The building of my new gaming rig has begun! (w/ pics)

ryryryan · 18 Nov 2011 at 18:34

The building of my new gaming rig has begun! (w/ pics - Now completed!)

So this is going to be my first ever PC build! I previously bought a pre-built gaming machine, and it's served me well over the years (with a GPU ugrade and a few other things added here and there). Here is my old specs for those that care:
AMD Phenom II X4 940 (3.0Ghz)
4GB DDR2 RAM
5870
750GB HDD
Some standard single PCI-E x16 slot mobo.

Enough of the old though. I am now redoing my whole PC except the graphics card (will wait for GTX 600 series) and PSU (updated my PSU a couple months ago to the fully modular 850W OCZ ZX series). So here are all the new parts I have invested in:

White 600T
i5 2500K
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
H80 Cooler (with 2 Scythe Gentle Typhoon fans to replace the stock ones for push/pull)
8GB Corsair Vengence Arcitc White RAM
256GB Crucial M4 SSD
Samsung Spinpoint 1TB HDD
Samsung Blu-Ray ROM
Windows 7 home premium 64bit OEM
NZXI White braided extension cables for processor power, GPU 6 pin and 24pin too.

And as noted before I will be using a OCZ ZX Series 850W PSU and a Radeon HD 5870. Also have a Asus Xonar DX sound card I will use

Here is a pic of the stuff I have so far (I apologise for all the forthcoming pics in the thread... phone camera

):

The rest will be arriving on monday

All ordered from OCuK, and everything so far has come right on time with the free shipping!

Will hopefully then be updating and posting new pics regularly once I get the build running!

I do however need to check out the tips to make the most of my SSD. It has already come with firmware 0009 (says on the back) so no need to update, but I would appreciate and tips or tutorial links as to what to do when setting up the SSD. I'd also appreciate tips on the best way for data management with the SSD and HDD. All programs and and windows will obviously be on there, but I also plan to have Steam on there as well (and any games I don't need I will back up to my HDD and uninstall them).

Thanks for any tips, and let's hope I don't screw up this first build

ryryryan · 18 Nov 2011 at 18:37

Will do, as I have read horror stories about them recently. Will it be obvious? I won't be starting the build for a few days yet so shall I leave it till then? or I could put in the CPU and put it back in the anti-static material then?

ryryryan · 18 Nov 2011 at 18:45

Ok thanks. So am I ok to remove the cap, install the CPU and put it back in the wrapping for now?

ryryryan · 18 Nov 2011 at 19:09

Checked out the pins, must have studied every single one very carefully! But all checks out well it seems

All align how they should!

I actually just put the black tab back on for now, will wait till I start building before I put it in. Shame about the weekend with no post

Gotta say though, this mobo is stunning. Can't wait to get this set up! Here's a couple pics I took:

ryryryan · 19 Nov 2011 at 01:51

Just ordered a pair of powerline passthrough adapters for my internet connection. No more wireless for me

Monday can't come soon enough

ryryryan · 19 Nov 2011 at 04:26

Will do, free delivery from a competitor (none at OCuk!) so god knows how long it takes for them to arrive! They're 200mbps and cost £55. Hope they're worth it.

ryryryan · 19 Nov 2011 at 15:01

Package arrived today, but it was a gift for the missus D:
For those interested in the SSD set-up (as someone else mentioned it) I made a thread and there are already some great replies

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=20602181#post20602181

ryryryan · 24 Nov 2011 at 13:31

Update! I have been very busy, completely redone my room (and most definitely stole the desk idea that bhavv & guitarman0 have) and have successfully built my PC

Nothing went terribly wrong, and it is running beautifully. I now just have the tedious task of transferring everything over.

Also, my powerline passthrough adapters literally just arrived, look forward to setting them up

So anyway, on to the more interesting pics!

Everything ready to go pre-build

Processor and RAM fitted ok - check!

Got it in the case easily enough, thankyou nipple

H80 securely on, along with the front panel cables, usb hubs and stuff

Plonked in the extension cables I have for CPU & mobo power

The Old vs The New

(Had to take my PSU out and put it in new case. Lovely!

Getting there

IT WORKS! Installing windows

The lights look blue but they're definatly white

GPU will go in once I no longer need it in old PC. Still sorting stuff out

Will put up another pic when its in. Also will do a desk comparison of old and new when that's sorted and tidy too!

I also apologize again about the poor phone quality camera. Shame on me

ryryryan · 24 Nov 2011 at 13:57

Well since they're Gentle Typhoons on there it's dead quiet.

Saying that, I did have a little problem installing the h80 onto the processor. I had to lift it back up slightly (thinking it hadn't made contact, but then noticed a little got of the compound had gone on the CPU) and then I put it back on straight. The temps seem ok so far though, but if anyone thinks it would be worth redoing with new thermal compound once they've seen the temps then I prob will. On OCCT I'm guessing the Core Temps are more important the the CPUTIN? Not sure what one to look at!

But at a stress of 100% CPU I think they got to mid to high 40's. On my old PC at the moment sorting stuff out so once I'm back on the new one I'll upload some pics.

ryryryan · 24 Nov 2011 at 18:08

Just reporting in that the powerline adapters work brilliantly. Plugged them in, one to the router, one to my PC, instant network connection. No more wireless for me

Also, fully up and running with my GPU and soundcard now

Also new room layout and furniture!
Old:

New:

Temps and stuff to come soon. Prob tomorrow.

ryryryan · 24 Nov 2011 at 18:43

olivier renault said:
niiice.

a strip of UV white tape on the GPU, sorted

Waiting for the GTX600 series, and hoping there is a similar grey scale one like the msi gtx580

But yes, not liking the red line anymore haha

PianoBasher said:
What desk is that? I like!

The birch effect of this one:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70162490/

With two of these:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60104325/

I totally stole it from bhavv, who stole it from guitarman0

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 19:16

So how are these temps for about 5 straight hours play of Batman Arkham City?

In skyrim they went a little higher, with CPUTIN reaching 38 and the highest core being 48 or 49. Are these temps alright? And I guess I should now go about overclocking this?

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 19:19

Will do, I'll do it while I'm making/eating dinner.

EDIT: Just downloaded it, how do I go about testing? Not sure what to click. I've chosen Blend and it's now started with 5 tables of info. Guess it keeps going till I stop it?

Also, what are considered good temps for Idle and Under load? And is CPUTIN that important, or is it more so the cores?

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 20:33

Okay so I've let this run for about an hour now and these are the temps:

Is that not a little high for stock settings? I only worry because like I said before, when placing the cooler I accidentally lifted it up before putting it down again (though the thermal paste was square on the CPU how it should be), so should I try reapply the paste?

Otherwise, next up is Overclocking

Just need to read up on that now.

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 20:39

Good good

Any helpful links to overclocking one of these? Had a look through bios and it seems easy enough.

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 20:42

Hmm not in this thread I think? But I'll look at it now nevertheless. Does it adjust the clock speed and the voltage accordingly I guess?

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 20:45

Ok thanks! I'm guessing start from the bottom and work my way up, wouldn't want screw it up.

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 20:48

I'll try 4.4 then first to see how it goes

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 21:28

So I just ran the real temp 10 min test, I assume this is okay temps max wise?

Will do an hour of prim95 now.

ryryryan · 25 Nov 2011 at 22:39

Thanks! So this is @ 4.4Ghz for over an hour:

Strange how the temps are different in each program, but max ends up being 67 then I guess, but averages in the low 60's/high 50s by the looks of it. I'm guessing that's perfectly normal for a 4.4GHz OC on a 2500K?