Frustrated with the system choices that computer manufacturers give, Jeff decided to build our new computer from parts. It was fun! Here are the guts. You can read the whole geeky story with additional pictures by clicking the "Read more" link.
The parts:
Case: Cooler Master HAF922
CPU: Intel i5-2500k (3.3 GHz Quad-core, unlocked)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3
Heat Sink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Memory: 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 G.Skill Ripjaws
Video Card: Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Solid State Drive: 64GB Crucial RealSSD C300
Hard Drive: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint
Optical Drive: Samsung BD-ROM, DVD/Write
Power Supply: 750W Corsair 750HX
Not Shown:
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Media Reader: Akasa All-In-One V2. Fan Controller / Card Reader / Multi Port Panel
UPS/Battery Backup: CyberPower CP1350AVR
Open case. The three fans come pre-installed. Ten(!) drive bays -- five external, five internal.
First self-installed part! If you install a power supply correctly, it takes four screws and one minute. However, if you later drop a motherboard standoff through the fan of the power supply, it takes an extra five minutes to remove the power supply, shake it upside down until the standoff comes out, and re-install it.
Four drives installed – BD/DVD/CD-ROM drive, media card reader, solid state drive, and the hard drive. These all ended up in different bays in the final build; two moved for cabling purposes, one moved for aesthetic reasons, and the media card reader was upgraded to a nicer looking one.
There’s some work to do on the motherboard before putting it in the case. Here’s where the processor drops in. You literally drop it in there, then clamp down a cover. It clamps down really tight and makes a scary grinding sound. Someone should warn you about that – I thought I had smashed it to death.
Processor in!
Putting the heat sink and fan on the processor made me nervous because it involves glue. Well, thermal paste to be more accurate. According to various websites, there are 100 ways to apply thermal paste to your processor, all of which are terribly wrong according to various other websites.
Motherboard with processor and heat sink added to the case.
Minor snag putting in the RAM – the heat sink fan blocks RAM slot 1 when installed as intended. Solution: remove fan, install RAM, replace fan about 1/4 inch higher than it should be.
Plugging stuff into the motherboard.
Video card manufacturers put cool designs on the top side of the card, but the card goes in the case face down. Odd.
Video card installed.
All wired up, and successfully powered on!
After a crazy amount of effort, I decide that this is as organized as my wiring is going to get.
Tada! (Bear sold separately).
1 comments:
I'm impressed.
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