Case Mod - In Progress Project: City of Light

Those are great answers, especially 'I'

That's a great answer!

Whoa, you're quite close!

Wow, that's impressive!

You are correct on 'F', I think there is some in the background

No kidding, he's is a funny guy, isn't he!

I'll have an update later with full pics. Thank you guys for taking part in my little game! You rock

 

Thank you for participating and humoring me in my little game! I'll get to the full pics of the parts. Let me first say that almost all of these parts were acquired second-hand. You know who you are. Thank you so much!

First of all, my new mobo: Asus Rampage II Extreme (pictured here with my ram)



I guess next is my ram: OCZ Platinum 1600 (3GB)

Installed:


Primary video card: EVGA GTX 8800 768


And its waterblock...wow I just love the beauty of precision-machined metal:



Secondary video card: Asus Geforce 6200 LT
Note: I chose this card because it has a composite out, which I needed


OS HD: WD Raptor 74GB


PSU: PCP&C 750 (got it for around $70 AR!!!)


And of course, a Core i7 920 (new but a great deal!):


Other bits and pieces:

Some nice right-angle SATA combo cables:



And one of my favorite finds, an all-black rubber cable 24-pin ATX extension.! No Psychopack needed here, I'll just put on a black connector! (though I admit won't look the same)


I'll try to update again ASAP!

 

Getting rid of the stock junk

This will be a quick post...just getting rid of the stock HSF and replacing the thermal paste on the heatpipe.

Denatured alcohol: cleaner extrordinaire!


My new HSF: a Xigmatek 92mm: $14 after rebate, plus $10 for the 1366/775 promount....I needed something that's better than the stock HSF but not too big that I can't take it back to Asia in my suitcase; this is just temporary until I get the rig finished. Here it is after I mounted it:


new paste. did I put enough on? I've never used one of these direct-touch ones before


removed the NB sink to replace their paste with MX-2


(also, I pulled the whole assembly off to replace the NB & SB paste, but forgot to take pics )

And lastly, I stole the DVD drive from my wife's laptop (just temporary). Took apart the drive, and low and behold underneath HP's proprietary connector is a SATA connector! So I'll use it for now and buy a proper DVD-R when I get back to Asia.


Thanks for looking! Another update soon!

 

Mmm, good shopping

 

Thanks, Mino!

 

Grizzly Ghetto Hanging Flying Freaking Fan

Hey, everyone, I have a quick update and tutorial for you! As some of you may know, I've set everything up temporarily to participate in the Xtremesystems Asus/NCIX Overclocking Competition. I say 'participate' and not 'compete' because I don't think I have much of a chance , but doing it anyway. There is one way I CAN compete, though, and it's by having the most posts in my thread *here* when the competition finishes at the end of March. So, if you're a member over there, come by and post away (even every day if you like)!!! Please don't go and get addicted to another forum on account of me though.

Here's where I have everything set up (a WIP pic); it's in the upstairs den at my folks' house - we are staying with them for a while :


And here's my setup:


During my base clock overclocking, I was noticing the NB/SB & QPI getting WAY too hot, so I decided to do something about it. Of course, I needed a fan, but since I don't have a case (my vidcards are even only supported by the PCI-E slot! Eek! ), there's nothing to support a fan.

So, I made this (yeah, it's a really bad pic):


I call it my "grizzly ghetto hanging flying freaking fan".

Just in case you're interested, I whipped up a tutorial for your viewing pleasure. With skill, hard work, endurance, a coat hangar, and 2 arduous minutes of your time, I'm sure you can triumph over adversity and build one yourself

You need a coat hangar. Thin wire, no cardboard.


Stretch out the bottom like so:


Then bend the hook down so it's perpendicular to the plane of the 'loop' of the hangar:



Then bend the 'loop' part of the hangar so it will fit over a bookend/side of your case/shelf, etc. It can bend over most anything. I did mine to fit over the back board of the desk like so (just a mockup so you can see):



Then insert one mounting hole of the fan through the hook, and ziptie/twistie the diagonal hole to the body of the loop:


Hang it over/on your shelf, adjust the height (and maybe spread out the loop a little for better support), plug it in, and you're done (the pic makes it look like it's touching the card, but it's not):


Here are some parting shots (I know you guys like lots of pics!):
Good clearance:









I really liked doing this since it's quick, easy, cheap, doesn't touch the computer at all (well wires maybe), and the coat hanger actually isolates the vibrations from the fan!

Do you like it? Hate it? Think I'm crazy?

PS- That thread over at XS is HERE. Thanks!

 

Haha, that hanger mod is killer!

 

Thanks, Stonedsurd! I'm glad you like it!

 

ROFL if anyone could fail a Rorschach test, it'd be you.

 

quick question here what do these buttons do/are for?

 

Start, Reset, CMOS reset, last known good config, ?

The tools needed for OC's everywhere.

 

LOL
Good solution for hanging a fan

 

TN was right, they are for Reset, Start, and then selecting different voltages/fans/OC'ing settings with the little joystick on-the-fly. Almost never used other than the start and reset.

 

You're right! Can't wait to see how FF overclocks!

 

Thanks!

 

YAGM - Yet Another Ghetto Mod

Here's another "ghetto home depot" mod. My air cooling was not cutting it for that OC'ing competition, so i had to go a bit more Xtreme. Now, most of my WC'ing stuff is over in Asia, so I really had to raid the closet and come up with some 'franken-cooling'.

Since I don't have my system mounted in a case (see above), I needed something to mount the rads in so that they won't flop around. Please be mindful that this is temporary, quick-and-dirty cooling and will not be permanent or even last much more than a couple of weeks!

First of all, my best helper with our primary victim: an old Dell Pentium 100.


And my second best helper, Bear, the 10 year old 120 pound baby.


And check out the vid card out of the Dell: An old Number Nine S3 Virge! Blast from the past!


Originally, I planned on just gutting the Dell and mounting everything in the empty case, but I found that there was too much existing structure inside. I was looking to do this in an hour or two on a Saturday afternoon, so i didn't have a ton of time to cut lots of holes, etc. So I was looking at the side panel, and had a moment of brilliance!


It has a metal plate (EMF shielding I guess) mounted to the heavy plastic panel. So, we decided to just make a bunch of U-shaped cuts facing each other, bend them up vertical, drill a hole in each, and mount the rads to that. It worked! Had to use a bunch of spare screws and washers to make it all fit together:



And here it all is mounted on the panel: A TFC 120 rad with Slow speed Yate, a BI Stealth with a San Ace, a D5 pump with Detroit top, and the Dell 200 W PSU.
*Don't worry, he won't be playing with that San Ace when it's running*


It took forever to figure out how to jumper the Dell PSU with its proprietary wiring (no green and purple in the wrong spot!), but I eventually succeeded:


And here it is, with its $5 for 10 feet Home Depot crappy tubing (super stiff and leaky on barbs). Also, got a used GTZ for a good price.


I shoved the whole shebang into the shelf below my system on the desk:


Again, this is only CPU and only temporary as I have a FC block for my 8800 GTX and a NB block in waiting.

So, hopefully this will help me to get a competitive CPU OC for the competition!

What do you guys (and gal) think of my ghetto setup?!

A few last pics:

 

Ultra ghetto style
But, if it's working, why not

 

It's just temporary, though. I'm actually not the type to be able to live 'ghetto style' for very long. I'm a bit too anal!

 

Look what just arrived!

Hey, guys (and girl, TN), just wanted to get a quick post in here to let you know what's going on. I got a new delivery on Tuesday afternoon, and so I haven't had much time:

Our 2nd child!



[I think my wife looks pretty good for having just been in labor!]

My wife went into labor Monday night while we were watching '24'.
Our daughter was born Tuesday afternoon, 7lb 5oz...a good size. Not too small, but can still carry her like a football!

So, this means a couple of things:
1) I won't be updating (or really hanging out in here) much for the next couple of weeks. In fact, tonight is really my only night 'free' since I brought my son back to where we're living right now while my wife and daughter are still at the hospital. Sorry!

2) I've got to finish off my entry into the OC'ing competition tonight, since I probably won't get another chance. San Ace's @12V do not promote an environment suitable for infant slumber!

So, please don't think that I've given up this project. Just need to do what needs to be done for a couple of weeks until we get the new princess on a schedule, etc.

 

On air into Bios it goes 4.1 Ghz and about 3.9 Ghz into Windows but unstable. Runs now 3.4 Ghz stable. Be interesting to see if anything changes on water.



I threw one of those OTD in the last spring cleaning.

Congratulations on the newborn. I can tell you are a happily married guy sporting that nice ring off like that: