Jaytec359
New member
This is the story of my rig: The BigRig.
So far, It is around 2 years old since I first built it.
Before we get started, this is no fancy custom modded PC (well not yet anyway
)
I will also be posting better pictures, unfortunately my D3100 DSLR is being borrowed by my friend and he still has it.
Apart from that, lets get started!
As I'm sure you're all aware, PC's are endless money consuming beasts, mainly because if you're gonna upgrade one thing, you usually end upgrading the whole bloody system.
Not to mention, you can never really have enough storage.
For me, a gradual money feed has seeped into it, As a Uni student I have no idea where this money has come from, non the less it was worth it
Alas, before the adventure, first come the Specs:
=====================
CPU: Intel i7 2600k (@4.0GHz -Pushed to 4.5GHz when Rendering)
COOLER: Noctuah NH D14 (Used to be Corsair H60)
RAM: 4x4GB CL9 1600MHz GSkill RipJawsX
MOBO: Asus P8-Z68-V pro Gen3
PSU: Corsair RM750 (Used to be BigAnt 600W)
GPU1: XFX R9 290 Black Edition (Used to be 2x Asus 7770 OC v2)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 942 (Used to be Aerocool PGS Vx-E pro LE)
Storage:
Mouse Mat: Razer Goliathus medium Control Edition
KeyBoard: Deck 108 Hassium CherryMX Brown
Monitor1: LG Flatron E2442 24" LCD @1080p 60Hz
Monitor2: Acer AL1916W 19" LCD @1440x768 60Hz
Other: 2 x RED LED Light Strips (Top and Bottom of Case)
==========================================
I started off spending a nice $340 on an Intel i7 2600k and $224 on the Asus Motherboard.
To cool that, I purchased a Corsair H60, while it was a nice cooler, It did however have an issue where the pump would buzz loudly and at one point stopped pumping completely (freaked the crap out of me when I came home).
I took the H60 back 4 times, each time I had the same problem.
By now you're thinking its me right? Maybe I've installed it wrong?
Maybe It's something else?...yeah I was thinking that too.
That was until I contacted Corsair.
It turns out that they sent out faulty batches of H60's, in which I kept receiving another faulty H60 each time I got it replaced from Austin Computers.
The problem was that the pumps power line was VERY specific and would only operate properly under a certain power rail voltage, power rail voltages vary from PSU (some are higher, some are lower).
In turn, Instead of going without a CPU cooler for a week I decided to get my money back and purchase the Noctuah NH D14.
What a choice that was! Best Air cooler on the market 2 years later.
As for storage, I started with a Western Digital Blue 1TB.
It was fast...2 years ago.
"I'MA FIRIN' MA LAZOR" is what went through my head when I installed and turned on my Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD for the first time.
With all the stuff that I run on startup (including a Debian Server inside Vmware) windows 7 boots in 9 seconds.
SSD's are great little things aren't they
To house all this lovely goodness I got an Aerocool PGS Vx-E pro LE.
Now this, this was without a doubt the WORST decision I ever made.
Two Words:
1 - CABLE.
2 - MANAGEMENT.
It has none.
To this very day, it sometimes haunts me at night
I had Originally planned to use an already owned 420W PSU from a previous desktop.
Yes, It did have a 4 pin CPU connecter.
Yes, the Asus P8 Z68-V pro Gen3 Does have an 8 Phase Power CPU Connecter.
Yes, I did take it into consideration.
No, A 4pin to 8pin CPU adapter did not work.
Well, back I go to purchase the most reasonable 8pin PSU I could find without my wallet exploding.
That led me to the BigAnt 600W PSU.
When I got my two Asus 7770's, It handled them well along with my overclocked 2600k.
That was until I purchased my R9 290.
Yes the Wattage was fine, but the Power Rail Amperage was not.
The BigAnt 600W PSU only had a mere 19.5A 12v power rail (compared to the Corsair RM 750's 62.5A 12v power rail).
If I didn't read about the abnormally high Temps that the R9 290 sits at, I probably would of crapped myself the first time I saw how hot it was.
After playing with the fan speeds, well...lets just say that I spent a good 30 minutes chasing my Cat while trying to put the flames out.
After running some games and benchmarks, I decided to run the Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0.
1 minute in and something caught my eye.
What was it?
It was the core clock reading at the top right.
It read '662MHz'.
That can't be right I thought to myself, the R9 290 Black Edition sits at 980MHz (stock).
Unfortunately, when I glanced at my GPU monitor on my other screen, It was indeed 662MHz.
My R9 290 was UnderClocking It's self.
> Insert Epic FacePalm moment here <
It turns out that AMD PowerTune, a rather nice program (the software to balance the 290's Fan Speed, Voltage, Power Usage, Clock Speed, Memory Clock Speeds and Temperature) had a slight bug.
Not to worry tho, after a quick Google Search I managed to find out that AMD released a beta version of PowerTune to fix the issue.
And to think, I had been running all my benchmarking at 662MHz while still receiving good-ish results.
While the case was indeed a mess inside, It looked nice and had a nifty 3 speed fan controller on the top that glowed Red just as the fans did.
So I installed the rather Gigantic, Noctuah NH D14 and connected everything up.
Only one step left: Close the Door
Do you think I could do it? Nope.
Turns out that the NH D14 is so tall that the Door-fan hits it when closed.
Oh well, I decided to go without so I unscrewed the Fan and snapped off the hinges that supported the DoorFan.
It all sat nicely, not pretty inside but It did the job.
After a year and a half since building my Rig, I eventually upgraded my Case to a full sized ATX tower: The CoolerMaster HAF 942.
Just to put into perspective how big and heavy it is: IT INCLUDES WHEELS.
(Even the wheels died, when I wheeled the case into a LAN party from the Car park, Half way there, the Wheels fell off. Why? They Overheated from the friction and ended up melting off the bar.
I went to my first RedFlag LanFest event in Perth (RFlan #45).
It was there that I got my Western Digital Red 3TB drive.
With the Gigabit Ethernet and other people sharing so much data, All my drives were full by the end of RedFlag.
So now I sit with my current build:
=====================
CPU: Intel i7 2600k (@4.0GHz)
COOLER: Noctuah NH D14
RAM: 4x4GB CL9 1600MHz GSkill RipJawsX
MOBO: Asus P8-Z68-V pro Gen3
PSU: Corsair RM750
GPU1: XFX R9 290 Black Edition
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 942
Storage:
What shall come next?
Well after becoming obsessed with Data Storage (Thanks, RedFlag) and with the intention of eventually building a 20TB+ SAS Array, I thought about my motherboard SATA ports: All 6 are used.
All 6 drives are plugged in using Sata.
Yep, My CD Drive is plugged into power but not Sata, there for looks I guess.
With the new R9 290, my ears are begging me to Watercool it and I feel that the heat is really holding the card back.
A custom WaterCooling Loop it is!
I've been recently planning the loop I'm going to get for it.
A 360mm (a nice chunky 40mm thick) radiator for the top of the case with 3xCorsair SP120's (Placed In Pull and turned down for noise).
With a 2 bay reservoir and a both water blocks, when I eventually purchase my second R9 290, I'll add it into the loop and also put another 3 fans on the radiator for an effective Push-Pull configuration.
Then again, that's going to be a while, just to watercool the 2600k and R9 290, the loop (with waterblocks) is going to cost ~$480.
Well, so far Thats my Rig.
If you're wondering why I've named it the BigRig, the reason is because the only thing left to do is to to Get 1 more R9 290 and WaterCool my System with a Custom Loop.
Oh and not to mention the CoolerMaster HAF 942 case weighs a TON.
The doors feel like Solid Pieces of Steel (and they probably are).
P.S
> My Prevous 2 x Asus HD 7770s DC v2
So far, It is around 2 years old since I first built it.
Before we get started, this is no fancy custom modded PC (well not yet anyway
)I will also be posting better pictures, unfortunately my D3100 DSLR is being borrowed by my friend and he still has it.
Apart from that, lets get started!
As I'm sure you're all aware, PC's are endless money consuming beasts, mainly because if you're gonna upgrade one thing, you usually end upgrading the whole bloody system.
Not to mention, you can never really have enough storage.
For me, a gradual money feed has seeped into it, As a Uni student I have no idea where this money has come from, non the less it was worth it
Alas, before the adventure, first come the Specs:
=====================
CPU: Intel i7 2600k (@4.0GHz -Pushed to 4.5GHz when Rendering)
COOLER: Noctuah NH D14 (Used to be Corsair H60)
RAM: 4x4GB CL9 1600MHz GSkill RipJawsX
MOBO: Asus P8-Z68-V pro Gen3
PSU: Corsair RM750 (Used to be BigAnt 600W)
GPU1: XFX R9 290 Black Edition (Used to be 2x Asus 7770 OC v2)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 942 (Used to be Aerocool PGS Vx-E pro LE)
Storage:
- Samsung 840 Pro 128GB
- Western Digital Blue 1TB
- Western Digital Green 3TB
- Western Digital Red 3TB
^ RGB - Seagate 3TB (originally from a dock however the dock PCB crapped itself)
- 2 Toshiba Laptop HDD's 500GB each for random storage (one in an external case)
Mouse Mat: Razer Goliathus medium Control Edition
KeyBoard: Deck 108 Hassium CherryMX Brown
Monitor1: LG Flatron E2442 24" LCD @1080p 60Hz
Monitor2: Acer AL1916W 19" LCD @1440x768 60Hz
Other: 2 x RED LED Light Strips (Top and Bottom of Case)
==========================================
I started off spending a nice $340 on an Intel i7 2600k and $224 on the Asus Motherboard.
To cool that, I purchased a Corsair H60, while it was a nice cooler, It did however have an issue where the pump would buzz loudly and at one point stopped pumping completely (freaked the crap out of me when I came home).
I took the H60 back 4 times, each time I had the same problem.
By now you're thinking its me right? Maybe I've installed it wrong?
Maybe It's something else?...yeah I was thinking that too.
That was until I contacted Corsair.
It turns out that they sent out faulty batches of H60's, in which I kept receiving another faulty H60 each time I got it replaced from Austin Computers.
The problem was that the pumps power line was VERY specific and would only operate properly under a certain power rail voltage, power rail voltages vary from PSU (some are higher, some are lower).
In turn, Instead of going without a CPU cooler for a week I decided to get my money back and purchase the Noctuah NH D14.
What a choice that was! Best Air cooler on the market 2 years later.
As for storage, I started with a Western Digital Blue 1TB.
It was fast...2 years ago.
"I'MA FIRIN' MA LAZOR" is what went through my head when I installed and turned on my Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD for the first time.
With all the stuff that I run on startup (including a Debian Server inside Vmware) windows 7 boots in 9 seconds.
SSD's are great little things aren't they
To house all this lovely goodness I got an Aerocool PGS Vx-E pro LE.
Now this, this was without a doubt the WORST decision I ever made.
Two Words:
1 - CABLE.
2 - MANAGEMENT.
It has none.
To this very day, it sometimes haunts me at night
I had Originally planned to use an already owned 420W PSU from a previous desktop.
Yes, It did have a 4 pin CPU connecter.
Yes, the Asus P8 Z68-V pro Gen3 Does have an 8 Phase Power CPU Connecter.
Yes, I did take it into consideration.
No, A 4pin to 8pin CPU adapter did not work.
Well, back I go to purchase the most reasonable 8pin PSU I could find without my wallet exploding.
That led me to the BigAnt 600W PSU.
When I got my two Asus 7770's, It handled them well along with my overclocked 2600k.
That was until I purchased my R9 290.
Yes the Wattage was fine, but the Power Rail Amperage was not.
The BigAnt 600W PSU only had a mere 19.5A 12v power rail (compared to the Corsair RM 750's 62.5A 12v power rail).
If I didn't read about the abnormally high Temps that the R9 290 sits at, I probably would of crapped myself the first time I saw how hot it was.
After playing with the fan speeds, well...lets just say that I spent a good 30 minutes chasing my Cat while trying to put the flames out.
After running some games and benchmarks, I decided to run the Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0.
1 minute in and something caught my eye.
What was it?
It was the core clock reading at the top right.
It read '662MHz'.
That can't be right I thought to myself, the R9 290 Black Edition sits at 980MHz (stock).
Unfortunately, when I glanced at my GPU monitor on my other screen, It was indeed 662MHz.
My R9 290 was UnderClocking It's self.
> Insert Epic FacePalm moment here <
It turns out that AMD PowerTune, a rather nice program (the software to balance the 290's Fan Speed, Voltage, Power Usage, Clock Speed, Memory Clock Speeds and Temperature) had a slight bug.
Overall, The cards fan was slower than normal and was therefor overheating (hence the underclock).
Not to worry tho, after a quick Google Search I managed to find out that AMD released a beta version of PowerTune to fix the issue.
And to think, I had been running all my benchmarking at 662MHz while still receiving good-ish results.
While the case was indeed a mess inside, It looked nice and had a nifty 3 speed fan controller on the top that glowed Red just as the fans did.
So I installed the rather Gigantic, Noctuah NH D14 and connected everything up.
Only one step left: Close the Door
Do you think I could do it? Nope.
Turns out that the NH D14 is so tall that the Door-fan hits it when closed.
Oh well, I decided to go without so I unscrewed the Fan and snapped off the hinges that supported the DoorFan.
It all sat nicely, not pretty inside but It did the job.
After a year and a half since building my Rig, I eventually upgraded my Case to a full sized ATX tower: The CoolerMaster HAF 942.
Just to put into perspective how big and heavy it is: IT INCLUDES WHEELS.
(Even the wheels died, when I wheeled the case into a LAN party from the Car park, Half way there, the Wheels fell off. Why? They Overheated from the friction and ended up melting off the bar.
I went to my first RedFlag LanFest event in Perth (RFlan #45).
It was there that I got my Western Digital Red 3TB drive.
With the Gigabit Ethernet and other people sharing so much data, All my drives were full by the end of RedFlag.
So now I sit with my current build:
=====================
CPU: Intel i7 2600k (@4.0GHz)
COOLER: Noctuah NH D14
RAM: 4x4GB CL9 1600MHz GSkill RipJawsX
MOBO: Asus P8-Z68-V pro Gen3
PSU: Corsair RM750
GPU1: XFX R9 290 Black Edition
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 942
Storage:
- Samsung 840 Pro 128GB
- Western Digital Blue 1TB
- Western Digital Green 3TB
- Western Digital Red 3TB
- Seagate 3TB (originally from a dock however the dock PCB crapped itself)
- 2 Toshiba Laptop HDD's 500GB each for random storage (one in an external case)
10TB total
What shall come next?
Well after becoming obsessed with Data Storage (Thanks, RedFlag) and with the intention of eventually building a 20TB+ SAS Array, I thought about my motherboard SATA ports: All 6 are used.
All 6 drives are plugged in using Sata.
Yep, My CD Drive is plugged into power but not Sata, there for looks I guess.
With the new R9 290, my ears are begging me to Watercool it and I feel that the heat is really holding the card back.
A custom WaterCooling Loop it is!
I've been recently planning the loop I'm going to get for it.
A 360mm (a nice chunky 40mm thick) radiator for the top of the case with 3xCorsair SP120's (Placed In Pull and turned down for noise).
With a 2 bay reservoir and a both water blocks, when I eventually purchase my second R9 290, I'll add it into the loop and also put another 3 fans on the radiator for an effective Push-Pull configuration.
Then again, that's going to be a while, just to watercool the 2600k and R9 290, the loop (with waterblocks) is going to cost ~$480.
Well, so far Thats my Rig.
If you're wondering why I've named it the BigRig, the reason is because the only thing left to do is to to Get 1 more R9 290 and WaterCool my System with a Custom Loop.
Oh and not to mention the CoolerMaster HAF 942 case weighs a TON.
The doors feel like Solid Pieces of Steel (and they probably are).
P.S
> My Prevous 2 x Asus HD 7770s DC v2
Last edited:
