PC Build pics & comments

[DougMcDonald]

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd post a short article about my recent PC build if anyone is interested - complete with *ehem* workarounds where applicable!!

1. Mobo out and ready to go (P5B deluxe WiFi edition) - nice board, couple of holes in the antistatic bag at the corners, to be expected i suppose. Nice kit, useful manual.



2. Mobo screwed into Lian-Li PC7 'removable mobo slice thing!' bit of pain getting it through the backplate, but eventually got it all sorted.



3. Problem number 1! - Scythe Infinity + overhanging case fan guide don't mix! Had to remove it due to the case fan proximity to the hsf location (i actually took the whole metal attachment off rather than just the heat guide (not pictured))



4. Heat sink and fan attached, note the lack of clearence at the top!! this is going to be a tight fit!



5. Pretty orange RAM :]



6. Problem number 2! PCI-e slots. As shown in the pic below, there is not a lot of room between the end of the mobo and the little slots that the PCI card feet fit into:



This actually stopped me from fitting the GFX card, I had to bend the feet outward to fit it in
I know this wasn't ideal, but it was that or file the holes bigger!

7. GFX inserted - all ready to go (more or less!)



8. Problem number 3 - uh-oh the bloody HSF won't fit though the case to slide the mobo back in



I could only get it this far in



9. I had to take off the HSF and insert the mobo + everything else (made it a pain in the ass to fit the HSF when in the case)
Due to space restrictions and not able to get my hands in properly it took some time to properly attach the HSF - but finally i got it done!!

As you can see in the next pic, there was not much clearance in the case!!



Having fitted the HDD's into the unit seperately, i stuck them in and attached the 120mm side exhaust fan:



I then had it all ready to go (here's the unit under the desk!)



The final problem I had was on boot, when i had forgotten to attach the 4 pin, 12 volt mobo power supply!! You can let me off though because I've never needed too before this build! that'll teach me to read the instructions!!

Final pic below (although i should have taken one with the side on!!)



Final thing was to hate the on board sound and have to put the old audigy card in! This had to come under the new strcit foot bending regime that the GFX card had been part of!
I have heard tales of friends cutting the whole feet off, but I still thing it was down to slighlty crappy mobo positioning in the first place (probably caused by the backplate issues initially!)

Any comments/suggestions?

[staffsMike]

Cables need a bit of tidying but i like my cables really tidy lol.

Looks like a pretty good build otherwise.

Does that gfx cooler work very well?

[Flewis]

Why have you mounted the scythe that way round? seems like airflow would be better if it was facing the rear exhaust of the case to me.

[staffsMike]

Haha shows how tired I am..didn't even notice that

It's a good point..it should really face towards the back if you can.

[DougMcDonald]

Mike: Yeah I agree, i chose not to include the close up's of 'cable junction' as i call it!!

I have a very annoying situation where the PSU and case conflict a little.
There is a top case fan (80mm) which if used, means I cannot use the top line of modular PSU attachments (which are mainly 12v power lines)

As a result, 2 sata hdd's and 1 sata optical are running from the same line. Although i assumed this would be bad practice, it seems fine, stable and relatively cool.

Do you know if/why this would be a bad idea?

Flewis: I wondered that myself! Initially the scythe mentions putting the fan to allow blowing accross the heatsink which is what I did. I mounted it that way round because to be perfectly honest, i'd stuck the fan on that side before putting it into the case.
After running for a while, I though the same as you 'that looks wierd and has no clearance, lets try the other side'
Strangely enough, under load at the same speed, the CPU will be 7-10 higher with the fan mounted on the 'sensible' side.

The only thing i can think of, is that the PSU is actually blowing in air, via the CPU fan which is then speeding it up and blowing accross the heat sink.
When on the other side, I've assumed that the CPU fan is blowing toward the PSU and the PSU it blowing in the other direction - leading to some kind of 'air conflict!' which doesnt seem to help temp!!

Any ideas?

[staffsMike]

Does the Infinity not physically mount 90 degrees clockwise to its current position. The fan imo is in the right place in the pictures..it's just the whole heatsink is facing the wrong way.

This is how I think it should be

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/704...ure1463ys4.jpg

[DougMcDonald]

Haha shows how tired I am..didn't even notice that

It's a good point..it should really face towards the back if you can.

Indeed a good point, i do have a case fan blowing outwards directly behind that CPU/HSF but the Scythe tells me to mount with air blowing over the heat sink - the only other thing to do would be to turn the heat sink 90 degrees and mount the fan on the ram side, which would be a tight fit too, currently things seem happy so maybe until i hit a snag i might leave it as it is....

[DougMcDonald]

Yeah from the image, looks like i should twist the heat sink 90 degrees and keep the fan in the same place...may experiment when i get some time!!

[Colossous]

Yep, i'd turn it through 90 degrees and get a push - pull effect going on !!

[Clunk]

And while you are doing it, ring the wiring police as well, theres a crime being commited

[Colossous]

And while you are doing it, ring the wiring police as well, theres a crime being commited

[DougMcDonald]

Yeah, the way i see it, wiring is my friend :] I like it, a lot of it....all over the place :]

Any advice on wiring? i don't have a lot of experience with tucking it all away, any ideas except for the obvious 'cable ties' type things?

[Colossous]

You could try re-routing the wires behind the motherboard and maybe sleeving some of the loose fan wires ? The link below may be a bit extreme but see how this guy hides his cabling !!

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...130007&page=11

[Clunk]

Grab a load of spiral wrap in a couple of sizes, some cable ties, agin in different sizes and just strategically, squash, bend, and chivvy the wires out of the way.

Using a nice big heatsink like yours, you should benefit from the extra airflow in a tidy case.

I'm just in the middle of doing mine, and its taken me since sunday and its only just looking respectable

[Colossous]

I'm about 3 weeks off starting a dual watercooled loop in my Mountain Mods Ufo case so you can laugh at me when i'm trying to tidy that up !!

[Clunk]

Thats exactly what im doing...what a ballache that is

Ive retubed, rewired, then done it again...filled the swearbox.