[Build Log] The LAN PC 5.0 i guess?

[Bananasplit_00]

The LAN PC 5.0

 

 

Well here we go again. another LAN PC. I really thought i was done with these but clearly not. Here are some important things to note about these builds:

• they are ment to cost me as little as possibe
• i generally dont have much time to put them together
• often i dont buy stuff for them and just use stuff i have around
• doing stuff the right way isnt doing them the LAN PC way often *intensly stares at the LAN PC 3.0 in terror*
• they just need to work for about 48h total, more is always good but thats all they NEED to do often

This build does not, in any way what so ever, replace the Toaster Project. Not at all. Its just that i cant use a dead computer(mobo died) and this stuff dosent fit in that case so i had to make something new.

 

Specs:

• CPU: FX 6300 Black Edition - Got it in my first desktop computer i bought back in 2014
• GPU: GTX 1050TI MSI Low Profile - Bought it for the Toaster, which is still going, but the motherboard is dead AF
• RAM: 2x2GB HyperX Genesis - Got these sticks after i sold off my 1600MHz HyperX something that was orange, because they werent compatible with the motherboard in the 4.0 LAN PC
• HDD: 1TB 7200RPM HDD - Got it of Sweclockers along with another 1TB drive for a total of €60 + shipping a while back. pretty good HDD, perfect SMART values
• CPU Cooler: Arctic Alpine 64 GT - Same as the CPU
• Motherboard: 960GM-VGS3 FX - Same as the CPU and cooler, but i havent realized untill yesterday that its DTX!!!
• PSU: BeQuiet SFX Power 2 300W - Same as the GPU
• Case: Shitty desktop thing from the early 2000's or the 90's

The plan:

this is going to end up a sleeper is my idea, looking like garbage while haveing acceptable specs. the case is half height, and i got a low profile 1050TI so thats no problem and the SFX PSU and CPU cooler also both are fine with that. this build was started this sunday and i have come most of the way already, but i still have quite a few problems. i will be bringing this PC to the NTI LAN this comming weekend, so i have just a few days untill it HAS to work or il have to bring Northern Bee which i really dont want too for sevral, probably pretty obvious reasons. if it dies il have to go home so it needs to work for about 36h of games and random shit.

 

Where im at right NOW:

first some pictures so what i say here makes some sense:

Spoiler

So far i have found a place for all the parts, wired up the power button and front LEDs(the LEDs i havent checked, might have done them wrong lol) and installed windows. At this point you might be a bit like "well not much of a log here is there if everything is already built!" but thats where you are deeply wrong. the case gets so hot that it burns your hands, it shuts down from overheating because there is barely any airflow, the PSU is just kinda held in place with nothing but the fricton from the case(this isnt actiually a major problem tbh) and a bunch of other shit. just routing the SATA cable and completeing the power button took me about 4.5h to do... this case is clearly never made for this hardware, the DTX motherboard and GPU went in with ease but the SATA cable for the harddrive wouldent fit inside the case, especially not with a right angle connector. so i ended up using a normal connector and then instantly wrapping it over itself, over the harddrive and through some metal and shit to the motherboard. power button is a funny thing as well, its a dual button thing so you cant turn it on with the button before the case is closed. figuring that one out and doing the rest of the front panel was a huge pain in the ass but it got done. As for the overheating im super not sure what to do, il probably just remove the IO plate to increase airflow. i have added in a fan that kind of sits on the RAM but it overheated and shut down even with that so clearly thats not helping enough. oh and PCPP estimates about 265W draw from this system on this low end 300W peak output PSU lol. Next update should be whenever i find a solution to the thermals which isnt just straight up removeing the panel  

 

 

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this journy as i work my ass off trying to fix basically everything!  

[Bananasplit_00]

8 minutes ago, RandomGuy13 said:

Looks great!. Might I suggest that you change the colour of your headings. I guess you use the dark theme, but for us on the day theme, your post's headings are unreadable

 

Other than that I love the idea of pimping older older gaming computers. Im guessing you are buying a lot of stuff second hand which is really good.

oh yah shit forgot some people actiually use day theme. will change ASAP

[Bananasplit_00]

UPDATE

Thermals are bad... really bad...

 

So i decided to actiually monitor the thermals for just a bit of usage, but beofre then i decided id remove the IO panel and place the fan a bit diffrently. i ran Cinnebench once and it hit 76C which dosent sount too bad if you have just been working with the Intel platform for your entire computer experience but FX max recomended temp is 60C... this is bad. I am a bit thin on ideas to be compleatly honest but if i have to order something id have to do it today to have any chance of getting it on time. Id prefer not to cut up the case as well because that would ruin the looks of the machine and make it to obvious. a 16x riser cable would allow me to have crossflow in the case so i could use the vents on both sides a bit better but i have a feeling that wouldent be enough and that a new cooler is just whats required. this thing is just a brick of aluminum thats been milled and has a rateing of 70W to begin with so the morons i bought my first computer from clearly had no idea how FX wants its temps lol. Got a score of 330CB without the sidepanel and 81 in single core... that core scaleing is just so bad, it performs what you would expect a quadcore with that single core score to do lol. if anyone asks why FX is shit there ya go. GPU is nice and cool at 50C tho so thats nice

 

Well if anyone has any suggestions for coolers that mount with the AMD retention mount that are inexpensive, low profile and rated at something better then 70W then tell me  got 75mm for the entire thing, if the fan is at that 75mm it wont have any breathing room so 65mm or lower unless its a side breathing fan

 

Thats all for this update, will probably post another one later today about what i decide to do about this thermal situation

[Bananasplit_00]

UPDATE

Undervolt or bust!

 

Yep, undervolting it is. anything that can actiually cool this chip wont fit it seems so off i go on an undervolting adventure! my thermal stresstest will be about 10min of OCCT and the goal would be under 60C with the sidepanel closed and haveing it not crash. this will be my first experience with undervolting but some guy got his 8 core down 50W in power consumption and quite a bit in temperature as well so this can hopefully end in a decent way. for my initial run of OCCT i had the sidepanel off because i didnt feel like putting more heat into it than needed. got up to 64C in about three minutes, ran it for 11min and it didnt go any higher. 

 

thats it for this update, results will be posted whenever im done with this  

[Bananasplit_00]

UPDATE

Undervolting solved it, mostly. im sure its fine.

 

So after only about two hours of tinkering i have come to these settings: 3GHz 1.05V and it still hits 60C after 9 minutes of OCCT but honestly thats fine i dont even care it wont be under that heavy load for all of the time and i really dont want to cut more core speed. This is with the case closed by the way, and the biggest bump down in temps came from just setting voltage to manual instead of auto, saw both a performance bump of over 90cb(330 to 421) but temps went down an insaine 15C! wow. after that it was slow going however and dropping from 1.125V to 1.05V and 3.5GHz to 3GHz dropped the temperature a noticable 4C, not much but good enough and the Cinnebench score ended up at 364cb so its still better then what i started at i guess  . Started to install games now and have will be downloading throughout the night because my internet is garbage  tomorrow i have no clue how much i can get done but most of the problems are sorted now, all it took was removeing the IO sheild, adding a fan and tinkering to the max  got no more interesting pictures to be honest because it dosent really look and diffrent but il probably work some on the details of it on thursday and then on Friday or Saturday there should be a final update with it at the LAN party with my entire setup!

 

Thats all for today, hope you are getting some enjoyment out of this because i barely am lol

[Mr.Meerkat]

23 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

on this low end 300W peak output PSU lol

You do know that its actually 300W continuous and 350W peak right?  

[Bananasplit_00]

LOL just hooked myself up with 8GB of RAM for this for €30  sweet! proper update later and so on about exactly what it is i bought lol

[Bananasplit_00]

6 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

LOL just hooked myself up with 8GB of RAM for this for €30  sweet! proper update later and so on about exactly what it is i bought lol

well, had to be put off untill tomorrow, no worries for me really but i might just not do it then to be honest

[Bananasplit_00]

RAM wasent bought, just realised that i compleatly ignored the meet we discussed. we said one PM, well that was six hours ago... RIP

[Bananasplit_00]

UPDATE

The LAN was amazing!

 

So i completed the project, went to the LAN and got some mad respect. The LAN was pretty amazing if you ask me, i even won some stuff from the 5h music quiz!  I ended up missing the RAM guy by 6h but honestly i didnt need that RAM and id be happier with my €30 spent on something else, 4GB is enough no matter what people have gotten in their head... Its not optimal but you can still play any esports title and quite a few AAA games with just 4GB at 1080p. Anyway here are the pictures of the setup just as i got there:

Spoiler

 

Pretty cool right? I dug up a PS/2 keyboard and a ergo mouse from the 90s to complete the look and actiually used them for about 1/4th of the LAN in the end, and everyone seemed to really enjoy the look and dedication  In the end i ended up playing some games with some old teammates from the early days of Paladins so i dug up my real periferals. And on the last evening i ended up getting anoyed at the themals and the sound it was putting out so i just did this:

Spoiler

In the end, even the last look was pretty cool if you ask me because its kind of like an open air bench! looked sweet and kept the CPU and GPU nice and cool(bellow 55C on both ). In the end it did what it was ment to, looked sweet doing it and i got some mad respect from some of the people there so i am really happy with it! i ended up winning a few energy drinks, some candy and a Dreamhack Masters cap along with free entry to the next LAN so il be definatly going next time and i hope to be bringing the Toaster that time, but i really ended up liking this computer to be honest so i might get another 1050TI or a GT 1030 or something and keeping this rig together to be honest  hope it was an enjoyable read or whatever even though i ended up doing almost all of the work before i even posted the log, it was a really fun experience undervolting for the first time and working in such a airflow restricted enviroment really shows that you cant just run a 95W chip anywhere  Thats all for now, might be another update if the project ends up living on, but i havent decided.

 

Thanks for the intrest and following along with the build, its been amazing once again!