Monstrosity-i7 (New Build)

[ZaLiTH]

Apologies, posted about it quite a while back (I think it might have come up other places now and then too), then again, that "while back" was a long time ago.. I had a motorbike accident a couple years back that paralyzed my left arm. So.. I go at all of this one-handed.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Apologies, posted about it quite a while back (I think it might have come up other places now and then too), then again, that "while back" was a long time ago.. I had a motorbike accident a couple years back that paralyzed my left arm. So.. I go at all of this one-handed.

Dang! I'm so sorry! That makes what you have done even more remarkable! Even with "help" from the kitty!

 

[ZaLiTH]

Thanks.. Must admit, a small part of why I do what I do, is just for the reaction. The rest is a case of 'never say never', and see what you can do about it.

 

[mjf]

A monster PC indeed - Never Say Never.

 

[ZaLiTH]

While I give my back and shoulder a bit of a break, I figured it was time for another update.. Over the last few evenings, as and when I have time I've been installing a bit more of the rig. Really starting to take shape nicely so far.

First things first; These fans look seriously amazing, I can't stop staring at them.. Little bit tricky to install with the funny rubber insets in the corners, but well worth the effort. Pity the front two will be covered by a panel in the end, I may mod the front panel some time in the future to show off the fans, but that's undecided at the moment.

And the motherboard and PSU "sink" into the black depths of the case so smoothly, all the component highlights complement each other well.

I used one of the many spare sheets of bubble wrap lying around to protect the M/B while I sorted out the CPU cooler.. Which also helped to hold the radiator in place while I put the screws in from the other side. Bubble wrap is an absolutely genius invention, can't imagine life without it.

Next up was RAM, with the one-sided clips on the RIVBE making this quite literally a two minute job.

Last on the list for the moment is the GPUs. My babies. I suspect the case damage I mentioned in post #58 is causing a bit of trouble now, since I had to push the back end of the case inwards to put the screws in place... As I did so, I noticed the case is pulling the GPU back, which is in turn pulling the motherboard up. It's quite literally a few millimeters of movement, so I don't see any problems cropping up, but it is still ever so slightly concerning.

...and all together now:

Only things left to organise now are drives and cables, at which point I should have it all running. This beast is starting to pick up a bit of weight now and my back is killing me, so I'll post back a bit later today if I get a chance to plug everything in.

 

[paulpicks21]

It looks very nice mate! The fans and ram look lovely

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Apparently your MOBO escaped unscathed but, as a warning to others, bubble wrap might cause damage from ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge). Although rather costly, a sheet of anti-static foam would be a much better choice. That said, you are correct; bubble wrap is amazing stuff. It not only protects things from impact damage, it's a wonderful stress reliever!

I'm in awe of your work, even if you having to do it one handed isn't considered! Your choice of components is impeccable. Not only are they high quality, they match each other appearancewise perfectly! Well done!

 

[Layback Bear]

Looking good. It's coming together quite well.

Little hint that might help.
Put a cloth under the case. It will make it easier to turn or reposition while working on it.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Looking good. It's coming together quite well.

Little hint that might help.
Put a cloth under the case. It will make it easier to turn or reposition while working on it.

Excellent advice. It will also protect the case's paint. Make sure the cloth is all cotton to avoid ESD.

 

[Layback Bear]

I use a cotton bath towel.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I use a cotton bath towel.

Perfect!

 

[ZaLiTH]

Apparently your MOBO escaped unscathed but, as a warning to others, bubble wrap might cause damage from ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge).

Well that's a scary thought.. Can't say I've ever experienced any static from bubble wrap before.. This would have been a very expensive way to learn that lesson.

And thank you for the kind words. I thoroughly enjoy building machines, especially now with the opportunity to play with parts of this quality. I've already got many great plans forming in the back of my mind... Next up is most likely a media center / network storage server system.

Put a cloth under the case. It will make it easier to turn or reposition while working on it.

Excellent advice. It will also protect the case's paint. Make sure the cloth is all cotton to avoid ESD.

Hehe.. Yeah, both good tips. It's already been flipped and flopped and spun around a few times, pretty much done now though.

...and. It's alive!

​

Just trying to sort out my last few drivers quickly so I can bench it properly. But I had no issues getting my RAM to run at 2400 and Win8.1 was completely installed and configured in just under 20 minutes... Now I just to install and partition my drives (only system drive in so far), install apps and copy over about 4TB of stuff from my old box..

I'll say one thing now though, this beast is mind-numbingly fast... Can't wait to get Steam setup and get a few games up and running. I know I don't need to, but once I'm a bit more comfortable with the millions of settings the RIVBE BIOS gives me to play with, I think I need to play around with clocking it a bit, just for fun.

 

[paulpicks21]

Glad she is up and running mate

 

[Layback Bear]

Andre when you get time could you update your system specs.

I would recommend running your system a week or so just to make sure everything is okay before over clocking. Keep watching the temps and make notes. That will give you a base line of your temps stock. You can use this information when over clocking.

 

[ZaLiTH]

Andre when you get time could you update your system specs.

I would recommend running your system a week or so just to make sure everything is okay before over clocking. Keep watching the temps and make notes. That will give you a base line of your temps stock. You can use this information when over clocking.

Thanks Jack, I will do soon.. I'll be adding the two mass storage drives tonight and moving all my daily stuff over.

I still need to do a great deal of reading up on OC'ing Intel based systems first anyway.. I've been a pretty thorough AMD fanboy for many years, so I've got a whole bunch to learn now. So far with simply installing software, copying files and rebooting a few times last night, the average CPU temp (overall, not cores) was floating around 30 degrees, but it wasn't working all that hard and the ambient room temp was about 20 degrees. I plan to push it a little bit harder tonight and see how it behaves..

 

[Layback Bear]

Doing stress test before over clocking will let you know how your cooling is working instead of how your over clocking is working. Thats is a good thing. It is nice to know that the cooling system can handle a default settings under heave load before you start over clocking.

It's just one of those paranoid testing I do with my systems before over clocking. It also helps the thermo paste set in. It also give you a chance to look the system over.
I have been known to install a fan backwards and catch it doing basics testing before over clocking.

I only got 3 brain cells so I have to be paranoid.

 

[ZaLiTH]

...It also helps the thermo paste set in...

I think this is the main reason I could think to do the burn-in tests, with another benefit being the bragging rights (with the right hardware).

But I know what you mean about checking for silly mistakes; if you look at this pic, you'll see I initially installed the rear fan the wrong way round at first, I did fix that a few days later though.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...It also helps the thermo paste set in...

I think this is the main reason I could think to do the burn-in tests, with another benefit being the bragging rights (with the right hardware).

But I know what you mean about checking for silly mistakes; if you look at this pic, you'll see I initially installed the rear fan the wrong way round at first, I did fix that a few days later though.

Hey, when it comes to installing fans bass ackwards, I rule around here!

 

[ZaLiTH]

A few years back, one of my friends got his hands on a closed-loop water cooler (don't remember which one) and ended up with one fan on each side, both blowing air into the RAD. Nothing got damaged fortunately, we saw high temps before the CPU load got too high, but it was a classic moment he never quite lived down.

 

[Lava King]

Usually, pink or red bubble wrap is anti-static.

You probably wont see a spark or feel the static discharge that kills an electronic component.

It's very disappointing, the component simply doesn't work and you didn't even get a good show. :shock:


And just BTW, when assembling my monster PC, I got the two fans on the H105 pointing in opposite directions. Had to remove the rad from the case to turn one of them around.