The suspense! Looking forward to hearing the details and seeing the pics!

Okay, nearly done!

Having always purchased brand-name PCs for my gaming habit, I at last decided to try building my own PC.

Here's the parts list:

Intel i7 920 processor
Cooler Master V8 CPU cooler (probably overkill, I know0
Asus P6T motherboard
6GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM
2 X EGVA GTX285 (SLI)
SoundBlaster X-Fi ExtremeGamer
WD 300GB Velociraptor HD (for performance)
Seagate 1.5TB Barracuda HD (for mass storage)
Cooler Master HAF 932 case
Corsair 1000 W. PSU
Vista Ultimate 64b
Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse
Logitech Illuminated Keyboard

For sound, I'll be re-using my Logitech 5.1 wireless speaker system. I'll also be reusing my Samsung SyncMaster 245BW monitor.
Here are the pics I took during my build. There are a bunch of them, so I'm splitting them up into multiple posts.

Part 1 - Getting started and prepping the case.

Here are all the parts in one pile:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4630/pcbuild001.jpg

The case:

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8142/pcbuild002.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6216/pcbuild003.jpg

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5822/pcbuild006.jpg

First step - install the back connector plate:

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/5653/pcbuild008.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/5048/pcbuild010.jpg

Using the provided template, identify which standoffs are needed for the motherboard:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/3772/pcbuild013.jpg

Here are the standoffs after installation. There are nine of them.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/5325/pcbuild015.jpg

The motherboard, CPU and "Cooler Master V8" CPU cooler:

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9157/pcbuild012.jpg


Next step: Installing the CPU, CPU cooler, and memory.

:know:

Part 2.

Installing the CPU onto the motherboard.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3995/pcbuild022.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/7786/pcbuild024.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6836/pcbuild025.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6080/pcbuild026.jpg

Installing the V8 Cooler:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6289/pcbuild016.jpg

Insert the double-threaded screws into the two mounting brackets:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4153/pcbuild017.jpg

Screw the brackets onto the base plate of the heat exchanger:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4456/pcbuild020.jpg

Add the four rubber anti-vibration pads:

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8840/pcbuild021.jpg

Thoroughly clean the surface of the heat exchanger. Do the same with the exposed top of the CPU.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4421/pcbuild028.jpg

Attaching the cooler to the motherboard is going to be a bit awkward. I'm going to do it the easy way... upside down!

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/645/pcbuild027.jpg

Add the heat exchange compound to the CPU. Believe it or not, this is all that is called for in the instructions that came with my compound.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7524/pcbuild029.jpg

Place the cooler on its back (with its legs pointing up) and carefully lower the motherboard onto the cooler. Install the support bracket and tighten everything down with the four nuts.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2738/pcbuild030.jpg

Here's what this monster looks like after installation:

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3080/pcbuild031.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4060/pcbuild032.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/5194/pcbuild034.jpg

Next we add our memory.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7899/pcbuild035.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7155/pcbuild036.jpg

Finally, we mount the motherboard into the case:

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7964/pcbuild037.jpg

The ports on the back of the motherboard should line up perfectly with the back plate we installed earlier:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8943/pcbuild038.jpg


:know:

Part 3: Installing the drives and graphics/sound cards.

Now is a good time to attach the cables for the case's front panel to the motherboard:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/1213/pcbuild040.jpg

This case has lots of cutouts on the back side panel where we can route the cables out-of-sight.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/373/pcbuild041.jpg

The hard drives sit in sliding trays, which makes installation a breeze.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/79/pcbuild042.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/29/pcbuild043.jpg

The optical drive slides in from the front. The button I'm pointing to locks it in place -- no screws required!

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8040/pcbuild044.jpg

The data cables for the drives are now attached to the motherboard.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/4916/pcbuild045.jpg

Now it's time to install the graphics card. It's a monster!

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6585/pcbuild046.jpg

If one is good, two must be better! Each graphics card gets requires two power cables! Now you can see why I went with a 1000 Watt power supply. Note the SLI 'bridge' connecting the two cards.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7069/pcbuild047.jpg

The SoundBlaster card is the last to be installed.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4656/pcbuild048.jpg

:|\\

Part 4: Power supply and cables.

The power supply mounts in the bottom of the case. I could have mounted it in the top, but it's easier this way.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8184/pcbuild049.jpg

The cable situation on the back side of the case is getting pretty messy.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/2006/pcbuild050.jpg

A few zip ties help to get things a wee bit more organized:

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/291/pcbuild051.jpg

Voila! All the power cables are connected...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3176/pcbuild052.jpg

Except for the fan on the side cover. I wish that cable was a foot longer:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8292/pcbuild053.jpg

Time to button 'er up. Looking good, don't you think?

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3561/pcbuild054.jpg

:|\\

Looking very sweet Bill. And to think when we were kids a ball and new baseball glove was heaven:D

That's the largest master cooler I've ever seen !! :o

It looks like a car engine !

Wow, that is so sweet. These cooling systems they have now just blow my mind.

Man, Bill doesn't do anything halfway :salute:

That fan is bigger than the one on my car. That thing is awesome.

That's not a fan...
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/5194/pcbuild034.jpg

It looks more like a nuclear reactor:o

Does that monster come with an LN2 supply? How does the motherboard support that monster's weight.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

:lurk:

Not to be a downer but I have to say I don't much like the design of that case from the stand point of airflow and air sources. With a low front fan and the PSU sucking air from below the case you better put some air filters there, particularly the underside which will be trying to suck up every dust bunny and particle anywhere near it. and clean out the filters fairly regularly or your system may choke on dust. I know my old system which had a low mounted fan sucking air close to the ground would get choked with dust and hair and stuff and send dust all throughout the system. Filters should take care of that though as long as you clean them often enough especialy the one for the psu.

I find the case very nice, except that it doesn't have a removable motherboard tray (and to think that CoolerMaster was the one that pioneered that concept years ago).
All in all that computer will seriously kick ass.
Now you can enjoy playing DW at 1000 fps and SH 3 and 4 at 500 fps. :D

The case is very nice. If she is off the floor dust bunnies will stay on the floor. Mine is about 3 inches off the floor. I tell what is a big help for dust, shut the thing off if you are not using it. My daughters leave their computer on all the time. It gets loaded with dust. I shut mine down when done. No sense running it if I'm not using it. This practice greatly reducing the ever present dust sucking fans from running and for no good reason to be running. Some say that boot up takes forever, yadda, yadda, and leave it on. With my computer and with Bills computer, the power is lighting fast and boot up should be clearly under a minute. Mine is up and ready in about 40 seconds. So shutting it down and booting up later on is not a big issue at all.

Bill, I like the dual video cards:D It is electronic Viagra:D

Yeah, thats some serious horsepower.
Hope the computer doesn't fly away with all the fans it has, including that huge side fan. :haha:

I keep my PC on top of my work bench, so dust is not a problem. (I learned a lesson long ago, when I had a PC fry from sucking dirt and pet hair off a carpet).

:arrgh!:

Off the carpet for sure but I keep it on the shelf under the desk to keep the noise down there and not up by my head. However, my new computer with quality fans is very quiet and would be fine on my desk. I only hear the video card fan kick to high gear when running some heavy graphics.

Anyway back to you, were are you with the build? Fire it up yet?

Noise is very hard to keep down in a high performance pc.
My case for instance doesn't have 30 cm fans, only (3) 12cm fans running at 800rpm. Its mostly silent, even considering the fan on the cpu.
What really frustrated me is the fan on the 9800gtx+.
Its pretty quite when I'm working on the desktop, but the moment I go into 3d mode playing some heavy 3d game the fan goes almost at full speed, from 40% to 70-80%.
Ok it keeps the gpu "cool" but the noise is for me unbearable. :damn:
ATI and Nvidia should learn to make high quality cooling without resorting to delta fans (who remembers those ? :haha: 6000rpm fans).

Good that you got it off the ground, that should limit the dust intake, though a case that size for most people would sit on the floor. Beyond that I can't really judge that case given that I do not have hands on experience with it. I am curious though of those who like the case design how many have hands on experience with it, or if your trying to judge it by eye as I.

As for the lack of a motherboard tray, its hardly surprising these days given the size of coolers for the cpu that your average case doesn't have it any more

last reguarding not shutting down a pc, well there are good arguments for leaving the system running, the main one being that it will extend the life of the system due to the micro surges the system suffers each time the power is turned on and off. Though since it seems that a lot of people don't keep their systems for more then 2-3 years, that argument becomes less relevant.

My old system I turned off and on all the time. Worked for 5 years and is still going. The only thing that went wrong by turning it off and on....the on/off button broke. I went and got a new case with a new button installed. :D I prefer to shut it down and just for that reason....dust collecting while not in use.