Project of a sort. =)

[TheSwede]

Yeah as the title says, nothing spectacular as some of you guys doing here, just changing to a new case and going a bit themed inside it as well and thought I share the build here with some pictures, maybe you experts can give me few hints to make it better.

Anyway, lets get off with a few pictures shall we. Here is what it looks right now in my current case.

Contains:
Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H Intel Z97
Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell)
Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Vapor-X OC 4096MB
Corsair HX750 PSU
Corsair DDR XMS3 Vengeance 1600 MHz CL9 2x4gb memory
Intel 335 Series 20nm 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive x 2
Couple HDD's: 1 x 500GB, 2 x 750GB and 1 x 3TB
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler
ASUS Xonar D2 PCI
2 Plextor DVD (and just realized need a new one for BluRay)

As you can see it is a right mess and cable management is hopeless. lol
So in an effort to make the cable management better and give it all a little bling effect I thought I get a new case, which is a Corsair 750D:

Obligatory pictures of new case, starting with the Box:

Part from moving the stuff from my old case I also bought a few other goodies with the case:

Although I bought the Noctua NH-D15 recently and it is a very good air cooler I find it to big and bulky for my taste so opted for the Corsair H100i instead. Also got some new memory to go with the theme and a bunch of fans to swop around but that's all for later, have to go to the shop and buy a 5.25'' to 3.5'' adapter for one of the HDD's that's going in the top bay, and maybe get the BluRay player at the same time.

Ohh here is a few other pictures I found interesting as I was sorting through them:

My old GFX card compared with the new one.

But even more interesting is I found the picture from when I first got the Silverstone TJ-09 and the stuff I had bought then for my first ever build by myself. Almost had the TJ-09 for 7 years now so guess a upgrade was needed there !

That's all for now, hopefully I be able to get it all sorted in the afternoon and can share some more pictures with you then.

 

[TheSwede]

Thanks for all the replies !
And yes def gonna enjoy the upgrades and the PC is SO much quieter now then it was with the Silverstone earlier, can barely hear it as it is and I have not installed the Corsair Link program yet for the fans.

Sounds to me like an upgrade was well overdue mate. I love those Corsair cases, they really are some of the best looking on the market in my opinion. That graphics card's a beast, it's like twice the size of your current one, lol. Looing forward to seeing the updates Keep um coming mate.

Thanks, although what's in the last picture has all been changed over the time, only the case still going. Well, was going since I now changed it as well!

Any reason why you've decided to swap out the NH-D15 for the H100i? Temps should be similar! I guess the H100i looks better?

Lovely build by the way! Love those cards.

Yes, the H100i looks better and also not as big and chunky looking as the NH-D15 which I wasn't to fond of, hence the swop.

More picture will be coming later, got to have a late dinner (was just puttering away with the build and forgot about the time )

 

[TheSwede]

Like I said in the other thread, tbh the D15 swap out was a bit of a waste but yeah, it does look better - great choice of case and it looks beast!

You actually said that and another thing in that other thread.

Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Cooler (maybe soon replaced by the H100i)

but going by that in your build log, I guess you were just jesting about wanting the D15 ? lol

But yeah, might been a waste but the "chunkiness" of the D15 never appealed to me and if I now gonna have a window to see inside it most of the times I pass the PC I rather have it nice and clean, sort of. lol

 

[TheSwede]

Nope, I am using Win 7 still, not done the Windows upgrade yet so for now I guess my OS is the oldest item on my PC.. well, actually it's not. That would be my Logitech Z5500 speakers but then my OS..

 

[TheSwede]

Done it as far as I can go and now need some sugestions but lets do that after the pictures.

Starting with a comparison of the two cases side by side.

Changed the fans, added the PSU, RAM and the HDD's. Ended up moving the SSD's later though, from where I originally put them.

Now added the H100i, must admit looks so much "cleaner" then the NH-D15 did, in my own opinion that is. =)

Here is my attempt on cable management, will be looking into getting shorter SATA cables though, the one I had is way to long for this case I noticed with having all those convenient holes cut out. =)
And for those sharp-eyed persons you now notice the SSD's has been moved from the bottom position to the top position, had to do that due to be able to better access the normal HDD's at the bottom.

Here is everything finally inside the case, I did draw the PCI cables from the GFX that way due to when I had them coming up from under the card it slightly pulled down the card hence changed it around.
Got to admit though, even so it looks way much neater inside the case then it did in the Silverstone.

Before someone mentione it, yes could have put the HDD cage under the 5.25'' bay and used a 2nd AF120 at the bottom but for now I can't due to I don't have a fan splitter and all my fan ports on the mobo is taken as it is now. LOL

Got a bit worried though when I realized in my excitement over getting it all sorted that I finished the cable management (as it is) before I powered it up and made sure all was working but thankfully it all worked out.

Now my full spec is as follows:
Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H Intel Z97
Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell)
Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Vapor-X OC 4096MB
Corsair HX750 PSU
TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Intel 335 Series 20nm 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive x 2
Couple HDD's: 2 x 3TB and 2 x 750GB
Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
ASUS Xonar D2 PCI
ASUS BluRay Combo BC-12D2HT
3 x AF140, 1 x AF120 and 2 x SP120 (on the H100i) fans

And that's all done and now to some questions:

The color of the H100i, is it changing from time to time ? Last evening it was red and now I see it is showing blue.. so just bit curious there.

I was thinking braiding the cables but it isn't that many showing really so would it be worth it ?? Also, following up on that, since Corsair don't have yellow cables, if I would go through with it is there another brand that do color coordinated cables to go with their PSU's and might have yellow, or gold could work as well I guess. Just that it would save some time not having to braid them myself.

Only thing I am not to happy about, is the front cover over the fans, with it closed do they pull in enough air into the case to cool it all down ? For now I actually have it opened (not removed the cover totally, just letting it rest on the hinges) to allow better airflow. I did read last evening though that it seems like Corsair is planning on some mesh front plates as an accessory to the 750D (and the 350D), would that be worth investing when it comes out instead of the now flat cover ?

Thank you all for taking the time looking through this little log and for your comments, any changes I do will be updated here. I still think it looking a little to much black so might end up doing something about that one day.

 

[TheSwede]

Nice work, what are your temps like at idle?

According to the Corsair Link software (only thing I have to check the temps with) the i7 showing 33-35C and the R9 around 50C .. but thinking of changing the location of my HDD's so can add the 2nd bottom fan as well..

Someone might be kind enough and let me know if those temps are normal or on the high side when just browsing (as I am right now, which is the closest I guess I can come to idle.. lol )

Also toying with the idea of maybe painting the back in same color as the fan rings.. think it overall looks very black still.. but.. not sure about it, if I was any good at photoshop or any similar program and could make all the back plate "yellow-ish" so I got an idea I would but have no clue as to how to do it.

And another question: The PSU I have is semi modular, if I would invest in a fully modular PSU, which one would you guys recommend ?

Thanks again for all comments!

 

[TheSwede]

I painted them using this..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-003-MN

So if I would do the backside I got to get some primer first but sure I can find something that will do the work. But as I said, just toying with the idea since I find the inside still a bit black but might end up doing something else.

And yes, I know the 24 and 8 pin always are needed but if getting a fully modular and can find corresponding color coordinated cables, that would add some extra color inside and could probably skip the painting of the backside maybe.

Just something I am considering, not really decided though, part from buying shorter SATA cables, a fan splitter cable and moving the HDD's out of the way for the 2nd bottom fan.