Jimmas Rig

[jimma47]

Hi,

So this has been my gaming rig for the last few years.

I've used off the shelf desktops (HP, Compaq etc) for years, inevitably upgrading the RAM, GPU and PSU however I got sick of the limitations. Poor airflow and overheating lead me to purchasing the Corsair 500R which re-housed my last quad core HP system until I bit the bullet and caught the bug...

Originally I had an MSI GTX570 Twin Frozr III PE/OC and a *cough Tacky *cough PSU that I suspect may have killed a couple of hard drives. I've since upgraded the PSU and GPUs to an HX850i and ASUS Strix GTX980's in SLI. Everything else has remained the same since I built this in about 2012.

The only other change has been the addition of more hard drives and the installation and removal of an BitFenix Recon fan controller and bluray drive (died)

I've had two issues with the case - First is the floor where the PSU sits was warped. Not enough to worry me enough to RMA it at the time the PSU fit well enough. The swap to the HX850i, and being up the other way has meant that the PSU is now only held in by two screws.

Secondly - every time I work on the rig I end up with black hands. The finish on the inside (or maybe it's the gromets) ends up all over me. I've had cable extensions in which were white but after a while they all end up a dirty grey. Not sure I'd order a replacement cable set for my PSU knowing this now..

I started with stock cooling then purchased an H100 that lasted a few months before developing the dreaded buzz. Corsair RMA'd it no worries and this one hasn't missed a beat in the last three years. I'm using an AF140 (Quiet edition) in the back for exhaust and the SP120s also work as exhaust on the H100. I Decided that the one or two degree penalty on the CPU is worth the much better airflow for the graphics cards.

Corsair 500R White case
3770k CPU at 4.2ghz
16 GB Vengeance Ram
Gigabyte Z77X - UD3R
Kingston Hyper X 120GB SSD
Corsair Neutron 240GB SSD
Corsair HX850i PSU
SoundBlaster XiFi Titanium Sound Card (I use this as the PS3 input for the surround speakers)
Asus GTX 980 Strix x2


Peripherals
Logitech G110 keyboard
G502 mouse
Kingston HyperX Cloud headphones
Wireless Xbox controller
Saitek X52
Logitech 5.1 speakers

3 x 24" Sammy 1080 panels and running Windows 10 Pro.

I love the blue/black internals. Shows it's age but a nice change from the Red/Black that is so popular today. The Strix cards are stealthy and beautifully understated (although massive) so goes with any scheme.

Due to the size of my screens I have to sit it just off the floor so gets a bit dusty
Cable management is a work in progress but overall I’m very happy with this build apart from the minor case issues mentioned previously.

A new case with a window is on the wish list but I’m tossing up what to get as I may go water cooling down the track.

Hope you like the pics - they're from my mobile so not brilliant and yes as I upload this I'm increasingly more aware of the amount of dust I have in the fans.. /facepalm

Desktop

Should do something about the Sound card front panel connection next time I take it apart (and vacuum those fans…)

Dust Magnet!
In it's natural habitat

Shame… Shame… Shame….
The back hides this but I know it’s there.

I think the blues all match pretty well considering there are a total of four different manufacturers involved

From a certain point of view. Obi Wan’s xbox controller hides in the 5 1/4" bay.

The Zero db fans on the GPUs and the passive (up to a point) PSU make a real difference to every day life with this. Really worth the upgrade.

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers
Jimma

 

[Feronix]

That looks pretty sleek!

The only place it looks a little cluttered to me is where the 24pin, USB3 header and PCI cables meet but I suppose there isn't a lot that you can do about that other than maybe some sleeved cables?

 

[Tripp]

nice mate, love a good blue themed build

 

[WillSK]

good work dude! As Tripp said great colour coordnation

 

[jimma47]

That looks pretty sleek!

The only place it looks a little cluttered to me is where the 24pin, USB3 header and PCI cables meet but I suppose there isn't a lot that you can do about that other than maybe some sleeved cables?

Thanks Feronix - yeah there's a lot going on in such a small area there. 24 pin, PCI power, 4 SATA cables, USB3 and Front Panel Audio. Not sure what the solution is? Sleeved cables would be nice as long as I keep them clean, maybe plait them. Just have to be careful the black rubs off the interior of the case so easily. If I take the motherboard out I'll re-route some of the ancillary cables underneath.

Thanks WillSK and Tripp yeah I'm really happy with the colours. Just hope the Motherboard manufacturers continue to bring out a variety of colour schemes not just red and black. Gigabyte green and orange, MSI blue and Yellow. Asus Red and Gold. Gives a nice selection of features and price points in the colour you like. I'm not game to paint bits... yet

Only thing I forgot to include was the dodgy PSU floor. It wasn't bad enough to warrant the hassle of an RMA and it's still functional if a little annoying. One or two battle scars from transport and LANs as well.

Thanks for having a look.
Cheers

 

[enRodjavel]

Sleek looking build. It's fun to see a build that's not in a typical case or color scheme, black and blue does the job very well.

 

[jimma47]

Sleek looking build. It's fun to see a build that's not in a typical case or color scheme, black and blue does the job very well.

Thanks

 

[Excalabur50]

Nice looking little rig there Jimma, it's all come together quite well

 

[jimma47]

Nice looking little rig there Jimma, it's all come together quite well

Thanks mate

 

[Excalabur50]

Hey Jimma I think you will find the black is coming from the rubber grommets Corsair had an issue with the grommets breaking down and leaving residue, so you either need to replace the grommets with new ones or replace the case if you want a change

 

[Doomslayer]

Hey Jimma I think you will find the black is coming from the rubber grommets Corsair had an issue with the grommets breaking down and leaving residue, so you either need to replace the grommets with new ones or replace the case if you want a change

Corsair wasn't just the only company was having issues with the rubber grommets ^_^

 

[Excalabur50]

Corsair wasn't just the only company was having issues with the rubber grommets ^_^

That's true they weren't

 

[jimma47]

Hey Jimma I think you will find the black is coming from the rubber grommets Corsair had an issue with the grommets breaking down and leaving residue, so you either need to replace the grommets with new ones or replace the case if you want a change

ahhh that would explain a lot! I did wonder because the black on the rear panel never causes me any issues - no grommets.

I've swapped out most of my PSU extensions now - partly due to the aforementioned (white extensions got ruined pretty quickly) but mainly as the new PSU is quite stealthy and has nice cables anyway.

A new case is on the wish list but I might see if Corsair will post me some new grommets for the interim.

Thanks for the info!

 

[jimma47]

Update Time

Update time - picked up a new case. Everything else is the same aside from the soundcard which is currently in my parts bin. I was troubleshooting some sound issues and it turns out my speakers are going bad - an old Logitech 5.1 system - so my money is on the volume controller.

It's a bit inception as I'm quoting myself from another thread and the gallery link comes back here but it's easier than writing a whole new post. #lazy

Just bought a Corsair 460X RGB after about five years of living in a 500R. (Gallery) It was a good case with lots of cooling and space but I really wanted something where I could see the internals. The 460 is a lot more compact so with dual GPU's cabling was a real PITA. I'll organise some shorter cables in due course.

As I've said elsewhere here I really liked the Fractal Define C and that would have been the more sensible choice however this one just really appealed to me. I love the glass and the backlight glow you get from the fans.

Pictures - Glass is a pain to photograph, hence mostly no window. The GPU sag looks worse in the photos than in real life.








Shiny!


Cheers

 

[Excalabur50]

Looks really nice Jimma

 

[jimma47]

Thanks Excalabur

 

[Warchild]

Looks outstanding. That case is growing on me. But im an overkill guy, I need RAD SPACE

Ive actually built my Ikea shelf below the pc into a large scale rad holder for 2x 480s. I might just have to upgrade to this case and get some routing down to the rads.

 

[Dawelio]

Looks outstanding. That case is growing on me. But im an overkill guy, I need RAD SPACE

Ive actually built my Ikea shelf below the pc into a large scale rad holder for 2x 480s. I might just have to upgrade to this case and get some routing down to the rads.

Sounds like an CaseLabs case is something for you then ^_^

 

[jimma47]

Looks outstanding. That case is growing on me. But im an overkill guy, I need RAD SPACE

Ive actually built my Ikea shelf below the pc into a large scale rad holder for 2x 480s. I might just have to upgrade to this case and get some routing down to the rads.

Thanks mate!

Yeah I really love how it looks. The 570X may be a better option for liquid cooling - this one is so compact I can hardly fit the cables in! I'm going to get a NAS set up then i'll have heaps more room in the floor as the hard drive cage is already mounted outside the cover. Ultimately I'd like to go custom water - maybe a 240 front and 280 roof and a tube reservoir/pump combo but I'd say this was designed primarily for air cooled +AIO

There's not much width to play with for external routing compared to my old 500R of course if you go through the floor with a couple of quick disconnects then it would probably work pretty well.

Not a lot of room to play with here:

 

[AlienALX]

Love the rig, love the case. Don't love those filter support bars. They would have to go.