Rebuild time :D

So... seeing as i have an unexpected day off, i thought i would re-build and tidy-up... (As you do...)

Firstly, the components...

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/P2020006.jpg

All artisticly (;)) laid out

Teh mobo:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/P2020007.jpg

Teh almost bare case, just contains Optical drive, and fans (2 Yate loon and 1 Noctua p12)

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/P2020009.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/P2020011.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/P2020010.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/P2020012.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020033-1.jpg

Lovely isn't it? :D

The GFX card:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020025-1.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020028-1.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020026-1.jpg

More build piccys when Photobucket starts to co-operate...

I could really do with rebuilding/ cleaning mine, applying some new paste and stuff.

But other more important stuff to save money for..like holiday..driving test...car.

I am planning a little upgrade however mobo + GFX card as I dont think my mobo will give me the full performance of any of the new GFX cards on the meerkat!

HDDs:
http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020012-1.jpg

Cooler and TIM:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020018-1.jpg

Mobo in:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/P2020014.jpg

RAM, HDDs, CPU, Soundcard, USB header, Fans and power, connected.
http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020013-1.jpg

Cooler on:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020022-1.jpg

Fans attached:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020023-1.jpg

GPU inserted:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020029-1.jpg

The back spaghetti (With PCI-e power trailing away):

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020016-1.jpg

AAAAaaaannnd done :D

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020032-1.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...P2020036-1.jpg

I like how the pictures get worse as the thread progresses :D

When you are bored, you can rebuild mine too :D

Looking nice and clean though.... :) Is your GTX 260 the SSC version?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sleepyhead

Is your GTX 260 the SSC version?

---

Yup :)

And annoyingly when i booted it notified me that it had reset everything to defaults, so a little fiddle around in the BIOS to get things how they were (LCD poster saying TAKTAK etc :D)

TAK, wanna come do mine aswell, although after City Link returned the case, it hasn't been been the same.

I would prefer it to be tidier but the cables arn't long enough :(

And there just isn't anywhere for cables to be stashed properly :(

And i have to leave enough slack in the sata cables as they are the original kind that don't lock :(

And the PSU looks messy because it is upside down which forces the cables the be near the edge :(

AAaah well, i'm sure i'll try again in the future :laugh:

Disappointed tut..

:D

Looks tidy to me, nice work ;)

Looks good, well done.

bloody hell that gfx card is massive!

good stuff though mate, love your case.

Ive nearly finished my HTPC tidy up, pretty hard when you have to use the supplied PSU ( Antec Fusion Black case ), due to it having an extra connector for the VFD, will post a pic in an hour or so :)

Anymore TAKTAK rebuilds on the horizon? Good job, mate!

Mike, what about you? Any new cabling monsters you got for us mere mortals? :drool:

Well mine is missing it's power supply at the moment so I no doubt will have to at some point.

I have cabled the OCZ into the P182 system for now though which doesn't look any different tbh.. a feat in itself :D

*BUMP*
Because i can't be arsed to make a new thread...




Righty, so it's rebuild time again, (not that it hasn't been rebuilt since this thread... it's been totally overhauled since this thread... And rebuild numerous times since that)

I wish i could leave it alone, but it just cries out to be fiddled with :( (*fnar*fnar*)

How it was in my Lian Li A05:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8771.jpg

But i became space limited, so it's been moved into a CM690 which is huge comparatively :-(

Teh Case:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8812.jpg

Teh HDDs:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8814.jpg

Teh fans:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8815.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8816.jpg

(also one in the front and one in the back)

My PSU gets a rest and just deals with it's own airflow again rather than sucking out the HDDs heat:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8817.jpg

Cabley-hidey-holey (i've never had proper cable routing holes before):

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8818.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8819.jpg

Innards:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8821.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8822.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8823.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8824.jpg

Initial stuff in:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8825.jpg

More stuffs:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8826.jpg

Even more stuffs:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8829.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8831.jpg

Done:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8832.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8833.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k...K/IMG_8835.jpg

Conclusion?

Lian Li is much nicer :'(

But this has more HDD space and better airflow, so i'm sticking with this :-)

thats a tidy case! given me some inspiration to sort mine out again, especially with the cable management aspect, was more concerned when i built it to get it up and running asap! nice to see how the inside should look like tho!

I'm not happy with the cable ontop of the PSU, ODD power + data, the pwr sw rst sw + LEDs, or the GFX 2 six pins.

I do like the fan cables though :)

Also the 7th SATA in the middle of the board is annoying but i have too many devices :(

It'll do until next time i suppose :)

Still not bad considering there are no cable ties used :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TAKTAK

I'm not happy with the cable ontop of the PSU, ODD power + data, the pwr sw rst sw + LEDs, or the GFX 2 six pins.

I do like the fan cables though :)

Also the 7th SATA in the middle of the board is annoying but i have too many devices :(

It'll do until next time i suppose :)

Still not bad considering there are no cable ties used :D

---

I'd be embarassed to show the inside of my CM690, its a right mess compared to that!:embarrassed:

I'd agree the Lian Li looks nicer. By the way does that mean it is for sale (the Lian Li)?

Also if you could please clear up how the Lian Li gets air from the front for the front fan as looking at the pics, it appears to have a completely flat metal front?

Quote:

---

Also if you could please clear up how the Lian Li gets air from the front for the front fan as looking at the pics, it appears to have a completely flat metal front?

---

It doesn't, it get's it's air from the back.
The PC-A05 is almost totally inverted in design.
http://lian-li.com/v2/tw/product/upl...C-A05N-11s.jpg

The rear fan is actually an intake fan, the air is push out of the front by a 120mm behind/infront of the hard drive cage and the front mounted psu
The air escapes through vents in the sides of the front bezel.

http://lian-li.com/v2/tw/product/upl...C-A05N-05s.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kmac

I'd agree the Lian Li looks nicer. By the way does that mean it is for sale (the Lian Li)?

---

Maybe in the future, but it's a great little case so i'm keeping hold of it for the future :)

Quote:

---

Also if you could please clear up how the Lian Li gets air from the front for the front fan as looking at the pics, it appears to have a completely flat metal front?

---

As Pob correctly says. the rear is the intake the front is the exhaust, with mine having an additional exhaust at the top.

As for the flat front, the metal bezel on the front is hollow and around 1" thick with ventilation holes down the sides, this is also where you get access to the bottom front mounted PSU, with regards to the power there is an extension lead which you plug into the PSU at the front (if you were wondering :))

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TAKTAK

Maybe in the future, but it's a great little case so i'm keeping hold of it for the future :)

As Pob correctly says. the rear is the intake the front is the exhaust, with mine having an additional exhaust at the top.

As for the flat front, the metal bezel on the front is hollow and around 1" thick with ventilation holes down the sides, this is also where you get access to the bottom front mounted PSU, with regards to the power there is an extension lead which you plug into the PSU at the front (if you were wondering :))

---

Is there any reason why air has to flow that way from back to front? I'd like to get this case so waiting till Scan gets some stock. Reversing the fans means you could just as easily have cool aire come in from front and hot air going out the back like conventional cases no? I'm just thinking that hot air blowing onto by HDDs is not such a great idea.

This is for an AMD build. My Core i5 build is in a Lian-Li PC-A06 which has the same front bottom PSU positioning.

Good job there mate, made me think I'll be getting one of those cases when funds permit though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kmac

Is there any reason why air has to flow that way from back to front? I'd like to get this case so waiting till Scan gets some stock. Reversing the fans means you could just as easily have cool aire come in from front and hot air going out the back like conventional cases no? I'm just thinking that hot air blowing onto by HDDs is not such a great idea.

This is for an AMD build. My Core i5 build is in a Lian-Li PC-A06 which has the same front bottom PSU positioning.

---

Hot air rises :)

Why is your GPU in the bottom slot?

Nice though, much improved on the tidiness side of things.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PeterStoba

Why is your GPU in the bottom slot?

Nice though, much improved on the tidiness side of things.

---

There was a reason for it, i can't remember what the reason was though :help:

I think it had something to do with optimal airflow (due to the an at the front and the fan at the bottom)

So is it not running at 4x?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PeterStoba

So is it not running at 4x?

---

Nah, 2 x16 slots, unless you use both in which case 2 x8 :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TAKTAK

Hot air rises :)

---

Yeah cunning that - didn't notice that the rear fan was at the bottom. This case is all the wrong way round....did you monitor you HDD temps and what effect did the design have on those?

Oh and I've just noticed that my Lian Li PC-A06 has exactly the same thermal design as the A05N

I'm going to have to check that I've put the fans in the right way round duh!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kmac

Yeah cunning that - didn't notice that the rear fan was at the bottom. This case is all the wrong way round....did you monitor you HDD temps and what effect did the design have on those?

---

They were at a stable 40c max from all the time I was monitoring them, that is with my GFX card maxed out 24/7 though. Plus with the blow hole taking most of the heat from the gfx card away :)

HDD max temps in this case are:

HDD0 30
HDD1 28
HDD2 31
HDD3 27

GPU is steady at 77c

and CPU is fluctuating between a high of 50c and low of 30c

You could always hack the case though, if you're only using 1 HDD you can put it in the external 3.25" bay leaving room for 2 ODDs

If you only have 1 ODD that gives you room for 2 HDDs

The sweet spot is using SSDs though as there is potential for them to be velcro'd to the side of the ODD bay, saving space for 2 ODDs plus 1 HDD, or if you stacked 2 SSDs/2.5" HDDs you could have 2ODD + 2 2.5"

Then you could drop the HDD bay out and have less impeded airflow.

You could also use the additional room to fit a WC setup in, mount the rad in the top of the case, plus a bay res, mount the pump at the front where the HDD bay would have been and jobs a good 'en :D

Thanks TAK, that's sealed it for me. Going to try and acquire one as soon as it comes back in stock.
Think I'll go for one in black

well I can say that you inspired me to have a go at tidying the inside of my case up also! as much as its a lot better than before there's still a few cables running around everywhere that don't seem to want to hide in the cable routing behind. did you have any problems with closing the back panel with all the cables behind? my motherboard power cable seems to be getting in the way

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by marshalex

well I can say that you inspired me to have a go at tidying the inside of my case up also! as much as its a lot better than before there's still a few cables running around everywhere that don't seem to want to hide in the cable routing behind. did you have any problems with closing the back panel with all the cables behind? my motherboard power cable seems to be getting in the way

---

Just press down hard and try and slide the side while pressing evenly, i kept missing one edge because of my cable bulk around the back (mainly at the HDDs for me as my power cables are aweful for things that close :()

It is worth tidying though, as it improves airflow and thusly lowers temps by a couple of degrees :)

:laugh:

Oh dear, i've discovered one minor problem with the rebuild...


It's now in resonance with either the floorboards or the wall :laugh: It's actually quite humorous, although my Dad sounded quite serious when i jokingly said that if you found the right frequency the house would fall down :laugh:

I've rectified the issue for now by leaning the tower against the desk to alter the driving frequency.

:laugh:

Check your fans you may have a dodge one.

Are you useing a fan on the left side panel?

Oh and did you bother with an 80mm behind the motherboard tray? has anyone? . . . ever?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pob255

Check your fans you may have a dodge one.

Are you useing a fan on the left side panel?

Oh and did you bother with an 80mm behind the motherboard tray? has anyone? . . . ever?

---

All of the fans are hunky-doory and it was only (majorly) audible from downstairs.

And no, no fan on the left panel, plus i'm not weird enough to use the 80mm mobo fan :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TAKTAK

All of the fans are hunky-doory and it was only (majorly) audible from downstairs.

And no, no fan on the left panel, plus i'm not weird enough to use the 80mm mobo fan :D

---

i'd be amazed if anyone got a fan on that side panel with a decent sized cooler inside the case! as for the mobo fan mounts, proved useful for tidying some cables away! now I just need to decide whether to attach a 92/80mm fan to the front under my mem card reader and optical drives, see if i can generate a bit more airflow....