Tom's Hardware Member System Gallery

[genghiskron]

love the dog mal, breed?. also gotta love the antec 300. im a huge fan of simplicity, and i love my black box. the editors have also shown in the $2000 SBM's that the little guy is capable of properly housing both hd6970's in crossfire, and gtx 580's in SLI.
If I were antec, i would release a 300 variant with a black interior, side panel, and usb 3.0. There are surprisingly few competitors in the "classy" market these days.

 

[Keiki646]

My PRS Gaming RIG (REBORN) Project Red Storm

System Spec:
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 Overclock to 3.6GHz from 2.66GHz
AZZA Solano 1000 Black/Japanese Full Tower Case
NZXT Sentry LX Aluminum dual bay fan controller
XSPC Rasa RS240 Dual WaterCooling Kit) (2)
Primochill PrimoFlex LRT Pro 1/2ID 3/4OD Tubing..
Distilled Water for Coolant
6 XSPC 1/2"ID Bards and 2 Danger Den 1/2" ID & Two 1/2"ID Bitspower Bards
Magicool Ultra Thick 240mm Dual Radiator
Four Yate Loon 120mmx25 UV Reactive LED Fan 1650RPM (70.5 CFM)
GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 F10g BIOS
LG Multi-Super DVD Combo Drive (SATA)
Patriot Inferno 64GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Western Digital 250GB HD (SATA)
Western Digital 500GB HD
4GB G.Skill Trident 2000MHz DDR3 Extreme Performance
9-9-9-27 1.6V
With Kingston HyperX Ram Cooler (LED Blue)
Sapphire Radeon HD ATI 5850 HD 1GB GDDR5 256Bit
Overclock with MSI Afterburner @950/1250 from 725/1000
with EK-FC5850 GPU water block
EVGA Nvidia 9800GT 512MB GDDR3 256Bit (Dedicated PhysX Card)
Overclock with MSI Afterburner 735/1831/1100
Xigmatek 650 Modular PSU 85+ PLUS Certified, PFC
Logitech Z5300e THX Certified Surround Sound Speakers
Logitech S-510 Wireless Keyboard and
Microsoft Sidewinder X5 gaming Mouse
Wolf King Gaming Keyboard.
Logitech Attack 3 joystick
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1

Overview Look on the system
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o85RkZvBeaA (review)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy98RPDPI3M (Music Video)

 

[rmcron5296]

@384-BiT Your Anisotropy is not the same. Yours is at 4 and his it at 16. I don't know how much this will change the scores, but I noticed it when comparing the two

 

[Keiki646]

nice build keiki6464 but im sure a nice upgrade to 1155 would be even better!

What's the point trying to have the biggest and better RIG when I'm completely fine with my system That I'd have. This system is able to play game for years to come
no point waste my money when when this system is only 2 years old and extra money was spend upgrade from what I've started from until now. Sorry but I am not all about (" oh I'm clearly the type of person in wanted the next best thing or CPU.." ) PRS is very fast and I am sticking to my words...I am not sure how you guys live in the US but here we keep our things until they completely useless.

 

[Keiki646]

For one i am not american i am british and you read my comment wrong.

i said your build is very nice although an upgrade to 1155 would gain you better results.

Oh no, I've read it clearly, I was just sharing my thoughts about everything that I am saying that I am pretty graceful in even having a system like this,
most people don't even have no more than 500 dollars to spend these days.

 

[Keiki646]

You have done very well with your rig and congrats on the watercooling its very well done.
i only mentioned 1155 as 1156 is dead but its not a dig at you 😉

Yes I am pretty happy but I am still thinking about a third Radaitor but that is OVERKILL. Well 1156 is still in process and many people still us it for the dual core with HT and Turbo Boost...switch are a great CPU for those entry level
Libraries and other school and business still use the 1156.

 

[Keiki646]

with an overclock like that you can have fun with this unit for longer time.
3.6GHz can compete with new SB chips (to a certain extent)..
I'd get out of the physX mode and go SLi if I were you.
I have a physX and SLi units but if only 1 unit then I rather have Sli then physX.

I did have the system overclock to 4.2Ghz but know my history and what overclock can do to a CPU lifespan
I happen to decided to down clock from 4.2GHz to 3.6Ghz switch is a nice 50% overclock from 2.66Ghz stock.
with another radaitor (third) for the southbridge and mosfets maybe I can get 4.5Ghz out of the i5 quad core 750

But about video cards I like the 5850 (O.C @ 1000GHz/1300MHz) with my dedicated PhysX Mod for my 9800GT

 

[Keiki646]

what do you do and games you play that utilizes the physX.?
do you at least run a third monitor off it.?

Games like Metro 2033, Mirror Edge, Batman, ETC (games that have PhysX)

No it all works in one monitor you just have to download the nvidia driver then the PhysX Mod driver 1.03 or 1.04
detect the card and display, extend the display with the current cards, add the PhysX Mod 1.03 Patch

here is my video on how to do it (it's old)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmfqkbeTUf0

 

[smckdwn989]

this project is complete now, until next gen graphics arrive and I decide to boost the 465 for something much much better....

 

[mjmjpfaff]

I think it's safe to say your PC could use a little cable organization, but we've all been there. My Antec 300 drove me crazy because there was nowhere to put all the cables...

if only i could figure out how to post my pictures. i have a 300 illusion and one night at about 11pm i got sick of the desgusting cable management in that case. i worked untill 1am with my brother and we got it looking pretty damn amazing for that case. we had to shove all of the cables in the back. there is a little bulge in the back panel but at least i got my system to look good.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

here we go;

http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h346/mjmjpfaff/

and yes that cpu cooler IS crooked

 

[mjmjpfaff]

Fn G5 sticker..... hmmm

Heckler and Koch G3. close but no cigar. friend has a sticker machine. pretty awesome huh?

 

[aznshinobi]

Alright guys, it's getting close to BF3 release for me, in fact 30 minutes from now I can actually get the Closed Beta download. Should I hold out with my 5850 and wait for 7xxx or go with a 560 Ti? Don't go fanboy on me, if 7xxx truely releases in December, I will wait.

 

[rwayne]

Alright guys, it's getting close to BF3 release for me, in fact 30 minutes from now I can actually get the Closed Beta download. Should I hold out with my 5850 and wait for 7xxx or go with a 560 Ti? Don't go fanboy on me, if 7xxx truely releases in December, I will wait.

I would hold for the HD7000 series or even Nvidia's offering which I guess will be the GTX600 series. The transition to 28nm should be a major, major performance increase.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

@mjmjpfaff,
How come psu is upside down dude? just a wonder is all
Might D/l the bf3 just to see what my frames would be, not my kinda game tbh but nice to know Pc can handle things
Moto

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Nope, serious question, I rarely see a bottom mount psu that way up,
I know most 'decent' cases have mesh/grills/holes in the floor beneath the psu anyway (and that helps air ofc),
but regardless of top/bottom mount I always mount the fan down, that way the psu isn't affecting airflow of the rest of the fans set up
Moto

 

[Motopsychojdn]

My latest build is in an Inwin Dragon rider so theres the aforementioned grill affair but yes, its been within 3 feet of me so its modded hehe
it just always made more sense to me to keep the psu's air/heat out of the case flow as much as you can, I bet his Corsair sticker on the rear is upside down though
but yeah, googling it leds to all manner of fisticuffs over x way being 'correct' over 'y' I think its one of the endless debates 😛
Moto

 

[cmcghee358]

So when the PSU is top mounted, which way does the fan face?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Down into the case, at least if its top mounted its pulling out the rising/channelled hot air then exhausting it,
Moto

 

[striker410]

Nope, serious question, I rarely see a bottom mount psu that way up,
I know most 'decent' cases have mesh/grills/holes in the floor beneath the psu anyway (and that helps air ofc),
but regardless of top/bottom mount I always mount the fan down, that way the psu isn't affecting airflow of the rest of the fans set up
Moto

You aren't the only one, I have my bottom mounted PSU facing down as well. It's quite common, malmental.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

You aren't the only one, I have my bottom mounted PSU facing down as well. It's quite common, malmental.

ya most cases have holes on the bottom so it isnt sucking in hot exhaust. i cheaped out on my case and got a crappy antec. you get what you pay for.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

It does seem to be a matter of opinion, its just to me it makes the most sense so I've always done it that way,
Horses for courses I reckon, without any solid proof of research we cant swear which is 'better' 🙂
Mj, you can always take the psu out, throw a load of 3mm drill holes in there and put some filter on the outside if you wanted to, bit of modding never hurts hehe 🙂
Moto

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Agreed most Antecs are pretty solid. Payed only $90 for my Antec 902 (Rebate) and it's great. The Antec cases look sweet aesthetically too. Planning to mod my 902 after I get BD or 7xxx. No Mal, I will not go Nvidia.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

I don't know what the issue is for you, I love my 300 Illusion...
why you call it crappy.?


I agree with that.

it couldnt kill antec to put some holes in the case for cable management or in the bottom so the psu can suck in cool air?

 

[aznshinobi]

So just to report if it hasn't already been.

If you're using an AMD card, defiantly get the 11.8 update. It feels way smoother on my 5850. If you're going to play BF3 don't use anything lower than the 5850. My 5850 at stock struggles to play BF3 at Medium everything and 4xAA @ 1680x1050 so be aware.