Any desktop PC geeks here?

JimMcClain · Aug 29, 2014

Since I don't want to have parts laying all over the place, I figured I should get the motherboard next, so I can attach the components to it as they are acquired. This board hasn't got a lot of reviews yet because it's so new on the market, but ASUS, the manufacturer, has been making quality motherboards for many years. This is the Gryphon Z97. You can read the specs here: Motherboards - GRYPHON Z97 - ASUS I didn't get the "armor plating" model, which I thought was a bit superfluous. But this board was built to military specifications and isn't dressed up with a lot of bling for those gamers and modders who like to show the inner workings of their systems with see-through acrylic panels. This is the heaviest motherboard I have ever handled.

I know that zaroba was concerned I would end up with a system that was already outdated by the time I completed the build. I want to assure you that this mobo is among the latest and greatest available. Likewise for the SSDs from Samsung. Just released this year. And I have shopped for the best price and promise not to feel ripped off if the prices are lower by the time I finish this build.

Jim

lambertpix · Aug 29, 2014

It's almost starting to look like a PC now. ;-)

I've always found it easiest to at least mount the CPU & HS before installing the MB - just in case the HS is one of those that requires a lot of pressure to seat / attach correctly, but I guess it wouldn't take too long to take out the MB if you need to at this stage. Does the tray allow access to the back of the MB (behind the CPU)?

JimMcClain · Aug 29, 2014

I'm not actually mounting anything permanently yet. The motherboard is held in place by only a couple screws. I usually like to mount the CPU, CPU fan and the RAM sticks before mounting the motherboard in the case. However, this case has an open back that exposes the whole back of the mobo's CPU area. This will make it easy to mount the CPU fan after mounting the motherboard in the case because the screw holes will be more accessible. There is a lot more room to work in the case than there is in my current Lian Li case.

More parts on the way.

Jim

JimMcClain · Sep 6, 2014

The past couple of days, more parts have arrived. First up is the power supply. I am a big believer, where PSUs are concerned, that more is better. This is a Corsair HX750i High Performance Power Supply I ordered from Amazon. It's modular, so I only have to plug the cables I need into the unit - and there is a large bag of all kinds of cables to choose from.

I am most excited to see the CPU come in. It's an Intel i7 4790K that runs at 4.0MHz, but my motherboard may automatically overclock it a little, based on my components and setup. I am not doing any manual overclocking, but if the system automatically selects the optimum configuration, I'd be very happy.

Next is the optical drive, a Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA drive that has proven to be the most consistent and popular DVD drive available. If I was still a modder, I'd be attaching the drive bay blank, which is brushed aluminuminuminum so that, when you tap it, the drive's drawer opens or closes. Ah well, those days are gone.

I guess I can live with the ugly front of the DVD.

As I was doing show & tell of this project with some friends, I noticed that the SSDs were uncomfortably loose in the case's SSD drive cage. They kinda flop around some. I realize the computer is not going on off-road trips in the back of a truck, but still, I want the components to be securely attached to the case. I need a drive bay converter for the 500GB SSD, which I haven't ordered yet, so I thought I'd get another for the 2-128s. I ordered a 3.5-inch HDD to 2.5-inch SSD Drive Bay Converter from Amazon and mounted both of my 128GB SSDs in it and slid it into one of the 2 HDD slots. It's a good solid fit. This means the system is not toolless anymore, but that doesn't bother me. I'm pretty handy with tools anyway.

I removed the SSD cage, so now there is more air circulation room to keep the system cool.

There are still a few more expensive components to get, but I'm pleased with the progress so far. I'm thinking I should sell my GoPro Hero 3+, which I have hardly used in the 6 months I've owned it. Anyone interested?

Thanks for following the build.

Jim

Michel88 · Sep 8, 2014

3 SSD's seems to overdo it I'd personally say.. By all means go for it if you want, but wouldn't a regular 500HDD be a lot cheaper? SSD's don't come cheap, especially not those 500gb variants.

As for OS, Windows 9 will come out this year, perhaps end of the month or October, so you might as well wait for that. Knowing Microsoft and their tendency to deliver a good OS after a crappy OS, Windows 9 should be good

JimMcClain · Sep 17, 2014

Michel88 said:
3 SSD's seems to overdo it I'd personally say.. By all means go for it if you want, but wouldn't a regular 500HDD be a lot cheaper?

From the beginning, I have said this is not about building the cheaper system, it is about the power system - and secure and technologically advanced. But yes, a lot of things could be cheaper, but I don't want to sacrifice the performance. SSD drives will soon be the only drives used in new computer systems - HDDs will be the optional choice.

As for OS, Windows 9 will come out this year, perhaps end of the month or October, so you might as well wait for that.

I don't know where you are getting that information, but I think it's inaccurate. Win9 will likely be announced and official information and videos about its features shared during the Windows Event scheduled for Sep. 30. The release date is still unknown, but may not be until April 2015, at the earliest, or maybe not until September - a year from now. And I've never installed an operating system fresh on the shelves. I waited a year for Win7. It prob'ly won't be all that difficult to upgrade the system to Win9 from 8.1, so I'm not too concerned.

***

More parts have arrived. Last week, the 500GB SSD showed up and yesterday, the additional drive bay converter came, so I have all 3 SSD drives mounted in the HDD cage at the bottom-front of the enclosure. Along with the drive bay converter, I received the humongous CPU cooler and 4 sticks of RAM, for a total of 32GB.

That CPU cooler was a gamble. I wasn't sure it would fit under the hood. It was the quietest and best cooling in all the tests I read about, but also the largest. It has a little brother that came in second in most of the tests except noise, which is an important consideration for me. This cooler fits, with only a sixteenth of an inch to spare.

There's only a couple hardware items left to get. I could begin the setup and software installations now because the main board has video built-in, but I ordered the video card today, so I'll wait.

I can't help but be excited, being so close to completing this new system.

Jim

lambertpix · Sep 18, 2014

Looking good. I think in hindsight, I might have been further off with something like that Noctura (?) vs. the AIO water cooling setup I got. I can't say I've really seen the expected acoustic benefits of this setup so far.

JimMcClain · Sep 18, 2014

I can't remember the website I saw it on, but one of the reviews of the Noctua cooler said they compared it to a water cooling set up (also don't remember what unit that was) and temps were nearly the same, but noise levels were higher for the water cooling product.

H2O coolers have improved considerably from my modding days, but I never felt comfortable running any kind of liquid through a computer case. Too scarey for me.

JimMcClain · Sep 25, 2014

A couple of days ago the video card arrived. I have the PNY NVIDIA Quadro K2200, from B&H.

I havent taken any pics of the finished system because Ive been busy putting it all together. The hardware assembly is the easy part, its the installation of OS and software and all the various configurations that take so much time.

If you plan to build a new machine and would like all your individual configurations, profiles and other options to move over to the new machine, you should do a backup of your %AppData%\Local and %AppData%\Roaming folders. I saved mine and, after installing each program, I then pasted the appropriate subfolders from those 2 locations into the new locations, overwriting any files and merging any folders that the new installation set up.

I had some difficulty with IE because Microsoft has disabled downloading executable files, even for their own programs (MS Office Home & Business 2013). Once I figured that out, I downloaded Firefox browser, renamed the file so I could execute the installation (from ***_exe to ***.exe). After it was installed, I was able to get Office and all my other applications without any trouble.

But having never used Windows 8.1, it has been a trying experience. Too excited though to let it all sit until I finished a couple of web projects for clients and spend time with a very good friend I haven't seen in years, I stayed up all night 2 nights in a row, only taking cat-naps 3 or 4 times. Not good for my health, being tethered to an oxygen hose and having to take meds on a fairly strict schedule. There was a lot of frustrating moments, but also a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction.

Around 5pm, I was just about ready to take another nap when I heard the distinctive slap of cardboard box (a heavy one) slapping the concrete near my front door. Then the familiar punch of my doorbell. The UPS driver gets his thank-you just as he's boarding his van and I see that the new monitor I ordered has arrived 2 days early (B&H is like that). I got this because I am getting more and more involved in my photography - it's why I am building this machine - so I did the research and took the advice of more accomplished people. I am staring at a ASUS PA249Q 24" LED Backlit IPS Widescreen Monitor. What a huge difference in the LG E2241 I have been using for several years now.

As I said a little over a month ago, my finances are limited, not my budget (some of you didn't seem to understand the difference). I actually thought this would take a few more months, but I got lucky, made some good sales on ebay and other venues (thank you Manny), was asked to help out on a couple web projects and managed to get everything I wanted in a pretty short period of time. The system specs are in this thread, if you care to read back. I spent about $3400.00 (incl. the Bose Companion 20 speakers that haven't arrived yet). That is about a thousand more than I spent on my first computer in 1991. Wow, that's a lot of dough when you add it all up. But it's all quality gear. I never once compromised the quality to get cheap or save a buck. And even if my photography never earns me a single dollar, this is worth every bill to me.

It is so amazing to see my computer start up and be ready to work in less than a minute. Blows my mind. My old machine took at least 5 minutes and it was a slug during so many tasks.

Now that I have the power to support it, I think I see full-frame in my future.

I have to be gone all day tomorrow, but I'll post a picture or 2 of the completed system as soon as I can. Right now, the new machine is sitting on top of the old to make it easier for me to switch back and forth while I was juggling tasks. And you can't believe the huge pile of cardboard and packing bubbles that come with this stuff.

Jim