Welcome to my first documented build! Despite the fact that I have been building my own computers since 2005 when, discovering my iMac G5 was both underpowered and un-upgradable, I realized buying pre-built machines was dumb, I've never bothered documenting what I had done. Fast forward another five years of electrical education courtesy of the US Coast Guard, an English degree, a couple of years in DRAM engineering, and a little over half a BS in Computer Science, and my tastes have grown up a little since that first AM2 in a Antec P180.
Courtesy of a coworker (the original Dr Freeze, if anyone is old enough to remember) carefully exposing my ignorance, and introducing me to this whole scene, my education advanced. I didn't stop making poor choices in components, mind you, just started making them on a much bigger scale with better parts. So that perhaps, is a proper introduction to this build: building a better mistake.
I'd like to start by thanking my sponsors: thanks me, you're the best. If anyone would like to be added to that list, let me know, I think I can find you a spot.
I'd also like to thank my inspirations: Dr. Freeze, for not being afraid to dunk a couple of thousand dollars in computer equipment into a vat of oil; the [H]ardOCP community, for telling me to stop fooling around with "good enough" (and also, for buying my old stuff to fund getting this stuff); my wife, for not understanding the point; and, my 2 year-old son, for grabbing his plastic screwdriver and saying "we gotta fix it!"
As some more astute readers might have gathered from the above: I'm married with a young child, I work full time, and I'm also a student (again). What this means is updates may be sporadic. I'll do my best to maintain something of a schedule but, between life and the fact I am counting on you guys to call me out on questionable choices, this may or may not be possible. We'll see.
So, on to the fun stuff. Hardware!
Housing this beast is a CaseLabs Mercury S8, custom coated white on the inside, black on the outside. I was aiming for an atypical look, with a subdued external appearance and a highlighted interior, one that didn't rely on spinning LEDs or flashing lights to call attention to it. Think a badgless sedan with a painted undercarriage; you know it's no ordinary car.
The brains of the operation:
· Asus X99 Deluxe
· Intel i7-5820k
· Super secret engineering sample memory (mileage may vary)
· 3x EVGA 780 GTX SC
· Corsair AX1200i
· Crucial M4 256GB (for the OS)
· Seagate Barracuda 1TB (for my Steam library, my Eclipse workspace, and the godawful large Visual Studio install)
Keeping it cool:
I'm not a brand-whore, but when I do pick a route, I tend to stick with it all the way through. I'm of the mindset that, when designing towards an aesthetic, getting products designed by the same people is going to make it a lot easier. That said, all of the watercooling in this build is XSPC manufactured. This will be my first watercooled system, so I chose a company that satisfied my aesthetic needs and didn't throw up any show-stopping red flags. I get there is likely something better (there always is), and opinions will vary, but I didn't want to kill myself trying to satisfy everyone else's preferences. So here we go:
· 1x RX240
· 2x RX360
· D5 Dual Bay Pump/Resevoir Combo
· D5 Photon 170 Pump/Resevoir Combo
· Raystorm Intel CPU Block
· 2x Memory Waterblock
I had planned on waiting until the case arrived to start posting, but due to some unplanned volume at CaseLabs, I was informed my case was going to be a bit delayed. There's not much to be done without it, can't sleeve the cables, and waiting for the case to arrive to decide if anything is getting any custom treatment.
Anyway, I appreciate the input. I have stuff, I have an idea, but nothing is set in stone. So feel free to throw in your ideas or criticisms. I'll be posting pictures of the kit here in short order.
Courtesy of a coworker (the original Dr Freeze, if anyone is old enough to remember) carefully exposing my ignorance, and introducing me to this whole scene, my education advanced. I didn't stop making poor choices in components, mind you, just started making them on a much bigger scale with better parts. So that perhaps, is a proper introduction to this build: building a better mistake.
I'd like to start by thanking my sponsors: thanks me, you're the best. If anyone would like to be added to that list, let me know, I think I can find you a spot.
I'd also like to thank my inspirations: Dr. Freeze, for not being afraid to dunk a couple of thousand dollars in computer equipment into a vat of oil; the [H]ardOCP community, for telling me to stop fooling around with "good enough" (and also, for buying my old stuff to fund getting this stuff); my wife, for not understanding the point; and, my 2 year-old son, for grabbing his plastic screwdriver and saying "we gotta fix it!"
As some more astute readers might have gathered from the above: I'm married with a young child, I work full time, and I'm also a student (again). What this means is updates may be sporadic. I'll do my best to maintain something of a schedule but, between life and the fact I am counting on you guys to call me out on questionable choices, this may or may not be possible. We'll see.
So, on to the fun stuff. Hardware!
Housing this beast is a CaseLabs Mercury S8, custom coated white on the inside, black on the outside. I was aiming for an atypical look, with a subdued external appearance and a highlighted interior, one that didn't rely on spinning LEDs or flashing lights to call attention to it. Think a badgless sedan with a painted undercarriage; you know it's no ordinary car.
The brains of the operation:
· Asus X99 Deluxe
· Intel i7-5820k
· Super secret engineering sample memory (mileage may vary)
· 3x EVGA 780 GTX SC
· Corsair AX1200i
· Crucial M4 256GB (for the OS)
· Seagate Barracuda 1TB (for my Steam library, my Eclipse workspace, and the godawful large Visual Studio install)
Keeping it cool:
I'm not a brand-whore, but when I do pick a route, I tend to stick with it all the way through. I'm of the mindset that, when designing towards an aesthetic, getting products designed by the same people is going to make it a lot easier. That said, all of the watercooling in this build is XSPC manufactured. This will be my first watercooled system, so I chose a company that satisfied my aesthetic needs and didn't throw up any show-stopping red flags. I get there is likely something better (there always is), and opinions will vary, but I didn't want to kill myself trying to satisfy everyone else's preferences. So here we go:
· 1x RX240
· 2x RX360
· D5 Dual Bay Pump/Resevoir Combo
· D5 Photon 170 Pump/Resevoir Combo
· Raystorm Intel CPU Block
· 2x Memory Waterblock
I had planned on waiting until the case arrived to start posting, but due to some unplanned volume at CaseLabs, I was informed my case was going to be a bit delayed. There's not much to be done without it, can't sleeve the cables, and waiting for the case to arrive to decide if anything is getting any custom treatment.
Anyway, I appreciate the input. I have stuff, I have an idea, but nothing is set in stone. So feel free to throw in your ideas or criticisms. I'll be posting pictures of the kit here in short order.
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