Upgrade time at last and going the AMD route.

1uke · 25 May 2013 at 12:18

It's upgrade time for me at last for my poor ageing computer which has done me very well!

This is my current setup:

Asus p5q-e
Q9550@ 4ghz
1066mhz Ram 8gb
Raptor 500gb Hdd
Msi Lightning 7970 only thing staying in new build and going under water.
Photo shows 2x 5850's which I swapped out a while ago.

And here are some of the parts which I will hopefully be upgrading to this weekend at some point providing I have remembered everything...

I'm not sure how much performance boost I will get? I will try do a couple of benchmarks to compare if I get time.

I will need more hard drive space but not sure what to go for at the moment either hybrid Hdd or Ssd which is probably more likely and will be ordered when I find a good deal.

JDubz · 25 May 2013 at 13:37

Cant wait to see it when its done!

1uke · 26 May 2013 at 23:44

Well I have managed to flush everything and refit the radiators etc. But... I have found with the new route the hosing needs to go I will need some Rotary connectors, so this won't get completed to around Wednesday now :-(

Took it all out in one to save leaking any in the case.

All fitted back in just need some more connectors now.

Its very tight with the 240 radiator on the roof and my 850w psu... Not sure what I'm going to do when I upgrade to Xfire and a 1000w psu. I guess relocate the radiator to the front of the case?

The Raystorm bracket is bending slightly when done up on the processor... It can still go on tighter but I think its getting the best contact now. i will check temps and adjust accordingly.

7970 Lightning Waterblock flushed and fitted. The Msi Lightning was pretty loud when Overclocked in games with its standard cooler.

Bluntwrapped · 27 May 2013 at 12:59

Any particular reason why you chose AMD this time round?

1uke · 27 May 2013 at 15:11

Bluntwrapped said:
Any particular reason why you chose AMD this time round?

On a bit of a budget this time around which I think favours AMD at the moment. Plus I brought this processor when it was on special offer at I think £135 so I couldn't resist.

I mainly play battlefield 3 etc which this processor seems to do well in and my hunch is 8 cores might be used more in gaming in the future seeing as consoles have gone that route.

Just had a email from Overclockers saying my order is being processed/pakaged and ready for shipping... I didn't think they would be working today but its great if they get my order to me tomorrow....?

jonnytdi · 27 May 2013 at 17:12

I got a email like that on Saturday when i ordered some stuff, and when i ordered the next available delivery day was Tuesday so hopefully we will both get some nice stuff delivered.!

scoobyrob · 27 May 2013 at 19:35

you wont be disappointed with the 8-core and sabertooth combo!
don't normally follow project builds but I like what your doin.

best of luck with this build!!

1uke · 27 May 2013 at 21:35

scoobyrob said:
you wont be disappointed with the 8-core and sabertooth combo!
don't normally follow project builds but I like what your doin.
best of luck with this build!!

Thanks. Its not going to be a very exciting build but it might possibly help someone out one day who wants to do sort of the same. And yes Luck is needed as I'm certainly no expert.

Just trying to get some enthusiasm to either wire up all 12+ fans to the fan controller, which sounds easy but theres cables everywhere and to make a tidy job will take a hour. Or make a big LED loom for the water block etc. Which I'm thinking of keeping the theme of red or possibly to mix a couple of colours in somewhere.

1uke · 29 May 2013 at 18:17

The parts all arrived yesterday so a big thanks to those poor (probably rich) ppl at overclockers who worked bank holiday monday.

Leak tested last night and no problems so far:

I realised my lighting arrangement in the case needs sorting out so will do that and add a few final pictures in a week or two when I also add another SSD hopefully.

Today I have set about overclocking this baby

This is what the processor has managed so far:

4.8Mhz at 1.49v if you cant make it out.

Seems good to me. I'm no expert and hope the voltage isn't to bad etc?

My Msi Lightning 7970 is also handing a decent clock now which it struggled a little on air. I will show screenshots after a little more testing/gaming.