*FINISHED* KingPenguin by ArjenIsM3

[killablade]

Alright guys, as some of you may be aware, the time has come for me to build my new rig.

My previous rig consisted of a Q8200, MSI P45 Platinum, Crucial Ballistix Tracers, Antec 902, and it's featured several GPUs, with the fastest and last one being a GTX470 with a Zalman VF3000F cooler. It is now, however, no longer fast enough for my needs. I sold it two months ago when I could still get something out of it.

And so here I am, building a new rig!

The overall colour scheme I'll be going with is white/black/orange. I thought the name "KingPenguin" would be quite accurate and funny. ^^

I've done my best to pick components that match, while not compromising on speed or quality. Now, I'm sure you're all interested in the specs, so here they are!

Case: Corsair 600T Special Edition (White)

Motherboard: MSI Z77 GD65

Memory: G.Skill Ares 2133mhz orange 16GB

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K

Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE Orange

GPU: Asus HD7970 DirectCU II TOP

SSD: Samsung 830 series 128GB

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001

PSU: CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gold 600w (won it by writing a review on some earbuds) << DIED. Now have a Corsair AX850

Sound: Asus Xonar DGX with Sennheiser PC 360 G4me

Orange / White Bitfenix Alchemy cable extentions all around.

Corsair fans will be replaced by Xigmatek smoked/orange ones.

All in all, a high-end PC that should definitely look the part!

All of the parts except for the CPU have been ordered, and I've already received some as well.

I will update this post as parts start to arrive, and finally I'll post lots of pics showcasing the finished product!

If you like this build, be sure to click the "follow this topic" button on the top right of the page or 'like' it, because there's loads more to come! Cheers

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*UPDATE 1 26/04/12*

So I've received everything, except for the CPU! I will start building it tonight, but first I'm gonna grab something to eat. Here's some pictures for ya!

And not to forget, meow!

Might post some more pictures tonight or over the week-end, as the build progresses. Have a good one!

Now using a Corsair AX850 instead of the CM Silent Pro Gold 600w, because that one died the second time I turned it on.

And just cause I know how much you all love DVD drives.. here's what I use!

 

[killablade]

And here's the finished rig..

Side view with the panel on

And with the panel off..

Shot of lower cable management. You can just about catch a glimpse of the orange Bitfenix sata cables I used, but the massive graphics card covers up most of them

Below you can clearly see the LED strip I used. I've routed it all around the edges of the case.

Ooohhh that sexy cooler..

The G.Skill Ares ram is hidden below the massive Phanteks cooler.

Top view with the mesh grille off. You can see that I've used sleeved extensions for the fan cables. They're made by Phobya I believe.

And here's the top view with the grille on. I know some of you are going to hate me for putting on the stickers, but what the hell..

And here it is, sitting comfortably in my room!

I hope you've enjoyed watching this build come together guys!

 

[dugdiamond]

you may want to upgrade that PSU, if you are going to OC this rig

 

[PetrolHead247]

you may want to upgrade that PSU, if you are going to OC this rig

This. 600W on that system will be pushing it a bit tbh. Apart from that it looks awesome!

 

[tharionos]

Sounds interesting !

looking forward to seeing final pics !

 

[killablade]

you may want to upgrade that PSU, if you are going to OC this rig

Are you sure? I think it should just be able to handle it tbh, Ivy's supposed to be quite efficient and I don't plan on putting a high voltage OC on it.

Not so sure about the 7970.. recommended by AMD is 550w I believe. Guru3D recommends the same.

Just did a PSU calc with OC'ed 2600k and 7970 and it came up with around 480w full load.

Either way, if it's going to be a problem I'll replace it, but seeing as this unit cost me nothing and it should be of good quality I'm going to take my chances first.

 

[Ghosthud1]

That power supply has a shit ton of headroom, don't listen to them........great choice

You should of aimed for this motherboard though

 

[PetrolHead247]

I just put your system into a power calculator and it seems my estimations were a bit high. I got 520W with a very high CPU OC on a 2600K, so actually you should be just about ok

 

[killablade]

That power supply has a shit ton of headroom, don't listen to them........great choice

You should of aimed for this motherboard though

Biostar TZ77XE4

Cheers! I've thought about it, but there's several things I don't like about that mobo and I figured most of the blue from the GD65 will be covered up by the massive CPU cooler and graphics card anyway, so it should look fine. If not, I'll think of something to make it look good!

I just put your system into a power calculator and it seems my estimations were a bit high. I got 520W with a very high CPU OC on a 2600K, so actually you should be just about ok

Yeah should be fine. 520w is an absolute worst case scenario anyway, and even then I've got almost 100w of headroom.

 

[PetrolHead247]

Yeah should be fine. 520w is an absolute worst case scenario anyway, and even then I've got almost 100w of headroom.

Yeah, i ran that calculation with a 2600K at 1.5v which as we all know is not safe for 24/7 usage, so you should be good to go

EDIT: Are you planning on putting some LED strips in the case? I think some orange or white ones would look awesome

 

[DoctorZ]

600 watts is perfectly fine for single gpu builds these days if you dont get a gpu that consumes all your watts on load ^^

 

[killablade]

EDIT: Are you planning on putting some LED strips in the case? I think some orange or white ones would look awesome

Yeah, I've ordered a NZXT 2m white led strip so it all lights up.

Also, the white LEDs in the Xigmatek fans along with the orange blades should match nicely.

 

[AciD_RaiN]

You could do a so much prettier job with some WC system and a orange coolant but awesome rig anyway

 

[killablade]

You could do a so much prettier job with some WC system and a orange coolant but awesome rig anyway

Thought about it, but I'm only a poor student so my budget is not unlimited unfortunately

 

[Master&Puppet]

Love the idea of this rig! And it will kick the sh*t our of your htpc

 

[AciD_RaiN]

Thought about it, but I'm only a poor student so my budget is not unlimited unfortunately

You always have the option later

 

[Lauralarry]

to be honest if you're not a music producer or heavy editor why the hell do you have more than 8 gb ram :/ makes no sense, that 60$ could go towards a better power supply like a HX750 that gets better effiency than that will because you'll be running a wattage in its sweet spot, then again your money you only live once xD

 

[killablade]

Love the idea of this rig! And it will kick the sh*t our of your htpc

Cheers fella, it sure will!

to be honest if you're not a music producer or heavy editor why the hell do you have more than 8 gb ram :/ makes no sense, that 60$ could go towards a better power supply like a HX750 that gets better effiency than that will because you'll be running a wattage in its sweet spot, then again your money you only live once xD

Because I'm building this thing to last, and I don't mind a little overkill. Looks good too xD

And if you'd have read the intro properly you'd have known that I won the PSU and so I didn't pay a penny for it.

If I hadn't won this PSU I'd probably have gone with an AX850 or something similar.

 

[killablade]

In case anyone's wondering what the fans look like when spinning.. I used them in my previous build too. Here's a pic from that build..

I've already got one for the front 200mm aswell, which I wanted to put in the top of the Antec 902 but it didn't fit.

They should look fantastic in this build! *I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it...*

 

[Solidarity]

The xigmatek fan looks pretty good.