Tom's Hardware Member System Gallery

[mrdowntownkiller]

tsmall , perfect rig m8

 

[Deemo13]

Did you sleeve those cables yourself?

 

[mlcaouette]

From the pictures looks like tsmall just used sleeved cable extensions. But despite that they still look really good. I considered using them, I'm still undecided whether I should take the time to sleeve myself or go the easy route with sleeved extensions.

Great Looking build tsmall!

 

[cmcghee358]

Not only is it a great looking build tsmall, it is a very well chosen build.

SSD, 80+ GOLD PSU, High end air cooling. Brings a tear to my eye /sigh

I'm obviously partial because we both have great taste in components

 

[RussK1]

Did you sleeve those cables yourself?

They're Bitfenix alchemy cable extentions. You can see them in the last shot.

 

[Lutfij]

The Bitfenix extension look pro'ish because Bitfenix have the cables placed into injection molded connectors. Thas why the finish is awesome looking. I don't like extensions because they add more cabling -> bad for case that are mid sized or small.

tsmall -> agree wid cmcghee358 nice build, sound card was a meh. BUT< I speak for modo on this one, AMAZING cablemanagement!!! have a

* i can already imagine the paws hard at work attaching cables and connectors 😛 :lol:

 

[tsmall]

thanks all.
I must admit all my previous computers had cable management that would make your eyes bleed, my newfound ocd was inspired by this thread.

about the sound card, I love CMSS 3D while playing with headphones, this card was really cheap yet was fairly recommended.
I'm what you would call an audiophile on a budget (also got CAL! headphones and working on building my own DIY o2 headphone amp).

 

[aosot]

just for games like guild wars 2

 

[Lutfij]

if you're on headphones might want to look into a headphone DAC glad to see your OC'd into cablemangaement 😀

if you're an audiophile, I can link a software mod for your ALC codec that can run it with the X-Fi MB software suite.

 

[tsmall]

Yea i know about the software suite, from what I could gather it doesn't support CMSS 3D, only TruStudio pro witch from what I understand is sub-par.

Also regarding the DAC, I mostly game on headphones for music I'm connected to my receiver.
so basically the Sound Card does the work for games (adding a DAC would be redundent), and the receiver for music.

I'm no expert on the matter so if I'm doing something wrong I'd be happy to learn better.
also i must admit that building an o2 dac just for fun crossed my mind but one project at a time.

 

[Lutfij]

I'm nitpicky about the music I listen and the movies that I see. I even had a Audigy 2 Platinum that I fried when my PSU blew up

the MB 2 has THX -> that is whats sub par. Try picking up X-Fi MB 1.2 ... or so in the first few pages of the forum/thread where PAX resides and you'll get X-Fi MB the suite with the white interface. In it you can control the codec's output nicely. Oh yeah, the no THX version has CMSS 3D but I don't use it, all my games support surround sound off my supreme x-fi .... yeah I know its a daughter card using an AD chip but its better than the psuedo 24bit mixups available at the time of purchase. So I set it up and forget about it.

I also know that PAX had written some drivers for the X-fi you're holding, might want to check it out.

lets move this discussion on another thread (sound card section) or PM me. This thread will get clogged up

 

[jakewat97]

I did a bit of case modding a few days ago to improve a very old full tower, a thermaltake va8000bws. i use a drill and multi function tool to cut my cable management holes and sprayed the interior with matte black. A few things are still bugging me like the HDD mount and how it faces the mobo instead of the back of the case, if anyone has any ideas please message me because im getting annoyed with it sticking out like that.
specs on my profile

http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q690/Jakewat97/IMG_0368_zpsf65a807e.jpg
http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q690/Jakewat97/IMG_0358_zps40d4ce04.jpg

 

[Lutfij]

ah the armor, I got the lil bro...see if these help:
http://www.overclock.net/t/304103/the-thermaltake-armor-thread/0_100
http://www.overclock.net/t/369869/completed-tygon-tornado-rewired-v3-updated-6-15-09/0_100

 

[jakewat97]

ah the armor, I got the lil bro...see if these help:
http://www.overclock.net/t/304103/the-thermaltake-armor-thread/0_100
http://www.overclock.net/t/369869/completed-tygon-tornado-rewired-v3-updated-6-15-09/0_100

Yeah i did look and things like these, but my inspiration was this build
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1583266&mpage=1
I pretty much exactly copied the holes he cut and am thinking about buying some nzxt sleeved cables for looks. all i have to do is figure out how i can manage my HDD and sata cables better.

 

[Lutfij]

lets move onto PM'ing, cluttering this thread with non gallery based info isn't good for the mods temper

 

[tiny voices]

Here I am again with an update of my rig. lol.

Microcenter had a bundle deal where if I bought an i3 3225 I would get this board for free: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130653

So, in total I paid $119+tax.

This was a big upgrade from my phenom 2 965BE + ga-78lmt-s2p ($44 sata2 mATX board.)

I know its an 3225 not a 3220 but the bundle didn't qualify with a 3220. Oh well. Also, yeah its a z77 board, but I was planning to go 3570k this summer anyway before I even found out about this deal.

Here it is:


I do still have my 8gb 1333 RAM (all the old board would support), and was wondering if it would be worth it to go to 1600 or 1866 RAM.

Specs:
i3 3225
MSI z77a-g41
8gb RAM 1333
Gigabyte windforce HD7870
Corsair cx 600
Rosewill Challenger case

 

[cmcghee358]

Hard to say. The performance increase is negligible, but the cost of RAM is so cheap now days it's hard to resist an upgrade

 

[jrwizbang]

@Tiny voices. Upgrading your memory to 1600 or 1866 from 1333 would really only be noticeable with things such as games. If you plan on gaming go for it, seeing as the price of memory has come down a significant amount.

 

[tiny voices]

Yeah this is mostly a gaming rig, so I figure I might as well go for it.

 

[Reverend_Mason]

So my new rig is finally complete. It's quite the upgrade from my old FX-4100 build in my little Corsair 300R case.

i7 3770k @ 4.3Ghz
2x Nvidia 660 Ti's in SLI
MSI Z77 Big Bang Mobo
8GB PNY RAM
850w Corsair AX850 PSU
Azza Genesis 9000B for the awesome case upgrade.

Closer view, you'll notice it's upside down. I went with the reversible ATX style that the Azza can do in order to push more air through the CPU heatsink as well as pushing cooler air into the graphics cards blower cooler.

Also in place of a 720p Coby 32in TV I've no upgraded to 3 LG 2742 27" 1080p monitors, so I've improved a bit on that aspect as well. All of this is stacked on a Walker-Edison 3 piece black glass corner desk which you can kind of see. I'll post some better pics soon of the finished setup once it's all cleaned and neatly put into place.

 

[cmcghee358]

I need a new desk bad. A corner desk of ANY kind would be awesome.

 

[Reverend_Mason]

The one I have will randomly go on sale on Amazon for 80 to 90 dollars. It's quite sturdy, id recommend picking ir up if you ever get a chance.

 

[Reverend_Mason]

So now that everything is all clean and tidy here's a finished look at my workstation.

For mice I have the Razer Naga Hex as well as a Razer Nostromo. My full size keyboard is still a wireless low end Logitech but it still works great so no need to replace it just yet. Also under the far right monitor is my little scale replica of the Normandy SR-2 from Mass Effect. I'm not much into desk ornaments but it seemed appropriate. Also the headset is a Gamecom 780 by Plantronics which is replacing my Logitech G930 whose wireless dongle finally suffered the wrath of bending and snapping. Also I should give some love to the latest addition, the True Innovations office chair that makes me all comfortable after a long day at work.

The two main speakers on the sides are Klipsch 2.1 Promedia desktop speakers which are amazing but have a bit of a problem getting them on the desk without taking up screen real estate so I'm investing in a pair of speaker stands soon, any recommendation on a good set would be nice, they need to be at least 30 inches high and preferably have a cable management area for the speaker wire.

Beyond that the three LG 27" displays I mentioned earlier and the awesome computer I assembled, with the help and amazing assistance of the Tom's forums of course, makes for a pretty spiffy area. Not bad for a guy who works at Best Buy part time.

 

[Lutfij]

Images courtesy of my AMS build log

Before
Rig 1 :
Q9550 E0 @ stock
Asus Rampage Extreme w/SupremeFX X-Fi
OCZ 4GB 1333Mhz DDR3 Platinum Edition
Corsair H50 modded w/ Fusion block system, dual rad w/ p/p
320GB WD Blue 16MB - OS Drive
2x500GB WD Caviar Green 32MB in Raid 0
500GB WD Blue 32MB
80GB Seagate Barracuda (pata)
Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD+/-RW
XFX Radeon 6870 Black Edition 1GB DDR5
Thermaltake Spedo
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 750W 
Creative I-trigue L3800
Samsung P2350
Microsoft Xbox360 Wireless Controller
Microsoft x6 + x8

After
Rig 1 :
Q9550 E0 @ 3.4Ghz
Asus Rampage Extreme w/SupremeFX X-Fi
Mushkin Redline Ridgeback 996982 8GB 1600MHz kit
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Aquacomputer Airplex Modularity System 360 copper w/ D5 pump/res unit w/ vertical res attachement
XSPC Raystorm Copper Edition
Watercool Heatkiller NSB3.0 copper on Fusion system
6x 1/2" OD DangerDen Perfect seal barbs
--------------------------------------------------------------------
3x GT AP-15 in push on Lamptron FC5 v2
1x 140mm Bitfenix Spectre Pro
3x 120mm Bitfenix Spectre
1x Noisblocker M12-P
1x Scythe Jyuni
--------------------------------------------------------------------
320GB WD Blue 16MB - OS Drive
2x500GB WD Caviar Green 32MB in Raid 0
500GB WD Blue 32MB
2x Lite-on DVD+/-RW
XFX Radeon 6870 Black Edition 1GB DDR5
Thermaltake Spedo
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 750W 
Creative I-trigue L3800
Samsung P2350
Microsoft Xbox360 Wireless Controller
Microsoft x6 + x8

WC'ing Prjkt | Lutfi's AMS Build log
Gallery for all pictures of the works : Here
hope you guys like it [:lutfij:3]

 

[Snowsniper2]

That has the same fan controller as me
I only bought it recently works a treat for me lamptron fc 5 v2 or fc6?
They are really similar between those two
Ill be posting an update of my machine when i get my new gpu