Windows 7: Show Us Your Rig [4]

That's a great rig, Dallas. Good job!

Not sure if any of you have found your answers to the 4-pin vs 8-pin CPU power connector yet, but just in case... I did quite a bit of research on that topic after I saw my XFX 750a board had the 8-pin. It was time to replace my PSU and that was one of the points that weighed in with the end choice.

The 8-pin connectors are pretty common on server boards, if I remember correctly, they first came out on dual-CPU server boards. Later this idea was also adapted by dual-CPU consumer boards and those designed with overclocking in mind. The main reason is to provide more stable power at higher loads, so unless you're running two procs or (if possible) making your single proc do the work of two, you shouldn't ever need to worry about it. Hope that helps..

Lady F you certainly are patient one. I think you are the only member who can disassemble you connectors to sleeve them.

Dallas7 that is a nice and clean build. You can also upload original pictures. Hit the big orange reply button to get to the Advanced editor, click the then browse to your image and upload. A full size pic is better to see detail. Ex.


When you open it in a new tab and click on it once more, it's full size.

I agree Britton30, she not only sleeves the darn things but cuts them to length where possible and routes the wires so that they look like hard piping with zero twist in the cable/sleeves.....just amazing. You think people don't notice.....we do and totally understand the level of attention. Your mad woman....mad....and I love it ! You really do need to get out the Nikon and special lights for a final group of detailed pictures when it's all done!

Dallas 7, that is a VERY clean build that you should be proud of! I can tell you put a lot of work into it.

Not only that, but she colors them with magic markers. Now, who would do that?

BTW, Lady Fitzgerald, this is what a bench test should look like.

Mad scientist at work!

Kelly, you got the first part right at least. Just testing to make sure everything works. I really hate to take the motherboard out because there is something not working. After putting everything together, it's a real PITA to remove everything to remove the motherboard.

Yes it is! Made a little easier with modular power supplies, but still quite a bit of work if something isn't working right.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! Except for the two hardwired cables, the PCIe cable (it was already nicely sleeved), and an extension cable that doesn't show from the front, I custom made all of the PSU cables, occasionaly cannibalizing connectors from other cables but usually just buying new ones. It's not that hard, just time consuming but, then, I'm retired so I can afford to take the time. I did do a bit of cheating, though. I was afraid to dismantle the PSU 24 pin connector to sleeve it since I'm color blind and trying to get it back together would have been a nightmare so I just covered the parts that showed with sleeving that wraps around the original, nearly transparent sleeving. I did the same thing with the two breakout cables since the sleeved portion was a straight run (except for that one little kink). Getting all the SATA data connectors through the sleeving I had on hand would have been a nightmare (it would have been impossible with the mini-SAS connector) so I cheated and used the wrap sleeving. Thank God for 3-1 heat shrink tubing.

I got my inspiration for this madness on the Overclockers Forum (the initials would be OCF but think of it as OCD). Some of those guys are into building custom cases as well as custom cables and resleeving existing cables (I would have loved to have built a custom case from oak—I toyed with the idea of going steampunk with it—but I have enough projects waiting to happen already so I limited myself to cutting away a brace and adding some cable routing holes to a stock case). I'm a rank amateur compared to most of those guys.

Btw, great job Dallas, grest job! Nice and clean looking!