A build that has "hopefully" reached it's final stage of evolution. Pictures posted.

[_Wyatt_Wallen_]

This project has been one that I must say has taken some quite inconsistent turns but its on its way to be completely finished soon.

I have changed my case 3 times, swapped the board, cpu, and ram twice, changed storage mediums, and swapped out fans. I can say that it is much better to initially have a vision for your ideal computer system, with all the parts, look and accessories, and just spend the extra cash all at once so the build you have is the exact look and feel that you intended to have the first time around. I didn't know what look I was going for so I had an experimental phase on the system with some parts that I ended up changing out eventually. Having a Frankenstein build can be somewhat annoying when its half awesome and half lackluster but it is what it is.

So, with that out of the way.

I've wanted to keep a red on black look with the system because of the striking contrast it brings. The red really pops on a black background.

It's a little irking that it has become such a commonplace color scheme for many custom systems but its a nice look and it's nice to see others who can appreciate it.

With that being said, the system's specs are as follows

-Corsiar Obsidian 800D case
-AMD FX-8350 CPU (stock freq.)
-Asus Crosshair V formula-z motherboard
-G.Skill 32gb 2400mhz Trident X Ram
-(x2) AMD Radeon HD 4890 video card (Crossfired) (Soon to change)
-Phanteks PH-TC14-PE cpu heatsink (Soon to change)
-Muskin Chronos 120gb SSD
-Western Digital Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ 1TB HDD
-Western Digital Green 1TB HDD
-Seasonic Platinum 1000W PSU
-Corsair Link system running several Corsair AF120/140 fans
-Lite-On generic CD/DVD player
-Bitfenix Alchemy sleeve cable extentions (red)
-ColdZero custom PSU basement plate
-Windows 7 Professional 64bit

At this point, I want to add the other ColdZero acrylic plates to present a more uniform and clean look.
In addition to such, I am wanting to replace the heatsink with a smaller one that takes up less space but still performs as well if not better than the current unit. I am looking at getting an Prolimatech Armageddon (If it fits) or a cooler master TCP-612 (Since an TPC 812 won't mount vertically on an AM3+ socket).
Last but not least, I would like to replace my aging HD 4890s with either a GTX 780, two GTX 780s or a GTX Titan but I'm not sure which one I am going to settle on yet. Its been a toss-up for some time now.

If you notice, I decided to remove the hot swap door on the front of the case because I found myself always bumping into it with my leg so I ordered addition 5.25in bay covers to fill in the bottom section where the door once was. I never take advantage of hot swap anyways.
The only downside is that a fourth 5.25 bay cover is just a little to big to fit in the area where the bay door once was so I am in the process of sanding in down so it will fit with the other 3 bay covers. Hence the reason why it's not in there at the moment.

In any event, I figured I would present you guys with the somewhat finished result of my system. I really didn't care to do a build log in the process of building the system as I have had made several changes to the system over the past 2 years and this is just an evolution of what the system build originally encompassed.

On the contrary, I have pretty much replaced every original part of my system except the HD 4890s in this build.

Hopefully you guys enjoy the photos and I will upload more as I get the final parts in and install them.

If you have any advice or suggestions to the system then I am open to any and all input.

Thanks and enjoy!

[Antronman]

totalrognoob wrote:
This is still subjective, you trade a lot or a little cooling performance(depends on how you work the two), for low cost, low weight, lower maintenance cooling. Water cooling requires changing the fluid, cleaning the rads, replacing kill coils, waiting to upgrade until a water block is out, etc. Air cooling requires that you use a larger case and do all your cooling within it. The trade offs are subjective in value, as you can run an I7-4770k on air, with no issues if you take some time to care for it, you can get down to almost silent if you take the time and pick the right fans, water makes it easier to create a large thermal sump, chill the working fluid/gas below ambient, and makes it so you can add a heck of a lot of surface area; but, you then have to keep putting more time to clean it properly, change the fluid, replace kill coils, inspect and replace failing fittings or O-rings, and if you don't you have bigger problems than you would on air. T.A.N.S.T.A.F.L. For someone who might not have time for awhile to give their rig proper maintenance air is better, because you're biggest problem is dust, not failing seals or a bad pump. It's subjective, WC requires more time, money, and skill for better performance, air requires space, air flow, and finding the right parts.
Also, your spelling and gratuitous use of smileys bothers me for some reason, please take more care if you can.
P.S. Warranties might also be a reason to stay under air, I can't think of a group that will warranty someone removing their work and replacing it (if)when it fails(probably is one, or special cases, but I haven't encountered one yet).

Cleaning the rads?

You just replace the coolant every 6 months.

Water is a middle ground on noise. It's never quieter than air can be. But it is cooler, more stable, and better performing.

Kill coils are a thing of personal want. Monsoon's silver bullets are much easier to replace, and also if you use a treated coolant like Koolance's
for 0 bio-bits in your coolant, you don't need a kill coil.

WC is incredibly easy, anybody who has done WC (except kkn, he's very strong about his opinion that WC is for the vets) can tell you it isn't even half as much work as some people tell you.

People do WC because it looks better, and it performs better. Not for a nice, quiet rig.
Quiet rigs aren't for beasts like the 'Paw.

EVGA is fine with watercooling their cards, as long as you put the air cooler back on them for RMA and you don't leak fluid all over them.

[naj1991]

totalrognoob... i dont wanna be a spoilsport, but wc is realy not so quiet and make's much less work than you think... ^^ you can run your system easy 2years without do anithing... (with a clear fluid like the aquacomputerfluids, or ckc celvin or somthing else... ) the rads are working to.. probably only with 80% but they work very fine 😉 ...but all jears you better clen them when you dont have a mora or aquacomputer tube rad... they dont eat so much dust... the normal lamellar rads are not so friendly... they need more care... but you only take your vacuum cleaner when you dismantle the fans, and do what you must do and its fine... 😉 to have a silent system you must take one of those passive cooling cases but thats NOT for gaming... ^^
the only other way to do this with wc is take a mora out of your room... or outside of the wall of your house is best... but then you have still the pumps who shout in your ears... and thats what you realy hear... but you get used to it, like the noise of your 1200/1500rpm fans.. what you must know is, that you have fans and the pump the make noise in the system... but its deeper noise and not so disturbing... while you take silent fans... but you must capsulate your pump to be nearly silent... and your hardware still needs a lot of air even if you have wc.. probably ranges 600rpm fans... i have my system at the moment @~700rpm.. but you hear it... 😉 but more the pumps... ^^

[Mark3]

Great job with the cable management! Nice color choices for the wires as well.