My first build

[XabbaRus]

Bill are you having a mid-life crisis?

First the Evo now an uber computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[longam]

What no SCSI Raid 5? pfft

JK, That thing should run Office 2525 with no problem.

[Bill Nichols]

Originally Posted by XabbaRus

Bill are you having a mid-life crisis?

First the Evo now an uber computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill Nichols]

The build has begun!

I started yesterday. Thus far, I have everything installed except for my graphics and sound cards, and the power supply.

I would continue working, but I must get up at 4am tomorrow to catch a flight (business trip), and would rather not be falling asleep in my meetings.

I'm also taking plenty of pics. Soon as I return (Wednesday, I hope) I'll begin posting my assembly photos.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Nice Bill! Get with Neal. He is thinking i7 core also. Looking forward to the pics!

Wow, thanks for contributing to my bonus/ coppenhagen spending money.

[Onkel Neal]

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

[Bill Nichols]

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:



The case:







First step - install the back connector plate:





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



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



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




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

[Bill Nichols]

Part 2.

Installing the CPU onto the motherboard.









Installing the V8 Cooler:



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



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



Add the four rubber anti-vibration pads:



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



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



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.



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.



Here's what this monster looks like after installation:







Next we add our memory.





Finally, we mount the motherboard into the case:



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

[Bill Nichols]

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:



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



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





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



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



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



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.



The SoundBlaster card is the last to be installed.

[Bill Nichols]

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.



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



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



Voila! All the power cables are connected...



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



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

[AVGWarhawk]

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

[Blacklight]

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

It looks like a car engine !

[longam]

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

[Onkel Neal]

Man, Bill doesn't do anything halfway

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

[nikimcbee]

That's not a fan...


It looks more like a nuclear reactor

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