For the Love of ROG!

[Jstn]

Hey guys,

I'm overall new to the building scene however, I've been a PC gamer since... well... 56k and ball mice.

I thought I'd show off my first build that I researched, and put together myself. I wanted something that would be somewhat future-proof yet not break the bank (throw all that out the window, I'm addicted... I would build 6 more right now for no reason if I could). The specs of my build are as follows:

ASUS Crosshair V Formula
AMD FX-6200 3.8GHz w/ 4.1GHz Turbo OC'd at 4.5GHz stable
EVGA GTX 560Ti
32GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance Red
725w Coolermaster Extreme 2 PSU
Corsair H100 CPU Cooling
NZXT Switch 810 FULL (Special Matte Black Edition)

I have almost all fan slots occupied with the NZXT Enthusiast white fans (love these, they are super quiet, provide great air flow and I got them on sale half price at $9.99. They are the stock fans that come with the case as well) with exception to the fans I replaced on the Corsair radiator which were loud as hell!! Those were replaced with 2 BitFenix Spectre PRO White LED fans.

Here are some pics (sorry about the quality, iphone cam):



Let me know what you think!
Some of the changes that I would have done to the build in retrospection would be:

1) Spend a bit more on the video card (I will be replacing the current with 2 x ASUS GTX 660Ti's. Hopefully more TOP editions will be available through NewEgg or my local supplier by the time I'm ready to order but looks like I'm stuck with just the OC version ATM.)

EDIT: With the recent MSRP leak of ATI's new 8870 I believe I will play my cards based off this and hold off until either its release or it's Nvidia competition (which I'm hoping will see a price drop as well).

2) Cut it down to only 16GB of RAM but spend the same price roughly for a newer or better product (don't get me wrong, I love the vengeance but yes, 32GB is overkill!!).

3) Went with a fully modular power supply with approximately 1000-1100w.

Other then that I'm very happy with this build which rang in at just under $1500 CDN with taxes and all.

[UselessKent]

Where do I find that case sticker from... I'm building a ROG rig atm and want one 🙂

[Jstn]

I got mine inside the box of the Crosshair V Formula mobo, try to do a search for one.. if not, I have a second spare one I'd be willing to possibly part with. Just send me a PM if it comes down to that 🙂

[UselessKent]

I'm going to assume that once I re-open my mobo box I'm going to find a sneaky sticker in there that I missed in my excitement... I have a Maximus V Formula 🙂

and thanks for the offer I may take you up on it if I need to. My liquid cooling project goes ahead this sunday so I will let you know if I don't find a sticker 🙂

[Jstn]

Awesome man, I've never unboxed the Maximus V but i'd assume you should have received one like it as well! The sticker in mine was tucked right in the bottom of the box under 2-3 of the compartments with the screws and sata cables.

[xeromist]

leg room and zero construction cost...win win.

[Jstn]

xeromist wrote:
leg room and zero construction cost...win win.

My thoughts exactly!

I found it hilarious that I mounted an L-bracket onto that storage unit, shot it through the wall (obviously assuming it wouldn't hold anything and I would need to throw a plug in) and BAM! right on a stud! haha lucky day. I definitely trust that a lot more then a little plug. I didn't have a stud finder here and it's hard to tap and tell where steel studs are through 5/8" drywall :cool: lucky as hell!

[xeromist]

Jstn wrote:
I didn't have a stud finder here and it's hard to tap and tell where steel studs are through 5/8" drywall :cool: lucky as hell!

A trick my dad taught me is to use a magnet. They nail sheetrock into the studs so if you find the nails, you find the studs. He used to have a little bar magnet stuffed into the end of a spring from a pen. Hold the other end of the spring and it would twitch as soon as it got near metal. Personally I extracted the magnets from a dead hard drive and they're strong enough to stick to the wall rather firmly when they find a nail. It's overkill but it works. 🙂

[Jstn]

xeromist wrote:
A trick my dad taught me is to use a magnet. They nail sheetrock into the studs so if you find the nails, you find the studs. He used to have a little bar magnet stuffed into the end of a spring from a pen. Hold the other end of the spring and it would twitch as soon as it got near metal. Personally I extracted the magnets from a dead hard drive and they're strong enough to stick to the wall rather firmly when they find a nail. It's overkill but it works. 🙂

Wow! brilliant! I should have thought of this... if the magnet is strong enough it should pick up the steel studs, if not... wood would have nails or screws like you mentioned! Thanks man, I'm a contractor by trade so from now on I'm keeping a good magnet in my toolbox 😉 I rarely ever use a studfinder anyways, hate them!

[Jstn]

THE NUDE PICTURES BELOW MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE!

I stripped my shroud off the 560Ti to throw some better thermal paste on my GPU to find that it's actually a pretty card hidden under an ugly boring shroud.

So I'm going to run it naked:

[xeromist]

The shroud does have the potential to alter airflow but as long as your temps are OK, run naked!