The Member's Systems Discussion Thread

[Lutfij]

My compact Splash case(s) qualifies - monstrous power in that little footprint. Even designed my home office desk and my office desk around it so you can understand how far I went with the system build in my head.

I personally love the FT03 and the mini more so but I couldn't get to adding it to cart and shipping it to my area. Customs charge 85% of what the case is worth.

Oh yeah do you take pics in RAW format? Power user on post processing?

 

[nukemaster]

I very much like the compact splash and Ncase, but want to stick with matx for the time(I quite like the openAL hardware acceleration that I can still get out of this sound card.).

The FT03 mini is an SG05 on end check out the frames.

If you are asking me about images, I take images in raw(NEF) + JPG, but do not do too much editing other than cropping most of the time. In some cases having the RAW can help recover data you do not see in the JPG for sure.

 

[Lutfij]

Yeah I moved onto PNG over JPEG in favor of loosing less but maintaining a smaller size as opposed to the lossy JPG compression. I thought about getting the Ncase but moved away from it since i noticed it doesn't cater to my needs. I'm also looking into the Fractal Node 304(white) to house my media server and bluray backups.

That way I can find a use for my A85x-itx mobo that's been collecting dust in the closet.

Are you thinking of watercooling for real? Not AIO's mind you
like this:

^ its quite old but it does what I need it to do > my workload

I mean't to add this a long time ago but always forgot.
Please for all those looking into the All in one coolers, please head down to the watercooling sticky and scroll down to the closed loop cooler section. Its got alot of tips on how you can get the best out of your All-in-one cooler.

I own 2 SP High Performance Ed fans but haven't ahd the time to test them out. If you're looking at undervolting the fans - there's nothing that beats the Scythe GT AP-15's round about $20 a pop bu they are what any watercooler should stock up on.

 

[Finidi]

A SFF pc doesnt necceceraly have worse airflow. The prodigy mITX case for example (together with more snall cases, just happen to have researched ghis one a lot) has better airflow than quite a lot of mid towers out there. If you dont need expandabilitt or tons of hdd's I actually think SFF is a good option. Though if you wanna use your case for a very very long time you shouldnt get mITX in case you wanna upgrade in a couple of years.

I myself would gladly get a complete new pc by then hough cuz of how fast hardware gets replaced by newer stuff and new stuff is fun im an addict now Im affraid

 

[stickg1]

The Prodigy case is huge. Yeah it houses a mini-ITX board but its a massive case considering it's purpose.

GT AP-15's are awesome fans. Wish I would have gotten those instead of the Corsairs, but I do like being able to easily match the colors on my Corsairs every time the color scheme of my build changes. Which is quite often.

I bought a 300GPH pond pump and an inline GE Water Filter today to give all my parts a thorough cleaning. Then my new project will be the StickG1 Wet-Wood Test Bench. I'm going to get started on it shortly..

 

[nukemaster]

Yeah I moved onto PNG over JPEG in favor of loosing less but maintaining a smaller size as opposed to the lossy JPG compression. I thought about getting the Ncase but moved away from it since i noticed it doesn't cater to my needs. I'm also looking into the Fractal Node 304(white) to house my media server and bluray backups.

That way I can find a use for my A85x-itx mobo that's been collecting dust in the closet.

Are you thinking of watercooling for real? Not AIO's mind you
like this:
Image Link
^ its quite old but it does what I need it to do > my workload

I mean't to add this a long time ago but always forgot.
Please for all those looking into the All in one coolers, please head down to the watercooling sticky and scroll down to the closed loop cooler section. Its got alot of tips on how you can get the best out of your All-in-one cooler.

I own 2 SP High Performance Ed fans but haven't ahd the time to test them out. If you're looking at undervolting the fans - there's nothing that beats the Scythe GT AP-15's round about $20 a pop bu they are what any watercooler should stock up on.

I use PNG for almost most of my images I wish to keep as well as most of my screen shots(I can not stand what JPG does to reds in many cases. I was keeping bmp's of everything for a long time).

I sure am thinking of some real water cooling. Mind you I get good performance out of the 2 all in ones I am using(I think something with a bit more FPI in place of the H80i would be even better), but allowing me to pick better rads and have the video card and cpu share 2 or more rads would allow better overall temps. I mean cpu load with no video load should be better as should mid level cpu load with high level video load.

Overall, it would just be a matter of getting parts to fit my setup(I only have room for 2 120mm rads. Another cut may allow a 120 x 2[would have to be slim] and a 120). A smallish and quiet pump with a small res would also be needed(prefer if they can mount attached to one another like some of the Swiftech ones do.).

I actually have 2 AP15's that I grabbed when NCIX got some stock(they are gone again.) Got them for under 12 dollars a pop with price match

I do wish I had picked up some more of the ap15's because they do undervolt quite well.

I do like the performance of these fans, but at the noise levels I would prefer they are only about a degree or 2 better than my Noctua fans. Not that this makes them bad. I can never get a Noctua fan for under 12 dollars.

EDIT

I have also taken interest to some of those mods on OCN with users adding extra rads to closed loop coolers(I mean if the H80i pump could service my video card rad too, I would get some sharing for the price of some tubes and a small res).

 

[Lutfij]

I'm one of those blokes that tried the AIO back when it was the fab with the H50. I bought a pair and I ended up modding mine with a rad/res combo.

It looked nice back then and then I got onto watercooling when I realized how easy it was to maintain. I've stated on the CLC subsection in the watercooling sticky - the pump is actually the weakest link. Its okay if yo're doing it for a show or to pass off some time, but modding a CLC is more pain than gain in the long run. The antifreeze/glycol mixture is rather restrictive for the pump and regular purchases of coolants wont go easy on the wallet since you have bills to pay as well

If you're interested in setting up a waterccoling loop in a small footprint like that FT03...?

If you plan it right you can have a rad hang off the back of case with some extended tubing runs and conceal it with the case.

FYI - The makers of the Prodigy admitted it a long time ago that they aren't SFF cases after alot of bashing and swearing by members though.

I noticed you went ahead and went with the Lazyman's technique of flushing your loop, Stcikg1

 

[stickg1]

Hehe yeah, I love this little thing. Now I'm just messing around with it. I already flushed everything for an hour but I have two old rads hooked up to it. It has a nice ambient noise. Maybe when I'm done I'll make a nice little fountain

(pardon the mess, I've been reeking havoc in this room today. Good thing the wife is out of town she would not be pleased!)

 

[nukemaster]

I would much rather get it all to fit inside the case if at all possible. With some luck a 120 x 2 would fit in the back(may have to get creative with the sound card[will have to check for sure].).

By this point I would have to wonder how much air the case could get unless that back rad pulled in air.

Something to look at and maybe play with in the future.

 

[Mirakledba]

Dead Pixel is back on he monitor...gonna replace it when the same monitor, just one without a dead pixel.

 

[stickg1]

Typically you want all your rads to be intakes. Cooler air on the outside of the case. Positive air pressure will find its way out.

I actually don't follow this method because I wanted to show off the yellow rings on my fans. So I have the rear and top rads as push exhaust. But I'm building an open air bench now, should be fun and will cater to my tendency to swap parts often.

 

[Lutfij]

Not all cases are positive pressure oriented. Silverstone achieved it but the rest can't seem to get it right. Silverstones approach is aided with their AP fans mind you.

I tried both orientation and both methods of mounting rads - internal and external. The BEST orientation is the external rad mount with push config feeding cooler ambient air to the rad.

 

[Mirakledba]

StickG1 - I am going to use exhaust as I want to show the red rings and linus says use exhaust if you're not doing push pull.

 

[Mirakledba]

RMAing the monitor to the store. It was the last one in stock so hopefully they have one....without a dead pixel.

 

[Mirakledba]

Back from the store. Same monitor just replaced. This one doesnt seem to have dead pixels

UPDATE: Guys I have a question regarding my desk placement, can I post a pic and you guys can help me out to decide the location?

See the couch on the left and desk to the right? Yeah. Should i put the desk where the couch is and put the couch where the desk is or no because maybe sand could enter my Soon-to-be-there PC or what? I could close the curtains but what do you guys think?

 

[stickg1]

Not all cases are positive pressure oriented. Silverstone achieved it but the rest can't seem to get it right. Silverstones approach is aided with their AP fans mind you.

I tried both orientation and both methods of mounting rads - internal and external. The BEST orientation is the external rad mount with push config feeding cooler ambient air to the rad.

Exactly, radiators provide the best performance for your waterloop when they are pushing cooler ambient air from the outside of the case. They can be exhaust if it better suits you, but ideally you would want all the radiators to be exhaust and plenty of cool ambient intake fans for that particular situation.

On a CLC/AIO, if it's intake, sure it's cooler air for your CPU, but all the hot air that passes through the radiator is now warming up your GPU. And vice-versa, if your CLC is exhaust, and your GPU is not one of the blower styles, the CLC has to use air that's already been used by the GPU and warmer than ambient.

 

[Mirakledba]

StickG1 - Interesting....Hm, Should I make my fans on the Rad Intake or outtake? Also, did you see the picture above?

 

[stickg1]

StickG1 - Interesting....Hm, Should I make my fans on the Rad Intake or outtake? Also, did you see the picture above?

It's up to you on the CLC, intake, higher GPU temps, exhaust, higher CPU temps.

Leave the room like it is I guess. I'm not much of an interior decorator.

 

[Mirakledba]

Haha Ok. But, I think its better to make them exhaust as linustechtips said, with intake he got lots of dust so Ill make them exhaust since i want to see the red rings, I will OC my GPU and I have 2 front intakes and One read ehaust along with the 2 rad exhaust so I think Ill be getting good temps. I might even throw in my AF140 in the bottom.

 

[stickg1]

When are you gonna build this thing?

 

[Mirakledba]

When My dad sends my brother who is in New york some money to ship the cases. Today or tomorrow or idk sometime this week he's gonna send him some money (for other reasons) But Ill make sure he adds some for the shipping.

 

[Lutfij]

MDBA - You could have the sofa to sit behind your rig a little distance away from the screen. With a larger monitor you'll know that watching movies seem a little bit like a piece of a theater in your home The curtain would be free to move and thus not get caught up with your sofa and result in torn drapery. Which brings me tot eh next point, what speakers you using or planning on getting?

Nice Prayer mat and directorial chair

When you'll have your case come in, I'll post my advice until then you can do some research *go to closed loop cooler subsection in watercooling sticky*

 

[Mirakledba]

Lutfij, Thats a great idea! So I'd put the sofa as my chair and you say LEAVE the desk where it is and just move the sofa or move the desk where the sofa is and use the sofa as a chair? Yeah, I like that blue mat

PS: Do you suggest I get a custom loop for the price of the h100i or no in fear of breaking it?

 

[Lutfij]

I asked you to use your sofa as a secondary view point. You can watch movies off of it from a distance away from your monitor. Leave desk as is, move sofa behind your existing chair. When watching movies or playing racing sims with an xbox controller you'll really "feel" it.

 

[Mirakledba]

racing games..hmm...Im more of a flight sim guy. Which leads me to my next point (ive already said h100i) as of deciding to get an H100i or Saitek flight pro yoke. Not sure Which i'd benefit more from....what do you think?