Nice @cilonen
As expected the Bgears fan adapter wouldn't fit on top of my K58W so I resorted to using duct tape to secure my two TY-140s as top fans. Since doing that, Noctua has agreed to send me two sets of 120mm to 140mm adapter brackets for free. I might remove the duct tape but then again I might not bother because the tape seems to be working fine.
In late February after reading the rumor that Kepler was delayed until April I decided that I was sick of the rumors/waiting and I bought a Gigabyte GTX 580 3GB. Maybe that makes me a fool, but instead of refreshing the Kepler threads I'm now playing Battlefield 3 maxed out at 45-60 fps. I have until April 1st to return it, so if it turns out that GK104 releases in March and I can get one then I'll do so.
Last night I built my mother a new PC using the leftovers from my pre-built HP. My old GPU was the last thing that it needed before I could build it so that played a role in my lack of patience for Kepler. I had to get her a new power supply (430W Corsair, which I got for only $17 after MIR on Newegg) and case (Cooler Master Elite 360), and I told her to opt for a SSD as well (64GB Crucial M4, $65 on Newegg). Otherwise, I used my old motherboard, CPU (Core 2 Quad Q8300) w/ stock cooler, GTS 250, DVD drive, Vista Home Premium 64-bit, and the 30GB hard drive from her current computer. I haven't had time to set up Windows yet but it does seem to boot fine, however upon booting I get this error message:
"The System Fan Has Failed! Service PC to prevent damage to the system. Press <F2> to Continue"
There's the CPU's stock cooler fan, the case's lone 120mm (I think) fan, and the GPU fan, and they're all spinning and seemingly working well. After hitting F2 I'm able to load the Vista disc and everything seems fine. Google indicates that a lot of people with pre-built HPs encounter this problem so I'm thinking it's some sort of glitch related to the motherboard. Tonight I'll look further into it, but does anything immediately know if there might be a problem I'm not considering?
Also, after much deliberation I settled on a mouse and mechanical keyboard:
G500: I really like it. My only complaint is that I can't customize the LED, and despite
what I previously thought I find myself wishing for more custom buttons. The G700 would solve both of those problems, and I prefer its all-black look to the G500's digital camo thing (which I initially hated, but it's grown on me). So I may switch at some point, but for now I'm just wondering how I went so long without access to a "Show Desktop" shortcut on my mouse. And it's nice to finally be able to compete in tank battles in BF3.
Unicomp Ultra Classic: Initially, I am disappointed. The build quality seems pretty cheap (keys with little plastic pieces still attached, some warped plastic, creaking case), and I'm finding it hard to get used to the loud noises of the buckling spring keys. I'm hoping it grows on me, but right now I wish I'd gotten a Leopold Brown. If it doesn't grow on me I'll have to wait a while before switching because all of this PC upgrading lately has left me slightly broke.