The Member's Systems Discussion Thread

[g-unit1111]

Coolio! It'll look much more tidier with an AIO cooler in there

Since both perform about the same the issue comes down to the pricing. If you get either one on sale gun for it!

Yeah the hard part is deciding what cooler I'm going to go with. I'm a bit nervous about liquid cooling since it's my first time but I think once I jump in and it works I'll be fine. I'm leaning more toward the NZXT Kraken or the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme than the Corsair H100i at the moment.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

Coolio! It'll look much more tidier with an AIO cooler in there

Since both perform about the same the issue comes down to the pricing. If you get either one on sale gun for it!

Yeah the hard part is deciding what cooler I'm going to go with. I'm a bit nervous about liquid cooling since it's my first time but I think once I jump in and it works I'll be fine. I'm leaning more toward the NZXT Kraken or the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme than the Corsair H100i at the moment.

How can a AIO go from the front to the back of a ATX case???

 

[nukemaster]

Strange, some motherboards have raised spots for boards, but they still tend to have some spots for standoffs.

I would love to see an image of the case standoff layout and board.

Sucks to have something die like that.

This is about the only tray aside of ITX systems I have seen with built in standoffs.

 

[tiny voices]

I seriously doubt the motherboard shorted on the and fried due to not having paper washers. I have never used the and don't know anyone who does.

I'm guessing it was a bad PSU that fried it. A motherboard shorting on the case would probably not pop capacitors or anything like that.

 

[RussK1]

If he used it for months it's safe to assume it wasn't standoffs. I would suspect power supply... Raidmax, Logisys, Diablotek, Coolmax, half of the CoolerMaster line, etc...

Quality PSU's will shut down if a short is detected...

 

[Turb0Yoda]

I believe it was a seasonic... It was touching the case. I will try to take a photo but I am not sure what my friend and teacher will do with the mobo. I can tell you that the case is a Rosewell Redbone:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147160
I will also see if I misheard the information.

@ Nukemaster. I see a yellow device that looks similar to what we used for testing the voltages. A black pin connected to ground and a red pin to connect to the mobo/psu to check for voltages right?

 

[Onus]

I've not used those paper washers since perhaps the 286 days, when I believe they were typically needed; seems to me one of the first systems I built wouldn't start because I'd forgotten them, but nothing fried.
Most of the Rosewill cases I've used had the raised bumps in them in most of the standoff positions, but likely not 2-3 of them due to mobo variances (e.g. depth).

 

[nukemaster]

XxD34THxX, Yes it is a very basic Fluke 73 multi meter.

Black to ground and red to your voltage for sure(DC). If you get it backwards it will just show the voltage as negative. I would only recommend checking in power supply plugs(red = 5 orange =3.3 yellow=12) as it is too easy to short out something on the board my mistake. If you are careful you can meter just about anything with them.

Please note that this meter and many others will NOT see voltage ripple so even getting 12 volts from a power supply that is very out of spec for ripple will still look "good". It takes more expensive toys to see voltage ripple. It is still a good test of general psu health(if you 12 volt rail is running at something like 10-11 volts it is not great and out of spec as well. @ 5% you should not see under 11.4 volts.).

 

[stickg1]

Man I love that AMD mITX build Tom's did. I kind of want one. All this time I've been eyeing the price of the A10's and A8's, but I will have a spare GPU (750 ti) so I should really be looking at that unlocked Athlon. $80 is very doable. Too bad all the decent mITX FM2/+ boards are $100.

 

[Onus]

It was an interesting build, but I much prefer the idea behind the basic version; too much was spent on glitz in the Red Devil version.

 

[RussK1]

That Athlon is indeed interesting...

 

[Turb0Yoda]

XxD34THxX, Yes it is a very basic Fluke 73 multi meter.

Black to ground and red to your voltage for sure(DC). If you get it backwards it will just show the voltage as negative. I would only recommend checking in power supply plugs(red = 5 orange =3.3 yellow=12) as it is too easy to short out something on the board my mistake. If you are careful you can meter just about anything with them.

Please note that this meter and many others will NOT see voltage ripple so even getting 12 volts from a power supply that is very out of spec for ripple will still look "good". It takes more expensive toys to see voltage ripple. It is still a good test of general psu health(if you 12 volt rail is running at something like 10-11 volts it is not great and out of spec as well. @ 5% you should not see under 11.4 volts.).

Man I love that AMD mITX build Tom's did. I kind of want one. All this time I've been eyeing the price of the A10's and A8's, but I will have a spare GPU (750 ti) so I should really be looking at that unlocked Athlon. $80 is very doable. Too bad all the decent mITX FM2/+ boards are $100.

It was an interesting build, but I much prefer the idea behind the basic version; too much was spent on glitz in the Red Devil version.

@ Nukemaster. Exactly what we used. We tested the psu and it's voltage was going crazy(20 volts) so it's regulators are busted. We couldn't use another psu since the mobo uses 2 12 volt auxiliaries and we had OCZ's with 1 12 volt aux.

@Onus and Stickg1
I am seriously thinking of doing that for a first pc just to get away from what I am using now. The barebones version with some extras, like a different GPU and a SSD.

 

[g-unit1111]

How can a AIO go from the front to the back of a ATX case???

Most AIO coolers mount at the top of the case but in the Define R4 and similar large ATX cases the mounts for the cooler would be in the front panel to mount the cooler in the front with the fans pointing toward the back to create a continuous air flow.

 

[nukemaster]

XxD34THxX, 20 volts.....Wow.

Many boards with 2 cpu power connectors(2 x 4 pin or single 8 pin) will work with just the 4 pin. I am guessing that was the Aux connectors you are talking about?

 

[Turb0Yoda]

XxD34THxX, 20 volts.....Wow.

Many boards with 2 cpu power connectors(2 x 4 pin or single 8 pin) will work with just the 4 pin. I am guessing that was the Aux connectors you are talking about?

yeah. It was(STILL no idea if the board is bad because we didn't have a psu with the right connectors(color of wires were different)) an Asus Board and he had a 3570k.

 

[stickg1]

An ASUS socket 1155 board? It will work with a 4pin CPU or 8pin EPS. (Which im pretty sure is just 2x12v + 2xGND and 4x12v + 4xGND respectively) The AUX you are referring to are not necessary for operation of the motherboard, these are an auxiliary power source for the PCIe slots. Which once again are not even needed and just an extra "peace of mind" type feature.

 

[allanitomwesh]

If you're having troubles with teh site, maybe head downt o the experiences section and voice your opinion or get in touch with JP our Community Manager.

We've just transitioned to a new server so some hickups may be evident but will slowly iron away.

Oh yeah hows things going for ya? See you posting on OCN alot though 😛

I log in fine on OCN I'm beginning to think its opera browser not playing nice with toms,coz i can log in on chrome,however i like opera it compresses data and keeps my charges low on prepaid.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

An ASUS socket 1155 board? It will work with a 4pin CPU or 8pin EPS. (Which im pretty sure is just 2x12v + 2xGND and 4x12v + 4xGND respectively) The AUX you are referring to are not necessary for operation of the motherboard, these are an auxiliary power source for the PCIe slots. Which once again are not even needed and just an extra "peace of mind" type feature.

Which is why we want a PSU which will do that.

 

[stickg1]

I'm not aware of any PC power supplies that don't have a CPU connector. What's the make and model?

 

[Turb0Yoda]

I'm not aware of any PC power supplies that don't have a CPU connector. What's the make and model?

Well, for the original one in the case... No clue. No labels, no nothing. It's matte black. My friend was sick on the day we tested the PSU, so we could not ask him what brand. We tried using an OCZ, but the pins would not fit(the 8 pin aux). No matter what way we turned the pins, it would not go in. It was very interesting. Hopefully on Monday, we will be able to have a psu with the right connectors.

It had the connectors, it, for some odd reason, would not fit. We should have tried another one, since we have like 20 of the exact same model OCZ(Modstream 600watt) in boxes and on shelves.

 

[Lutfij]

I thought I'd pop by and ask around here for an opinion by the likes of you wonderful folks

Hopefully going to be building a gaming rig for my Brother in law. So far this is what he'll need to purchase;

Corsair 350D
Asus Maximus VII Gene
i7-4770K
Mushkin Redline 997170R
SS-660XP2
GTX 780Ti Kingpin edition.
AIO cooler

^ for gaming on a single Asus monitor - can't remember the model or make(late out here so I can't call him either) but its the one with a ring behind the display that works as a stand/design element.

He also has a pair of Studio monitors and owns an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card - yes he's an audiophile thus the matx/PCI-e x4 slot requirement and is moving up from a Core 2 Duo machine built 6 years ago.

All I can dig up on the Kingpin's are found on OCN material and they usually tend to buy expensive stuff. Irrespective of the budget - I can't go above what the total is on the parts above - if you guys have any suggestion; I'm all ears EVGA would be my soft spot though as I haven't ventured into their waters...

After that I'm hopeful of doing some sleeving and lighting work on his system. Build would be kept untouched hardware wise for another 3 or so years

XxD34THxX - could it be possible that the PSU took out the power connectors on the mobo? Unusual to have so many issues with a mobo connector.

I'd personally advise you to take a couple of pics of the system, connectors , (culprit)PSU unit and the standoff's - it should help alot of us guage the problem and suggest accordingly I know, when it rains it pours and that too when you don't have any sort of water gear...but the best thing is to think quick and get moving to a shelterd/covered area.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

Ill try but it is not my computer and I am not allowed to touch(or even be near) the thing due to my inexperience.

On another note, my friend has about 1200-1300 for a gaming rig. He is currently on a laptop... He wants my help to find parts and this is what I wrangled up.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cHgkjX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cHgkjX/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cHgkjX/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($228.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($106.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($76.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Apevia X-SNIPER2-BL ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $978.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-31 16:04 EDT-0400)

Granted, he does need a monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard( he has a mouse and keyboard, but they are cheap generic ones, and I want to try and convince him to get a REAL MANN'S MECHANICAL keyboard).

A different case would be nice, as he liked the green version of that. My teacher, who has spent his life in computer tech, is advising a top mounted psu, but I can't find a good case like that. Also, I think he is leaning to the fx-8350 as all he will be doing is gaming and some office work(essays for senior year and net use). I really don't think he will be doing any sort of rendering or movie making, but I'll ask him. What do you guys think?

P.S. Any good greed Mobo's and GPU's. He told me he want's a green lit case after I made this. Also, I am going to add a NZXT Hue if there will be no green LED fans(He has some of his own money, and his grandmother is giving him a little more than 1000, he has about 250 more, so please don't go above 1300.)
Also, I was telling him about AMD GPU's and how they come with 3 games for free. Would this be better than the watchdogs for Nvidia? He really wants watchdogs, But if it comes with the AMD gold rewards, he will take the r9 280(x if possible).

 

[Onus]

The -G43 is MSI's bottom of the line, and I would therefor not trust it not to have weak VRMs.
You can get higher bang/buck by getting a different cooler, even if it is another 120mm model.
Apevia quality control and material quality are both non-existent. I think they have some nice designs, but they are so poorly executed that I won't touch them.
The 850 EVO is fine, but the 120GB 840 EVO doesn't have the performance of the larger ones; HardOCP found it underperformed, especially for writes.
Good PSU and graphics card. As to the value of free games, that's too subjective for me to comment.
I prefer bottom mounted PSUs for three reasons:
1. Greater stability of the case.
2. Better cooling for the PSU, drawing its own air from beneath the case.
3. Better cable management, whether or not there is space behind the mobo, because spare cables lie on the bottom, rather than dangle or get stuffed into airflow areas.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

The -G43 is MSI's bottom of the line, and I would therefor not trust it not to have weak VRMs.
You can get higher bang/buck by getting a different cooler, even if it is another 120mm model.
Apevia quality control and material quality are both non-existent. I think they have some nice designs, but they are so poorly executed that I won't touch them.
The 850 EVO is fine, but the 120GB 840 EVO doesn't have the performance of the larger ones; HardOCP found it underperformed, especially for writes.
Good PSU and graphics card. As to the value of free games, that's too subjective for me to comment.
I prefer bottom mounted PSUs for three reasons:
1. Greater stability of the case.
2. Better cooling for the PSU, drawing its own air from beneath the case.
3. Better cable management, whether or not there is space behind the mobo, because spare cables lie on the bottom, rather than dangle or get stuffed into airflow areas.

[strike]For some reason, The g45 would not come up on PCPARTPICKER, even though it was there before.[/strike]
Found the higher end 7-gamiing.
On the case, it was a place holder, I had a HAF 912, then a Corsair Case.
On the SSD, It was the price issue that did not let me get a larger size or a crucial SSD.

 

[stickg1]

So whats going on? Been a few days!

I have that R9 280x installed. Kind of a dud for overclocking but can't all be winners I suppose. It still performs really well though especially folding which is why I got it.