip (others have had similar problems).

Gutted really. So hopefully next week I can post up some benchmarks for you all to gander at and compare to the Intel chips :)
Click to expand...

Harsh luck mate, wouldn't be too disappointed, it happens a lot - spent 4 months on one of my builds trying to figure out why mine wasn't working.
 
Looks nice inside, good job so far:P

But, I was looking into that case. How is the gun metal colour? I was going to get white but I saw that colour and now I am torn between the black,white and gun metal =/. I can see from the pictures that it looks pretty nice. But do it have the blue LEDs like the other colours?

Thanks in advance :D
 
Hmm, not sure a Bulldozer chip was the way to go. Seems like blind loyalty to AMD to me. Personally I'll always go for whatever gives me best performance for my cash, no matter who manufactures it. But as long as you're happy, it's all good :)
 
Looks amazing in Gunmetal but I will warn you it scratches very easily (already scratched the side panel).

No coloured fans in the case, leaving the colour scheme up to me :)

Just got to hope that they can send a new bios chip quickly so I can get it running.

Right now I'm torn between a H100 or a custom loop for the cpu cooling, as I'm pretty new to this I'm leaning towards the H100.
 
IvanDobskey said:
Hmm, not sure a Bulldozer chip was the way to go. Seems like blind loyalty to AMD to me.
Click to expand...

This really is'nt an AMD fault, there is nothing wrong with their chip, just the motherboard manufacturer's bios not being updated.

With regard to performance to pound, considering how much cheaper the bulldozer was for the performance it yields you are correct that I am more than happy, the price of even the 2500k with a board comparable to this board and chip, I feel I have made a good choice, especially seems I do more than single core game.

Though I know there are many people who look at top end benchmarks and remark that the bulldozers aren't the huge improvement expected of them, considering I'm upgrading from an old phenom quad core, the dozer is gonna be just fine. :D
 
So after being given the run around by Asus phone support I was told I needed to contact them via email (as phone support wasn't for motherboards as they were not trained for that!).

Send an email Monday morning, asking for a new bios chip or a advance RMA.. this is the response I got back:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.

My name is Stacey and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.

I am arfraid to say you will need to borrow a CPU to update BIOS.
The original BIOS was printed on the sticker for part SN.

Got to love good customer support.....
 
Ranmier said:
So after being given the run around by Asus phone support I was told I needed to contact them via email (as phone support wasn't for motherboards as they were not trained for that!).

Send an email Monday morning, asking for a new bios chip or a advance RMA.. this is the response I got back:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.

My name is Stacey and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.

I am arfraid to say you will need to borrow a CPU to update BIOS.
The original BIOS was printed on the sticker for part SN.

Got to love good customer support.....
Click to expand...

Wouldn't expect much else to be honest, it's really down to the end user to make sure everything is compatible from the get go. If you purchased it from OcUK have a go at asking them if you sent the board in if they could update it for you.

Otherwise yep, it's going to be a case of borrowing a CPU.

BTW - Very clean looking build you've got there, got to love the NZXT.
 
Considering that they advertise AM3+ compatibly on the box (as well as all adverts on various online retailers), which it isn't, then I think they are at fault.

I've emailed them back, if that fails I will call them again and ask to be contacted by a manager. Its unacceptable that they expect the user to be able to fix a fault with their product. They should have recalled low revision motherboards for updating or shipped updated bios chips to their distributors for inclusion in sales.

Where the hell am I supposed to find a AM3 chip to ''borrow''.
 
So I've contacted the retailer (which I should have done in the first place) and they are RMA'ing the board for a bios flash and then returning it.

Maybe I'll get this thing working this week.... maybe...

Now to disassemble all my hard work... :(
 
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