Scratch Build – In Progress White Steel.

Right, well Iv'e finally decided to start one of these project logs with the latest build in my repertoire.
After much personal debate, and a great deal of research I decided to stick with Intel.
Belay all that, I always stick with that trusty stead. lol

Anyway, I ummed and arred over the general design of the case, I thought of using an old washing machine drum and turning it into something like the Large Hadron Collider or something. Then thought better of it, I didn't have the confidence to pull it off to my satisfaction.


Whatever shall I do I thought....
"Ah I know, I'll build my own rectangular shape box type thing, yes, that'll set off a revolution".

So I had this idea of making a plazma plate, to put in the bottom of the revolutionary box.
On investigation, I came across a site that showed me how to make my own plasma globe, whoopeeeee!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Maker-your-own-Lightning-Globe!/

Well I gave it a good read, then had a think about how to make a rectangular flat plate in similar fashion......

Then I thought some more...

And just to make sure, I had another little think....

No, that's way beond my technical ability.... Damn it.

So what to do next. "I know, I'll see if there's something on the market".

 

The Juicy Bits.

So I got to thinking about what I wanted to build. I'm not to worried about finance as I'll be taking my time over this project, my main concern is new things that enter the market. That basically, I'll want.
But there's little that can be done about that, so I got cracking.

I knew it had to be the Intel i7 980x, it's a beast with it's 6 cores and 12 threads, 12Mb's of fast cache and isn't likely to be crushed by much else on the market for a good while.

http://www.intel.com/cd/products/services/emea/eng/processors/corei7ee/overview/405905.htm

So that lead me to the thorny question of the motherboard.
I always hate this one, as it determines the destiny of all your performance issues, and build quality from some manufacturers can either be top notch or a little shakey.
But I suppose when you're spending the credits I will be that shouldn't be an issue.

I went with Gigabyte, as I have never had any big issues with them, and they have released what Iv'e been looking for, for some years.
A board with at least three full on PCIe x16 slots. I found the GA-X58-UD9R

http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3434#ov

It doesn't have a normal PCI slot, or even a PCI x1 slot for a sound card, this disapointed me. But after downloading the manual, and having a good read, I thought the compramise not to be too bad, as the onboard sound was just about up to scratch.
Does anybody know of any sound cards that'll slot into a full PCI slot?

So after salivating over the prospect of putting those two bad boys together, I thought it time to have a look at my graphical interfaces.

I know it seems a bit extreme, but I got to thinking about using 3 cards all at 2Gb's @GDDR5 and as many stream processors as I could find. I'm looking at 3x 30" monitors all full HD....

After much research I came across a little number from Gigabyte of all manufacturers.
All my desires were fed, with 3200 stream processors! Also being 2x256 bit doesn't hurt.

http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3254#ov

I chose them mainly because I like ATI, and just had a feeling, that they might work just a little bit better with the board than anyone elses.
Irrational I know, but hey! lol

So that was the main hardware sorted. I thought it time for some CAD.

 

PCI x1 still work on a full slot as far as I'm lead to believe, the tip of the full slot is the same as a PCI x1!

 

Oh cheers guys, didn't think to ever investigate that one. Is the bandwidth going to be an improvement on the boards ready placed audio?

 

Did you have a specific sound card you planned to use?

I would think that the onboard sound (7.1 HD audio) would probably be fine for most gaming applications, and it includes digital output if you want to do home theater.

 

Also, I'd stay far away from putting 30kv plasma inside of my PC. It might cause a lot of electrical interference.

 

Yeah I think you're right Altron. At the end of the day, there won't be much room left after everything has been watercooled, what with there being three cards.

I't just that I currently have a Soundblaster Platinum with a front drive bay panel that I find convenient. But I can get roung it. And I'll make good use of the optical in/out.

But thanks for confirming the decision I made anyway.

 

On the plasma, I was coming to that. lol

 

First CAD draft.

So I finished an idea for the frame of the case.

I know it looks absolutely huge, but I have big plans for the biggest, most complicated water loop Iv'e ever seen, but I'll come to that later.

 

Erm? I'm counting seven panels. Thought most rectangular boxes had six. I know an i7-980 has some serious horsepower, but can it pwn geometry as well?

 

The idea, Is to have a polished steel frame, with clear sides on the top level, and white acrylic panels all around the rest, with a full drive bay surround and a white box to seat the motherboard that'll hide just about all trace of cables and the like. But I'll go into more detail when my CAD drawings are ready.

 

That's the middle on the very end that's on it's own.
It has a frame on it to seat a white acrylic motherboard housing.

 

Side View Draft.

 

I'm going for a design with very clean and simple lines, almost like a piece of modern living room furniture.
I'm planning on having two 4x140mm rads in the bottom section, and a 3x120mm under the top.

Have been considering making a lava lamp style box for a side window. But we'll have to think about that, not sure if it'll be a bit naff or not.

 

GIGABYTE MOTHERF**KER!!!!!


Fo reals they make great motherboards

 

Well here are the hardware specs:


Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9R: Intel I7 980X 3.33Ghz, 3.6 Ghz @ Turbo Frequency, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 12 Mb Smart Cache, Intel X58 NB, Intel ICH10R SB.

3x Gigabyte Radeon HD 5970, 2Gb, GDDR5, 4000Mhz, 512 Bit, DX11, 3200 Stream Processors.

G-Skill 24Gb DDR3, 2000Mhz, (6x4Gb).

1x OCZ Vertex Limited Edition 100GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive
2x Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive
1x Western Digital RE4 2TB SATA-II 64MB Cache - OEM

Pioneer BDR-205 12x BluRay RW / 16x DVD±RW Drive

EK Supreme HF High Flow CPU Waterblock Nickel Plexi
3x EK Full Cover Waterblock for ATI 5970 Graphics Card : FC5970 Nickel / Plexi
EK Full Board Gigabyte GA X58 UD9R Motherboard Waterblock : Nickel / Plexi
MIPS RAM Freezer 6

2xHardware Labs Black Ice® GT Xtreme 560mm Quad Radiator : GTX560
1xKoolance Low Flow 360mm Triple Radiator : HX-CU1020H

2xAquacomputer Eheim 1048 600 l/h pumps

2xBitspower Z-Multi 250mm Water Tank Reservoir
1xAquacomputer 5.25" Drive Bay Aquabox Pro

Bitspower 1/4" Thread Compression Fittings for 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD Tubing Shiny Silver

Tygon R3603 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD (13-19mm) Tubing clear

Nanoxia Extreme Stark UV Reactive Fluid

1xAquacomputer Flow Sensor 'High Flow'
1xAquacomputer USB Poweradjust 2 Pump Controller : Ultra
3xAquacomputer In Line Temperature Sensor
1xAquacomputer Aquaero 4.00 USB Fan and temperature Controller with VF-Display and Powerbooster
2xAquacomputer 8ch multiswitch USB 1.41
1x NZXT Sentry LX

8xSharkoon Silent Eagle 800 140mm Fans
7xSharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 120mm Fans

3x Hanns.G HZ281HPB 27.5" Widescreen LCD
1x IIyama Prolite E2271HDS 22" Widescreen LED (For system monitoring).

Logitech Z-5500 THX Certified 5.1 Speaker System.

Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard
Logitech Performance MX Mouse with Darkfield Technology
Logitech G27 Racing Wheel
Saitek X65F Pro Flight Control System
Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals
Saitek Pro Flight Switch Panel
Saitek Pro Flight Radio Panel
Logitech G930 7.1 Surround Sound Wireless Headset
Logitech C910 HD 1080p Pro 10 Megapixel Webcam

 

A part of me just died I WANT THAT COMPUTER!!!! (or at least the HW) Hehe.
Why not go for a EVGA SR-2 ? Just to overkill it a little more?

 

BOO-YAH...!
Damn, thats a lot of stuff.

 

If I showed that hardware list to the misses (with prices) I don't think I'd be able to sit down for months for even contemplating it!

Impressive to say the least!