Corrupt_Liberty

So I finally found a home for that Western Digital Raptor X.  I may have gone a touch overboard...
 

 
I got a hold of an Asus Striker II NSE board with Nvidia Nforce 790i SLI Chipset.  Added in an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850, 8 GB DDR3, 2x PNY Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTX+ cards in SLI, Creative XFI Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Sound Card, and some water cooling for the lolz. 
 

 
The plan was for a super sick Windows XP 64-bit build from the 2007-08ish era so I needed appropriate drives as well.  The DVD/CD Burner with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD playback was too hilarious to pass up.  And the combination Floppy/Multicard reader also fits the build. I'm really happy with how it has turned out so far.  
 

So I finally found a home for that Western Digital Raptor X.  I may have gone a touch overboard...
 

 
I got a hold of an Asus Striker II NSE board with Nvidia Nforce 790i SLI Chipset.  Added in an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850, 8 GB DDR3, 2x PNY Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTX+ cards in SLI, Creative XFI Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Sound Card, and some water cooling for the lolz. 
 

 
The plan was for a super sick Windows XP 64-bit build from the 2007-08ish era so I needed appropriate drives as well.  The DVD/CD Burner with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD playback was too hilarious to pass up.  And the combination Floppy/Multicard reader also fits the build. I'm really happy with how it has turned out so far.  
 

Battle of two seriously obsolete HDDs, a 130 megabyte Seagate drive from around 1992 and a 1gb Microdrive from 2000 (when it would have cost $500). 3000 RPM versus 1,900 RPM. Microdrive first.

I'm ready to water cool all the things!!
 
Sealed in Box Thermaltake Big Water 735

I'm ready to water cool all the things!!
 
Sealed in Box Thermaltake Big Water 735

I'm ready to water cool all the things!!
 
Sealed in Box Thermaltake Big Water 735

Water cooling an old motherboard is not as easy as I thought it would be.  I'm trying to do this on the cheap by using hardware I already have from previous builds.  Wren trying to install my EK Supremacy Evo I had to grind the backplate to clear the chipset backplate.

 
Not that it matters at this point because the socket is so crowded the cold plate hits the row od capacitors along the top. I swung by Micro Center and picked up the only waterblock they had that supported socket 775. It was a Bitspower with a slightly smaller cold plate.  Unfortunately it was also significantly shorter so the bracket interfered with everything.  Any ideas?  Suggestions are appreciated. 

Apparently it was a thing.  I would have preferred the other style but there were two listed with this cooler that were relatively cheap.  We'll see how well it works blowing against my intake radiator. 

Apparently it was a thing.  I would have preferred the other style but there were two listed with this cooler that were relatively cheap.  We'll see how well it works blowing against my intake radiator. 

Apparently it was a thing.  I would have preferred the other style but there were two listed with this cooler that were relatively cheap.  We'll see how well it works blowing against my intake radiator. 

9800 GTX+ arrived.

 
And it's working great!  Don't mind the windows 7 install, it's just for testing.  I imagine getting XP up and running properly will take more time than I was willing to spend for possibly bad hardware. 

9800 GTX+ arrived.

 
And it's working great!  Don't mind the windows 7 install, it's just for testing.  I imagine getting XP up and running properly will take more time than I was willing to spend for possibly bad hardware. 

9800 GTX+ arrived.

 
And it's working great!  Don't mind the windows 7 install, it's just for testing.  I imagine getting XP up and running properly will take more time than I was willing to spend for possibly bad hardware. 

I've ordered 2 PNY Geforce  9800 GTX+ cards.  Fingers crossed. 🤞 

I've ordered 2 PNY Geforce  9800 GTX+ cards.  Fingers crossed. 🤞 

I may look into this.  I assume SLI is supported?   
 
I'm mainly on the hunt for a case at this point.  Trying to find something retro-ish with radiator support,  full ATX, a side window,  at least 4 5.25" bays and a 3.5" bay.  Any ideas?  The motherboard has barb fittings on the Northbridge chipset.  How can I just ignore that?  I already have an EK Supremacy Evo CPU block, a 240mm EK radiator (44mm thick I think)  and a D5 pump.  Just need barb fittings, tubing, and a reservoir (dual bay res?). 

Luckily I anticipated this and ordered a backup that arrived today.  A lovely EVGA 8800 GTX.

 
And now I'm 0 and 2. 😥

So the Geforce 8800 Ultra that I ordered finally arrived and I was able to fire up my nForce 790i SLI board to test it.  Good news!  The board works great! 

 
Bad news...
The GPU is borked.  Back to ebay. 

So the Geforce 8800 Ultra that I ordered finally arrived and I was able to fire up my nForce 790i SLI board to test it.  Good news!  The board works great! 

 
Bad news...
The GPU is borked.  Back to ebay. 

So the Geforce 8800 Ultra that I ordered finally arrived and I was able to fire up my nForce 790i SLI board to test it.  Good news!  The board works great! 

 
Bad news...
The GPU is borked.  Back to ebay. 

So the Geforce 8800 Ultra that I ordered finally arrived and I was able to fire up my nForce 790i SLI board to test it.  Good news!  The board works great! 

 
Bad news...
The GPU is borked.  Back to ebay. 

Just picked up this WD Raptor X still sealed in the box! 

 
This got me thinking about an ultimate 2007ish build so I picked up this beautiful Asus ROG Striker II NSE with an Intel Extreme QX6850.
 
I have a Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra on the way and hope to find a second one (and a third?). I'm not sure what case to use yet and the cooler in the picture is just for testing.  I'd like to find a period correct CPU water block and an old bay style reservoir. 

Just picked up this WD Raptor X still sealed in the box! 

 
This got me thinking about an ultimate 2007ish build so I picked up this beautiful Asus ROG Striker II NSE with an Intel Extreme QX6850.
 
I have a Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra on the way and hope to find a second one (and a third?). I'm not sure what case to use yet and the cooler in the picture is just for testing.  I'd like to find a period correct CPU water block and an old bay style reservoir. 

Just picked up this WD Raptor X still sealed in the box! 

 
This got me thinking about an ultimate 2007ish build so I picked up this beautiful Asus ROG Striker II NSE with an Intel Extreme QX6850.
 
I have a Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra on the way and hope to find a second one (and a third?). I'm not sure what case to use yet and the cooler in the picture is just for testing.  I'd like to find a period correct CPU water block and an old bay style reservoir. 

This has to be the most casual notification of a train derailment I have ever received.