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Zalman Z11 (first build)

Hey everyone thought i'd show off my first build I did a lot of research have made a few mistakes along the way like getting an fx-6100 but i will soon replace it. I chose my case to be the Zalman Z11, there are many reasons for this, one i was looking for something that would break away from the traditional box look that most cases are using. The case was also inexpensive allowing me to spend more money on the insides which is what really counted for me. As a side note this case i really bad for cable management, it doesn't include any grommits except two water cooling ones at the back of the case and there isn't much room behind the motherboard tray. That being said if you take your time and really plan out the cable management you can make it look pretty clean. 

 

Specs

CPU: Amd fx-6100 @ 4.5ghz (Soon to be swapped out)

Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: Asus M5a97 R2.0

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 7870

PSU: Diablotek 575watt

Fans: 3x Enermax blue led, 1x blue gelid wing and 1x stock zalman blue led

HDD: Seagate momentus xt 500gb

 

If anyone has any suggestions on how i could improve on it let me know! It's constantly a working progress and I'm open to any feedback you guys/girls have!

 

 

Here's the side of the case, sorry if it's a little cludered and i don't have a good camera as you can see but it will have to do.

IMG_20130622_200308_zps1177151b.jpg

 

Here's the front of the case where you can see I have 2 fans one is a gelid wing the other stock from Zalman. The Gelid wing is undervolted

and only comes on when I really need it.

 

IMG_20130622_200046_zpsa39ee746.jpg

 

Here's the top of the case where there are 2 Enermax fans. Both of these are mounted on the inside behind the grills so it gives this cool scally effect.

There's no room to mount them directly under the fins.

 

IMG_20130622_200024_zpse31f7008.jpg

 

Here's a shot of the inside of the case and of my cable management skills. I think i did a decent job considering that this isn't the best case for cable management and

I have a non modular psu. The top cables are the front panel cables and I plan on hiding those by cutting a hole through the top of the case which will directly run to the

back of the case so those cables won't be visible anymore.

 

IMG_20130622_200203_zps13fcd90a.jpg

 

 

Here's a slightly close shot.

 

IMG_20130616_015022_zpsccd43fc5.jpg

 

Here's a shot at the custom grommits i've made, they're made from foam paper which can be bought at any dollar store. All i did was cut a  rectangular piece out and

wedged it under some cables at the back and it stayed in place so no need for glue. I find it makes the build look much cleaner.

 

IMG_20130622_200225_zps7a7fae73.jpg

 

Here's what my whole rig looks like at night. This isn't the same room as the one in the photo's above as this was taken in my dorm room but you get the idea.

 

IMG_20130326_010253_zps157acc10.jpg

 

And that's it hope you guys enjoyed and again if you have any suggestions on improvments shoot them to me!

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Very nice, grats  ^_^

 

The Ghost edition card was an eye brow raiser for me  :D

 

Elven

Corsair 400R, i7 3770K @ 4.5GHz 16GB, Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz, Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Motherboard, 240GB Samsung 840 Evo Sata III SSD, 2 x Asus GTX 780 Direct CU2 SLI, Corsair H100i and Corsair AX860i Platinum Power supply.

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Very nice, grats  ^_^

 

The Ghost edition card was an eye brow raiser for me  :D

 

Elven

 

Yeah but in one of the photo's you can see that I removed the red side panel from it since it wasn't matching the rest of the color scheme in your opinion which looks nicer? I find now that it looks a little empty without it.

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Yeah but in one of the photo's you can see that I removed the red side panel from it since it wasn't matching the rest of the color scheme in your opinion which looks nicer? I find now that it looks a little empty without it.

 

It does clash the colour scheme, but it blends in well without the panel. Up to you  ^_^

 

It was interesting, not seen the ghost edition in many builds.

Corsair 400R, i7 3770K @ 4.5GHz 16GB, Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz, Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Motherboard, 240GB Samsung 840 Evo Sata III SSD, 2 x Asus GTX 780 Direct CU2 SLI, Corsair H100i and Corsair AX860i Platinum Power supply.

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@Charle692

 

you mounted the fan in the 5.25" bays too lol.

what did you use to mount it?

 

looks really clean,especially since the momentus XT is mounted in the back.

 

pcie auxiliary cables look like they're kind of loose,would consider tightening them up more in the back.

 

the grommets look decent,but personally I don't think they add much to it especially because of their lighter shade of black.

 

I'd strongly consider replacing the diaboltek psu because I've only heard bad things about them.

Linus Sebastian said:

The stand is indeed made of metal but I wouldn't drive my car over a bridge made of it.

 

https://youtu.be/X5YXWqhL9ik?t=552

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Looks good, but that case fugly imo. 

At least the cable management is clean, and you're using a NH-D14! I approve :D

phanteks enthoo pro | intel i5 4690k | noctua nh-d14 | msi z97 gaming 5 | 16gb crucial ballistix tactical | msi gtx970 4G OC  | adata sp900

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What case is that. Im really interested in using it for a build for my friend

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What case is that. Im really interested in using it for a build for my friend

and I quote

 

Hey everyone thought i'd show off my first build I did a lot of research have made a few mistakes along the way like getting an fx-6100 but i will soon replace it. I chose my case to be the Zalman Z11, there are many reasons for this, one i was looking for something that would break away from the traditional box look that most cases are using. The case was also inexpensive allowing me to spend more money on the insides which is what really counted for me. As a side note this case i really bad for cable management, it doesn't include any grommits except two water cooling ones at the back of the case and there isn't much room behind the motherboard tray. That being said if you take your time and really plan out the cable management you can make it look pretty clean. 

 

Linus Sebastian said:

The stand is indeed made of metal but I wouldn't drive my car over a bridge made of it.

 

https://youtu.be/X5YXWqhL9ik?t=552

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@Charle692

 

you mounted the fan in the 5.25" bays too lol.

what did you use to mount it?

 

looks really clean,especially since the momentus XT is mounted in the back.

 

pcie auxiliary cables look like they're kind of loose,would consider tightening them up more in the back.

 

the grommets look decent,but personally I don't think they add much to it especially because of their lighter shade of black.

 

I'd strongly consider replacing the diaboltek psu because I've only heard bad things about them.

 

For the fan at the front I used 4 zip ties and looped them through the screw holes on the fan and around some of the 5.25" holes for mounting this way I would get zero noise from vibration.

 

The pcie cables are loose and I do plan on replacing the psu altogether soon that's why I haven't really bothered with them. The Diablotek does scare me a little and I'm worried it could go and it's quite loud.

 

The grommets do have a lighter shade of black but I have a few cables running back there which would be visible so thats why there still there. I might clean it up soon hoping to be able to take them out.

 

Looks good, but that case fugly imo. 

At least the cable management is clean, and you're using a NH-D14! I approve :D

 

Yeah I realise the case isn't for everyone. Yeah the NH-D14 se2011 got Noctua to send me some am3+ brackets, my store had it for sale for 40$ couldn't pass on this beast. Might replace the fans with the new black noctua ones coming soon :)

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