Andre's X58 Personal Build

[rossi94]

also this is a small thing but im happy thsi card does have those extra holes at the rear of the card so i can zip tie the gpu power cables to the edge of the card like tom did in the koolance cosmos build

Picture link is broken

 

[andrevautour]

Unboxing & Installing MSI R7950 Twin Frozr III

hi guys,
here are some pictures of the card, i am doing some benchmarks now and i will post those a bit later.


IMG_1374 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1375 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1382 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr



IMG_1383 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1384 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1390 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1394 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1412 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1396 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1399 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1400 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1402 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1403 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1405 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr



IMG_1406 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1408 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1410 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1413 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1415 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr


IMG_1416 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr



IMG_1424 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

 

[The Orange One]

That card fits in really well

 

[kaney]

really nice build

 

[andrevautour]

That card fits in really well

thanks! i really like the aesthetic of it too and it's an incredible card. the card i have can do the same clocks and then some as the royal king tom recently posted the view of.

 

[andrevautour]

really nice build

thanks!

 

[andrevautour]

I have some more updates coming soon relating to this and other builds! Got a bit busy with some other things.

In the meantime here is a small video about my new MSI 7950 http://youtu.be/biN0W7R3DEA?hd=1

 

[roblangston]

Hi, I have also just carried out a new build in a 650D and the one annoying thing is the power button. You have to press the button really hard before the machine turns on. I noticed you were having the same issue, did you find an alternative? I think the button has been badly designed on corsairs part and is really cheap and flimsy if you remove it from the front panel. If I cant find a replacement it will have to be modified to work properly.

 

[andrevautour]

Hi, I have also just carried out a new build in a 650D and the one annoying thing is the power button. You have to press the button really hard before the machine turns on. I noticed you were having the same issue, did you find an alternative? I think the button has been badly designed on corsairs part and is really cheap and flimsy if you remove it from the front panel. If I cant find a replacement it will have to be modified to work properly.

hi, yeah the power button is crap. if you take the front panel off and have a look its unfortunate because the actual button itself has a nice crisp click to it, but that piece that is attached to the front panel ruins it. all it is is a piece of plastic with a couple tiny thin pieces holding it on, and it feels absolute crap to push.

it's not a HUGE deal because i dont really push the power much anyway, but it's just one of those little things that i always enjoy in high quality products, it's just a nice added touch when the button has a really nice crisp click to it, pushes easily, and makes a nice crisp noise. if you've watched tom's recent review of the caselabs merlin, those have a pretty nice anti vandal switch on them, and as tom mentions in the video those are the lamptron ones and there is even another brand that has an even nicer feel and sound to it.

i have not looked into replacing mine yet, but when you look behind the front panel you can see that the button is removable quite easily, but i'm not entirely sure how you would go about installing a new switch in that place. if you look at cases like the caselabs cases that take those high quality anti vandal switches those just have a hole cutout in the steel and you put the switch through from the front and then screw it up and tighten it from the back. i dont think you can really do the same thing here, but there may be other ways to replace the button with at least another one that feels a bit nicer to push.

i dont have any functionality issues with my button, i just dont like the way it feels to push and as you said you do have to push it a bit hard. it definitely doesn't have a high quality feel to it.

One thing I do like about it though is the power logo that lights up white inside of it. I've had some cases in the case like the CM HAF 932 that have just plain blue LEDs and they are SO bright they are almost unusable unless you reduce the brightness somehow. With this case I think that illuminated power logo looks nice and it's not blindingly bright or annoying either.

here is tom's merlin review: http://youtu.be/BtSv2Qj0CAQ?hd=1&t=8m54s

and here are some switches: http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/19mm-Momentary-Vandal-Resistant-Switches-cid-1709.html

as mentioned you can get an optical bay plate made with holes for switches, but if you do that the original buttons will be unused, and since i'm so fussy about little things personally i dont really like unused buttons. but it is an option.

here are front panels and you get get these customized (thanks to rossi94 for originally pointing me towards these)

http://www.coldzero.eu/category.php?id_category=47

 

[ccaution]

Very nice build mate

Ohh I miss my D14. Let me give you an advice: If you're running those D14's fans on lower (L.N.A. cable) rpm NEVER change that cooler. I'm sure you could be tempted by a cheap used H100(i) but mate, DON'T! The pump on those kits alone, is louder that the whole D14.

 

[andrevautour]

Very nice build mate

Ohh I miss my D14. Let me give you an advice: If you're running those D14's fans on lower (L.N.A. cable) rpm NEVER change that cooler. I'm sure you could be tempted by a cheap used H100(i) but mate, DON'T! The pump on those kits alone, is louder that the whole D14.

Hey!
so nice to meet someone on exactly the same page as me!
I have always loved and been a fan of high quality air coolers like the D14, and I have always hated the h100s.
My dad has had 3 h100s and they all have the same loud ticking from the pump, not to mention the fans that come with it. He has Noctua NF-F12 fans on his but the pump is still so loud to me.

I have a Lamptron FC6 that controls all the case fans and my D14 fans are connected to the fan controller switch in the 650D so I have a low, med, high control for them. I have a 3770k now so i never really need to go any higher than low and psu rarely spins the fan, it's near silent when not under a heavy load.

I always recommend to people something like a d14 over any type of closed water loop like a h100 if they are okay with the large size of it. There is the issue of some memory with large heatsinks not fitting well, but personally i prefer low profile ram and i think that ram does not need a large heatsink.

I take it you've moved from the d14 to something else? what are you using now?

here's what my build looks like now:

 

[ccaution]

I moved from a D14, with it's lovely stock fans, to a H100 with NF-F12. That H100 was - THANK GOD - a gift. The unit was a good one (no clicking noises) but it's just louder. It just is! I could hear the pump over all of my case fans and the Enermax PSU.

So last Monday, I sold the D14 & H100 all together, to get the new H100i. The 2700 fans are a joke. I put my trusty NF-F12 on that too, and yes it's ~3 C cooler that the original H100 but I can most definetly hear the pump noise again :/

The hole D14->H100->H100i was a real blow off. I think I'll get a new D14 in the near future, after all :crazy:. I'm considering a simple custom loop too, but I don't believe that I'll get any higher overclocks out of my 2600K. 4.8GHz @ 1.38v is rather good and the voltage seems safe. The next "milestone" (5GHz) comes at 1.46 which is a tad high for 24/7 imho.

So bottomline. People, you have a D14? Keep it! :hello:

 

[andrevautour]

I moved from a D14, with it's lovely stock fans, to a H100 with NF-F12. That H100 was - THANK GOD - a gift. The unit was a good one (no clicking noises) but it's just louder. It just is! I could hear the pump over all of my case fans and the Enermax PSU.

So last Monday, I sold the D14 & H100 all together, to get the new H100i. The 2700 fans are a joke. I put my trusty NF-F12 on that too, and yes it's ~3 C cooler that the original H100 but I can most definetly hear the pump noise again :/

The hole D14->H100->H100i was a real blow off. I think I'll get a new D14 in the near future, after all :crazy:. I'm considering a simple custom loop too, but I don't believe that I'll get any higher overclocks out of my 2600K. 4.8GHz @ 1.38v is rather good and the voltage seems safe. The next "milestone" (5GHz) comes at 1.46 which is a tad high for 24/7 imho.

So bottomline. People, you have a D14? Keep it! :hello:

Yeah I never really liked the H100, even before I head the fans just the tiny thin radiator was a put off and I never liked the ribbed plastic hose. I then learned that there are some serious quality control issues when my dad ended up taking 2 of them back and ending up with a 3rd unit that was no better or quieter and finally settling with that even though it's the loudest thing in the case. They just always seems like a cheap half baked idea to me.

On the other hand I was always impressed with the extremely high quality of the D14, I always loved the look of it and the colors of the noctua stuff. My previous board was the sabertooth X58 so the noctua colors fit in nicely with that. I use all Noctua fans and they are really great even at high speeds but at low they are just unbelievable.

I have been liking corsair stuff less and less to be honest. I like the 650D but there are some quality issues with that as well like the crappy button mentioned above, plus lots of people report the build in fan controller breaking , issues with the fans that come with it, and even issues with the paint in the hot swap hard drive area, plus the usual stuff like cheap hard drive tray etc. Still not a huge deal and it's stuff a great case for the price.

The newer Corsair stuff on the other hand, I dont like at all. The new fans with the trim on them I absolutely hate the look of those. Plastic interchangeable trim has always put me way off and it always reminds me of some cheap tacky piece of electronics from a bargain refurb warehouse or something. It just makes it look so cheap to me. and the Corsair link think is huge I don't envy anyone who has to deal with hiding those. Plus The move away from seasonic with the new i series. The only reason I bought an AX850 at the time because it was essentially the same as the Seasonic units but I liked the look of the fan grille a bit more at the time (the look of the seasonic units are actually growing on me a bit now though) but without that I would never go near a corsair PSU. I also am fussy to the point of I would not buy a psu with the red decal on the side because I really don't like red, I like gold and that is another reason why the AX850 was appealing at the time.

 

[ccaution]

The AX850 is lovely due to the fan which stops, too

Yeah, I'm not into Corsair that much, either. Sure they had -and still do- some great products, but I feel they are choosing rather cheap OEMs from time to time. In my opinion, Noctua is in a different league, quality-wise. Take a look of the metal itself on the mounting bits, and then look that flimsy H100 backplate and you'll agree too

Don't get me wrong, I appreciated a lot of corsair products through time (the micron ddr2 Dominators, the Hyper 2000c8 ddr3 ones, some good PSUs etc.) and I love the good support they provide, but I think it's rather naive to choose a Corsair product, just because of the brand. I see people to "corsair only" build I just don't get it... :lol:

 

[andrevautour]

The AX850 is lovely due to the fan which stops, too

Yeah, I'm not into Corsair that much, either. Sure they had -and still do- some great products, but I feel they are choosing rather cheap OEMs from time to time. In my opinion, Noctua is in a different league, quality-wise. Take a look of the metal itself on the mounting bits, and then look that flimsy H100 backplate and you'll agree too

Don't get me wrong, I appreciated a lot of corsair products through time (the micron ddr2 Dominators, the Hyper 2000c8 ddr3 ones, some good PSUs etc.) and I love the good support they provide, but I think it's rather naive to choose a Corsair product, just because of the brand. I see people to "corsair only" build I just don't get it... :lol:

I completely agree with you. The AX850 is really great and like you mentioned with a low power system like my new ivy bridge chip and radeon 7950, the fan hardly ever spins up unless you put a heavy load on it, so that is great.

I do like some of the products like the 650D for example, but I definitely would think long and hard about buying any of their newer stuff. I judge each individual product I choose by function, quality, and aesthetics, and I just don't really like the road they are going down with some of this newer stuff.

With cases I've always found it to be a bit of a hard one because really most of the manufacturers that make PC cases for "enthusiasts" have quality issues with their cases because that just comes with the price range most cases are hitting these days. I know plently of people dislike apple around here but in my opinion if you take a look at the Mac Pro case and the way everything is put together in that and more importantly the actual build quality of the case itself, 90% of the cases and builds I've seen look quite mediocre in comparison. I strongly dislike plastic, especially grossly plastic, so I would stay far away from stuff like NZXT and cooler master, etc. I'd say the corsair cases are somewhere in the middle quality wise and there are always some exceptions like the Cosmos II, which is the only case from CM that I like. Then there are what I consider to the the higher quality cases like the Lian Li stuff and the caselabs stuff looks to be on par quality wise, but looks wise I'm not totally into it. On the one hand I do like the very plain utility look of it, but I'm not 100% into the aesthetic of there stuff yet it's hard to explain. And I can't really make an informed comment on silverstone cases, but I have heard that some of their cases are good quality- I imagine stuff like the TJ07, TJ11. I have to admit I really really like the look and the layout of the RV02E, even though the front is plastic and the contradicts what I said easily, I have to make an exception for this one because I think it just looks really like and I love that inverted design with the 3X 180mm focus flow fans in the bottom. It just seems like a good design and I like the look of it a lot.

Overall I would say that the majority of cases I've seen at a mid range/low price usually look and feel cheap, and in some cases you get one like the 650D where it's maybe a bit higher than a mid price case price wise but it looks good and is pretty good quality for the most part. I like really minimal elegant designs and so I really dislike anything from thermaltake, In Win, Antec and stuff like the CM Storm Stryker and NZXT phantom and all that stuff.

When I was picking a case it was a toss up for me between the 650D and the Silverstone RV02E and it was really a matter of the stock being quite low for the RV02 at the time and it was harder to get a hold of, otherwise I would potentially have picked that. I am happy with the 650D, I still think it is a great case for the price, but you know how it is, you always wonder what it would be like living with other cases, hardware, etc.

 

[Etlar]

What problem do you have whit the "MSI Z77 MPower" ?..

 

[andrevautour]

What problem do you have whit the "MSI Z77 MPower" ?..

the little plastic latches that lock/eject the ram one of them broke.

 

[Etlar]

Damn, that is not fun :/

 

[andrevautour]

Damn, that is not fun :/

yeah it's obvious that they used lesser quality plastic on those little latches than a lot of other boards i've worked with before, you have to be really gentle with them. but that is why i don't order stuff like motherboards, graphics cards etc online because i can just walk into the store and exchange it.

 

[Etlar]

I have the same mobo, and my letches is just rock solid. So i only think you have been very unlucky on that.

And in Denmark i can just call the Company and they will send a new mobo and i can send the old back. Only is that shop online, very happy whit that support