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[Deleted member 22576]

Holy fuuuuuuuuck. This thing just barely fits. I even had to take the ram out to seat it properly.

See that gap between the bottom fan and the card? It's like less than 1/4 in.

Small formfactor indeed.

 

[Tess3ract]

Why'd you get a 680?

You could have saved some money getting an oc'd 670 instead.

 

[mkenyon]

680 is the best card you can buy. OC'd 670 can hit 680 levels, but not OC'd 680 levels.

You get a bit more space for cards if you install a 120mm fan/heatsink.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Yeah why wouldn't you get a 680?


Also, barely any room for the hd audio connector. It's smooshed!

Basically done dry fitting everything. Just pulled the mobo out and I'm gonna route the cables underneath it. I can't convey how big this gpu is. Even diagonally it barely fits inside this thing. It's like when they out that giant steak on Fred flintstones car.

 

[mkenyon]

Pro tip, that HD audio connector is almost guaranteed to get tons of interference. Use the I/O panel jacks instead. First thing I do when building is totally get rid of that cable, even clipping it if necessary.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Hmmmmm, interesting. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna be using the optical jack on the mobo.. I didn't even think about that. I'm not sure I wanna clip it right now, maybe in a few weeks when I do a second pass on the internals.

 

[Moonkeis]

Hmm, I was thinking of starting a new build but with Black Friday not too far away, I'm tempted to hold out for some deals.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Staring to feel like I'm making some progress!

Convenient little groove here that's perfect for a zip tie!!

There looks to be just enough room behind the PSU to bundle up that he audio cable so I think I'm just gonna squirrel it away there.

 

[gokieks]

It'll be about 4-8 degrees warmer than it would otherwise. Up to you.

That's rather overstating it, based on my experience. There are of course a lot of other factors that have an effect, but when I tested push vs pull on my 212+ with the stock fan, the difference was only 1-2 degrees.

 

[Stubo]

That's rather overstating it, based on my experience. There are of course a lot of other factors that have an effect, but when I tested push vs pull on my 212+ with the stock fan, the difference was only 1-2 degrees.

Just pull vs. just push?

I think that's what's happening here and if that's the case then the difference should be more than 1-2 degrees.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

So going back to the whole positive negative thing... I've found a disconcerting incongruency..

The colors and arrows are mismatched!
which truth is the real truth?

 

[gokieks]

Just pull vs. just push?

I think that's what's happening here and if that's the case then the difference should be more than 1-2 degrees.

Yes, just push vs just pull. And the difference was 1-2 degrees.

Here's a thread where a couple people tested push vs pull (as well as push-pull) with several different fans, and the difference really is not that large: http://www.overclock.net/t/1199135/...-pull-also-horizontal-vs-vertical-positioning

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

It probably has nothing to do with Windows since it happened after messing with the BIOS and startup repair never does anything useful anyway in my experience. Did you check that your BIOS settings are correct after setting them to default? Like AHCI mode for your HDDs and boot order?

Thanks for the quick response. Changing the mode to AHCI from IDE worked.

Can I still use XMP to overclock the RAM to 1600, increase the performance settings, etc.? Afraid to mess with the settings now haha.

Also when I increase the RAM speed it increases the voltage from 1.5 to 1.65. Can I decrease it back to 1.5?

 

[Deleted member 22576]

So wine solves everything. Or at least wine corks. Sorta dismayed at how completely stupid this triple headed sata cable is.. Especially since this psu was designed for this case. It just plain doesn't reach all three places.. Now I have to find a slot for this monstrosity... Thinking of just doing away with all te 2.5 mounts and just attaching it to the optical drive bay.

 

[Decado]

Do PC games support surround sound? I hooked up my new PC to my receiver via an optical cable and tried a movie and got surround, but no luck with any game I've tried (Space Marine and Bulletstorm).

I miss good audio

 

[Dizzy-4U]

My monitor broke so I decided to buy one of those 120hz monitors and Holy Mother of God! Where have you been all my life? Even on the desktop it feel sooooo much better than 60hz. I only tried Borderlands 2 so far but oh man, it's incredible the feel of 120fps.

There is no way I'm going back after this...

 

[Deleted member 22576]

I am blowing my own mind right now. Lets just say two minidiscs have found themselves inside my computer.



So anyone have any tips on that cable that could be positive or negative? It's the reset sw... Is it going to blow up if I turn it on and it's wrong? My gut tells me to go with the cable color and not the connector symbols.

 

[mkenyon]

Thanks for the quick response. Changing the mode to AHCI from IDE worked.

Can I still use XMP to overclock the RAM to 1600, increase the performance settings, etc.? Afraid to mess with the settings now haha.

Also when I increase the RAM speed it increases the voltage from 1.5 to 1.65. Can I decrease it back to 1.5?

XMP exists to remove the user from selecting anything. Whether or not you can set it to 1.5V depends on your RAM's XMP.

Do PC games support surround sound? I hooked up my new PC to my receiver via an optical cable and tried a movie and got surround, but no luck with any game I've tried (Space Marine and Bulletstorm).

I miss good audio

Game settings, as well as your audio control panel. Mess around with the different settings to see if you can force it. Space Marine SHOULD have it. That was the first game where I felt the sound production was an intrinsic part of the experience.

My monitor broke so I decided to buy one of those 120hz monitors and Holy Mother of God! Where have you been all my life? Even on the desktop it feel sooooo much better than 60hz. I only tried Borderlands 2 so far but oh man, it's incredible the feel of 120fps.

There is no way I'm going back after this...

That's what I'm talking about!

I am blowing my own mind right now. Lets just say two minidiscs have found themselves inside my computer.



So anyone have any tips on that cable that could be positive or negative? It's the reset sw... Is it going to blow up if I turn it on and it's wrong? My gut tells me to go with the cable color and not the connector symbols.

Reset switch shouldnt matter.

Gotta see pics of these mini discs!

 

[Deleted member 22576]

That just took like 45 minutes of zip tying but it's just about as perfect as it could be. I ditched the 2.5in mounting bracket and just rolled my own solution. Actually pretty pleased now that it's done. All three SATA devices are in the same bundle. There's another 2.5in bay in the back of the case that is completely unused now. I could easily add two more ssds.

It's pretty elegant if I do say so myself.

 

[mkenyon]

That's badass.

Try picking up some 3M Extreme Mounting tape as well. After zip ties, that's my most favorite building accessory. Any flat surface turns into an SSD tray.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Sorta perturbed about which way to my my PSU. One way the fan is facing the inside, but the cables are a bit harder to access. The other way the fan is right up against the side if the case, but the cable ports are perfectly accessible.

 

[DTKT]

I'm sitting in front of my disassembled PC and I have a question! I have an Antec 900 and I'm currently installing my CM Hyper 2012 Plus. It seems that I can either place the CPU fan facing the rear case fan or the big top 120mm fan. Are all the fans sucking the air from inside the case to the outside or is that the job for the 120mm? I assume that since the CPU fan is projecting hot air from the cooler into the case environment, I should look for a fan that's able to directly push that hot air out!

I actually never wondered what kind of fans the case fans were. :\

 

[gokieks]

Do PC games support surround sound? I hooked up my new PC to my receiver via an optical cable and tried a movie and got surround, but no luck with any game I've tried (Space Marine and Bulletstorm).

I miss good audio

Unless your sound card supports Dolby Digitil (AC3) encoding on the fly, you won't be able to get surround sound via optical for most games. And those are unfortunately not the norm.

 

[xelios]

Thinking about getting a sound card, just built a new PC and have a (stupid?) question. If I get a Xonar will my front headphone jack use it, or only if I plug it into the card? I mostly use headphones these days so I'm curious.

 

[Rufus]

Thinking about getting a sound card, just built a new PC and have a (stupid?) question. If I get a Xonar will my front headphone jack use it, or only if I plug it into the card? I mostly use headphones these days so I'm curious.

The Xonar DG has a connector for your front panel audio. The static is going to be just as bad though.

 

[Tomodachi]

So I decided to change my case too, but I really want to spend as little as possible considering I have to grab other components and the case would be hidden, so no need for it to be flashy/elegant/etc. I just want a bottom PSU slot, one 2.5" slot (planning to add an SSD before the end of the year) and decent cable management, especially since my Corsair PSU isn't modular.
The OP suggests the Bitfenix Merc that goes for a bit less than 40€ (like 45-50$) on the local amazon store, any other suggestions for that price? I don't want to spend more than say 60€ though.
Also I have a spare case fan I will mount in addition to the one that comes already installed in the rear, should I put that extra fan in front or on the side?
Oh and the top of the case will be covered so I think I'll get the beta version instead of the alpha (2 top fan slots), is that bad?

Quoting for new page, also 'cause I was going to order it right now but I'm still not completely sure it's worth to pull the trigger on the Bitfenix Merc. Anyone? :/

 

[mug]

Thinking about getting a sound card, just built a new PC and have a (stupid?) question. If I get a Xonar will my front headphone jack use it, or only if I plug it into the card? I mostly use headphones these days so I'm curious.

Sound card usually have headers on them for the front panel audio.

 

[Stubo]

Yes, just push vs just pull. And the difference was 1-2 degrees.

Here's a thread where a couple people tested push vs pull (as well as push-pull) with several different fans, and the difference really is not that large: http://www.overclock.net/t/1199135/...-pull-also-horizontal-vs-vertical-positioning

Well consider me surprised and proven wrong! Fair enough, hard to argue with that information.

I'd still sway towards push if it's easily possible though.

 

[Hazaro]

Xonar DG soundcard ? Only 30 $ ?

I hate my onboard sound, I get no bass at all while playing. Is the xonar really that good ? I have never heard of it. I thought only creative was allowed to make soundcards and they are much more expensive.

Just make sure you have an open PCI slot.
Or buy the PCI-E version.

Upsetting amount of pressure needed to seat the CPU in the little flappy tray thing. Err, an upsetting resistance when lockin it together.

Moving on..

Yup. Build looks like it's going nicely

Yes, just push vs just pull. And the difference was 1-2 degrees.

Here's a thread where a couple people tested push vs pull (as well as push-pull) with several different fans, and the difference really is not that large: http://www.overclock.net/t/1199135/...-pull-also-horizontal-vs-vertical-positioning

Yup. I'd argue that depending on fans and dust down the line you'd always want a push config no matter what. Beyond that as long as hot air is going out the back you should be good. I had dual 120CFM fans for a short bit of time.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

I'm having one of those "that was too easy" moments. Just installed the CPU heatsink.
All I do is just slap it down and insert the pins and then twist the knobs so the arrows are pointing inwards, right? The thermal compound is ok? Everything is ok?

I flipped over the other ssd bay and made a little place to hide my cables. Very clean.


Starting to look like a pc!

 

[Hazaro]

I'm having one of those "that was too easy" moments. Just installed the CPU heatsink.
All I do is just slap it down and insert the pins and then twist the knobs so the arrows are pointing inwards, right? The thermal compound is ok? Everything is ok?



I flipped over the other ssd bay and made a little place to hide my cables. Very clean.


Starting to look like a pc!

NO! Read the manual. You turn them to release the heatsink.
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-032258.htm

Also in the future install the RAM and Heatsink before you put the mobo in. Easier.

*And what is your part list again?

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Ha, just realized that! All is well now, the heat sink is secure.

I couldn't put the ram and CPU in beforehand... The graphics card wouldn't fit.


Part list is
Two 830s
I73770k
Gtx680
Asus p8z77i deluxe MoBo
16gig corsair vengeance lp ram
Slot loading bluray drive
In an ft03 mini

 

[Arsin]

I have been having a weird problem these past few weeks. For a few of my games (WoW and Dishonored) have not been using D3DO. I am not sure what the problem is, I have reinstalled the program and still nothing. The weirdest part is that both games have worked before. Not sure what to do now =/

 

[Deleted member 22576]

What the hell one side is missing a pin..

 

[Hazaro]

What the hell one side is missing a pin..

Not needed

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Just sliced my thumb open screwing in the third to last screw.

 

[SolarPowered]

Hmm, I was thinking of starting a new build but with Black Friday not too far away, I'm tempted to hold out for some deals.

This makes me wonder what kinds of deals we can expect for PC parts during black Friday and cyber Monday. I've been on gaf for a while now and I've seen my fair share of deal threads on gaming side and the OT, but I can't ever recall massive deal threads on PC components or builds anywhere on GAF...

 

[Hazaro]

This makes me wonder what kinds of deals we can expect for PC parts during black Friday and cyber Monday. I've been on gaf for a while now and I've seen my fair share of deal threads on gaming side and the OT, but I can't ever recall massive deal threads on PC components or builds anywhere on GAF...

Probably one you could have gotten before in the year or on parts that are 'ok'.
It hasn't been super amazing the past few years, but there are a good few items if you keep up on it.

Just sliced my thumb open screwing in the third to last screw.

Yes! Not a true build until it gets some of your blood.

Old build heatsink cut me, my portable mini computer heatsink fan cut me, and I cut my thumb installing some RAM on current rig.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

I'm scared to turn it on

 

[DTKT]

So, build is finished but I'm not out of the woods yet. Basically, when I power on, I get HD activity, all the case fans are spinning, the GPU and the PSU are working but I get no image and I get no POST beeps or anything.

It seems that the CPU_Fan plug in the MB doesn't like the stock 212 fan. It spins for about half a second and then stops(it doesn't even do one full rotation). I tried the stock intel CPU fan into the CPU_Fan and it works fine(but I guess it's kind of weird that the system didn't boot when I had the stock intel plugged...). The 212 fan is also functional because it works when I plug it into the System_Fan1.

So, I can rule out a defective 212 fan, the PSU and the GPU were working hours ago. I'm currently trying with different sticks of RAM. Worth to try to reset the CMOS battery?

Specs:

MB: P55a-UD4p Gigabyte
CPU: i5-750 stock clocks
Cooler: CM Hyper 2012 plus
GPU: XFX 5870
PSU: Corsair 750W
RAM: G.Skill 1333 2G sticks.

Here is someone with the same situation that I had:

After a couple of failed attempts at booting up a newly built system, I discovered that the 4-pin CPU fan header on my Gigabyte UD4P seems to be broken. When powering on, the fan on my CM Hyper 212 Plus will spin once and then lose power. I tried connecting the same fan to the 4-pin SYS_FAN2 header and that worked just fine. Unfortunately, the system still hangs and refuses to boot. No video, no beeps, and the optical drive keeps searching repetitively (I inserted the mobo driver disc to no effect).

I also noticed that all four if the board's "Phase LEDs" light up as soon as I power on, which indicates maximum CPU load. I have no idea if this normal or not; Gigabyte documentation explains nothing.

I am thinking that best case scenario, the system recognizes that the CPU fan header is disconnected/broken and refuses to boot up without an active CPU cooler (even though it is active, just on the SYS_FAN2 header). Worst case scenario, the CPU has been permanently damaged when I first powered up the system with the CPU cooler connected to the defunct CPU fan header (I was staring at the screen and looking around for about 30 seconds before realizing the CPU cooler fan was not spinning).

If anyone has any thoughts or can confirm any of my suspicions, I would be much obliged. I have already contacted Newegg and Gigabyte support, but it being the weekend I'm not expecting any help for the next few days.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

American mega trends here we are fuck yeah

 

[Decado]

Unless your sound card supports Dolby Digitil (AC3) encoding on the fly, you won't be able to get surround sound via optical for most games. And those are unfortunately not the norm.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Which sound cards support DD (AC3)? I didn't think I needed a sound card.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Ok so I configured the raid array and booted to the windows installation screen. But the mouse and keyboard stop working once the windows installer loads. Anyone know what's up? The kb and m work perfectly on the uefi screen, and the mouse remains lit up while it says "windows is loading files" but once the "starting windows" animation plays and the installer loads the KB and m stop working.


I can't press next with no keyboard!

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Got it. Installing win7
Here's the official recap from today



http://networkednetworks.blogspot.com/


Gonna shower and drink a beer while this installs.

 

[DTKT]

I'm dumb and didn't plug my RAM correctly. That's what you get for installing it while it's inside the case.

Feel free to laugh at me but at least, my system is working!

 

[Row]

I'm currently teaching english overseas and will be going home for 2 months soon where I'll buy a new pc or laptop, then back overseas. Is there any PC build that is practical for someone who has to take it on a plane a few times a year? It's either that or an overpriced gaming laptop.

 

[M.Bluth]

Just sliced my thumb open screwing in the third to last screw.

Now you have truly bonded with it, and it's no longer just a piece of electronics.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

GUESS WHICH COMPUTER IM POSTING THIS FROM

HINT: ITS NOT AN IOS DEVICE AND IT ALSO DIDNT EXIST THIS MORNING


THATS RIGHT1 ITS MY NEW COMPUTER

 

[mkenyon]

I'm currently teaching english overseas and will be going home for 2 months soon where I'll buy a new pc or laptop, then back overseas. Is there any PC build that is practical for someone who has to take it on a plane a few times a year? It's either that or an overpriced gaming laptop.

Check out the small form factor guide in the OP. Would link, but posting from N7 on couch

@Jtwo
Fuck yeah.

 

[Row]

Check out the small form factor guide in the OP. Would link, but posting from N7 on couch

@Jtwo
Fuck yeah.

are they typically less prone to potential damage during flights?