Virgin Build - My first self build

[somethingclever]

Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to this whole world of self building computers, most of my previous desktops or laptops have been bought ready to be switched on.
But over the last year or so, I found my self out growing the performance of these standard computers. I thought about switching and buying a good Mac Book or even an iMac, but after a discussion with my mate, I decided to have a go at building exactly what I wanted/needed.
I set my self the goal of building something with double the performance of that which would be twice the price - in basics could I build something for half the price with double the performance found in a stock computer?
I plan to detail my build here, complete with pictures along the way. I will also post problems and solutions that I have over come.
If you are interested in hearing about this "virgin build" please let me know, if I don't hear anything I'll know not to continue with this thread.
Cheers,

 

[NathWraith]

With any self build you ideally need to decide what kind of performance you want to achieve and how much you are willing to spent ideally, in the form of a budget.

After you have done that you need to decide what chipset/CPU choice is the best platform for you to go for.

Then the speccing can begin!

 

[somethingclever]

Hey,
thanks for getting back to me, however I think I may have mislead you in my earlier post, sorry for the confusion.
I have already specced, ordered, built, tested and used my first self built computer. The reason I posted was to see if people were interested in hearing what I've opted for, what problems & solutions I've had and how the computer compares to my original goal (see post 1).

So the spec:
CPU: Intel Core i7 3820 - Quad core 3.6GHz 10MB Cache Mem and Socket LGA2011 chipset X79
MotherBoard: Asus P9 X79 (8D) Quad Channel DDR3 Tri-SLI 2xSATA III & 4xSATA II ports
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance Quad Channel DDR3 2133MHZ (Red)
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Windforce 1GB GDDR5 900MHz

Just a little taster for now - if you are interested in further spec including SSDs let me know.
Cheers,

 

[NathWraith]

Ah sorry I misunderstood your OP.

3820 is a good CPU, can't fault your choice of mobo and RAM either.

Quad channel DDR3 should give you epic bandwidth with the X79 chipset.

 

[T345]

Hi,
if you want to show case your rig in a broader spot light, ask for this thread to be moved to the Project Log section
Thanks
Bakht

 

[Something Else]

care to share pics? we are like magpies on ocuk, we like shiny things

 

[somethingclever]

Hey,
sorry for delay, pictures will follow. However as I don't have the privileges of being able to attach photos yet, I'll need to set up a photobucket account so I can link them in. Currently at work where I have an internet filter on that site - so that's not helping any.
I'll try to get a move on - so check back soon.

 

[scrlk]

Hey,
sorry for delay, pictures will follow. However as I don't have the privileges of being able to attach photos yet, I'll need to set up a photobucket account so I can link them in. Currently at work where I have an internet filter on that site - so that's not helping any.
I'll try to get a move on - so check back soon.

Use Imgur and create a gallery. Photobucket sucks.

 

[somethingclever]

Hey,
Sorry for the delay once again - your are right photo bucket sucks & the app is worse.
Anyway I was already committed so here we go. Unfortunately their in no real order other than the order I took them in (I hope anyway).
I'll post more about the spec & the build later.
Cheers guys

www.photobucket.com/virgin_build

 

[somethingclever]

Any thoughts or questions on this so far?
I have taken some more pictures the other night with all the case covers removed as I had a little wire tidy up, I'll add these to photobucket tonight.
cheers

 

[Monkeyspaz5000]

Just having a quick look mate. Could you tidy up the 8pin CPU lead? Route it around the rear of the motherboard tray?

 

[somethingclever]

Hey,
that's something that I was looking to do also, as it's sort of annoying me being the only cable that isn't routed around the rear of the MoBO tray. I did look at this however there isn't enough space to bring the 8pin connector back through from the back between the top of the MoBo and the tray. There would be if I removed the MoBo first, routed the connector and then fastened the MoBo back down - I just thought this was a lot of work for not a lot of gain.....thoughts? Could be a rainy day project.
My other rainy day project is to remove the CPU heatsink as I have a feeling I applied too much thermal paste (I know school boy error), so was going to clean that up and reapply a smaller amount. So if I'm going that far, I could reroute the connector then....hmmm!
Any other thoughts?

 

[Something Else]

get a braided extension?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=1929&catid=2221

 

[somethingclever]

I'm sure the cables that I'm using, which came with the BeQuiet Dark Power PSU, are braided. It's also long enough to reach round the back of the MoBo tray and in to the CPU socket, it's just I'm too lazy to have to remove the MoBo to get the necessary space to get the connection through (the current space for getting the connection through is too small).

Also sorry, I do have more pictures that I keep meaning to post to that photobucket (crap), I shall do it next week.

cheers,

 

[somethingclever]

Hey,
Just a quick note to let you know I have uploaded more pics of the comp to that photobucket link thats above.
Enjoy.

 

[Monkeyspaz5000]

What PSU is that?

 

[somethingclever]

It's the BeQuiet Dark Power 850W
Similar to this link except mine is the P9 which I don't think is the platinum one.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-064-BQ&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1083