This is my first build and so I decided I would write a full build log covering absolutely everything. Hope it helps people at all levels, even if it is just something to read for 30mins at work.
Anyway, lets get cracking!!
PREPARATION
First 2 big things to think about when looking at building a rig:
OK, I am building my rig 'Smoke Screen' for gaming, VM networking labs, general use and possibly folding in the future. I have set myself a total budget of £1800.
Research:
The next step is to research everything! When I went into this build I was unaware of Ivy-Bridge chip release dates, specs and other future hardware releases. I joined
and gained a MASSIVE amount of information. (Thanks guys and gals!!!)
Some things that are worth researching are:
I made a spreadsheet with all the details of what I wanted to buy and how much each part was going to cost. I kept updating this as my rig spec changed several times before the end!! I used pictures on the spreadsheet so that I got a feel for the theme of the rig.
When I had the cash and my shopping list was where I wanted it to be, I bought the whole lot at the same time. This is a good tip to stop impulse buying when you change your mind because the part you are wating for hasn't been released yet!
The final part of preparation I did, which used up some time whilst waiting for my deliveries to turn up, was get my work bench prepared. You need lots of space, tools, guides if required etc.
PARTS
Here is what I went for:
Case: Corsair 600T White
CPU: Intel i5 2500K
MOBO: Asus Sabertooth Z77
RAM: 16GB (4 x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP White CL9 (9,9,9,24)
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680
SSD: 120GB Corsair Force GT
HHD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda Green
PSU: Corsair AX850
Cooling: Corsair H100
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver MX-4
Monitor: Asus VE247H
Keyboard: Corsair K90
Mouse: Corsair M60
Parts have turned up!!!
OK, your parts have all turned up. First thing.....CHECK THEM OVER! Make sure that you have all the items that you ordered and that they are complete. It's no good getting half way through a build to realise you don't have any thermal paste.....or a CPU even!
BUILD
This is a guide to what I did during my build phase. Some parts of this guide will still be useful for people using different components.
Case:
First off, I found the screws that secure the motherboard to the case. I made sure they were the right ones by testing them on the case holes.
Motherboard:
With the motherboard on the work bench, I fitted all the dust guards to the PCI slots and also fitted the thermal armour fans. I made sure that the cables were routed under the armour as shown here:
I then fitted the H100 bracket to the back of the motherboard, installed the 4 RAM modules and then the CPU. After all of these were checked again, I secured the motherboard into the case.
H100:
Next I installed the H100 radiator and fans. I made sure that the fan power cables were tidy buy running them in-between the screws and frame, like this:
I ensured that I mounted the radiator with the pipes on the right; otherwise they cover the CPU power socket on the motherboard. It may be difficult to get the CPU power cable in after you have fitted the H100 radiator so it may be wise to fit this beforehand.
Then I applied a vertical line of thermal paste to the surface of the CPU and secured the cooling block on top. Try and lower the block down as evenly as possible to ensure that the paste disperses evenly across the CPU.
Again, try to route the power cable as neat and as direct as possible:
PSU:
I installed the PSU upside down (as advised by Tom on many videos) because looking at a fan in the case is better than the PSU housing. (It also means you can easily see if the fan is spinning.) I did forget to move the back plate forward before screwing in the PSU, had to unscrew it all again for that!!
Cables:
TTL has made a great video to help with cable routing here
One thing to note, don't use cable ties straight away. I did and then had some fan issues (will get to that shortly!!) and I ended up having to cut all of them off. Use the twist ties you get with most cables to start with until your rig is up and running correctly. These allow you to add cables in if you need to before securing the end result with cable ties.
Make sure you are aware of any sections in the case where cables can be seen against the white case background and try to route cables away from these areas:
2 places to be aware of in the back of Corsair 600T; where the case panels sit at the bottom of the case and where they latch onto at the top. I originally bundled the fan cables in the top right hand corner, zip tied them in, and then found I couldn't put the case door back on! This is where the twist cables come in handy. Try to keep these areas as clear as possible.
I used the following cables that came with the Corsair AX850 for the components:
· 24 pin power - Motherboard
· 8 pin CPU power - CPU (had to remove H100 radiator to fit as it was a bit of a tight squeeze)
· 8 pin PCIe power - GPU
· Molex power - Fan controller, H100
· SATA power - HDD, SSD
· SATA data - HDD, SSD
*NOTE - I am intending on getting some white Corsair individually braided cables to replace the standard ones. That's why I haven't spent too much time on cable management yet.
Case Cables:
The 600T comes with the following case cables:
· 2 x USB 2.0 - go into the motherboard USB headers
· Firewire (1394) - Not supported by Sabertooth Z77, tucked out of the way in the optical bays
· Function cable - Power LED, power switch etc.
· Audio - HD and legacy heads
· USB 3.0 - Male USB headed cable
USB 3.0:
I had to run this cable over the GPU to an external USB socket as you do not get an internal USB 3.0 header converter with the motherboard.
A USB 3.0 internal header converter has since been ordered and will be fitted when it arrives. This will help tidy up the look of the inside of the case. It will also remove the cable from the top of the GPU and free up a USB 3.0 socket on the back of the rig.
Audio:
I used the HD end of the cases audio cable as the Sabertooth Z77 supports it. The only thing that's annoying is that I am left with the legacy end loose in the case with its multi coloured wires showing, which isn't great!
Fan Cables:
I then connected the fan power cables to the fan controller power cables (after removing the covers!!!! took me 5 mins to figure that out!!). These were the exhaust fan and the 2 x H100 fans on the top of the case. The front case fan was already cabled up and tucked under the HDD tray.
I was unsure about the H100 fan cable that was attached to the molex power cable. After some research I found out it was for the H100 cooling block and got plugged into the CPU_FAN header on the top of the motherboard.
Hard Drives:
These were placed in the 3.5"; bays and cabled up using the SATA power and SATA data cables.
STOCK BUILD COMPLETE!!
That is the stock build done!!!....here are some pics:
FIRST BOOT
Laptop powered up....
loaded....beers to hand!!
Before I powered everything up, I tried to flash the BIOS using the USB flash port on the back of the motherboard and an up-to-date BIOS .CAP file. This didn’t work (I think it was because the USB was formatted to NTFS and not FAT32) so I booted the rig with the intent on updating the BIOS from within the BIOS.
The rig restarted very quickly a couple of times which did worry me at first thinking it was buggered already!! This was just the motherboard recognising new hardware in the system. After the restarts it finally booted to the first screen..;..
First Screen:
****** CPU FAN ERROR ******
Press F1 to enter set up
Oh @#!%....what's wrong!?!?!
The CPU temp was climbing from 21c to 55c within 5mins and still climbing!! After panicking and asking for advice here on the forum (thanks guys!!
) I plugged all the fans into the motherboard. (after cutting all the bloody cable ties!!) The error went and the temps were stable at around 26c. I decided to plug the H100 radiator fans and the exhaust fan back into the case fan controller and it all worked fine. Must have been a first boot ghost!!
BIOS Flash:
I flashed the BIOS with the up-to-date .CAP file from within the BIOS. I used the BIOS update tools provided and it worked fine, even with the USB formatted to NTFS.
Initial BIOS Setup:
From here I set the time and date, and also set an admin password. I changed some of the settings to get to a baseline setup:
AI Tweaker:
Overclock Tuner - Manual
BLCK - 100.0
Memory Frequency - 1600MHz
AI Tweaker/DRAM Timing Control:
Top 5 to CAS figures on RAM (9,9,9,24,1)
Advanced/CPU Configuration:
Virtualization - Enabled (for my virtual lab stuff)
Advanced/PCH Configuration/Rapid Start:
Enabled (required for IRSS driver to be installed)
Advanced/PCH Configuration/Smart Connect:
Enabled (required for ISCT driver to be installed)
Advanced/System Agent Configuration/Graphic Configuration:
iGPU Multi-monitor - Enabled (allows lucid to be installed)
Advanced/Onboard Devices Configuration:
PCI Express x16_3 slot (black) bandwidth - x4 mode
ASMedia USB 3.0 Battery Charging Support - Enabled
After all that I saved the profile as "Baseline" and re-booted the rig. It re-booted a couple of times to register all the changes.
SOFTWARE
I decided to install Windows 7 Ultimate giving me the option to remove the features I didn't need. When I started the install I got a bit worried that I had blown my USB 3.0 ports as my mouse and keyboard stopped working even though they were working fine in the BIOS.
NOTE: - Plug keyboard and mouse into USB 2.0 port as drivers aren't installed for USB 3.0 yet and the mouse and keyboard will stop working after POST.
Speed up:
I always do the following first to help speed up the boot-up procedure:
Click 'Start' and type 'msconfig' and press 'Enter'
Click the 'Boot' tab and then click 'Advanced options'
Tick 'Number of processors:' and choose the highest number from the drop down box
Click 'OK' on all windows and reboot
This enables the system to use all processor cores to boot, meaning a faster boot time depending on the number of cores your CPU has. Every time during the installation process of drivers and software I get a prompt to restart, I do it straight away. This is to ensure that the software/driver has been installed correctly before moving onto the next.
There are more things you can change in 'MSONFIG', dugdiamond has done a quick guide to these steps here.
I then installed the following things in this order which worked for me:
Coretemp and CPU-z: - so that I could monitor rig status in first few hours of running.
Z77 Drivers:
Intel Chipset
Intel LAN
ASMedia USB 3.0
Intel USB 3.0
ASMedia V1340 (SATA Host Controller)
680 Driver
Z77 Drivers Cont:
Lucid Wizard
Intel Graphics
Lucid Virtu
Intel Rapid
MEI
ISCT
AI Suite
I didn't install IRSS as I don't require that specific function and don't want to lose 8GB of my SSD storage space.
I then installed all of my other required programs and then ran windows update several times.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Fans:
Stock fans are loud!! This may be due to the fact of not installing the rubber grommets when I replaced the stock 200mm top case fan with the 2 stock H100 fans.
SSD:
The Corsair Force GT has more than enough room to run the OS and several chosen programs. It is blisteringly quick compared to a HDD, and obviously it is completely silent due to no internal moving parts.
HHD:
The Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB HDD is ideal for data storage. I have installed a couple of low priority programs on it, including hosting all of my VM software.
GPU:
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 is AMAZING!! Having a quick look at Rage, Dirt 3 and Metro 2033; the gameplay is incomparable. I look forward to overclocking this card and seeing what I can get out of it. I wish I had gone for the EVGA branded model though after seeing the EVGA branded backplate!! Gigabyte had best be in the process of creating their own!!
Peripherals:
The peripherals are well suited to my needs. The sound from the Asus VE24-7 isn't great but you can't expect the world from monitor speakers. I will be looking at getting some speakers later, when money permits, but I have no major need for them at the moment.
UPGRADES
As with any build, there are always some parts that you want to change or add after the initial 'stock' build is complete.
Fans:
I ordered and fitted a 120mm BitFenix Spectre fan to replace the stock exhaust fan and 2 more replaced the stock H100 radiator fans. (I made sure I fitted the rubber grommets this time too!!) I also replaced the stock Corsair front intake fan with a 200mm version.
I had to buy some 10x8 wood screws to fit the front 200mm fan, but other than that I had no issues in changing the fans over at all. The only thing that had to come out was the HDD bays (both of them) to change the front fan, and also to unclip the front outer cover to get to the screws. This was easily done by just unclipping the white clips running down both sides.
One thing though, after fitting the two 120mm to the top of the case, I noticed that the top grill doesn't fit totally flush anymore. Not a big issue....but a little annoying!
USB 3.0 Internal Header Converter:
I received the USB 3.0 internal header converter and fitted it to the motherboard. This tidied up the look of the inside a bit and freed up the rear USB 3.0 port. Again this was an easy addition, just plug it into the motherboard USB 3.0 header and plug the case UB 3.0 cable into one of the connectors.
Top HDD Tray Removal:
I decided that the top HDD tray may be restricting airflow from the front fan to my GPU and around the case. I figured that as it wasn't being used then I might as well remove it.
White Braided Power Cables:
I ordered some Corsair white individually braided cables to help tidy up the look of the rig. The reason why I went for the Corsair replacements and not cable extensions from another retailer was that I didn't want all the excess cable in the back of the case. Also the replacement cables plug directly into the PSU meaning the braiding on the cables runs all the way to the PSU. It would have been cheaper to braid my own cables but I don't have the time or technical know-how to complete this......plus I'm lazy!!
They were easy to fit, just a straight swap. The fun of it all was the cable routing and management again.......break out the cable ties!!!!
Again, I run up the rig before I used cable ties for routing and maintenance.
OVERCLOCK
First overclock on the rig and my target was a stable 4.5GHz. I didn't have too many problems getting to the target but I did use a lot of knowledge gained from the
community.
4.5GHz:
From the 'Baseline' profile settings, all I changed was the multiplier to 45 and increased the vCore to 1.25v.
This gave me a BSOD and restarted before the Windows splash screen. I went back into the BIOS and upped the vCore to 1.315v. These are the screen grabs from the screens where I changed settings in my BIOS:
This time the rig booted to Windows with no problem. I ran Prime64 for over 2hrs and didn't get any BSOD or errors at all. I re-booted the rig into the BIOS and saved the profile as '4.5GHz(1.315v)'.
When I was stress testing this set up, the vcore was showing between 1.320v and 1.328v in CPU-Z. The reason behind this is because of v-droop.
The temps were running a bit high, peaking at 69C on one of the cores. Don’t worry if one of the cores runs hotter than the others, this is a normal. Make sure that no cores creep past the 72C mark though as it is best to stay below that point. Here is a screen grab of what I was monitoring:
I did try and lower the voltages but I kept getting occasional BSODs so I decided to stick to 1.315v.
I hope that some people find all this useful.
Anyway, lets get cracking!!
PREPARATION
First 2 big things to think about when looking at building a rig:
- Reason: What are you building your rig for and why? If you wont use 16GB of RAM, don't buy it!!!
- Budget: Plan one and stick to it......NO MATTER WHAT!! Otherwise a £1000 rig can quickly turn into a £1500 rig.
OK, I am building my rig 'Smoke Screen' for gaming, VM networking labs, general use and possibly folding in the future. I have set myself a total budget of £1800.
Research:
The next step is to research everything! When I went into this build I was unaware of Ivy-Bridge chip release dates, specs and other future hardware releases. I joined
Some things that are worth researching are:
- What components work well with other components
- What other people are using and why
- Limitations of hardware
- Cost to performance ratio
I made a spreadsheet with all the details of what I wanted to buy and how much each part was going to cost. I kept updating this as my rig spec changed several times before the end!! I used pictures on the spreadsheet so that I got a feel for the theme of the rig.
When I had the cash and my shopping list was where I wanted it to be, I bought the whole lot at the same time. This is a good tip to stop impulse buying when you change your mind because the part you are wating for hasn't been released yet!
The final part of preparation I did, which used up some time whilst waiting for my deliveries to turn up, was get my work bench prepared. You need lots of space, tools, guides if required etc.
PARTS
Here is what I went for:
Case: Corsair 600T White
CPU: Intel i5 2500K
MOBO: Asus Sabertooth Z77
RAM: 16GB (4 x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP White CL9 (9,9,9,24)
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680
SSD: 120GB Corsair Force GT
HHD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda Green
PSU: Corsair AX850
Cooling: Corsair H100
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver MX-4
Monitor: Asus VE247H
Keyboard: Corsair K90
Mouse: Corsair M60
Parts have turned up!!!
OK, your parts have all turned up. First thing.....CHECK THEM OVER! Make sure that you have all the items that you ordered and that they are complete. It's no good getting half way through a build to realise you don't have any thermal paste.....or a CPU even!
BUILD
This is a guide to what I did during my build phase. Some parts of this guide will still be useful for people using different components.
Case:
First off, I found the screws that secure the motherboard to the case. I made sure they were the right ones by testing them on the case holes.
Motherboard:
With the motherboard on the work bench, I fitted all the dust guards to the PCI slots and also fitted the thermal armour fans. I made sure that the cables were routed under the armour as shown here:
I then fitted the H100 bracket to the back of the motherboard, installed the 4 RAM modules and then the CPU. After all of these were checked again, I secured the motherboard into the case.
H100:
Next I installed the H100 radiator and fans. I made sure that the fan power cables were tidy buy running them in-between the screws and frame, like this:
I ensured that I mounted the radiator with the pipes on the right; otherwise they cover the CPU power socket on the motherboard. It may be difficult to get the CPU power cable in after you have fitted the H100 radiator so it may be wise to fit this beforehand.
Then I applied a vertical line of thermal paste to the surface of the CPU and secured the cooling block on top. Try and lower the block down as evenly as possible to ensure that the paste disperses evenly across the CPU.
Again, try to route the power cable as neat and as direct as possible:
PSU:
I installed the PSU upside down (as advised by Tom on many videos) because looking at a fan in the case is better than the PSU housing. (It also means you can easily see if the fan is spinning.) I did forget to move the back plate forward before screwing in the PSU, had to unscrew it all again for that!!
Cables:
TTL has made a great video to help with cable routing here
One thing to note, don't use cable ties straight away. I did and then had some fan issues (will get to that shortly!!) and I ended up having to cut all of them off. Use the twist ties you get with most cables to start with until your rig is up and running correctly. These allow you to add cables in if you need to before securing the end result with cable ties.
Make sure you are aware of any sections in the case where cables can be seen against the white case background and try to route cables away from these areas:
2 places to be aware of in the back of Corsair 600T; where the case panels sit at the bottom of the case and where they latch onto at the top. I originally bundled the fan cables in the top right hand corner, zip tied them in, and then found I couldn't put the case door back on! This is where the twist cables come in handy. Try to keep these areas as clear as possible.
I used the following cables that came with the Corsair AX850 for the components:
· 24 pin power - Motherboard
· 8 pin CPU power - CPU (had to remove H100 radiator to fit as it was a bit of a tight squeeze)
· 8 pin PCIe power - GPU
· Molex power - Fan controller, H100
· SATA power - HDD, SSD
· SATA data - HDD, SSD
*NOTE - I am intending on getting some white Corsair individually braided cables to replace the standard ones. That's why I haven't spent too much time on cable management yet.
Case Cables:
The 600T comes with the following case cables:
· 2 x USB 2.0 - go into the motherboard USB headers
· Firewire (1394) - Not supported by Sabertooth Z77, tucked out of the way in the optical bays
· Function cable - Power LED, power switch etc.
· Audio - HD and legacy heads
· USB 3.0 - Male USB headed cable
USB 3.0:
I had to run this cable over the GPU to an external USB socket as you do not get an internal USB 3.0 header converter with the motherboard.
A USB 3.0 internal header converter has since been ordered and will be fitted when it arrives. This will help tidy up the look of the inside of the case. It will also remove the cable from the top of the GPU and free up a USB 3.0 socket on the back of the rig.
Audio:
I used the HD end of the cases audio cable as the Sabertooth Z77 supports it. The only thing that's annoying is that I am left with the legacy end loose in the case with its multi coloured wires showing, which isn't great!
Fan Cables:
I then connected the fan power cables to the fan controller power cables (after removing the covers!!!! took me 5 mins to figure that out!!). These were the exhaust fan and the 2 x H100 fans on the top of the case. The front case fan was already cabled up and tucked under the HDD tray.
I was unsure about the H100 fan cable that was attached to the molex power cable. After some research I found out it was for the H100 cooling block and got plugged into the CPU_FAN header on the top of the motherboard.
Hard Drives:
These were placed in the 3.5"; bays and cabled up using the SATA power and SATA data cables.
STOCK BUILD COMPLETE!!
That is the stock build done!!!....here are some pics:
FIRST BOOT
Laptop powered up....
Before I powered everything up, I tried to flash the BIOS using the USB flash port on the back of the motherboard and an up-to-date BIOS .CAP file. This didn’t work (I think it was because the USB was formatted to NTFS and not FAT32) so I booted the rig with the intent on updating the BIOS from within the BIOS.
The rig restarted very quickly a couple of times which did worry me at first thinking it was buggered already!! This was just the motherboard recognising new hardware in the system. After the restarts it finally booted to the first screen..;..
First Screen:
****** CPU FAN ERROR ******
Press F1 to enter set up
Oh @#!%....what's wrong!?!?!
The CPU temp was climbing from 21c to 55c within 5mins and still climbing!! After panicking and asking for advice here on the forum (thanks guys!!
BIOS Flash:
I flashed the BIOS with the up-to-date .CAP file from within the BIOS. I used the BIOS update tools provided and it worked fine, even with the USB formatted to NTFS.
Initial BIOS Setup:
From here I set the time and date, and also set an admin password. I changed some of the settings to get to a baseline setup:
AI Tweaker:
Overclock Tuner - Manual
BLCK - 100.0
Memory Frequency - 1600MHz
AI Tweaker/DRAM Timing Control:
Top 5 to CAS figures on RAM (9,9,9,24,1)
Advanced/CPU Configuration:
Virtualization - Enabled (for my virtual lab stuff)
Advanced/PCH Configuration/Rapid Start:
Enabled (required for IRSS driver to be installed)
Advanced/PCH Configuration/Smart Connect:
Enabled (required for ISCT driver to be installed)
Advanced/System Agent Configuration/Graphic Configuration:
iGPU Multi-monitor - Enabled (allows lucid to be installed)
Advanced/Onboard Devices Configuration:
PCI Express x16_3 slot (black) bandwidth - x4 mode
ASMedia USB 3.0 Battery Charging Support - Enabled
After all that I saved the profile as "Baseline" and re-booted the rig. It re-booted a couple of times to register all the changes.
SOFTWARE
I decided to install Windows 7 Ultimate giving me the option to remove the features I didn't need. When I started the install I got a bit worried that I had blown my USB 3.0 ports as my mouse and keyboard stopped working even though they were working fine in the BIOS.
NOTE: - Plug keyboard and mouse into USB 2.0 port as drivers aren't installed for USB 3.0 yet and the mouse and keyboard will stop working after POST.
Speed up:
I always do the following first to help speed up the boot-up procedure:
Click 'Start' and type 'msconfig' and press 'Enter'
Click the 'Boot' tab and then click 'Advanced options'
Tick 'Number of processors:' and choose the highest number from the drop down box
Click 'OK' on all windows and reboot
This enables the system to use all processor cores to boot, meaning a faster boot time depending on the number of cores your CPU has. Every time during the installation process of drivers and software I get a prompt to restart, I do it straight away. This is to ensure that the software/driver has been installed correctly before moving onto the next.
There are more things you can change in 'MSONFIG', dugdiamond has done a quick guide to these steps here.
I then installed the following things in this order which worked for me:
Coretemp and CPU-z: - so that I could monitor rig status in first few hours of running.
Z77 Drivers:
Intel Chipset
Intel LAN
ASMedia USB 3.0
Intel USB 3.0
ASMedia V1340 (SATA Host Controller)
680 Driver
Z77 Drivers Cont:
Lucid Wizard
Intel Graphics
Lucid Virtu
Intel Rapid
MEI
ISCT
AI Suite
I didn't install IRSS as I don't require that specific function and don't want to lose 8GB of my SSD storage space.
I then installed all of my other required programs and then ran windows update several times.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Fans:
Stock fans are loud!! This may be due to the fact of not installing the rubber grommets when I replaced the stock 200mm top case fan with the 2 stock H100 fans.
SSD:
The Corsair Force GT has more than enough room to run the OS and several chosen programs. It is blisteringly quick compared to a HDD, and obviously it is completely silent due to no internal moving parts.
HHD:
The Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB HDD is ideal for data storage. I have installed a couple of low priority programs on it, including hosting all of my VM software.
GPU:
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 is AMAZING!! Having a quick look at Rage, Dirt 3 and Metro 2033; the gameplay is incomparable. I look forward to overclocking this card and seeing what I can get out of it. I wish I had gone for the EVGA branded model though after seeing the EVGA branded backplate!! Gigabyte had best be in the process of creating their own!!
Peripherals:
The peripherals are well suited to my needs. The sound from the Asus VE24-7 isn't great but you can't expect the world from monitor speakers. I will be looking at getting some speakers later, when money permits, but I have no major need for them at the moment.
UPGRADES
As with any build, there are always some parts that you want to change or add after the initial 'stock' build is complete.
Fans:
I ordered and fitted a 120mm BitFenix Spectre fan to replace the stock exhaust fan and 2 more replaced the stock H100 radiator fans. (I made sure I fitted the rubber grommets this time too!!) I also replaced the stock Corsair front intake fan with a 200mm version.
I had to buy some 10x8 wood screws to fit the front 200mm fan, but other than that I had no issues in changing the fans over at all. The only thing that had to come out was the HDD bays (both of them) to change the front fan, and also to unclip the front outer cover to get to the screws. This was easily done by just unclipping the white clips running down both sides.
One thing though, after fitting the two 120mm to the top of the case, I noticed that the top grill doesn't fit totally flush anymore. Not a big issue....but a little annoying!
USB 3.0 Internal Header Converter:
I received the USB 3.0 internal header converter and fitted it to the motherboard. This tidied up the look of the inside a bit and freed up the rear USB 3.0 port. Again this was an easy addition, just plug it into the motherboard USB 3.0 header and plug the case UB 3.0 cable into one of the connectors.
Top HDD Tray Removal:
I decided that the top HDD tray may be restricting airflow from the front fan to my GPU and around the case. I figured that as it wasn't being used then I might as well remove it.
White Braided Power Cables:
I ordered some Corsair white individually braided cables to help tidy up the look of the rig. The reason why I went for the Corsair replacements and not cable extensions from another retailer was that I didn't want all the excess cable in the back of the case. Also the replacement cables plug directly into the PSU meaning the braiding on the cables runs all the way to the PSU. It would have been cheaper to braid my own cables but I don't have the time or technical know-how to complete this......plus I'm lazy!!
They were easy to fit, just a straight swap. The fun of it all was the cable routing and management again.......break out the cable ties!!!!
Again, I run up the rig before I used cable ties for routing and maintenance.
OVERCLOCK
First overclock on the rig and my target was a stable 4.5GHz. I didn't have too many problems getting to the target but I did use a lot of knowledge gained from the
4.5GHz:
From the 'Baseline' profile settings, all I changed was the multiplier to 45 and increased the vCore to 1.25v.
This gave me a BSOD and restarted before the Windows splash screen. I went back into the BIOS and upped the vCore to 1.315v. These are the screen grabs from the screens where I changed settings in my BIOS:
This time the rig booted to Windows with no problem. I ran Prime64 for over 2hrs and didn't get any BSOD or errors at all. I re-booted the rig into the BIOS and saved the profile as '4.5GHz(1.315v)'.
When I was stress testing this set up, the vcore was showing between 1.320v and 1.328v in CPU-Z. The reason behind this is because of v-droop.
The temps were running a bit high, peaking at 69C on one of the cores. Don’t worry if one of the cores runs hotter than the others, this is a normal. Make sure that no cores creep past the 72C mark though as it is best to stay below that point. Here is a screen grab of what I was monitoring:
I did try and lower the voltages but I kept getting occasional BSODs so I decided to stick to 1.315v.
I hope that some people find all this useful.
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