[Build log] Project zero planning!

[c.ruel]

I haven't been on here much the last few years. I have been super busy with life. Anway I need a new computer (currently running a first gen i3 with no gfx card :-S ), so I have unpacked all my old bits and bobs that have been in storage.

So far I have:

[gfx] HD 6850 (old)
[PSU] Coolermaster 600w (very old)
[mobo] Gigabyte AM3+ UD5 jobby (old but never been used for more than a few months)
[case] Lian li pc-x1000 (never been used and was also in pieces from a previous project that never got off the ground, oh I used to earn a lot more money haha)
[RAM] 2x2gb of some generic crucial stuff i found kicking about


Ordered:

[SSD] Crucial mx100 128 (new, could only afford 128gb because I am skint ATM)
[CPU] FX-6300 (thought about a fx-8320 but didn't feel i could justify the cost)

Stuff to be sold:

Aquastream pump XT
Thermochill 140.3 radiator
EK waterblock
Bitspower reservoir
120 radiator

I also have a h50 I may use. Undecided on that.

[c.ruel]

(Having a nightmare getting the images just embedded in the post so just going to give links to my one drive account with descriptions)

So here is the PC-x1000 in pieces:

In pieces

The frame of the case minus side panels

First rivet done!

I should have bought 6mm rivets instead of 8mm because there is a lot of excess on the blind side

Expansion and MOBO i/o shield jobby bit riveted in place!

Coloured this little bit in black so it doesn't show through the front grill

internals riveted in place on one half!

Starting to take shape now!

The top black rail here is a nightmare :-S

Just need to put some bits and bobs inside now!

Hard drive cages and fans in place along with the mobo and psu!

Finished for the time being! Just waiting on cpu and SSD

[herulach]

Your pics aren't showing, you might want to put them on imgur instead. What are you intending to cool if its just the CPU the single 140.3 will be tonnes of capacity.

[c.ruel]

So advice time now guys. Should I cancel the fx-6300 and go for the fx-8320? What about the h50 should I both with it or go for the True spirit 140 I have been eyeing up!? I could also keep some of my water cooling stuff and do a small custom loop. Anyway input on anything would be greatly appreciated on either the hardware or cooling front!

[herulach]

So advice time now guys. Should I cancel the fx-6300 and go for the fx-8320? What about the h50 should I both with it or go for the True spirit 140 I have been eyeing up!? I could also keep some of my water cooling stuff and do a small custom loop. Anyway input on anything would be greatly appreciated on either the hardware or cooling front!

The XT is an eheim 1046 right? Assuming its servicable I don't know why you'd use an h50 over a custom loop. The only downside would be you'd need to either grab a shroud to use your 120mm mounts or start cutting the case. Which would be annoying after you'd just riveted it together!

[Pob255]

on your photo's first you'll need to resize them, way too big, normally I stick to around 800x600, basically I crop mine, then tweak the levels to bring out the contrast then resize use a 1x1 proportional scale, landscape shrink the width to 800 and what ever the proportional height is, for portrait width to 600, height to what ever is proportional.
On one drive, right click on the image, select "view surce" then cut the "?psid=1" off the end of the url for the actual image file to put in img tags

back to the build
Nice to see the old pc-x1000, still a great case.
any reason you're selling the water cooling stuff not using it?

cheap standby option, how about a 2nd hand phenomII? yes they are a bit long in the tooth these days but still a solid cpu and you can then save up for gpu and cpu
990FXA ud5 very nice board you've got

[c.ruel]

Basically I used to game a fair bit. The reason for selling the watercooling stuff would be that i simply don't use a computer for any intense tasks anymore. I mean, I have made do with an (old) APU for the last year. When I want to play some of the titles on my steam account the i3 irritates me though. So my thinking is just run the fx-6300 and HD 6850 until they become completely obselete. I hope by that point apus will be amazing and cheap and I can get one of those to fulfill my needs.

Then the only real decision is whether to keep the pump and the 120mm radiator and just run a simple cpu loop to extend the life of the CPU since I want the thing to last awhile. Since I don't want to touch the thing until it becomes completely obselete/fails I want it to be maintenence free. Therefore watercooling seems unwise. Perhaps decent aircooling would do the same thing.

EDIT:

I decided that I'll sell the watercooling stuff and get a decent aircooler. I am a bit skint at the moment anyway. I'll post another update when I receive the cpu and SSD. Thanks for the help! :-)

[c.ruel]

Ok I have finally finished the build for the time being. I will add a few things around Xmas. Basically I had massive problems. The fx-6300 came but would not work in my motherboard biggest I had a revision one which came with an old bios. In the meantime I did some cable management. The cable space behind the motherboard on Lian lis is pathetic and one thing I think they really need to work on.



Here is the end Product. I had to use cable ties to make the cables lay apart so the side panel would go on.

So while the cable management was going on I looked on the internet and managed to find a sempron 145 going for a tenner. So I get that and then managed to flash the motherboard using the gigabyte @bios utility which I must say is AMAZING.



Then I stuck the new cpu in



Next problem was the Wireless internet not working because I had changed the CPU. I got the Security key mismatch error. This is an error People only seem to get in Windows 7 and is a bitch to fix. In the end I gave up and got a copy of Windows 8.1.



Then the driver CD that came with my motherboard wouldn't work.



Honestly never had so many problems with a build ... insane. Anyway managed to open the disc in compatibility mode and that solved the problem. Here is a Picture of the final build:



Turned out OK in the end but a lot of heartache :-S