Andre's Z77 Personal Rig

The Orange One · Dec 22, 2012

Great Vids Mate! Your Thought on the case have helped me in the process of selecting a new case!

andrevautour · Dec 22, 2012

The Orange One said:
Great Vids Mate! Your Thought on the case have helped me in the process of selecting a new case!

Thanks man! I wrote a pretty long reply to this earlier but for some reason I keep hitting preview post instead of submit reply so I must have lost it

Have you decided on a case for yourself yet?

Anyway the main gist of it was that my favorite looking cases right now are Lian Li and their interiors are getting a lot better in the newer cases as well but I also really like the Caselabs Magnum M8.

also that all the cases in the 650d price range have the same sort of quality issues and mixed bag of good and bad points but it is still a good case for the price esp because you can get them for $149 here now.

all the cases i'm looking at now are around $400 and up to get the sort of quality that i'm after personally.

also note that i'm extremely fussy and always find fault is just about everything so even though i have quite a few problems with the 650d it is still a good case and a great case for the money in my opinion.

IMO the caselabs cases have a really utilitarian look very tough and non nonsense like the type of thing you might see in some massive network building or something like that. I do love the look of the caselabs cases.

But my favorite looking cases are the Lian Li's

My favorite looking Lian Li on the outside is the PC A71F, but it's a couple years old now and it doesnt have a black interior (i actually dont mind the silver aluminum interiors the way they look in lian li's though)

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/produc...338&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61&g=spec

Then the one that seems to have the best set of features and I like the look of it almost as much is the X2000FN

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/produc...627&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61&g=spec

And I also really love the look of the V750 and i think the form factor is very interesting except I dont really like the PSU placement on this one but i think it is very handsome looking on the outside and you can get this with a black interior and window

PC-750: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/produc...612&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61&g=spec

I just love the quality of Lian Li so much their cases have a feel to them that nothing else I've seen does.

And as I mentioned for caselabs I like them a lot as well and I like the M8 the most aesthetics wise without and of the top or bottom extensions I really like the short, wide stance of the main part of the case alone.

http://www.caselabs-store.com/magnum-m8-case/

M8_FRONT_47391_zoom__82084.1337228694.1280.1280.jpg

M8_SOLID__38469.1316307900.1280.1280.jpg

The Lian Li's have a very very sophisticated aesthetic IMO and the caselabs a bit more utility looking but I really love the look of both of them probably equally maybe leaning a bit towards Lian Li though.

If I were to compare the two cases to cars I guess I would say that the caselabs m8 is like a really good well built truck that can do what it's supposed to extremely well and performs it's purpous perfectly, but it may not be the most graceful thing in the world.

Lian Li's to me are more like a very nice sophisticated European luxury car that is very very polished and refined and good looking, but not every single thing on the inside is perfect but it doesn't really matter because it's so well built and nice in most areas it's easy to overlook the few shortcomings

Stuff I don't like includes most other cases to be honest I think most of them are too busy looking and have too much plastic on them for me

I won't make a list of all the cases i dont like (though i am tempted) but just pretend there is a list of all the cases that exist now and remove the Lian Li stuff, some Silverstone stuff, Caselabs stuff but mainly the M8 and MAYBE the Coolermaster Cosmos 2 and then what you have left is the list of cases I dont like

that is half way between a joke and the truth

also im NOT making a comment about apple and apple hardware or anything BUT the mac pro case is seriously good quality and i love the look of it plus the way everything fits together inside that i can't help but respect that design. i've yet to see a custom pc build that has EVER been as neat and well put together as the mac pro on the inside (simply because everything in there is make to go together and it wouldnt really be easy to do with pc hardware) but still add the mac pro case right to the top of the cases i do like/love list

please keep in mind i'm talking about the aesthetics of the case and build quality and how neat everything is put together on the inside only here im not making any comments about apple or their hardware

The Orange One · Dec 23, 2012

I Also like the exterior of those Lian Li cases, they just look so elegant and Beautiful!

When it comes to a new case, I'm between the 650d, Switch 810 and the CM Storm Stryker.

andrevautour · Dec 23, 2012

The Orange One said:
I Also like the exterior of those Lian Li cases, they just look so elegant and Beautiful!

When it comes to a new case, I'm between the 650d, Switch 810 and the CM Storm Stryker.

I imagine my next case will probably be a Lian Li. It's something I've always kind of wanted and I'm starting to like them even more now

Good luck with your choice!

The Orange One · Dec 23, 2012

andrevautour said:
I imagine my next case will probably be a Lian Li. It's something I've always kind of wanted and I'm starting to like them even more now

Good luck with your choice!

Thanks

dieseldog49 · Dec 23, 2012

I have built several Lian Li cases and have never had anything but good things to say aabout them. no one does more with less except maybe caselabs. Truly 2 brands you almost cannot go wrong with.

andrevautour · Dec 24, 2012

dieseldog49 said:
I have built several Lian Li cases and have never had anything but good things to say aabout them. no one does more with less except maybe caselabs. Truly 2 brands you almost cannot go wrong with.

I could not agree more! I haven't built in a Lian Li yet but I have seen them in stores and I love the quality. Even their shiny silver aluminum interiors on some models doesn't bother me much.

Caselabs I haven't actually seen in person yet, but I am just going from what i've seen in reviews and heard.

Exterior wise I like the cosmos 2 a bit because of the apparent quality of the main shell of the case, but inside it reminds me way too much of the rest of the cooler master cases and the stuff they have on the inside and looks wise i dont like it anywhere near as much as a Lian li or an M8

andrevautour · Dec 24, 2012

MSI Z77 MPower Bios & Software

Here is a look at the bios of the Mpower board and also some of the software that goes with it.

The bios is very easy to use, attractive looking and it's very fast getting in and out of it and getting stuff setup then running.

MSI_SnapShot_001 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

MSI_SnapShot_002_0033_003 by Andre
Vautour, on Flickr

MSI_SnapShot_002 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

MSI_SnapShot_002_0033_003_004 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

MSI_SnapShot_mem by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

MSI_SnapShot_2133mhz by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Live Update 5 is used for keeping the BIOS and software up to date.

I downloaded the latest 17.5 BIOS for this board and it took about 30 seconds, then I restarted and the bios was updated. It's all done on the user end via the update software and I could not imagine an easier way to get it done.

Same goes for all the motherboard reflated drivers and software. It checks the version you have and shows if there is a newer version and you can update everything in one shot if you want.

It's not to keep everything up to date, but it's a pain scrounging around on company websites looking for the latest drivers manually, so this live update software is a nice touch in my opinion.

Live Update 5 - Home by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Live Update 5 - Live Update by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Live Update 5 - History by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Live Update 5 - Setting by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Live Update 5 - About by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

MSI Control Center handles all the motherboard related settings in windows
.

In the overclock tab you can see all the info and set the multiplier, voltages etc

Control Center - Overclocking by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

OC Genie automatically sets the values for the CPU and memory

Control Center - OC Genie by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Here you can manually setup fan profiles and speed settings for each fan that is connected to the motherboard headers

Control Center - Green Power by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

You can turn off the motherboard LED here. Unfortunately it does come back on if you sleep and wake up or restart.

Control Center - LED by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Control Center - Record by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

There is an app you can get that lets you control the board settings with your phone

Control Center - Mobile Control by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Super charger

Super Charger by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

Other motherboard software features that I haven't tried let include: Click Bios II, MSI Suite, Video Genie, and Audio Genie. Fast boot I have tried and it skims over the initial bios boot check stuff even faster than the already fast regular settings, but I found I couldn't get into the bios by holding down DEL during boot with fast boot was enabled. There is a setting under boot settings to turn it off and I found when I turned it off in the bios it also 'uninstalled' it in windows and it showed up again as uninstalled in the software updater.

There is also stuff like Realtek HD Audio Manager but that is pretty common.

dalewakelin · Dec 24, 2012

That msi bios is waay better than my msi ms-7267 bios

andrevautour · Dec 24, 2012

dalewakelin said:
That msi bios is waay better than my msi ms-7267 bios

I've seen boards as new as 2010 that still didn't have a software bios. My old Sabertooth X58, for example.

I've only started seeing software bios on x79 boards and z77 and probably z68 as well.

Tindo · Dec 24, 2012

Very nice build mate

andrevautour · Dec 24, 2012

Tindo said:
Very nice build mate

Thank you very much!

andrevautour · Dec 24, 2012

Performance & Benchmarks

I realize I haven't posted any benchmark results here yet. I will add some more later.

The CPU unfortunately isn't a great one and it won't do much more than 4.5 GHz without ridiculous volts, so that is what it's set at for these benchmarks.

The GPU will do good OCs but at higher voltages it gets really loud.

3DMark Vantage Score

3DMark 11 Score

kaney · Dec 25, 2012

Merry Christmas Andre,
One hell of an Awesome build update mate !

andrevautour · Dec 25, 2012

kaney said:
Merry Christmas Andre,
One hell of an Awesome build update mate !

Thanks! Merry Christmas!

andrevautour · Dec 25, 2012

Hope everyone is having a nice Christmas! I have a large memory related update with pictures and videos coming tomorrow, and some more updates planned after that.

andrevautour · Dec 27, 2012

Memory Update & Details

Originally when I was picking memory for this build I was looking at various options, and ended up looking at a couple in particular. It was a tossup between the newer, designed for ivy bridge Viper 3/ Intel extreme masters stuff and the older, designed for sandy bridge viper xtreme stuff. I knew that the viper xtreme stuff was older and higher voltage, but i liked the look of it better because of the nice copper and clean look of it, so i chose it anyway.

The Viper Xtreme kit I had was not performing properly, so I was planning to return it and get 16GB of the Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 2133 MHz stuff, which I have been liking the look of more and more ever since I first saw it.

In addition to my plan to replace it because of poor performance, the Xtreme kit also literally failed on my yesterday and it was causing blue screens and failing prime.

So for now I'm using the spare 16GB kit of G.Skill RipjawsZ 2133 MHz memory we have here in red and tomorrow I am heading to the store to return the defective Patriot Xtreme kit and get some Patriot Intel EM instead. (I'm going tomorrow because the store has no returns today and I imagine it would be too busy today anyway)

As I had it out to swap out the Patriot kit with the temporary GSkill kit I took some pictures and a video of the interior and exterior of the build, so here is that stuff now.

Tomorrow I will have another update with the memory I get and a box open and thoughts about it.

Note: Yes, I know the fan blades are a bit dusty.

IMG_0011 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0013 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0014 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0015 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0018 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0019 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0020 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0021 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0022 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0023 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0024 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr

IMG_0025 by Andre Vautour, on Flickr