Post your Rig Specs Here!

[cw1988]

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Most of the cpu coolers I looked at were mounted for front to rear cooling although it is possible to mount them for bottom to top cooling based on how you affix the mounting brackets for the retention plates.

The bequiet rock 2 is a monster, I think it looks awesome! I believe the rock 3 is out now as well and is even bigger

I'm quite lucky for my 8pin mobo connector, it has its own hole top left above the mobo so it leaves below where the top fans mount, I think corsair did this due to the top section for the fans being designed for radiators as well.

And for the gpu's, I agree. Imagine if you had a massive cpu cooler, some are over 1.5kg, plus SLI gfx cards with some sort of aftermarket heatsink, the weight that would be "hanging" on the mobo would be extremely high, quite scary lol

 

[QwarkDreams]

It just looked like aftermarket coolers only can installed this way. Doesn't even make sense to me, this config, since you the fans suck in air from the hot backside of the GPU. If one doesn't have a case with holes in the top this way of installing it makes even less sense.

Yep, and there are the Dark Rocks/Pro too but all axcept the Shadow Rock 2, Dark Rock 3 and Shadow Rock Top-Flow are too big (163-166mm height and I can only fit in 165mm max., 2mm space between the heatsink and my windowed side panel is not enough for my taste).

Mine has that cuout too but it may be too close to the fans, since the fan ends where the MoBo begins.
I hate how I had to fixate the 8pin cable...looks ghetto now -_-

 

[jojoe42]

Mine's an old machine (about 2009 parts) but still going strong!!!

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 2.66GHz
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4890 (1GB GDDR5)
RAM: 4GB DDR3 (Corsair)
HDD: 2x 500GB Seagate in Raid 0
PSU: 750w Cooler Master
Monitor: HP 2309m
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912

Still getting 60fps+ on Crysis 2 (extreme) and playable framerates on Titanfall at medium

 

[cw1988]

I suppose its just preference. If you mount a cpu cooler going from bottom to top airflow you have the back of your gfx card cpu to contend with, and more space issues as most are designed to be a rectangle shape for front to rear cooling.

Flip side of that, mounting for front to rear flow, you still have the heat from the card to contend with with the addition of airflow being affected by either top fans or bottom fans.

I doubt there is an absolute "best way" and it prob depends on what other fans you have. I would still side with front to rear mounting with front intakes, and rear exhausts.

And for the 8 pin, i have roughly 1 inch clearance so its all good.

 

[QwarkDreams]

Mine's an old machine (about 2009 parts) but still going strong!!!

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 2.66GHz
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4890 (1GB GDDR5)
RAM: 4GB DDR3 (Corsair)
HDD: 2x 500GB Seagate in Raid 0
PSU: 750w Cooler Master
Monitor: HP 2309m
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912

Still getting 60fps+ on Crysis 2 (extreme) and playable framerates on Titanfall at medium

Nice rig to uprade. But it looks like - when you upgrade - you'll have to get a new MoBo (like one of the new Z97 boards, those support 4th and 5th gen Core i-CPUs (5th gen upcoming)), new CPU, GPU and more RAM. The PSU should be fine and looks kinda overkill for your build.

Other than that: nice rig!

I suppose its just preference. If you mount a cpu cooler going from bottom to top airflow you have the back of your gfx card cpu to contend with, and more space issues as most are designed to be a rectangle shape for front to rear cooling.

Flip side of that, mounting for front to rear flow, you still have the heat from the card to contend with with the addition of airflow being affected by either top fans or bottom fans.

I doubt there is an absolute "best way" and it prob depends on what other fans you have. I would still side with front to rear mounting with front intakes, and rear exhausts.

And for the 8 pin, i have roughly 1 inch clearance so its all good.

Ah, ok. Because of the shape of the mounting sockets for the CPU cooler I assumed that you can only mount it in one way.

You're right, like those top-blowers. In a case without a sidepanel that offers mounting spots for fans one of those doesn't make much sense^^

Good to know. That's one of the things I didn't of before buying my fans. I just thought "Well, they provided the mounting holes in the top, so there will be no problem if there are 140mm fans mounted"....boy, was I wrong^^

Edit: Yay, Linus did a review of my case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfvxAgDyDWQ

 

[cw1988]

Most cpu coolers require you to completely remove the stock brackets and in some instances the backing plate to replace them with ones that they have designed for the aftermarket cooler. I had to remove my stock ones but I could have mounted mine for bottom to top airflow if i wanted.

Most of them are literally up to you as to how to do it.

Tbh I was the same and I'm still not 100% on how I should set mine up, but temps on idle and load are lowest with intakes front, side and bottom, exhaust rear and top. This may be case dependant and an alternative case may benefit from the opposite, you never know lol that's what makes all this interesting

I like your case, it seems very popular amongst modders/custom pc builders.

 

[QwarkDreams]

As hot air rises, having top and back as intake and bottom, side and front as exhaust wouldn't do a great job. Also there's the depate which is better: positive or negative pressure.

And I think my case fans in the front aren't being controlled at all and one of them seems to wobble -_- Need to think of a solution there and I don't really want to spend money on a fan controller and PWM fans. Noctuas new Redux and Industrial line isn't even that expensive. I was expecting prices of 20€ and more per fan. (okay, as long as it isn't a Industrial-line fan, the start at about 25€).

Thanks! Actually, I've seen more people complain about it (the price being too high for a value case and the orange being too flashy). I was really having a hard time picking the right case for me, since I didn't want to spend a ton of money on my first case but didn't want to settle for a generic looking, inexpensive case.

 

[SlingLaker9811]

Anyone have a Core 2 Duo for sale? Willing to buy at a reasonable price for my mobo-Leonite2-gl8e LGA775.

 

[QwarkDreams]

Anyone have a Core 2 Duo for sale? Willing to buy at a reasonable price for my mobo-Leonite2-gl8e LGA775.

I wouldn't waste money on outdated hardware. The Core 2 series might still give you the performance you need but with a socket that's not supported anymore you run at risk of wasting money. Since it's a few years old parts like the MoBo, RAM or something else might break in a while and getting a replacement is (at least in my country) sheer impossible and would be most likely only a short-term solution (since even a replacement is a few years old).

If you can upgrade and try to reuse as much as possible (altough I recommend you get a new OS as well since the 32bit version lets you only use 4GB of RAM, even if you install more).
A cheap APU (AMDs A-series or some of Intel's chips like the i3-4130/i3-4330 and some Pentium G) will save you some money when you upgrade because you don't need a dedicated GPU and depending on the games you play an APU might be enough.

But you'll most likely face costs of 500-600€ for a config like this -> System Build - PCPartPicker

 

[Akash Patel]

Anyone have a Core 2 Duo for sale? Willing to buy at a reasonable price for my mobo-Leonite2-gl8e LGA775.

Dont go for it buddy invest in newer hardware my friend also bought one his mobo was 5+ years old after he bought that his motherboard was dead so now he bought the whole new hardwarw and sold the core 2 duo as lga775 motherboard was not available in market.
If your motherboard is in warranty you will get if the shops have old stocks with them but it is hard to find.
If you are from mumbai you can try lamington road there you will find it
My friend got e5700 for 3000 bucks

 

[SlingLaker9811]

I wouldn't waste money on outdated hardware. The Core 2 series might still give you the performance you need but with a socket that's not supported anymore you run at risk of wasting money. Since it's a few years old parts like the MoBo, RAM or something else might break in a while and getting a replacement is (at least in my country) sheer impossible and would be most likely only a short-term solution (since even a replacement is a few years old).

If you can upgrade and try to reuse as much as possible (altough I recommend you get a new OS as well since the 32bit version lets you only use 4GB of RAM, even if you install more).
A cheap APU (AMDs A-series or some of Intel's chips like the i3-4130/i3-4330 and some Pentium G) will save you some money when you upgrade because you don't need a dedicated GPU and depending on the games you play an APU might be enough.

But you'll most likely face costs of 500-600? for a config like this -> System Build - PCPartPicker

Actually I have a config as follows-
4 GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
Nvidia GeForce GT 520 2GB DDR3
HDD-W.D 160GB+1TB external HDD
17 inch monitor and 2.1 speakers
CPU-Pentium D 925 65nm 3.0GHz

I get a wei of.4.9 with the cpu being the bottle neck. The graphics performance is nice, can play assassins creed 4 on low settings @45-50 fps... With the AC on, of course. The Pentium overheats frequently without the AC on, so I thought I would buy a C2D e6700 to solve my prob and run the rig for another couple of years. But you are right,I bought it in 2007, and it has run its course and might break anytime. What do you think I should do? After these good enough specs to last a couple of years or should I invest in a new PC immediately or when this one conks out? Thanks buddy!

 

[SlingLaker9811]

Dont go for it buddy invest in newer hardware my friend also bought one his mobo was 5+ years old after he bought that his motherboard was dead so now he bought the whole new hardwarw and sold the core 2 duo as lga775 motherboard was not available in market.
If your motherboard is in warranty you will get if the shops have old stocks with them but it is hard to find.
If you are from mumbai you can try lamington road there you will find it
My friend got e5700 for 3000 bucks

Actually I have a config as follows-
4 GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
Nvidia GeForce GT 520 2GB DDR3
HDD-W.D 160GB+1TB external HDD
17 inch monitor and 2.1 speakers
CPU-Pentium D 925 65nm 3.0GHz

I get a wei of.4.9 with the cpu being the bottle neck. The graphics performance is nice, can play assassins creed 4 on low settings @45-50 fps... With the AC on, of course. The Pentium overheats frequently without the AC on, so I thought I would buy a C2D e6700 to solve my prob and run the rig for another couple of years. But you are right,I bought it in 2007, and it has run its course and might break anytime. What do you think I should do? After these good enough specs to last a couple of years or should I invest in a new PC immediately or when this one conks out? Thanks buddy!

 

[Christopher Lindsay]

Motherboard: Intel
Video card: Radeon 7870
CPU: I7 sandy bridge
RAM: 8GB
Soundcard: Claro halo
Harddrive: 1TB HDD + 150GB HDD
Case: Black Silverstone FT03
Monitor: Two 20 inch hp monitors
Other: 2 krk rokit 5 studio monitors (speakers), 2 external TB hard drives and an akai max49 keyboard controller.

My rig is for music production but I decided to throw in a decent graphics card later to do some occasional gaming too. I see no one else has invested heavily into a good soundcard. Prior to the graphics card upgrade I had a nvidia 440 because I was more into the soundcard. I went with the Silverstone case since I'm not hard core gamer and wanted a computer that actually looks normal. I think most people can't even tell it's a computer. They usually thinks it's a trashcan lol.

 

[Keith Wallace]

That thing's not going to last a couple of years. The end of this year or next is going to bring DDR4 RAM, and you'll still be sitting back at DDR2, which is slow and expensive to replace. You might be able to get away with it if you're not getting newer games anytime soon, but you should otherwise be looking at a real upgrade of your whole system within the next year.

If overheating's your issue, go see about getting a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, buying some thermal paste, and seeing if that $40 investment can give you a bit of life while you save up for a new rig.

 

[Akash Patel]

Actually I have a config as follows-
4 GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
Nvidia GeForce GT 520 2GB DDR3
HDD-W.D 160GB+1TB external HDD
17 inch monitor and 2.1 speakers
CPU-Pentium D 925 65nm 3.0GHz

I get a wei of.4.9 with the cpu being the bottle neck. The graphics performance is nice, can play assassins creed 4 on low settings @45-50 fps... With the AC on, of course. The Pentium overheats frequently without the AC on, so I thought I would buy a C2D e6700 to solve my prob and run the rig for another couple of years. But you are right,I bought it in 2007, and it has run its course and might break anytime. What do you think I should do? After these good enough specs to last a couple of years or should I invest in a new PC immediately or when this one conks out? Thanks buddy!

You should invest in a new pc cause if you bought a new processor it will cost you around ₹3000 so better to invest in new build
You just need to update mobo+processor and ram.If you are on budget go for i3 3rd gen
I3-3220(₹7000)+gigabyte h61m-d2h(₹3250)-corsair vengeance 4gb ddr3 1600mhz(₹2500) =₹14000
If you wanna go for 4th gen
Then i3-4130(₹7500)+gigabyte b85m-d3h(₹5700)/gigabyte h81m-s1(₹4000)+corsair vengeance 4gb ddr3 1600mhz(₹2500)=(₹14000-₹15700)
My advice is to go for 4th gen i3 with b85 socket motherboard as it will give you more space for future upgrades and there is hardly any difference in price.
P.s: Price keep changing everyday so you might find stuff lower than this price or slightly higher.

 

[roni09riku]

Not very good specs but here's mine:

Motherboard: ASRock N68C-S UCC
Processor: AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6ghz (unlocked to Phenom II X4 10)
Cooler: Deepcool Ice Blade Pro
Memory: GSkill 4gb (2x2gb) DDR3 1333
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 550Ti 1.5gb 192bit DDR3
Hard Drives: Seagate 160gb IDE, Seagate 250gb SATA, Seagate 1tb SATA
Power: HEC Cougar SL 600W 80+
Case: just a generic case, no modifications
Mouse: A4Tech X7 F2
Keyboard: TT esports Amaru
Monitor: Ganzklar 24" 1080p LCD
Speakers: Ganzklar 5.1 speaker system

 

[QwarkDreams]

Actually I have a config as follows-
4 GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
Nvidia GeForce GT 520 2GB DDR3
HDD-W.D 160GB+1TB external HDD
17 inch monitor and 2.1 speakers
CPU-Pentium D 925 65nm 3.0GHz

To give you a better understanding of what I was dealing with before I assembled a whole new desktop PC:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @2.4GHz
3GB DDR2 RAM
Geforce 8600 GT (256mb)
Seagate F2 500GB HDD (another F2 with 500GB as an external drive in a docking station)
8x USB 2.0 of which only 4 worked at the end

The CPU would've provided enough performance for most older games but the RAM, GPU and MoBo were the bottleneck. With so many old parts to replace a simple upgrade would've been a waste of money and the price-to-performance ration would've been very bad if I would've been able to buy new parts (not used ones, that would've been even worse). (Damn, so many "would've been"s in one sentence.

I hope you get my point. A complete new system will get you through some years. You have to catch the right moment to upgrade you parts. If you miss it the cost of upgrading will rise, the performance you get for your money will decrease and in the worst case (unfortunately, like yours) you won't be able to upgrade (too old parts, too high prices, too little performance).

 

[QwarkDreams]

Well, since our second desktop PC in the living room (same model as my old one; see specs in last post) died on my, I had to pick some parts for a new one (looks like my grandma can't go one day without her beloved Mahjong.....but I'M the PC-addict...sure -_-). Went with a AMD APU since they offer the best bang for the buck and the specs don't need to be that great (she only needs if for simple games and internet browsing).

I'll post some pics as soon as I get the parts but don't expect a color-matching, high-end PC ;-)

AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 2x3.6GHz
MSI A78M-E45 FM2+
Crucial Ballistix Tactical DDR3-1866 CL9 1x4GB
Corsair VS350
Sharkoon VS3-S (red)
Windows 8.1 64bit
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB

Managed to keep the price at ~350€. Hopefully the performance will suit her habits.

Edit: First pic of the new desktop PC for my grandma. It's no beauty and the quality of teh case is....well, I wouldn't recommend it (kinda what to expect for a case worth 27€). Maybe I'm too spoiled with my Corsair case but I've never had a good feeling about Sharkoon. The interior is hideous, there's no cutout behind the motherboard (changing the CPU cooler means unmounting the mobo), the drive mounts are flimsy and spartanic (only good thing is that the HDD "bays" have rubbergrommets) and the metal feels cheap.

The cpu and mobo are great, wouldn't have expected less from MSI and AMD.

But the case....ugh...

 

[cw1988]

Some case manufacturers really do go all out on budget cutting but for your needs for this build qwark it should be fine

I have gone mad. I have decided to push the boat out and do this rig justice.

Overall plans:

triple monitor setup - third monitor arriving tomorrow
SLI - extra 770 phantom 4gb will be ordered at the end of the month to match the one I already have
Custom GFX card backplates from coldzero in white and black.
Custom SLI bridge in white and black from coldzero
Bitfenix white braided cables. 24pin atx, 2x6pin GFX, 2x8pin gfx, 3x sata, onboard audio, 1xsata power
Teamgroup Vulcan RAM 2x4gb to add onto the 8gb I already have

After that im pretty sure my urges will be satisfied

 

[QwarkDreams]

Some case manufacturers really do go all out on budget cutting but for your needs for this build qwark it should be fine

I have gone mad. I have decided to push the boat out and do this rig justice.

Overall plans:

triple monitor setup - third monitor arriving tomorrow
SLI - extra 770 phantom 4gb will be ordered at the end of the month to match the one I already have
Custom GFX card backplates from coldzero in white and black.
Custom SLI bridge in white and black from coldzero
Bitfenix white braided cables. 24pin atx, 2x6pin GFX, 2x8pin gfx, 3x sata, onboard audio, 1xsata power
Teamgroup Vulcan RAM 2x4gb to add onto the 8gb I already have

After that im pretty sure my urges will be satisfied

Yeah, it's good enough for this particular build but I would rather go for quality than for budget. Upgrading a case isn't exactly what I want to do in the future (also I wouldn't know what to do with the old case). I already bought it, I installed more than half of the parts (ODD, HDD, MoBo, APU), I wish I would've got a different case (like a Corsair 200R, yep, Corsair ******) for a little bit more money and I hate it. Now I get it when most people on forums don't pick a case when giving rig recommendations via PCPartPicker because it's such a personal thing.
Maybe I'll exchange it in a year with a new one.....really, really unhappy with my decision regarding the case and kinda mad at myself :-/


What mobo do you have? Asus Evo R2.0, but which one? I'm sure you did your research but I just wanted to mention that the old M5A97 only supports CrossFireX.

This build will be pure overkill^^ Damn, FX8350, 16GB RAM, SLI GTX 770 4GB.....damn!