A humble build in black and red.

[Parptarf]

Thought I'd make a thread for the CPU upgrade that turned into a brand new PC.

Here's the complete mess that was my old computer

-MSI motherboard I don't even remember the name of

- Intel I7 3770 non-K

- MSI GTX 960 4GB Gaming 

- Corsar TX750 PSU

- Random assortment of HDD drives and one old SSD

- CoolerMaster Cosmos SE case

- CoolerMaster TX3 cooler

-Two working 120mm intake fans and one 140mm exhaust that occationally sounded like a tractor.

-10 year old DVD writer, the one thing I actually miss about it.

 

 

 

Long wait times in Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere pro, made me finally replace my 6 year old and trysty 3770 non-K. I  considered both a 6700 Skylade and a 7700 Kaby lake, but I poted for the new 8700, as the pricing was just right, and I had to replace my 1155 motherboard either way. The 87000 non-K was coupled with an MSI Z370 Gaming Plus, 16GB of Ballistix Sport 2400Mhz RAM and a Noctua DH-D9L cooler. (I did try the stock intel cooler for a total of 2 days)

 

 

While the improvement in both Gaming and photo editing was great, I needed some more punch for gaming. A few days later, I got a second-hand MSI GTX 980 Gaming. The difference was now so good I could finally play video games on ultra settings and high FPS.

 

Now the issue was my case, the Cosmos SE. It's been quite a few years since I bought it, and needless to say, it's looks is not my cup of tea anymore. I wanted something more neutral and stylish. Not to mention the old fans were crapping out, and that case wasn't made with cable managment in mind. My solution was  Fractual Design R6 Blackout TG. Might be the best and coolest case I know of right now.

 

In addition to the three GP-14 fans included (Two front intakes and one rear exhaust) I added another intake to the bottom.  I don't have any of the HDD bays behind the cover, but I like how it looks aso I'm keeping it in front like this for now.

I refined my storage setup by removing 3 of my old HDDS and adding another SSD.

-128GB SSD(I think it's an old Samsung)

-256GB Kingston SSD

-2TB Seagate HDD

 

While this setup was great, the old TX750 PSU was noisy and old. The wires also looked pretty bad. I changed that our for an overkill TX850M and some sleeved cable extensions.

 

I can barely hear it now. Even when it's next to me on my desk. It looks great with the new cables as well. I'm very happy with how it is right now. Runs everything at max graphics on my 1920x1080 60hz screen and it keeps the CPU temps between 65-71C under loads and the GPU temp 5-ish degrees lower than that.

 

 

 

 

What I want to look into now is getting a CPU cooler that looks better, but without a decrease in performance. Do some minor tweaks to my cable management. And the maybe get a vertical GPU mount, just because that looks really cool.

 

[MatthewPopec25]

Don’t bother wasting your money on a vertical GPU mount. Buy yourself a steam gift card.

[Xander Cousins]

If the GPU has red LED's around the fan I think the vertical mount it worth it for the over all looks and well if you wanna see the baby turn 

[Parptarf]

If I mount my GPU vertically, it's 100% for the looks.

 

 

 

Updated my computer with an 8700K this week(I returned my 8700) It is actually running 2C colder than my 8700 did. Guess my TIM application wasn't that good with my original install.

 

I also found out that my computer benefits from opening the top of the case. Not by much, but I saw a couple of degrees difference in temperatures after a little while. I'm gonna do a more long term test with the top cover off and the filter in place.

 

[Parptarf]

Did some updates to this box of joy.

Made the leap to an Fractual S36 3600mm AIO. Mounted it up top pushing air through the rad and out the top filter. The radator fans and the pump are on separated headers with the help of an homemade female to female 4-pin cable.

I have set up a seeminlgy stable OC on my 8700K. 5GHz, Adaptive Vcore 1.28 - Offset 0.02(HWinfo Vcore at ~1.315) AVX -1, LLC2
It keeps in the 40-55C range while gaming with a few spikes to 60 during heavy loads.

I was lucky enough to win a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Mini ITX OC at work. The Mini-ITX card looks a little dumb, but it was a free upgrade. I put a mild OC in Afterburner, running right under 2050Mhz core and 4400Mhz memory. It keeps at 61-63C during longer periods of gaming. I might hold out and wait for the new GPU family from Nvidia now.

Also added another intake fan on the bottom of the case. Chose a smaller GP-12 fan. This adds up to my 3 GP-14s on the intake side.

 

Shit picture, but it shows how it sits atm.