Solved Z87 Motherboard Suggestions?

sygnus21 said:

I'm just going to 8.1 and see what happens. If I find issues I'll go back to 7. Not interested in dual booting as I'm going to go with one or the other OS.

Anyway my cooler just came in so off to the build. Next post should be from the new system.

Until then...

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Hmm well mate I went 8 upgrade took all my 7 settings then got the free 8.1 and I run Classic Shell on the Sandy Bridge and Stardock8 on this laptop and to all intents and purposes I am just using 7 it is no different except some of the settings in the Control Panel.
Plus I can flip to the 8 setup whenever I feel like it and to get back it is only the flag key and X to get back to the desktop

It up and running!

Well folks, the system is up and running. Still have some housekeeping to do with cable management and some other minor touches but this is....

BTW my Sapphire Radeon VAPOR-X R9 280X 3GB (OC Version) will be here by mid week. Can't wait







Also, if anyone plans on this board with a HAF X case be aware the back plate for the CPU cooler bracket doesn't line up like it does with some boards. This is considered an EX-ATX MB....

Gigabyte G1 Sniper 5 (Z87)


Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5


I went with Windows 8.1 and thus far no major issues yet driver wise, even my soundcard is working. It's interesting to note that Gigabyte has 8.1 drivers for their integrated on-board card which is based on the ZXR card I have, yet there are no 8.1 drivers for the ZXR itself. That said, one of the main features of this board is its on-board soundcard, but I'm going to use my card instead since it's much better. And thus far it's working on the standard 8 drives so...

I'm not using the Corsair Link software for the cooler just yet as I'm currently using both on-board USB Headers since I can't use my USB 3.0 front headers yet. Need an adapter. Long story. Anyway one is on order.

On, yeah, the H100i's fans are loud. Ordered the Corsair Air Series SP120 PWM Quiet Edition. Got a pair of them from Amazon for 26.99. They’re cheaper than the Noctua’s, and they’re black. Trust however when I say if these aren’t any better I will be going with the Noctua’s. They’re great fans, I just hate that brown color.

This UFEI BIOS drove me crazy at first, but I'm getting used to it, especially since switching to classic mode. I haven't used a UFEI before so it takes some getting used to

This RAM is kick-Ass!!! Four dims running at 1866 @ 1.5volts and 9-10-9-27. Man this is some good stuff.

That's it for now

Well done mate, looks amazing

Dude said:

Well done mate, looks amazing

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Thanks but I'm not finished yet. Hopefully it'll look better once I get the new card installed and tiddy up a few cable issues.

That is beastly Drew! Even in this "unfinished" phase it looks phenomenal! Also, I use similar RAM, it's a set of Corsair Vengeance 4x4GB @ 1866MHz and it does run really well.......runs stable @ 9-9-9-24 1T too. Great lookin rig

Could you show us benchmarks?

Drew, That is one colorful mobo and rig. I'm sure it will give some great numbers and performance.

Computer0304 said:

Could you show us benchmarks?

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linnemeyerhere said:

Drew, That is one colorful mobo and rig. I'm sure it will give some great numbers and performance.

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Haven't gotten around to doing any benches yet; I'm still installing programs. Plus I've got a midterm in my Business Law class Tuesday so I need to get working on that; can't be failing tests

And yeah I never said the system was color coordinated

Anyway the lights and stuff might look pretty but I won't be seeing them because of where the system sits...



Anyway once I get the rest of the system sorted, including installing the new vid card when it comes in I'll do some quick benches and post here, and the "Show us your rig" forum

sygnus21 said:

Well folks, the system is up and running. Still have some housekeeping to do with cable management and some other minor touches but this is....





Also, if anyone plans on this board with a HAF X case be aware the back plate for the CPU cooler bracket doesn't line up like it does with some boards. This is considered an EX-ATX MB....

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lol, none of my boards have ever lined up properly with any of my boards (HAF, Lian Li, GT10) always just a bit "off"

And thus far it's working on the standard 8 drives so...

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They’re great fans, I just hate that brown color.

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Very common complaint

This UFEI BIOS drove me crazy at first, but I'm getting used to it, especially since switching to classic mode. I haven't used a UFEI before so it takes some getting used to

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Once you get used to it you will be hard pressed to wonder how you did without it

Looking good mate


(And yeah, I'm stardocked too which really does eliminate any real need to upgrade to 8.1 )

Thank Patrick. Can't wait to get my new card this week. Should have it by Wednesday; just in time for Thanksgiving. If sitting around eating all day wasn't bad enough, now I get to sit around even more playing with my new toy.

Hmm... Maybe I should have bought a treadmill instead

sygnus21 said:

Well folks, the system is up and running. Still have some housekeeping to do with cable management and some other minor touches but this is....

BTW my Sapphire Radeon VAPOR-X R9 280X 3GB (OC Version) will be here by mid week. Can't wait


Also, if anyone plans on this board with a HAF X case be aware the back plate for the CPU cooler bracket doesn't line up like it does with some boards. This is considered an EX-ATX MB....

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It hasn't lined up with any CPU since the 1155 chipset was released. Intel, in it's infinate wisdom, decided to move the CPU a few mm. Why Cooler Master didn't widen the cut out I can only guess it had something to do with money. However, a sidegrinder will fix it in about 5 minutes. I did mine and it worked out very well as soon as I smoothed out the cut and painted it. It's about 1" off, as I recall and may save you several hours later on.

BTW, do you give lessons on wiring? You did an excellent job. I wish I could do half as good as you. Great job, I'm impressed.

Steve, you did do half as good.

Did you leave out an s Gary?

essenbe said:

Did you leave out an s Gary?

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:roflmao:

New vid card installed

essenbe said:

BTW, do you give lessons on wiring? You did an excellent job. I wish I could do half as good as you. Great job, I'm impressed.

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Thanks, but by my obsessive compulsive ways, I still have some housekeeping to do as I'm not exactly thrilled how it looks wire wise.

Anyway here's a new photo showing the new card. You may notice I also updated the fans on the H100i; these are quieter fans. And yeah, they really are quiet. Now I get to listen to the hum of the GPU fans. They not necessarily loud, they're just louder than my 6950. Kind of use to quiet fans. Outside of that, I think I'm going to be lovin' this card

Anyway....



BTW I'm still working on the wire management so....

Also had an issue where the system was taking forever to shutdown and boot up; turns out one of my SSD's is going bad. If I unplug it all is well. Plus OCZ toolbox freaks out trying to read it, and it quits working sometimes when transferring files so it's definitely going

It's looking very nice Drew, even a plug for yourself.

Thanks

Very nice clean build there Drew, that card is identical to my old 7970 Vapor X, that was a beast of a card so I know yours is too. It overclocked very well and temps were very cool on it. I don't think I ever saw the card go above 60C!

paulpicks21 said:

Very nice clean build there Drew, that card is identical to my old 7970 Vapor X, that was a beast of a card so I know yours is too. It overclocked very well and temps were very cool on it. I don't think I ever saw the card go above 60C!

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Thanks, and that's nice to know. And yeah, it is an impressive looking card.

I'm also happy with the fans I replaced on the H100i; makes a difference in fan noise, though noise is still a little louder than my old system. Than again my old system didn't have an overclocked dual fanned GPU, or a closed loop water cooler running to 120mm fans pushing air through a radiator so I get it.

It's just that in this case, loud is relevant to what I had last time - a less powerful, but quieter system.

Anyway it isn't overly loud, it's just more noticeable from my last system :huh:

Going back to the 280X, this card is really making the game run and look better. Yeah, I'm gonna like this card