(Topic ID: 219488)

putting together a new pc rig

By j_m_

5 years ago


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#1 5 years ago

in reviewing the art files for the joust playfield artwork (and seeing how painfully slow it was to maneuver and navigate the document layers), I realized that it was time to bite the bullet once again and update my computer. the one thing that I've found is that no matter how modular everything becomes, it's generally easier to just start fresh and purchase all new components.

as a point of reference, my last computer was built back in 2009 with the following:
- asus P2T2 WS motherboard
- intel I7-950 3.0Ghz processor
- cooler master HAF 922 case
- lg 8x blu-ray burner
- radeon HD 4890 vapor (2GB) video card
and a whopping 6GB of DDR memory (which was a lot at the time)

for this one, I decided to go close to top end on a lot of components again so that I wouldn't have to worry about upgrading for a while

for this one, I chose to go with the following:
- asus maximus hero x wi-fi ac motherboard
- intel i7 8700K, 3.7Ghz processor
- fractal design define R6 blackout case w/ tempered glass window
- samsung 970 pro 512GB m.2 ssd (for the o/s boot drive)
- lg wh16ns40 16x blu-ray/m-disc burner
- evga g-force gtx 1070 ti ultra silent (8GB) video card
- corsair vengeance 32GB DDR4-2666 (2x16GB)
- corsair rm1000x gold 1000w psu

overall, I couldn't be happier with the case and psu. corsair continues to manufacture a really nice modular psu and the case is a dream. easy to get into (all toolless thumbscrews, totally blacked out low fingerprint visibility powder coat finish and plenty of rubber zig-zag holes to punch the cables through close to where they need to plug into the motherboard for a nice, clean look.

in addition to a nice, thick layer of sound deadening material on the top, rear and front panels, I also liked how the front panel could be swapped between a left-hand and right-hand door to access the 5-1/5" slot peripheral inside

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the video card and blu-ray drive arrive today, which will complete the build process

#2 5 years ago

I’ve been looking at doing a new setup as well. I was frustrated that most cases do not have space for an optical drive. I may take your recommendation on the case you got.

#3 5 years ago

definitely look at fractal design's cases

I was going to go with another cooler master (or just transfer my new components into the old case), but a friend suggested that I look at them (he had purchased the R5 case about a year ago)

I was blown away with not only how well the case was manufactured, but the detail that went into it. once I have the graphics card installed, I'll take a few more [close up] photos. surrounding the motherboard are no less than 8 rubber "zig-zag" punch through sections that allow you to route all of your cabling behind the scenes, keeping the not only the visible portion looking clean, but also helping airflow dramatically

the other thing that is really neat is that small daughter board located on the backside of the case which controls all of your fans. the 3 that came with the case were 3-pin (the daughter board supports up to six 3-pin connections and three 4-pin PWM connections. everything from this daughter board then connects to the 4-pin "CPU" header on your motherboard and is powered by a SATA connector

#4 5 years ago

Thanks for that great info. I’ll be looking into it for sure.

#5 5 years ago

my order from amazon was misrouted, but it looks like I should <fingers crossed> have the video card and blu-ray drive today. watching a couple of youtube videos on airflow and cable management made me re-think the orientation of my psu and the routing of all my cables. I'm much happier with the end result

if the components actually show up today, I'll post photos of the final build and hopefully get windows 10 and most of my apps installed. it will be interesting to see just how much faster the beast that I've build is

#6 5 years ago

Not seeing a 5 1/4 floppy drive on your list. Which one are you using?
(Seriously, that setup looks badass.)

#7 5 years ago
Quoted from RCA1:

Not seeing a 5 1/4 floppy drive on your list. Which one are you using?
(Seriously, that setup looks badass.)

hehe. actually, I'm still running those 8" floppies. it's an external drive because the floppies are wider than the case
80KB per disc baby! that's about 1,000 of them for my windows 10 install

#8 5 years ago

Do you know about Ninite.com? It's the easiest and fastest way to set up the apps on a new computer.

#9 5 years ago

Fractal Design does make some really nice cases. I'm using one of their R5 cases as my media server. It's currently filled with 10 drives storing 27TB of media and another 6TB of parity data.

#10 5 years ago

Ive been looking at a new pc build too. Did you consider ryzen? Seems all the rage these days on lots of youtube reviewers channels. What made u choose ti stay with intel?

#11 5 years ago

Did you just buy a copy of Windows 10 from a seller? I forget how that works but I think you get a cheaper price for a new build as opposed to selling a retail copy?

#12 5 years ago
Quoted from brainmegaphone:

Did you just buy a copy of Windows 10 from a seller? I forget how that works but I think you get a cheaper price for a new build as opposed to selling a retail copy?

I'd only ever buy an OS from somewhere like NewEgg. There are too many hacked / illegal copies to trust buying from somewhere else.

There are two different types of Licenses, OEM and Retail. There are two main differences.

1. OEM is limited to installation on one computer. The license key is locked to the machine where you first install it. You can't move it or transfer it for any reason. You also won't get any help from Microsoft if you have issues, because technically you're the OEM and are required to support the OS. Just like if you bought it from Dell, HP, etc. The OEM is responsible for after the sale support and you're the OEM.

2. Retail is more expensive, but allows you to install it on more than one computer, but not at the same time.

I always buy OEM because it's cheaper and I've never called M$ before, nor do I think they would ever be any help.

#13 5 years ago

https://pcpartpicker.com/ - some good info on pc builds

#14 5 years ago

I really didn't consider ryzen since I'm not a gamer (it was my understanding that the ryzen cpu is made for gamers). I've never had any issues with my previous builds being all intel (can't teach an old dog a new trick?

really, all I use my pc for is surfing the web, and messing around with stuff in photoshop and illustrator (I have the full CS6 suite)

when I picked up some of the components, I purchased a new, retail copy of windows 10 pro from microcenter. I think it was 129.99

and while I'll stay away from those "deals" which many times end up being too good to be true and bootleg copies, microsoft still has issues even with full retail copies. I have 2 SDDs for my laptop (win 7 pro and win 10 pro), each with a fully licensed retail copy installed and I still receive the stupid "you may be the victim of software piracy" pop-ups on my windows 7 copy (which I still run due to certain drivers for my zebra industrial printer to print the B/W cabinet manufacturer decals

#15 5 years ago

I just built a rig for a HTC VIVE Pro setup.

i5 8600K, 16 Gig DDR4, 1080i, yadda yadda.

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#16 5 years ago

You're using that GPU to mine crytpo when you're not using the computer, right?

#17 5 years ago
Quoted from Spyderturbo007:

You're using that GPU to mine crytpo when you're not using the computer, right?

No, because that shit is ridiculous.

#18 5 years ago

Are you going to use the M.2 samsung pro drives?
They are in every new build I do these days.

#19 5 years ago
Quoted from epthegeek:

I just built a rig for a HTC VIVE Pro setup.
i5 8600K, 16 Gig DDR4, 1080i, yadda yadda.

needs more red LEDs. maybe you can get a glowing supreme logo in there!
I know I'm an old guy, which explains why I can't understand why everyone want to make their pc look like a mini rave is going on inside it

#20 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Are you going to use the M.2 samsung pro drives?
They are in every new build I do these days.

Those things are stupid expensive compared to regular SSD.

Quoted from j_m_:

needs more red LEDs. maybe you can get a glowing supreme logo in there!
I know I'm an old guy, which explains why I can't understand why everyone want to make their pc look like a mini rave is going on inside it

I had no idea this crap lit up until I turned it on. Seems stupid to me too.

#21 5 years ago

I found a good review video on the fractal design R6 case that I purchased (I bought the all black "blackout" version

Quoted from epthegeek:

Those things are stupid expensive compared to regular SSD.

I had no idea this crap lit up until I turned it on. Seems stupid to me too.

my first experience with this was on my ASUS WS motherboard and their patented "heartbeat" blue LED. this damn thing pulsates when the computer is on, lighting up the room, the hallway and part of my family room. I ended up using some of that black liquid paint (that easily peels off) to cover it up.

#22 5 years ago
Quoted from epthegeek:

Those things are stupid expensive compared to regular SSD

Yes.
But at 2500mb/sec they have the bandwidth to make the rest of the components actually do some work other than being idle most of the time.

Just a consideration for this really fine build.

#23 5 years ago

This is my tower I built a few years back. Was going to be for webcams at my events but got pressed into service quicker when my previous tower suffered from expanding caps.

I really like this over the old one. Plenty of USB ports for all my stuff. Way cooler looking than the old one.

LTG : )

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#24 5 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

This is my tower I built a few years back. Was going to be for webcams at my events but got pressed into service quicker when my previous tower suffered from expanding caps.
I really like this over the old one. Plenty of USB ports for all my stuff. Way cooler looking than the old one.
LTG : )

Thermaltake e10 snow? I love that case it looks like R2D2 and has the cool handle. Nice!

#25 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Thermaltake e10 snow?

Yes. Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition

LTG : )

#26 5 years ago

Man this is the last thread I needed to stumble across.

Been really wanting to build a nice pc for vr. And you guys are giving me all kinds of ideas for something I shouldn't buy lol

#27 5 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

Yes. Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition
LTG : )

I had this case in black. I loved it.

#28 5 years ago

I finally managed to get everything assembled and installed windows 10 last night after setting up a USB boot drive

a lessons learned tip for those using the microsoft link for creating the USB boot flash drive is to not have anything important on the flash drive before running the software because the program will completely erase the flash drive prior to writing the files to it

like epthegeek 's pc, the maximus x hero wi-fi ac motherboard features 2 RGB LEDs that light up (however, you do have the option of shutting them off completely or changing the pulsing to one of 8 different pre-configured options or changing the color displayed

installing windows 10 pro took a total about approximately 5 minutes. and afterwards, turning on the computer, off to the POST screen (2 secs), POST to windows 10 usable (another 3 seconds)

I need to install the updated drivers (video card, SSD, bluetooth, lan, etc...) and my applications and then I'll post another update with final pictures of the setup

#29 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Yes.
But at 2500mb/sec they have the bandwidth to make the rest of the components actually do some work other than being idle most of the time.

Just a consideration for this really fine build.

I think it's ~$100 premium now for 500GB NVME vs. SSD. I would totally go with NVME if I were trying to build a kick-ass system.

#30 5 years ago
Quoted from mcluvin:

I think it's ~$100 premium now for 500GB NAND vs. SSD. I would totally go with NVME if I were trying to build a kick-ass system.

Yep.

#31 5 years ago

ran crystal disk mark against both the samsung 970 pro and 840 evo SSDs that I have in the system and boy what a huge difference

the 970 pro m.2 nvme drive topped out with results of 3,563.4 MB/s read and 2,356.5 MB/s write
the 840 evo 2.5" ssd yielded results of 550.1 MB/s read and 532.1 MB/s write

#32 5 years ago
Quoted from j_m_:

ran crystal disk mark against both the samsung 970 pro and 840 evo SSDs that I have in the system and boy what a huge difference
the 970 pro m.2 nvme drive topped out with results of 3,563.4 MB/s read and 2,356.5 MB/s write
the 840 evo 2.5" ssd yielded results of 550.1 MB/s read and 532.1 MB/s write

Yep. Samsung pro m.2 is where you want to be.

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