Tom's Hardware Member System Gallery

[nukemaster]

Krill68 - Nothing shy of an amazing system you have.

 

[krill68]

Thanks guys. @lutfig- the 240 pe comes with extenders stock. It put my 90 at a perfect position to route behind the mobo. For my first loop I think it turned out pretty well, and I'm getting some insane temps. Tis idling at 23. Load 36. +150 core. +200 mem. CPU idle 30 load 50. @ 4.5. These temps are from game benchmarks. Haven't stress tested yet.

 

[saint19]

Krill 68 - Amazing system you have there, I think that you should add a much better case for that, 800D, 900D or maybe some of those Fractal design.

 

[krill68]

Everything I have fits nicely in the 540. 800 or 900 would be too much unused space. Plus. If I got a case any bigger my wife would kill me. Lol

 

[nemtrac5]

Built this post-christmas sales desktop using money from a old laptop and some work over break. Got alot of help from users and Tom's Hardware in general, thank you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($193.51 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1375.40
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-07 23:33 EST-0500)

Finished product:

http://imgur.com/jMd5S2V,qUjWsFw,KpGbR8Q,j342UtT,R63WidD,869JCw4,EY6fzbp,KorjWAf#0

PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W - 120$ after 20$ rebate and sale
CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl - 90$ after shipping
HARDDRIVE: Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB Serial ATA Hard Drive - 45$ after 30$ rebate and 25$ rebate
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670k 3.4GHz - 200$ in combo
MOBO: Asus Z87-PRO ATX - 140$ in combo and 15$ rebate
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8Gb - 63$ - sale
GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 770 - 350$
CD DRIVE: 18$
OS: Windows 7 - 98$
CPU COOLER: Phanteks PH-TC12DX 50$
120
90
45
200
140
63
350
18
98
50
1174$

Edit: I'm adding the aftermarket CPU cooler tomorrow, didn't have any rubbing alcohol.

 

[MDXX]

Nice rig man! Except for the Intel *yuck*

 

[tiny voices]

Do not quote someones ENTIRE set of pictures of their build when you want to comment on it. You make the thread unnecessarily long with repeated pictures.

Basically, when you want to comment on someones build, leave ALL their pictures out of your post and just reference the poster by name.

 

[stickg1]

Still waiting on another radiator for the bottom and a few more fittings. The radiator I bought was from a guy that I assumed was in the US48. Apparently he's stationed at a military base in Germany so it was shipped from an APO address. Had I known this beforehand I would have gladly paid the extra $10 to get the item elsewhere. But it should be here by the end of the week, sigh. Anyway, I got my fans and painted them.

 

[Mirakledba]

Love the Yellow and black theme! Good job on the cable management +1. Have you tried yellow water? My build is going to be red and black themed.

 

[Onus]

Yellow water? I guess that's one way to quickly tell if it takes a leak in his case.

Don't some people use an anti-freeze solution with good results?

 

[Mirakledba]

Onus- Yes but I think if someone is going to do a custom loop, they might as well make it colored. He can add some yellow dye and make sure it doesnt leek but who am i to say that to someone who has a beast build? 😛

 

[jben04]

Just need to add a second 20" monitor and a GPU. ( at the moment i got the pc dual monitored with my 47"3D TV) considering the Asus R9 270X or the Asus GeForce GTX 660. Still can use it for everyday stuff, nothing too labour intensive yet though.
This would be my first build in years. Just got fed up with the HP pavillion a250n( nearly 10 years old).
Temp 23.0c (idle) . The case looks so empty without the GPU, also please excuse the artwork on the wall,its the misses,The second monitor will be going underneath that. The mouse / keyboard set is the Logitech MX5000 bluetooth. Need to get to work on some more cable management.
My Noctua A14 case fan is arriving today and will be adding it to the front of the case.
Cant make my mind up wether to add the lil "asus", intel"etc stickers to the case.
Specifications :
Intel Core i5-4670K
Asus Z87-A
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo
Noctua NF A14 PWM
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed edition
Corsair CX750M
Samsung 840 Evo 120GB
Seagate 1TB HDD
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB
Lite on 12x Blu Ray rom /DVDRW Drive

 

[Lutfij]

Stickg1 - I've been following the fractal thread since a long time and I noticed your rig there as well 😀 Very nice looking indeed but I'd like to know more about all the rads in your system. Looks to me like the front rad is a Watercool or a TFC Admiral 120 or an XSPC AX or an EK PE, so which one is it cos I'm gonna name a lot more makers/models 😀

+1 to cablemanagement but I believe if you could get the PCI-e wires to come from above the card and tug on it a bit - you can avoid that sag you're seeing in the pic. the sag also hampers the "flush" contact made with the pcb and in turn cause a lil problems with overclocking. In fact a flexed pcb's overclocking is crippled a bit due to the curve.

btw do you really need the QDC?

Regarding your color - knock up this if you can:

more here

Onus - an antifreeze+distilled water mixture apparently adds restriction to a loop and adds stress to the pump/impeller so you're inadvertently killing your loop or making it under perform. Distilled water is the best of them all...when you couple it together with a kill coil. Plasticizer does build up due to use but Rubix(here on Tom's) detailed that the reaction/cause is amplified when you add a silver kill coil and locate it close to a power source.

Not a discussion thread but I thought the info was worth sharing since a lot of people go for aesthetics and impair functionality.

Mirakel -

Jben - I've fixed your image links. One url for the images is plenty a dual url causes a mess with the tags.

Lets get back to some awesome looking machines...

 

[Mirakledba]

Jben04- Nice rig. G.skill ram looks awesome. I say get a 270x not a 660. 270x wins...easily. You should put up the specs. I know its in your signature but some people dont know that and its part of the rules so go ahead and add the specs on there 😀 Love the case. Good work!

Lutfij- Whos rig is that? I really want to see the specs and more info about it. Is there a thread for this? Id think its worth sharing.

UPDATE: Yeah Sorry, didnt notice i double posted. I dont like how it does that when you press answer twice.

 

[jben04]

Jben04- Nice rig. G.skill ram looks awesome. I say get a 270x not a 660. 270x wins...easily. You should put up the specs. I know its in your signature but some people dont know that and its part of the rules so go ahead and add the specs on there 😀 Love the case. Good work!

Yea think i will be going for the 270x,,,been reading some good things about it...adding specs....

Lutfij - Thanks for fixing the URL's,, must have messed up when i copied them over ,lol typical.

 

[Lutfij]

Mirakeldba - I've added a link down in my post. Please don't double post mate I'll correct it for you but just keep that in mind(again)

Jben - No worries. Just giving you a helping hand.

 

[stickg1]

I believe tinting the water yellow would make it look like urine, so I have no interest in a urine cooled rig. I might add a drop of blue but I prefer plain distilled water because my components have the tendency to always be for sale and the less staining/cleaning the better.

The PCB sag, I think a couple screws on the water block are too tight. That or I need thicker thermal pads towards the end. As far as overclocking, the card already does better than 80% of the 290s I've seen, so IDK if it has ill effects on my potential but I agree, it's worth looking in to.

Build log with detailed components list is in the works. Front rad is a Watercool HTFS2.

In regards to the QDCs; currently I use them for easier draining of the loop as I'm still adding to it. I will keep one or two in the loop but in the upcoming final revision they will be placed in a position that doesn't stick out so sorely.

I do like the beer colored coolant, that looks good!

 

[nathan4102]

Hey guys, my first build is complete!!! 😀

I'd like to start off by saying none of this would have happened if it wasn't for your help, I went from knowing next to nothing about computer hardware to knowing enough to build a computer in just a month or two thanks to you guys!

So this is my baby, my brand new work machine. It's mostly going to be used to web browsing software development, and other low end stuff like that, but when I have free time, I enjoy playing games like BF4, which this system handles pretty nicely. Unfortunately I couldn't fit 8 GB of RAM into my budget at the time, so Im running off 3GB from my old system. As soon as I have the money though, I'm grabbing an 8GB kit.

Here are my specs: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/2tQq5
RAM is a 1GB and 2GB from old computer, no brand.

And here are the pictures. I've done the cable management as best as I could, but theres still some wires sticking out front. Unfortunately I had to shove most of my PSU wires in my HDD bay, I couldn't shut the case with all of them behind the motherboard. Let me know what you guys think of it, I think it went pretty well 😀

 

[stickg1]

@nathan4102 - Looks good! Aside from the RAM upgrade, I would highly recommend an after-market cooler for the CPU as well. Doesn't have to be anything too extravagant, but something like a $20-$30 tower cooler like the Silverstone Argon, NZXT Respire T20, or Xigmatech Gaia would do you wonders compared to the AMD stock cooling fan.

 

[Dmt317]

Just finished my first build. Done the best i could with cable management. Hopefully I can upgrade my psu to a xfx 750w full modular. Non modular sure makes it hard to tuck all the cables in neatly. Also just got an Accelero Extreme 3 cooler for my 290 but havent had time to put in on yet. Id like to have some feedback on what I could do to improve the performance and looks of my build. Thanks. btw the case is a Fractal Design Define R4

 

[RussK1]

I agree, it looks really good! <--- this goes for Nathans as well.

 

[nathan4102]

@stickg1 I was considering grabbing a 212 Evo, and then overclocking to around or over a 6350. Is this a good idea? or are your coolers better then the evo?

 

[stickg1]

@stickg1 I was considering grabbing a 212 Evo, and then overclocking to around or over a 6350. Is this a good idea? or are your coolers better then the evo?

They're all pretty comparable. You can get 4.3GHz-4.6GHz with the 212 Evo no problem.

 

[nathan4102]

4.6GHz? Wow that sounds pretty wicked. What do you think I should do about case fans? I only have 1 intake and 1 exhaust right now, plus the PSU intake(I think its intake?) Should I grab some more? Theres still open spots on the back, top, side and bottom, so I have plenty of room for more fans.

 

[tiny voices]

You really don't need any more fans. The only thing I would even consider adding is a top exhaust.

Don't forget, more fans DOES NOT mean a cooler computer. You want airflow and circulation, NOT 10 fans blowing air all over the place.