So I finally started upgrading my gaming rig. Got the first part of this upgrade when I got the motherboard and CPU yesterday and I'm still not done.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU Cooler: *Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($128.39 @ Amazon)
Total: $239.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-10 20:33 EDT-0400
That will be the final pieces to the puzzle and then I will call this complete. (Note I already own the cooler just waiting on corsair to ship me the intel bracket for it.)
Here is some pics of the PC as it sits.
Here it is with just installing the MB. I put it in before to make sure it all worked and then came time to manage some cables (as best I could, this case sucks for it) and I had to replace some stripped motherboard mounting screws. But overall it looks good
Tying them down in the back came out better than expected. Some of the placements on this motherboard actually made it better, so it was easier to get on the back panel.
Just a quick back view.
Now with everything installed! For what I had, I probably could have cleaned up the cables a little bit more but I'm happy with it. Hopefully the new case when I order it will do a much better job of hiding/managing cables. It will also match the theme I have going
So that's it as of right now! I'm very happy with it at the moment, it performs a lot better and I'm just about done with the system. I'll keep updating this post as I go! I hope you enjoy the build!
---- I've done some update and this is a copy paste from another forum, so I'll include everything here in one post!----
---UPDATE 2---
So I decided it was time to swap cases. I wanted to use the HAF 912 which currently my HTPC/Emulator PC is taking up. Since the parts for that PC are small I'm going to put them in the corsair case since it wont look as bad. So now I'm doing my first attempt at a case mod in painting the case. Here is the HAF 912 pre paint.
[imghttp://i.imgur.com/7dUY02f.jpg[/img]
This was after I put the Pentium build inside her. She has so much room in her!!
A closer look of the case.
The front
Shot of the rear
Side panel love
Inside of the case
Other side panel off
[/spoiler]
From there I took everything out and here is everything off.
Got everything taken apart that's not being painted.
Now for the painting!!
So far so good! Just painting a HDD bay that's removable and 3.5 mounts and those PCI back panel things
Better angle
Let's get it all in there
Now I painted all the pieces that's going to be red. Looks good so far!
Got the front part re connected and badge back on. Gotta say Im so happy with how this one turned out.
The fan side. I was disappointed when I first got this case how sloppy CM painted it. They really should have painted it all black like I did in the first place.
Now this looks good! Im happy with how it turned out overall!
Side panel 1 looking good!
And the other!
Forgot to grab the SSD mount and decided to paint the other wireless card PCI backplate thing
Trying to get a hard spot to paint I had some blotch up and tried to fix it. Since the MB will cover it up im not going to worry about it. I may fix it sometime down the road when I get bothered by it lol
http://i.imgur.com/H3AdSvl.jpg][/size][/size]
[size=5][size=4]Much better!![/size][/size]
[size=5][size=4] [/size][/size]
[size=5][size=4][img]http://i.imgur.com/ALYDw19.jpg
Put the shoes back on!
Back of the MB tray
Top of the case
This is the asus wireless card. I painted that PCI back plate black to match the case.
Another angle
[img=http://i.imgur.com/Zv3brqm.jpg[/img][/url][/size][/size][/size][/size]
And that's what it looks like re installed in the corsair case!
Overall that's what I have done so far! Got all the painting done now letting everything cure the rest of today and most of tomorrow. I'll have all the components swapped over and then it's a matter of a new card reader and some red LED fans
Hope you are enjoying it so far!
---UPDATE #3!!---
Got all the stuff painted, for my first attempt I'm happy. One day I'll do it again and fix it. Probably when I get brave and cut a window for it. But for now, here she is finished up!
Let's get the ugly side first
My cable management skills are so so I guess :/
Got some new fans on order! That's just what I had at the time
That blue is messing with the flow lol
And there she is! Got some paint that scratched from the side panels but that's my fault for not getting clear coat. I'll fix it down the line though. Overall I'm happy with the way she sits. Just some minor stuff now like getting rid of those blue led fans
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU Cooler: *Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($128.39 @ Amazon)
Total: $239.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-10 20:33 EDT-0400
That will be the final pieces to the puzzle and then I will call this complete. (Note I already own the cooler just waiting on corsair to ship me the intel bracket for it.)
Here is some pics of the PC as it sits.

Here it is with just installing the MB. I put it in before to make sure it all worked and then came time to manage some cables (as best I could, this case sucks for it) and I had to replace some stripped motherboard mounting screws. But overall it looks good


Tying them down in the back came out better than expected. Some of the placements on this motherboard actually made it better, so it was easier to get on the back panel.

Just a quick back view.

Now with everything installed! For what I had, I probably could have cleaned up the cables a little bit more but I'm happy with it. Hopefully the new case when I order it will do a much better job of hiding/managing cables. It will also match the theme I have going

So that's it as of right now! I'm very happy with it at the moment, it performs a lot better and I'm just about done with the system. I'll keep updating this post as I go! I hope you enjoy the build!
---- I've done some update and this is a copy paste from another forum, so I'll include everything here in one post!----
---UPDATE 2---
So I decided it was time to swap cases. I wanted to use the HAF 912 which currently my HTPC/Emulator PC is taking up. Since the parts for that PC are small I'm going to put them in the corsair case since it wont look as bad. So now I'm doing my first attempt at a case mod in painting the case. Here is the HAF 912 pre paint.
[imghttp://i.imgur.com/7dUY02f.jpg[/img]
This was after I put the Pentium build inside her. She has so much room in her!!

A closer look of the case.

The front

Shot of the rear

Side panel love

Inside of the case

Other side panel off
[/spoiler]
From there I took everything out and here is everything off.

Got everything taken apart that's not being painted.
Now for the painting!!

So far so good! Just painting a HDD bay that's removable and 3.5 mounts and those PCI back panel things

Better angle

Let's get it all in there

Now I painted all the pieces that's going to be red. Looks good so far!

Got the front part re connected and badge back on. Gotta say Im so happy with how this one turned out.

The fan side. I was disappointed when I first got this case how sloppy CM painted it. They really should have painted it all black like I did in the first place.

Now this looks good! Im happy with how it turned out overall!

Side panel 1 looking good!

And the other!

Forgot to grab the SSD mount and decided to paint the other wireless card PCI backplate thing

Trying to get a hard spot to paint I had some blotch up and tried to fix it. Since the MB will cover it up im not going to worry about it. I may fix it sometime down the road when I get bothered by it lol

http://i.imgur.com/H3AdSvl.jpg][/size][/size]
[size=5][size=4]Much better!![/size][/size]
[size=5][size=4] [/size][/size]
[size=5][size=4][img]http://i.imgur.com/ALYDw19.jpg
Put the shoes back on!

Back of the MB tray

Top of the case

This is the asus wireless card. I painted that PCI back plate black to match the case.


Another angle
[img=http://i.imgur.com/Zv3brqm.jpg[/img][/url][/size][/size][/size][/size]
And that's what it looks like re installed in the corsair case!
Overall that's what I have done so far! Got all the painting done now letting everything cure the rest of today and most of tomorrow. I'll have all the components swapped over and then it's a matter of a new card reader and some red LED fans

Hope you are enjoying it so far!
---UPDATE #3!!---
Got all the stuff painted, for my first attempt I'm happy. One day I'll do it again and fix it. Probably when I get brave and cut a window for it. But for now, here she is finished up!

Let's get the ugly side first

My cable management skills are so so I guess :/

Got some new fans on order! That's just what I had at the time

That blue is messing with the flow lol


And there she is! Got some paint that scratched from the side panels but that's my fault for not getting clear coat. I'll fix it down the line though. Overall I'm happy with the way she sits. Just some minor stuff now like getting rid of those blue led fans