Show Us Your Rig [6]

[DocBrown]

Seems to me that I got 99 cent fan extensions off eBay

 

[N00berG00ber]

Seems to me that I got 99 cent fan extensions off eBay

.... Whoopi so glad I didn't buy them yet! Lol

 

[Layback Bear]

I keep fan extensions and (Y) extensions along with Sata extension on hand because you never know when you want to add something or move things around.

 

[sygnus21]

My Backup Rig...

About a month ago I upgraded to an Haswell system posted here - http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custo...6779-show-us-your-rig-6-a-67.html#post2611417
Well the parts from the old system went towards upgrading my backup system. Moving from an old Q6600 system to this first gen i7-950 system....








System Specs….

• Antec P182 Case
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5
• Intel i7-950 (3.06gig)
• 12 Gig Corsair Dominator GT RAM
• Noctua NH-C12P SE14
• OCZ 128Gig Vertex 2
• Western Digital 500Gig Caviar Black HD
• AMD (Sapphire) HD 6950 GPU (2gig)
• Lite-on Optical Drive
• SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium Pro
• Antec Neo HE 550 power supply
• Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)

Unfortunately it looks like I’ll have to upgrade my PS as my board isn’t holding my overclocks. I Keep getting a BIOS notice basically stating it can’t hold my assigned specs due to changes in voltage. Pretty much everything in this case is the same as was in my HAF X case other than the PS. I had an Antec 850watt there, here its a 550. It also looks like I’ll have to upgrade the case seeing how tight and cramped things are, especially for air flow.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Drew, that's a banging backup rig and you captured if with amazing images !

 

[essenbe]

Drew, that's what I call a backup system! Really, there are many on this Forum who would be proud to have that as a main system. Great job. A new PSU is not such a high price for a system like that. You've done well for yourself, congratulations. Very well done indeed. Also, you take some great pictures and from some unusual perspectives too, which I really like and appreciate.

 

[Layback Bear]

sygnus21 That is a good looking build. Very clean and tidy and organized.
I agree that build is worth and deserves a nice new power supply. I'm thinking a Corsair or Seasonic 650w or higher.

I'm also thinking a new motherboard battery (bios) might be helpful.

 

[Britton30]

Drew, nice back up machine and nice lighting on the rig as well. do you use an umbrella reflector or tent lighting? I always get a crappy flash reflection.

 

[sygnus21]

Thanks guys...

Drew, that's a banging backup rig and you captured if with amazing images !

Yeah I have to agree it is a nice backup rig, and it served me well as a main rig

And yeah, I have to say that high-key image is banging, if I say so myself

Drew, that's what I call a backup system! Really, there are many on this Forum who would be proud to have that as a main system. Great job. A new PSU is not such a high price for a system like that. You've done well for yourself, congratulations. Very well done indeed. Also, you take some great pictures and from some unusual perspectives too, which I really like and appreciate.

Appreciate that Steve, I always try looking at things from a different angle. Helps with perspective, even in life

sygnus21 That is a good looking build. Very clean and tidy and organized.
I agree that build is worth and deserves a nice new power supply. I'm thinking a Corsair or Seasonic 650w or higher.

I'm also thinking a new motherboard battery (bios) might be helpful.

Unless Antec fell to the depths of garbage, they'll always be in my heart. Just love Antec power supplies, but definitely at least an 850

Drew, nice back up machine and nice lighting on the rig as well. do you use an umbrella reflector or tent lighting? I always get a crappy flash reflection.

I have a flash with a tilt/swivel head so I point it at the ceiling and reflect light back on the subject. This way it helps defuse the light as not to wash things out. Plus it helps with evening the light.

Appreciate all the kind comments

 

[Indianatone]

. I say that as I send off my Maximus V Extreme for RMA for the 5Th time in about 15 months. An almost $400 motherboard that Asus has had more than I have. But, honestly, when it works right, there is not another board like it. It's a crime they can't figure out how to make it work and keep it that way. Jack would agree, I'm sure. [/RANT]

I had a dead AM3 Asus board I returned to ASUS in Jeffersonville in Southern Indiana and got a different board back which was not dead but none of the PCI sockets worked at all. Cost me $25 to ship it first time so I have decided to forget about shipping it back as that will be $50 total and soon we will be in cost of motherboard territory. Frankly ASUS support is absolutely CRAP and although I have just bought 2 Sabertooth boards with 5 year warranty's what good is the warranty if you get a failure and they send you someone else's crap board that does not work. I have read horror stories on Overclockers Forums about Asus support. I am positive it is a 3rd part company who does not give a toss about repairing anything properly. It should be known that the failure rate is low but if it does fail the chances of getting the motherboard fixed IMHO from what I have read is zero. I would complain to their head office in CA and demand a replacement. My experience is I have a board that runs a videocard and CPU but forget about using any add on cards and it is not worth sending it back.

RMA Thru Brand Companies - Overclockers Forums
Asus RMA for repairs under warranty, or lack thereof - Overclockers Forums
Asus... is starting to suck - Overclockers Forums

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...OK, I will freely admit to being crazy. I do a lot of backups to at least 3 different hard drives. I'm obsessive compulsive enough that I have backups of the backups. So, I use a lot of esata ports in my obsessivness. But, I do need a sale on Hard drives. I'm running low. I think I have only about 6 or 7 TB of extra drives. And crankypenguin thought he was crazy. He hasn't met me yet, really. I'm way over the top; about a lot of things.

You think you're crazy? I maintain four backup HDDs for each one in use: two kept locally and two kept in my safe deposit box at my credit union.

I had to add a couple of e-SATA ports to my rig but rarely use them. Instead, I use the hot swap bays installed in my computer to park the backup HDDs during backups. When not in use, I keep them in a foam "egg crate" in a dresser drawer where I can get to them easily.

 

[essenbe]

Tony, as hard as I may want to try, I cannot argue with anything you said. You are right on in my experience with Asus so far. The starnge thing is, they must have bins they throw the boards in, bad memory, bad cpu pins, bad pcie slots and all of that. It just depends which bin the pulll the board from thet deside to send back to you. They seem to send you one from the same bin yours is going into. I just got this board back from RMA because it was running the pcie X16_1 slot at X1 instead of X16. This one, runs the PCIE _1 X16 slot at X8 instead of x16. So, I guess they figured I got a better board. Only problem is, is that X16 slot is the only slot on the whole board that works at all. We're talking about an Eatx board with 5 X16 slots. So, I can't argue with anything you are saying. I have a Maximus V Gene and a Sabertooth that work great (knocks on wood), bit their flagship Extreme model, they can't seem to get to work at all. I need to talk to or write somebody. The real strange thing is, because i wanted a board that would be trouble free, I bought their flagship. I know if I owned the company heads would roll if my flagship model was not an excellent performer and excellent quality control. I would listen to no excuses. I will give it credit for performance, when it works, that is. I guess because I feel that way is why I'm not CEO of asus.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Alan, The CPU socket takes up half the board. That thing is really small, but it looks pretty nice. Have you had a chance to bench test it yet? I, for one, would like a report on the pros and cons. It gives me some ideas.
Lady F. I know it may mess up your internal wiring slightly, but they do make internal USB expansions that will add a couple of USB Headers to the board, but the piece also has slots for 2 USB flash drives to be mounted to it internally. Something you aren't going to be changing a lot is what I'm sure they would be used for. Something like maybe a USB TV tuner, maybe. I bought one, but haven't done the build with it yet so can't give you a report. The best part for you though, is it does not use a PCIE lane. It just attaches to a motherboard USB header. If you have any interest, I can find the link fairly easily for you. Maybe Gary could give you some info on it, if I'm not wrong, I think he bought one I gave him the link for. I needed it be cause Asus, in their infinite wisdom, decided that on their most expensive and flagship Z77 board, they would only put 2 USB 2.0 headers on it. So, I ran out just from connecting FP connections, then needed one for the Corsair, link, card reader and a couple of other things. I've said this about dozens of things on here, but I have to wonder if the manufacturers who sell some of these components have ever tried to use them for themselves and install everyday stuff. If they did, people like us wouldn't complain about boards, cases, pcie lanes and stuff quite as much. And, I forgot the part about making them work right, for something real new, different and unusual. I say that as I send off my Maximus V Extreme for RMA for the 5Th time in about 15 months. An almost $400 motherboard that Asus has had more than I have. But, honestly, when it works right, there is not another board like it. It's a crime they can't figure out how to make it work and keep it that way. Jack would agree, I'm sure. [/RANT] back to your issues. Let me know if you would like a link to the USB expansion thing. If you have any interest at all, I think they are pretty cheap, so no big risk if you don't like it. Technically, you only gain 2 USB headers as it gives you 3 but takes 1 to make it work. But, that's a 100% gain for me. LOL

EDIT: OK here it is. It's only about 6" long Amazon.com : NZXT IU01 Internal USB Expansion (Black) : Desktop Computer Usb Port Cards : Electronics


View attachment 299899


.

Steve you're a mind reader, I just PM'ed Jeannie about the USB expander and blamed you for it. I have hooked it up to test it but haven't "installed" it anywhere. It works nicely and takes power from a Molex connector. As a test I booted a flash drive with it and read/wrote some too. Just like having them on the board.

I agree with the rant, I have two mid range ASUS boards that both have 4 USB 2.0 headers, the more expensive Sabertooth has only 3.

I currently have a vacant PCI-e slot available for a dual TV tuner. If I decide I need a second dual tuner, I can change out the card reader and give up two of my current USB 3.0 rear ports. So far, I'm using only one USB 3.0 port for the 2 port hub I'm using on my desk. That can be sacrificed if ever I need to use both of the remaining rear USB 3.0 ports. If push comes to shove and I need more USB 3.0 ports after adding the second tuner, I can use the PCI-e slot that is paired to my GPU card for an expansion card and just settle for running the GPU card on only 8 lanes. I don't see many USB 3.0 devices being connected to a rear port anytime in my foreseeable future, however. The printer is wireless. The two scanners and the UPS connect via USB 2.0. Even if I replace my current ADF scanner with the newer model, which will run on both USB 3.0 and Wi-Fi, I can just run it on Wi-Fi (it will also run on USB 2.0; it would just be a bit slower). The only USB 3.0 device I can see adding is an AC Wi-Fi adapter.

The whole argument is moot for now until I determine if I need more than one tuner anyway. Also, I haven't found any USB dual TV tuners. Adding a USB expansion card and multiple USB tuners inside my case would be just too crowded, if I could even get them all to fit.

 

[essenbe]

...OK, I will freely admit to being crazy. I do a lot of backups to at least 3 different hard drives. I'm obsessive compulsive enough that I have backups of the backups. So, I use a lot of esata ports in my obsessivness. But, I do need a sale on Hard drives. I'm running low. I think I have only about 6 or 7 TB of extra drives. And crankypenguin thought he was crazy. He hasn't met me yet, really. I'm way over the top; about a lot of things.

You think you're crazy? I maintain four backup HDDs for each one in use: two kept locally and two kept in my safe deposit box at my credit union.

I had to add a couple of e-SATA ports to my rig but rarely use them. Instead, I use the hot swap bays installed in my computer to park the backup HDDs during backups. When not in use, I keep them in a foam "egg crate" in a dresser drawer where I can get to them easily.

But, I am not the repository of the NSC's evesdropping program :roflmao: But, seriously, my set up leaves me no 5.25" drive bays left to use, so I have 2 to 3 of these filled with drives connected at almost all times. I find it easy and convienent, and I've had good luck with them. BTW, I keep a spare around just in case.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I have a single slot external dock I used before I built my present rig I keep around just in case. It connects via e-SATA.

I have a USB 3.0 external card reader that connects via a cable so I could gain an additional 5.25" bay if push came to shove. I'm using an Antec EasySATA for my 3.5" internal dock (the 2.5" dock came built into my case:

The cable is for the e-SATA port on the front. It's been discontinued so I managed to scare up a spare one while I could as well as some extra connector cards:

I recently spotted this internal dock online:

It looks pretty slick but there are four things I don't like about it. The doors look like they could let a lot of dust in, a 3.5" HDD will stick out about halfway, there is no way to lock or latch the drives in like the EasySATAs do, and the reviews have been less than stellar (mostly quality control issues; pity that).

One thing I like about the Corsair Obsidian 650d case is has a combination 3.5"/2.5" swap bay built in and has four 5.25" bays. Pity it's too big for me.

 

[sygnus21]

Frankly ASUS support is absolutely CRAP and although I have just bought 2 Sabertooth boards with 5 year warranty's what good is the warranty if you get a failure and they send you someone else's crap board that does not work. I have read horror stories on Overclockers Forums about Asus support. I am positive it is a 3rd part company who does not give a toss about repairing anything properly. It should be known that the failure rate is low but if it does fail the chances of getting the motherboard fixed IMHO from what I have read is zero.

Wow. For me this kind of validates my reluctance to get an Asus board when I was looking to pick a Z87 board - http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custo...-z87-motherboard-suggestions.html#post2589840 - There were suggestions to go with an Asus board but I said no due to my personal experience with Asus's horrendous support on my Asus laptop.
It's too bad though because Asus is said to make some really good stuff but what's the use in taking a chance with them if you're going to get screwed by their customer service later on should you need them.

As I said before anyone can have a bad day, but when those bad days become consistent, that's when word gets out, and people shy away. I did.

 

[essenbe]

Drew, the real unfortunate part is that is standard operating procedure for the industry. Neither Asrock, Gigabyte, MSI or anyone else is any better. I've had the opportunity to deal with all of them. I really think the issue lies not with the customer suport people. Actually I have had good service from the customer support people at Asus. I believe the problem lies with the actual technitians who actually do the 'repairs' to the board. I have actually received the same board back from an RMA to install new bios EEPROMs and waht I received still had my exact overclock settings in bios which meant they just put it in another box and sent it right back. They didn't even touch it.

 

[sygnus21]

No matter who's at fault, you can't as a company bury your head in the sand a pretend to not hear the cries of your customers. This to me only makes the company worse.

And though this may be SOP, which I reluctantly agree, some don't always go out their way to make you feel like they're doing you a favor by providing you customer support.

But yes, unfortunately many many companies are going the KOA (kiss our a..) way of customer service. All we, the consumers can do is speak with our wallet. if enough consumers do this, companies will have to start listening because their profits will suffer.

Yes, all may be doing the same thing, but when some are louder than others, I stay away from them.

My two cents.

 

[gldndragn]

I have not had a problem with Asus or msi <yet>.....msi has been great to me, upgraded two motherboards that I rma'd, asus took a while to replace a sound card <xonar d1> but it was a painless process.

 

[essenbe]

No matter who's at fault, you can't as a company bury your head in the sand a pretend to not hear the cries of your customers. This to me only makes the company worse.

And though this may be SOP, which I reluctantly agree, some don't always go out their way to make you feel like they're doing you a favor by providing you customer support.

But yes, unfortunately many many companies are going the KOA (kiss our a..) way of customer service. All we, the consumers can do is speak with our wallet. if enough consumers do this, companies will have to start listening because their profits will suffer.

Yes, all may be doing the same thing, but when some are louder than others, I stay away from them.

My two cents.

I very much agree with you. I just wish there was some company that gave even mediocre service and good products that we could by from and send the other's a message they understand. That company would be EVGA if only they would start making decent boards.