Pantheon Rig!

[CSheldon]

I wouldn't class myself as an enthusiastic for computers, but i really do like..messing around with one. So here's my computer rig, so far..

Only been doing this for around a year or so, so have been updating as i've been going along.

Specs:
Intel Core i5 3570K @ 3.8Ghz
Asrock Extreme4 Z77
Powercool 550W Modular PSU
Patriot Viper 2 x 4GB @ 2133Mhz
Zotac 550ti AMP! Edition GPU
WD Sata II 320GB x2
Xigmatek Pantheon Case
Stock Cooler


I will also try get a full shot of my case, and upload to the post once i have charged my camera up!

Also how would i increase cooling on my GPU?

 

[brianf1971]

To increase cooling you can add more fans to the case on the side panel, I would also recommend you dump the stock CPU heatsink and get some thing like a Hyper Evo 212+ quite cheap but very effective.

Alternatively you could look at watercooling but with that case and GPU it will take a fair bit of planning, and pob not worth the expense for the GPU.

Brian

 

[airdeano]

as said above an aftermarket cooler, depending on how pushy you get with overclock.
the cooler master 212 series is a great budget CPU cooler.

seeing the the GPU is mounted low in the case a floor fan drawing air from the floor
and upward would be helpful. i cant make out the front fan config..
or hoisting it back to the top PCIe slot and allow the front fan(s) and floor fan to
make for more flow.. how old is the card? it was cleaned how long ago?

 

[CSheldon]

The GPU is clean and it's less than an year old, and i do have 2x 120mm Xigmatek fans in the top (got a 280mm space for rad), and i do also have a 120mm fan on the side of my HDD Bay, so moving my GPU up to the top PCIe Lane, might increase airflow?

And also i was looking at my local company around the corner who have a watercooling loop (AOI) for £35 (Just the loop, no fans/or thermal) i could use my 2 x120mm Xigamatek Fans, and get some thermal which would only cost around £40, but i'd like to keep airflow as a positive in my case.

Thanks

 

[CSheldon]

Updated photo's of my rig at the moment, just wondering how also would i increase air flow, and a way to maybe cable manage a little better?

Other requests, or comments are welcome.

Thanks!

 

[CSheldon]

Not sure why or how, it uploaded the same image twice, when i check the upload list and they were all different, nevermind. Here's the one which should of been in it's place!

 

[Rich_]

sheldon, when the admins combine all ur posts into one post dont think anything of it, they are just OCD like that. See those fan cables running along the top of the MB all the way across it? To improve cable management see if u can try to fit them behind the motherboard like your cpu 8pin power is, in fact, try to slide them through the same hole. That's a nice computer you got there, should be able to run just about anything on a single HD monitor.

 

[CSheldon]

Just done that also, and found out that, while looknig a little more.., i found that where the clips are where my side panel fits on, there are holes, where cables can fit through, didn't even know they were there! Thanks!

Any other suggestions will be nice!

 

[alpenwasser]

Hi there,

If I haven't overlooked anything, your drives are two SATA-2 HDD's?
If you can afford it (or save up for it), an SSD might be a nice addition/replacement. Last I checked there were some pretty affordable options on the market (although I am admittedly not quite up to date on which models are suitable for purchase at this very moment) , and moving your operating system (and any programs which fit on it) from an HDD to an SSD really makes a shitload of difference in daily usage (at least in my experience).

Aside from that, as mentioned above, replacing the stock CPU cooler is probably not a bad idea. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, I can't find anything wrong with the propositions already made. If you can and are willing to afford it, something like the Corsair H100i might be an option to consider. Xigmatek claim on their website the case is built for something like this, so it should work from what I can tell.

How is the dust situation? Filters for intake fans are always a good idea . If you are lacking in that department, you can get some for a few bucks at most PC stores or on ebay (check Tom's Orca rig on the back side for an example).

If you had a window, I'd suggest some black (or whichever colour you prefer) cable extensions, but I very much doubt that that's money well spent on a windowless case. Then again, if you want some practice, you can always sleeve them yourself (and/or mod a window into the side panel etc. ).

Hope this helps.

 

[CSheldon]

Well, im actually running just one Sata-II hard drive at the moment, and i am really running out of space, so i was thinking of going to get a WD 1TB Sata-III 64MB cache, would that help on my speed of my computer?

Also, i was jsut wondering a cheap decent Aftermarket Cooler, and people say go for a 212-S CM, but my price margin is around £40-50.

 

[alpenwasser]

Regarding the HDD: If you're talking about a 7200 RPM drive, then yes, the newer HDD's are really quite fast compared to the older ones.
If you are talking about a 10'000 rpm drive (see below, I have one of those), then buy a cheaper HDD and spend the extra money on an SSD. They are too expensive for what they offer in my opinion.

But even though these HDD's are quite fast compared to older HDD's, they are noticeable inferior compared to an SSD (even the slower ones).

As an example: I'm running one of my rigs on a Western Digital 10'000 rpm Velociraptor, and even though that HDD is insanely fast for an HDD, the system feels rather sluggish compared to an SSD based one. It becomes especially noticeable when I'm running out of memory and have to resort to the SWAP file (memory page file in windows? not sure on that one).

Having said that, booting up and starting programs is noticeably slower, but not annoyingly so. You can still work on an HDD-based system without feeling like tearing your hair out .

Regarding the CPU cooler: I've been using water exclusively for the past 10 years. A quick Google search has not led me to any horrible shortcomings of the candidates that have been mentioned, but I've been out of the air cooling game for so long I really should not be giving advice on that one. I know about a few closed loop water coolers and the Noctua air coolers, but that's about it :huh:

In conclusion:
If you never (or very rarely) run out of memory and have to resort to the swap partition or whatever its Windows equivalent is, then it is somewhat acceptable to install your System on an HDD if you're really not willing/capable to spend money on an SSD. It's still quite a good system.
But if you can in any way, shape or form afford even a small and comparatively slow SSD (Corsair, Samsung and Crucial come to mind, but as mentioned, my info might be slightly out of date), then go for that. It really is worth the money, imho.

If you have to prioritize: Keep the CPU cooler for now, and buy a 1 TB drive (not a very fast one, a WD 1 TB Caviar Green seems like a good choice), and a small SSD.
This should not be too expensive, and you can still upgrade the CPU cooler when you've saved up more money.

Of course, that's just how I would do it if it was my rig. Your priorities/preferences and needs naturally might differ from mine.


EDIT: The reason I mention Corsair, Samsung and Crucial are that they seem to be reliable last I've heard. Of course, Intel belongs to that group as well, but their drives usually carry a (sometimes hefty) premium. From what I've heard and read, just don't by OCZ, although I am not speaking from first-hand experience on that one.

 

[CSheldon]

New addition to the build, just went out and got myself a new harddrive, 1TB Western Digital Blue, Sata III 7200Rpm with 64MB Cache, thought i got myself a decent deal for £60!

 

[alpenwasser]

WD Blues are a good price/performance choice from what I've heard. I've been running some of their server drives in my 24/7 rig for the past 18 months, and they are pretty awesome. Reliability should be ok, too; I haven't had a WD drive fail me (yet ).

Price sounds ok, practically the same here in Switzerland at the moment.

 

[CSheldon]

I really needed to upgrade..my old hardrive was full, it's out dated at sata II, so yeah!

Thanks!

 

[CSheldon]

Next thing on my list will be an SDD, what make/size would you reccomend, and what would the main use of it be?

 

[alpenwasser]

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really up to date on the latest and greatest SSD's on the market right now, but I might be able to give you a few pointers.

• Larger SSD's (even of the same model range) are usually faster than their smaller brethren. This is because data operations can be parallelized over multiple NAND chips and the more chips you have the more parallelization and speed you can get (this oversimplifies things a bit, but you get the idea).
• Larger capacity drives also have the tendency for a longer live span/slower degradation for the same amount of data stored on them, since each cell only has a limited number of write cycles before it no longer functions. The drive will usually spread out write operations over all cells as evenly as possible, so each cell of a larger drive has less write operations to do for the same amount of data writes within the same amount of time.
• If you're on a tight budget, something along the lines of 60 GB will already give you a significant performance boost over an HDD. However, I haven't really used Windows in a long time and have no idea how much storage you need for that. So to have some padding, you might want to consider a 120 GB or even a 180 GB drive, but they do of course cost quite a bit more. I personally use a 120 GB drive, and it fits my needs perfectly.
• The prime candidate for SSD storage is of course your operating system itself, and depending on how much space you have left, your most used applications/games.
• As for which brand to go for: When I last looked into buying an SSD, I considered Intel, Samsung and Corsair and ended up buying an Intel 520 120 GB, but the SSD market is rather volatile and things might be different now. TTL's (and many other people's) advice is to stay away from OCZ though.
• To really make an informed decision, I suggest you read up on the topic yourself. Besides OC3d, I usually have a look at HardOCP's reviews. Here is a little bit of information on TLC and NAND cells in general.
• TRIM is also important. I think most or even all drives have it today, but it's something to look out for nonetheless.
• And of course, Google is your friend.

Happy shopping

 

[allen]

best thing you can do to make this look awesome is watch these youtube vids

 

[iiBetrayforAR]

Stock Intel cooler buddies!

*high fives*

 

[CSheldon]

Today, i was so tempted to buy myself an aftermarket cooler, but controlled myself, and thought, i'll get it next time i get payed !

update: 01-03-13
Just purchased an aftermarket cooler! Gone with a Xigmatek Achilles 2! Using push/pull with my two Xigmatek Blackline White LED Fans! Not seen much temp diff on idle, but i'll try on load shortly!

 

[alpenwasser]

Yeah when I put my last system together I used the Intel stock cooler while I was waiting for the water cooling parts. When I finally switched to w/c, the idle temps where quite similar. It's to be expected when considering the laws of thermodynamics but I don't think anyone is looking for a lecture here .
Any results on load yet?