My First Custom Rig (56k warning)

Very nice build. I agree with the others that the cable management is excellent, more so for a first time builder. I also agree that the SE should not have been bought. Even the 768MB GTX460 would be faster. They cut so much out of the SE that its to slow to have the GTX460 name. Still, it should do a fine job for most tasks, but some games are going to have a lot of issue on your 1080 screen.

But its a good job overall.
 
Very good job on the cable management in that V3. I've had to build about 15 or 20 machines in that chassis in the last 2 month and I'm starting to hate it. t's a really good case for the money, but wire management in that many is driving me batty.
Tiger Direct or CompUSA? I see ALOT of those parts you picked :D
 
SixFootDuo said:
I've got nearly $50,000 on Newegg for personal builds over the years. On my business account, I have nearly $230,000 in invoices. I've built A LOT of computers.

Again, nice job.
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Jeeze, and I was proud of the $11,000 I've spent on my personal account. =(
 
Kind of makes me misty eyed for the first system I built. The old celeron 300a canopus 3d voodoo combo.

One thing. Move the fan off the bottom of the case to someplace else. A fan placed there seems to act like a slow motion vacuum for dust bunnies. You'll have to clean the case out much more frequently.
 
nice man, good job. first time can be scary! good thinking with the wrist band thing :)

hope you enjoy it, it makes it all the better when its crushing your games/apps when u know you built it yourself!
 
Good job with the thermal paste. A lot of people always mess that up.

Also, good choice with the motherboard. I'm using the very same one, and it really is a good deal for the money - the only bad thing about it is it's only got 5 internal SATA ports.
 
good parts, good work on the build, and considering its your first build, excellent cable management. congrats, now you're addicted!
 
Very nice build and cable management. Lol I remember my first build it was a AMD K6-2 300 if I recall with an old Monster 3d card. Lol, anyhow nice build again, Next time you might want to get the Modular version of the corsair psu I use them myself and have had no problem powering the AMD Phenom II 965 BE and 2 5770 crossfired cards. Not criticizing or anything just that it makes it easier with cable management, and if you do go into water cooling I would recommend the Corsair H50 or H70 their nice and easy to setup and use.
 
Very nice for a first build! I usually rush my build job and end up having to redo things later.

What did you ground yourself to with the strap?
 
Very pretty :) Makes me want to upgrade my aging desktop (C2D E6850, Gigabyte EP43-DS3L, 4GB DDR2, GeForce 8800 GTS w/512 MB ...)

Came here from the front page ... and I don't remember my first build, because I have literally built thousands of machines since then (worked for a whiteboxer and handled several large school district orders).
 
strikerP4 said:
First build flashback.... I was 12 and she was a 486....

I won't bore you with the details. Good job for first build.
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Aww heck I'm boring now? :p

20th century: Writes a lot, makes no money, hardly anyone reads = vanity published book writer

21st century: Writes a lot, makes no money, hardly anyone reads = forum poster
 
Benny Blanco said:
Congratulations!! You are the first person evar on this forum to use an anti-static wrist strap! Possibly also the first to actually have purchased one :D
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Err nope, I have used an anti-static strap since '98, people say it's old school, but then none of my stuff has been DOA, I don't take chances on $2K worth of hardware.
 
Benny Blanco said:
Congratulations!! You are the first person evar on this forum to use an anti-static wrist strap! Possibly also the first to actually have purchased one :D
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Err nope, I have used an anti-static strap since '98, people say it's old school, but then none of my stuff has been DOA, I don't take chances on $2K worth of hardware.
 
Good work! I like that you found a way to move the cables far out of the way for proper airflow. A lot of first-timers tend to forget about that in the rush to complete the build. I tend to spread out my thermal paste rather than leave it in the middle, but it's more of a preference thing.

The anti-static strap is definitely a great idea. I don't know of many people around me that actually use those. My time in the military has ingrained it into me, though. Won't touch the inside bits of a computer without one.
 
You did a really good job, and picked some nice components. After seeing this I'm itching to do another build. Enyoy it.
 
polive said:
Very nice for a first build! I usually rush my build job and end up having to redo things later.

What did you ground yourself to with the strap?
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He clipped the wrist strap to the case. (See last picture in post #1)

Generally, if you want the strap to be as effective as possible, the power supply should be installed in the case with the power cable plugged into mains (but with the power supply turned off) so that you have a complete earthed ground.
 
or just do as i do...
never use it :p
my static cat slept on a graphics card... works...
 
hey everyone! Thanks for all of the positive comments! I thought they would never come! Hahaha, I watched the thread for a few days and didn't see much action so I kinda of forgot about it. Thanks for the compliments on the hardware chosen and cable management. I did my best when it came the the management, the case didnt offer very much of it so I worked with what I had.

-YES, this was my first time, I swear! I have never built a computer before in my life. And yes i spent roughly 3-4 weeks researching everything from hardware choices, to pricing, to learning about the little details like thermal paste, cable management, etc etc. Here is the final pricing:

Case - $40 Fry's Electronics
DVD Burner - $20 CompUSA
PSU - $90 CompUSA
Fans - $8 x 4 fans Microcenter
Mobo - $113 Microcenter
CPU - 129 CPU Cooler - 30 Microcenter
GPU - $140 CompUSA
RAM - $90 Microcenter
HDD - $50 CompUSA

Total Price: roughly under $600 which was my budget. Some of the prices were even lower than newegg!



No I have no overclocked the computer yet. But initial boot was flawless and everything is running perfectly to this day**knock on wood**. The computer is away from the bed. I gave my old setup to my brother and I got myself a new desk. a REAL desk, hahaha, so its clear of the bed and higher off the ground. The rubics cube is gone...lol.. and I am not a bachelor. I am 21 yrs old and have been with my beautiful girlfriend for over 2 1/2 years now.

The stock thermaltake fan on the bottom died, so it is more-so there just for the cool underglow effect it gives the computer at night. As for the Cooler Master fans, they move a lot of air. More than any other fans I have seen but yes, noise is a trade off though. However, it doesn't bother me. I like knowing when my computer is running. haha. Plus, when I have music playing through my 500w stereo the fan noise seems to disappear for some reason haha.

Again, yes this was my first ever build for those of you who don't believe me for whatever reason. My previous computers were a pre-built compaq followed by a pre-built hp a1130n(each of them lasted me roughly 7-9years a piece). This was my first attempt at a custom rig. Thanks much for all of the positive comments and compliments. Im glad You all like it and approve :)

Keep the comments and questions coming!
 
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Very nice build, I picked the same case when I built my 4.2 i7 rig, airflow in it is pretty good but wire management is a nightmare with it, not much room to hide stuff lol
 
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