My Sandy Bridge Build

[ex0du5]

So I took it upon myself to build my first 'from scratch' PC. That meant buying all new components, and putting it together myself. Up until now, I had just been using hand-me-downs and doing minor upgrades.

Specs:

Core i5 2500K
Gigabyte P67 UD4
8GB G.Skill DDR3-1333 @ 1.5V
2x GTX 570
Intel 80GB G2
2x Samsung F4 5400RPM
Cooler Master HAF X
Corsair AX850
Thermalright Venomous X Black
Scythe Kazemaster Ace Fan Controller

The only thing I brought over from my last PC is the Intel G2. I figure I should wait for the new drives to come out within a few months, and then get a new one. No sense in buying year old hardware at this point.

So on Saturday, I had everything but the Thermalright and the second GTX 570. I figured I may as well put it together.

All in all, the build ended up quite nicely. Not big on the fan controller's display (I should have gotten something red to match with the case), but the functionality is great. The cable management could have been a little better (particularly, the fans at the top, and the fan controller cables sticking out), but the HAF X made things pretty easy.

Here are a few shots:

Any comments, or suggestions, are welcome. Always looking for additional cable management tips.

 

[DSee]

What temps are you getting with that stock cooler?

 

[ex0du5]

Not overclocked, around mid to high 50s (in OCCT). Take that with a grain of salt though, since SpeedFan was reporting idle temps of 18C.

I would never consider using the stock cooler though...it's easily the most annoying device in the case, sound wise. It produces a fairly annoynig buzzing sound.

I will be overclocking and benching once I get the Thermalright and second GTX 570 this week.

 

[4LC4PON3]

Could you download core temp id like to see what it say's. Stock coolers are always junk in my opinion.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

 

[ex0du5]

I'll give it a shot when I get home tonight.

 

[AthlonXP]

nice build, get a better HSF.

 

[engiNURD]

thanks for the pics!

 

[ditchmagnet]

Looks good, and cable management looks good to me. I really am wishing I had a bunch of money to blow right now. Maybe later this year. What kind of thermalright are you getting?

 

[ex0du5]

Thermalright Venomous X

It's basically an 1155/1156 compatible update to the TRUE.

 

[SpeedyVV]

Thanks for sharing.

Looks like a great build and amazing gamer.

What are you going to use it for? Well, I guess for anything you feel like

Signed,
TheJealousOne

 

[Porter_]

nice build! my cable management in my CM Storm Sniper looks about the same.

 

[ex0du5]

Thanks for sharing.

Looks like a great build and amazing gamer.

What are you going to use it for? Well, I guess for anything you feel like

Signed,
TheJealousOne

Honestly, I don't know. WoW, SC2, and the hundreds of Steam games I own, I suppose.

I was previously rocking:

Case: Cooler Master CM 690 (though this one is a tad scratched up)
PSU: Enermax Modu82+ 625W
Motherboard: Asus P5B-E
CPU: Q8300 @ 3.0GHz
CPU Heatsink: Scythe Mugen 2
GPU: MSI Twin Frozr GTX 275
Memory: 4GB DDR2-800
HDDs: 1TB WD Black, 1TB WD Green
Disc Drives: DVD-RW IDE, CD-RW IDE

I wanted more CPU power for emulation (Dolphin, PCSX2). I was going to go for the single GTX 570, but after witnessing Crysis @ 1080p, Very High, and 4x AA at 40fps, and Metro 2033 maxed out...I just wanted more. Couldn't resist the temptation to try out SLI.

This is my hobby, and I was disappointed that I had never built a PC up until this point. This was mostly a fun project for me. I did a ton of research, and chose every component quite carefully (except for the ugly fan controller, which was an imulse buy...but no turning back now).

 

[ex0du5]

Sorry, forgot to check the temps last night. I'll do it tonight.

I think either my second GTX 570 or the CPU heatsink came in today. Fingers crossed.