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Smokey77

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About Smokey77

  • Birthday Mar 06, 1997

Contact Methods

  • Steam
    LTWB11
  • Origin
    LTWB11
  • Xbox Live
    mukinfuddle12

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Cambridgeshire, England
  • Interests
    Modding and Overclocking.
  • Biography
    I'm more of a hardware enthusiast than a Gamer.
  • Occupation
    Roofer

System

  • CPU
    AMD FX 8350
  • Motherboard
    GA-990FX-UD5
  • RAM
    16GB Avexir 2400MHz
  • GPU
    2X AMD R9 290X with Corsair H60 Red Mod
  • Case
    Custom
  • Storage
    Crucial 512GB SSD, 4TB WD Green
  • PSU
    NZXT Hale 90 1000w
  • Display(s)
    Hazro 29" 60Hz 21:9 1080p, 2x benq 24" 60Hz 16:9 1080p
  • Cooling
    Corsair H60 CPU cooler. 3X NZXT 120mm Case Fans
  • Keyboard
    Mad Catz Cyborg Strike5
  • Mouse
    Zalman
  • Sound
    Senhieser Over Ears
  • Operating System
    Windows 7/10

Smokey77's Achievements

  1. Username - Smokey77 Favorite Vessel Videos - Titan Sli https://www.vessel.com/videos/JemZ8O7Hyand Warthog Hotas https://www.vessel.com/videos/Yj4PbcgKj
  2. Working In The Industry: You'll find that sometimes you will need software that your client doesn't have installed, in cases where getting access to the internet is not possible this can be a real nightmare. So to prevent this, it helps to carry just about every utility you can with you ether on a USB thumb stick or a CD. Personally, I have two folders that contain portable software and software to be installed. The former contains several small programs for monitoring and testing that can be taken from this really useful site - http://portableapps.com/appsHowever, the latter contains software such as 7-zip, chrome, Avast and GIMP. Depending on the information I have before going onto the job, I add drivers to a separate driver. Whats Next?: Half term this week, should be able to add some cool content when I'm not in work so keep checking back to see whats new. Thank You :)
  3. Finnished this blog now?: Not quite, I am yet to do the Grid2 Benchmark but I can talk about the general use of the cards. Before modding, the reference card was extremely loud, as you can imagine, whereas the Tri-X cooler stayed almost silent. After this mod, I found that while the total noise for both cards has been reduced, the single 120mm fan is having to work harder that the three 80mms on the Tri-X. So it's louder post mod unfortunately. On the bright side though, the card runs at the same temperature but goes back to idle temps much faster. As for the reference, almost a 40 degree difference in max temperature. VRM: The bane of my life while working on these cards, VRM temps are still higher that I would like. At this point though, I can't amend this short of buying bigger and less stylish coolers. Which might seem like a good trade off to some of you but for me, getting this build to look right is more important that perfect temps. 65 degree average VRM in intensive games is good enough for me. Whats Next?: Well since the change from PC In A Drawer to PC On The Wall, I have made progress with the designs. These cards should be installed into the custom case next week, since its half term I can get a day off to do it in. However, I am working on another Attempts blog now. This one will feature a some packaging and an ITX Motherboard. I will not be uploading onto this blog until the cards are fitted into the final case, or until something breaks. Thank You :)
  4. Whats Going On?: Almost as soon as I started mocking up the layout of the drawer, I found that the total thickness would be too much for an under desk drawer. Moreover, the width and height of the case would bee too much to fit, practically, on my desk. With careful consideration to the style of both my office and the PC, I am going to be swapping over to a PC on the wall. However, I will still be building a PC into a drawer. I plan to sue older 939 socket era hardware and some passive cooling solutions to make a work PC that will have hot swap HDD bays, small boot ssd and will fit entirely into a 1.5U sized drawer. I was limited by the magnitude of the hardware in this build, VRM overheating and other unforeseen troubles have lead me to re-work the basis of my build. I plan to adapt what I already have to fit onto the wall, rather that into a desk. The biggest advantage to this would be dropping the cable mechanism that I had planned for the drawer. In order to be able to extend the PC while still in use I would have added 50mm to the thickness of the case. Doesn't seem a lot now but because I can not change some other sizes, I should be able to slim the bulk of the case down, barring the 120mm fans which have to be 120 thick. The Smokey's Chronicles blog has a post entitled Important! which you can actually vote on. If I get more of you asking for a drawer then I will go and build it with this hardware. Please keep in mind that there will be a PC In A Drawer just not with this hardware. Thank You :)
  5. Things Changing: I was in the process of mocking up the layout of the drawer PC build, Smokey Attempts: PC In A Drawer, and I realized that the mechanisms I need to implement that will allow the drawer to be extended without disconnecting wires will add upwards of 5cm to the total height of the drawer. A total of around 19cm is too much to fit under the desk. In addition, the width and depth of the mock up will have it too large to be a practical desktop. Unless I sacrifice looks for function. Something that, considering the extensive GPU modding, I do not want to do. I plan for more projects, some PC orientated and some not, so it is entirely plausible that I create a new blog, detail a more functional budget PC fitted into a drawer. In fact, I have already started to make plans for this, to the extent of mocking up a passive cooled solution. So here's the important part, I would like to know if swapping the current Drawer Build to... Smokey Attempts: PC On The Wall. Should I swap or not? I will add, if I don't get any comments then I am going ahead with the swap. Thank You :)
  6. Grid 2 Benchmark, Max Settings, 2560x1080: Maximum VRM temp was 64 degrees, well within acceptable limits considering the up to 105 degree guarantee. However, Tri-x Sapphire cooler VRM temps will not get beyond 50 degrees with the same settings. This is due, most likely, to the difference in heatsink size between the two cards rather than the airflow. After I ran the bench on loop for 50 minuets, the VRMs dropped down to 40 in a matter of seconds and only took five minuets to get back to the idle (34). Of course, these are the VRM1 temps on the card, which are the main VRMs. j VRM2 readings showed a max of 61 and an idle of 51 with just heatsink and no airflow at all. This is also acceptable and I plan to get some airflow over these sinks too in the final project. There are no benchmark images due to the 2mb size limit and the fact that I have no compression software at this time. Fresh install and what not. So is all I can provide at the time. FPS was an average of 56 and max of 79 (rounded) this is all at stock clock. I will be overclocking the cards once I have compared this first 290x with the second after it's modded. Thank You :) p.s. Planning to change mounting for the second 290x. Using Paste for the VRMs rather that the provided pads. I will also spread the processor paste myself to ensure it has good spread.
  7. The Gelid VRM sinks were from UK ebay as were the generic VRAM sinks. Ally sinks are lighter so will be less likely to fall off and short cards underneath. VRM temp results will be up tonight. Thanks for the Comment.
  8. Finally Some Results!: Geil VRM sinks came this morning, only two days late... Anyway, these sinks are pretty small and with a fan ghetted on the card pretty poorly, they still hit 103 degrees with furmark. However, in regular gaming, I am seeing 95s on average which is on par to the reference cooler that was on here. This post isn't about the core temps but I'm really happy with them. So this higher VRM temp is worth the sacrifice. Can I Make It Better?: I can certanly get rid of the thermal pads that came with the VRM sinks, replaceing it with a nice dolop of MX-4. Which could help with the temeratures. Moreover, placing a fan closer to the sinks will be much better. The original schems for the drawer build had me using the flow directly from the rads to cool the MOSFET, VRAM, RAM and VRMs but I think I am looking at adding more smaller fans into the mix. I suppose the two 200mm NZXTs I have hanging arround would suffice but they would wreck my airflow. Since this is by no means the finnished design I will not be posting in depth test results. Photos!: Whats Next?: Tomorrow moring I will be uploading some core temp readings and tomorrow evening there will be proper bench results. Using furmark and Vally most likely. In addition, I have H60 CPU temps to post on the drawer blog. As well as some mounting test images and other odds and sods. I'd apologise for the lack of content over the past few days but it's not like I've been slacking off. My main systems motherboard died, GA-990FX-UD5. Flat out broke, PC shut down mid youtube video and would not post. So I'm suing an MATX GA-78LMT-USB3 I theived out of my sisters build. Some good news though? I am going to be splurging and grabbing an Asus Formula V. So look forward to that blog. Thank You :)
  9. Whats Going On?: Okay so I work as a roofer, due to the ice and snow we've been getting we are working much later that usual. This also means that I have to wait for longer delivary times. I have missed several deliveries already. However, there is good news. I have the schematics started and I am working on the next Red Mod update. Make sure to check it out tomorrow. I appreciate anyone who follows these blogs. Thank You :)
  10. Whats Next?: All updates that I planned for today have been haulted due to time constraints. I have to get this build finnished before 6 this evening which is going to be tough. I simply don't feel like working on blogs today. Hoever, lots of stuff arrived today so i can start updating the Drawer Blog and The Red Mod Blog. Stay tuned. Thank You :) p.s. Here's some images of the build so far...
  11. An Awesome Build For An Awesome Guy: "Can I get a Gaming PC for £500?"... "Yes", "Good, build me one for £1000 then"... "yes". Was pretty much how this went. I was given no more guidance other than "Don't care about looks, just make it work.". Obviously by looking at this images you can see that I did some colour matching, not that it was hard to find red and black AMD gear. What Would I Change?: Working to a budget is always a challenge, there's always that part that cost a little more but you want it. In this case, it was an MSI 970 Gaming Motherboard. Would have looked so good in this rig but the £90 price tag plus US shipping (total of £110 there or there about) would have been stretching the budget just a little to far. My compromise was a GA-970a which is all black, and has similar features to the 970. I won't list tech specs on here. Other that that one part, I'm happy with the way it is shaping up. Perhaps I will change my mind on this once I actually start building the thing. Internal Hardware: CPU: FX 8320e GPU: MSI 290X RAM: Kingston 2x8GB 2400MHz PSU: CX 750M Case: NZXT S340 SSD: R7 120GB HDD: WD 2TB Black LED: No name duel 30cm red strips. Product Shots: Whats Next: Building Commences at 7:30 tomorrow morning and will likely not stop until late on Sunday night. Regular small updates will come almost hourly tomorrow but the final results will be posted in one large entry Sunday evening. Not a lot of new stuff coming out on the drawer and red mod blogs because of this. So stay tuned for some awesome looking system shots and hopefully very aggressive overclocking. Thank You :)
  12. Cooling 'n' stuffs: Just cooling the processor isn't enough, VRM and to a lesser extent, VRAM need some attention too. These heat sinks were pretty cheap and came with a terrible thermal pad that wouldn't stick at all. So I took these off and used the smallest amount of MX2 paste as possible. I also had to spread the paste by hand because the heat sinks are under any kind of retention. Didn't take long after I got the hang of spreading the paste. I have some photos but I've been having phone camera issues so this is all I got. The rest were ether corrupted or severely blurred. Whats Next? Very long day today, more posts coming tomorrow on a gaming build. These will be on the main blog channel Smokey's Chronicles. Other than this I plan to dribble bits on the Drawer blog until Wednesday where I will have major updates. Benchmarks for this 290x will be up Wednesday, delivery's permitting.
  13. What Did I do?: This is Avexir RAM that has had the heat sinks removed. To keep the ram cool inside my new custom case I have got some basic ally heat sinks. However, the yellow LEDs are not covered up which I thought would be a bad look but I'm not sure now. Once I've got everything in the case I will decide if I want to cover the LEDs with small pits of electrical tape. These are the only images that I managed to get due very bad camera support with my ROM. While I'm working on this, I don't plan on uploading images from this camera for much longer. I have some Nikon's around here somewhere that I will be switching to. Anyway, here are the pictures. Whats Next?: This weekend I have a build log in the pipeline for my main blog, Smokey's Chronicles. In addition to this, I have made some progress on the 290x red mod. This will likely be up tonight too but I've been delayed today. Nothing serious I just had to work late and then sort out this new build. Thank You :)
  14. What I Did: After I fixed the DVD drive and installed Ubuntu on this machine I discovered that the WiFi card was broken as it wouldn't register. I replaced that with one from a HP mini and let everything update. Three weeks after, it was too slow for me. Only 2GB of RAM was killing me so I nabbed another stick and tried swapping the processor. No luck with that but the RAM upgrade went fine. Next was the HDD, Kingston 300V 60GB SSD is the boot drive now. I got rid of the DVD drive all together and bought an adapter so I can keep the original 120GB drive for mass storage. One install of windows 10 later and I'm looking at an almost brand new laptop. Apart from the faded and scratched paintwork. The final steps in this project were to remove the speakers, never used them, and to spray the casing black. Unfortunately, the primer I used had a poor hold in some places. Resulting in some faded patches. I decided that trying to fix them would probably make it worse anyway. Everything was working fine, until my BIOS calmed to be corrupted. happened out of the blue on day at college, when I restarted it was fine but had a password. Still haven't managed to get past this. Phoenix and Dell passwords don't work. I need an eeprom programmer to get it. Until then I have got by with access to the boot loader menu. Today I took apart the machine and replaced the heat sink and fan. Used some of the MX2 paste for my GPU mods. Here are some images of the mod. This wasn't what I had hoped to add to the blog today but I had issues with the other build, I've had to shuffle my days around for the next two weeks. I'll put the plan at the bottom of the entry. Whats Next?: This Saturday I am in my office, building desks and worktops ready for the build coming Sunday. I will let out more details on this in Saturdays entries to this blog. I have so much stuff arriving next week that it might be hard to get big updates out for the Smokey Attempts blogs, not to say there won't be updates. I will have the summative GPU mod on the Drawer blog for next Sunday and big updates of the dedicated Red Mod blog next Friday and Saturday. As for other things, I have some old hardware that I'm going to be doing some mad stuff with. I'm planning some oil cooled stuff for next month so keep an eye out for that. Other that those things I will still be uploading snippets to this blog about random things like tiny heat sinks, buying experiences and what not. Thank You :)
  15. What?: I've attached a Corsair H60 AIO to a 290x reference from MSI. Insane... Yes... Dangerous?... Yes... Cool?... You tell me people. To see more on this, go to my other blog Smokey Attempts: The Red Mod. Whats Next?: Regular update to each blog, and some cool stuff on this blog by tonight hopefully. I should be able to make a start on another build late this evening and I will by uploading entries with images today and tomorrow. Thank You :)
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