Project Minimalist-Looking PC

  • Thread starter Deleted member 72990
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 72990

Guest
I'm attempting to build a PC that looks very simple and classy.... no flashy LED's, exotic case shapes, or anything like that. Also I'm trying to make it relatively quiet and very good for gaming.

My parts list is as follows:

CASE: Silverstone LC-13B-E Black
POWER SUPPLY: Corsair TX-650W
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA775
PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 GHz (to be overclocked)
HEATSINK: Scythe Mini-Ninja
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) G.Skill DDR2 1066 MHz
VIDEO CARDS: Dual Sapphire Radeon 4870 512mb in CrossFire
HARD DRIVE: Seagate Barracuda 500 GB SATA
OPTICAL: LG DVD+-RW
MONITOR: ASUS 23.6" LCD

I've started working routing the cables through the case. I've replaced the three Silverstone case fans with quieter ones from Cooler Master. I also added an Antec Tri-Cool to the middle hard drive cage.


plane411.jpg


plane409.jpg


plane412.jpg


plane413.jpg
 
Wires organized a bit more, now ready for motherboard

plane.jpg
 
got everything installed except CD and HDD drives:

plane438-1.jpg


plane435.jpg


plane433-1.jpg
 
very impressive
I have that psu and had some trouble hiding the wires behind the mobo in an haf 932
what you have done is amazing
Overall a very clean build, i love a minimalist but very functional case
Curious to see all the temps when your done, what with the video cards not exhausting out the case and the lack of dedicated intake for the cpu
One last question to take away the precious time with the new baby, Are you planning on any functional mods (cooling or otherwise) or pretty much leave it once its completed?
 
Also curious on temps. I'd like to move my rig over to one of these but I've always been worried about heat and noise with the little fans.
 
kittysniper101 said:
very impressive
I have that psu and had some trouble hiding the wires behind the mobo in an haf 932
what you have done is amazing
Overall a very clean build, i love a minimalist but very functional case
Curious to see all the temps when your done, what with the video cards not exhausting out the case and the lack of dedicated intake for the cpu
One last question to take away the precious time with the new baby, Are you planning on any functional mods (cooling or otherwise) or pretty much leave it once its completed?
Click to expand...

Hi there,

thank you very much for the nice words. Yeah, everything was a tight fit in this case. Just by booting up the PC with the cover on, its very quiet. Upon opening the case i can feel that the air around the Radeon 4870 that is closer to the middle of the case is a bit warner since it doesnt have good airflow going to it. I too will wonder what will happen with the CPU. I originally had a fan installed on the side of the case right next to the CPU but the 8 pin power connector on the motheboard was in conflict with it so it had to go.

I plan to overclock the computer but other than that I'm not planning any modifications. I wont really have it up and running for another week or so. i get the hard drive and DVD burner tomorrow, but I won't be able to install windows until sometime next week. I will report back and let you know what temps im getting.
 
Looks like a thinner 80mm fan might fit on the side. How thick is the one that came with the case?
 
kirbyrj said:
Looks like a thinner 80mm fan might fit on the side. How thick is the one that came with the case?
Click to expand...

the thickness isnt realy a problem, but the 8 pin connector on the motherboard is too tall and blocks the screw hole :(
 
bjornb17 said:
the thickness isnt realy a problem, but the 8 pin connector on the motherboard is too tall and blocks the screw hole :(
Click to expand...

Ok...I kind of see from the pic, but there isn't a good angle down there ;). Good work though...looks like a nice setup.
 
why the 500gb HDD

a WD 640gb blacks are nice a fast and at $80 its a nice price. would definitely speed it up some, or get 2 and go RAID 0 with the onboard (with a decent backup obviously)
 
Adidas4275 said:
why the 500gb HDD

a WD 640gb blacks are nice a fast and at $80 its a nice price. would definitely speed it up some, or get 2 and go RAID 0 with the onboard (with a decent backup obviously)
Click to expand...

This was a bit of a semi-budget build. I basically picked the cheapest parts of everything i could find that were of good quality, relatively low-noise, and functional. I think i spent like $50 on the 500 GB HD so that was $30 savings. I only have one hard drive since there isnt space for 2 and also i didnt want to pay for 2. I actually was going to reuse my 300 GB IDE drive but i wouldnt have been able to fit the IDE ribbon in there without making a mess.
 
kirbyrj said:
Can you use the external 3.5" bay for a HDD?
Click to expand...

the only place where there is room for a HD is the second 5.25" bay. there is a 3.5" bay below that but i have a bunch of wires running though there. I only need one HD anyway :)
 
I added the hard drive and DVD burner. that caused the CPU fan not to fit, so i had to rotate it 90 degress. While the fan wouldnt fit when mounted to the case because of the 8 pin connector obstructing it, it will fit with the mounting clips since i can raise it up.

plane446-1.jpg


plane460.jpg
 
well i overclocked it to 4 ghz and then installed windows xp and it all went without incident and i didnt even have to bump up the voltage. i'll do some torture tests here in the future. BIOS reads cpu idle temp as 42 C and mobo as 45 C.
 
How long are those 4870's? I have a need for a vid card that won't extend past the edge of a mATX motherboard.
 
Sweet I like how the cpu fan ended up working and those temps are pretty decent
all in all a very nice build and i hope it works well for you
 
kirbyrj said:
How long are those 4870's? I have a need for a vid card that won't extend past the edge of a mATX motherboard.
Click to expand...

they are about the same length as a regular ATX motherboard, which is like 9 or 10 inches i think.
 
Elledan said:
Probably Windows 7 :)
Click to expand...

oh, because i dont want to be at the mercy of the license expiring or unknown bugs. xp is pretty solid and i'll stick with it for the time being. its especailly good with the Inspirat shell that gives it the vista look.
 
Well, my computer just celebrated its 4th birthday and is still going strong! It has received a few upgrades over the years, with the following cycles:

C2D E8400 Processor ----> C2Q Q9550 @ 3.6 GHz
4 GB DDR2 1066 ----> 8 GB DDR2 1066
2 x Sapphire 512 MB 4870's ----> 1 x 2 Sapphire 2 GB 6950 ----> 1 x Sapphire 7950 3 GB Vapor X
Added Crucial M4 SSD
Skythe Mini Ninja Heatsink ----> Corsair H80 Liquid Cooling
Added Corsair Ram Fans
Windows XP 32 Bit ----> Windows 7 64 Bit
Cosair 650W power supply (went up in smoke) ---> Cosair modular 650W power supply

Replaced all the peripherals too - now using a Rat 7 Mouse, Cyborg V.5 keyboard, and ASUS 27 display.

Seems the only thing that remained the same was the motherboard, case, and sound system!

The computer has always been plagued by extremely high CPU temps - i.e. getting up to 95 C in IBT, and about 60 C idle, but it has never caused any problems at all. It is whisper silent as well

Here's how she looks these days!

iwdzz.jpg

2k007.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, the computer has evolved once again!

Asus Z77 Sabertooth, i5-3570k @ 4.5 GHz, 32gb G.Skill DDR3, and a second SSD using Intel SRT.

0DI8KFE.jpg
 
After almost 8 years - good night sweet prince. Moved my setup from my heavily butchered Silverstone LC-13 into a shiny new Streamcom F12C. Upgraded to a Corsair H100iV2 with 2 Noctua NF-F12 iPPC fans. Computer is 100% dead silent and runs much cooler than before. This new case is awesome.



xbGtPoF.jpg



v6oZ16L.jpg


TcDfs25.jpg
 
Here's how it looks today! Removed the old HDD, added a PCIe M.2, CableMod cables, new video cards, upgraded RAM and video cables, delided CPU, and now have fans under radiator. Works a lot better and is nice and tidy now!

Bx55Yo1.jpg




jZrOYa1.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top