PCFormat Forum Archive

yo peeps!
i got all my gear together and i've built the system so i can play with it.

my hardware is as such:
Asus P5AD2-E mobo
Intel 550 LGA775 CPU (3.4ghz)
1gb OCZ Platinum PC2-5400 EB DDR2 (dual channel kit)
Gigabyte ATI X800 vanilla with heat pipes (400/500)
2x Seagate 80gig ATA V
1x Seagate 160 gig SATA 150 with NCQ
Antec Super Lanboy
Aopen 450w ATX2.0 PSU
Creative Soundblaster Live! 24-bit 7.1 soundcard
Creative SBS 370 2.1 speakers
LG 16x DVD-ROM
LG 12X DVD-RW
Vantec 'red' cable sleeving kit
Vantec red Molex kit
Vantec PSU vibration damper kit
2x LG 710s 17" CRT
MS Wireless Optical Desktop
2x Vantec rounded IDE cables

Asetek Antarctica Socket-T Block
Hydor L20 pump
Asetek Black Ice Pro 120mm radiator
Asetek 10mm OD tubing
Custom Reservoir still on its way
Arctic Siver 5
Apacer Steno 1gb flash disk (133x)


this all set me back about R18200.
Luckily i had a trust fund behind me (had to use the cash for tertiary purpose, so
naturally i thought it fit to get a PC)

like i said, i've assemled the system out of the box, installed windows and a few other
applications, burned it in a bit, benched it a bit, and then i installed it into the box.

it is far from final, and i will post pics in the next few posts.

next step is to sort out the cooling and sleeve my cables and also sort out my
cable management, which is a disaster at the mo.

after that comes more overclocking.

well here are the first batch of pics:
my RAM: 1gb OCZ DDR2 5400EB. currently it's only running at 600mhz, but once my water is installed, i'll hopefully have it at 800


my MOBO: Asus P5AD2-E. Has a ****** load of overclocking variables to play with, including the option of dropping the CPU multiplier down to 14x.


and here from the bottom, that blue part is the Asus Stack-Cool. basically a PCB under the CPU and voltage regulators to distribute the heat better.


and this is the infamous Socket-T. the only way you could actually bend the pins is if you're an idiot or you're horribly drunk/hung-over, or if you don't read the 3 step instruction manual.


and even more infamous is the actual CPU. a Prescott 3.4ghz piece. supposedly a horrendously hot bit of hardware. not so, all you need is arctic silver. mine runs at 36/57 on stock and touches 60 when clocked to 4gig.


this is an overview of my current desk/computer setup. only using one screen at the mo coz i don't have space for the second one yet.


and this is a view of my case minus one hard drive and the new 'cooling setup i have made for my graphics card.


my X800 was getting VERY hot because it had no airflow, so tied an extra 80mm fan
to the hard drive rack to blow over it. looks terrible, but it's only temporary.

whip, this looks like it's going to be a kick bottom system... well at least to me... is that lanboy bigger than the PlusView's?

you gonna do modding on this one?

Well now this system will blow away a couple of pc's I know of... 8O

Very nice dude, post some more pics when you done with the modding part.

Wicked system, whipme. I see a set of Creative SBS 370 2.1's, same as me. *thumbs up*

Thanks guys
i'm busy with the "modding" at the moment, I've got the abovementioned
water cooling goods, and am making myself a reservoir that will be put into
the top of the case with a perspex lid.

my original idea involved using one of these in the 3.5" drive bays, giving me a windowed reservoir.


this plan has fallen though the woodwork since i realised that my res would be below my radiator, not good.

so i have developed a plan to make one of these:


either out of aluminium or out of perspex.

this will then be mounted in the top of my case between my PSU and my optical drives,
allowing me to fill the res without removing it from the case, and also allowing me to
see into the res from outside the case.

i just need to find a place where i can buy short lengths of 50mm diameter perspex tubes
or where i can have the aluminium coated to prevent galvanic corrosion.
So far i'm looking into getting it powdercoated black if i make it out of aluminium,
or i'll just make it out of a 50mm diameter perspex tube and some 8mm thick flat sheet.

i want to have it machined out of aluminium, but will have to see what the wallet thinks of that.

@whip How much are those things at synapsis?

That's the problem, Synapsys does not stock Aquacomputer, so the only way
to get one is for sum1 in germany to send one for me. so im making my own,
looks like it's gonna be perspex to start with, coz i got some chloroform on friday.

i just need to go to maizey's to go get myself a 50mm diameter tube.

whip the pictures arnt showing but it looks promising

the pics should work, they show up at home and at varsity...
what browser you using? maybe they have IE...

anyway, i went on a mission yesterday and formatted all three of my
drives...
so now i'm installing everything again, and considering modifying the lengths
of my power cables, but first i need to find a place where i can buy heatshrink
in all shapes and sizes and at a low price, coz i have oficially denounced insulation
tape and am a changed man.

Oh, yes. that's what i did on Saturday, I bought a new car radio.
I got a JVC KD-G511, it makes a huge difference in sound quality over
my previous el-krappo Pioneer tapedeck-shuttle combo. And it plays MP3's.

I have realised that in overclocking, Voltage is everything, so i made sure to
get a headunit with high voltage on the pre-outs, since i am running an amp.

but back to my computer:
I managed to find a clockgen for my specific chipset, which was a mission
because it's not listed on http://www.cpuid.com, so i had to go trawling the
extremesystems forums for a link, and i found that the one for the Asus 915
boards is the one used on the 925 boards as well. yay for me. so once i
get all my drivers and apps running i will try out this new toy.
and i need to run ATI tool on my X800 to see what temperatures it's hitting,
so as to lay my mind to rest, coz it feels really hot to the touch.