Its time to say goodbye to grandma-- Meet Spectra!

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Ok. It's finally time. 

I just got a new case, ssd, and set of fans for my computer.

New specs:

Black, Light tg Meshfy C

5x In Win Sirius Loop ASL120 (bought 6, an..... accident..... involving a chair took it down to 5)

1x stock meshify c fan

500gb mx500 m2 sata (6gb/s) drive

Reference XFX RX480 4gb

b250m Bazooka

i5 7400

2x8gb 2800mhz XPG Adata

600w Thermaltake smart

1628gb of various other hdds and ssds

 

Ok. I'll start off by saying I get.... really into it when building computers, so I dont have any picture of building the new pc. Ill try to get better about it.

 

I started off with undoing everything I did for grandma. That honestly hurt a bit, as I spent like 3 or 4 hours on her.

Looked like this before I started

Couple pictures of me taking it apart

Spoiler

 

 

On to building.

The Meshify C does look pretty nice, and the front pannel is really good looking, but really....... i dont know.......  simplistic?

Ive heard the fans have a pretty heavy blueshift, but its not too bad.

And its nice having a large boot drive now.

 

So, this it how it turned out. And, to be honest, I'm in love. 
The updates for these are going to be few and far between, as im just a poor 8th grade student  that doesn't have a job. 

Next update will probably be in a couple days, with a short bit about the stand you can see in the back round of the first pic.

 

What's next?

Spoiler

Well, Im probably going to get a new PSU first. Some stories about what the smarts have done to pcs, ill be gettign high quality. Probably a RM750, maybe the 750x.Then Ill be looking at either ram (oloy 2x8gb warhawk 3200mhz cl16) which illl just replace my current kit with, or a new hdd (probably a 2tb barracuda compute). Then its off to a new gpu (3060ti or 3060 most likley), new cpu (r5 5600 [non-x when it comes out]) and motherboard (b550-f gaming, like 99.9999 percent sure.

 

[WhitetailAni]

B+ for no optical drive, otherwise great!

[Skiiwee29]

Solid B from me. Needs some more fine tuning on the cable management inside. 

[WhitetailAni]

Just now, Skiiwee29 said:

Solid B from me. Needs some more fine tuning on the cable management inside. 

Anything that isn't "shove the cables between the motherboard and front bays" gets an immediate A from me.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

8 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

B+ for no optical drive, otherwise great!

im still keeping it lol. Ive got all of my old games on a drive anyways (what I used to use it for).

Ill probably get another 3 or 4 for when ever I get around to backing up old dvds and cds. My dad owned a lot of music when he was a highschooler, most of which he still owns.

3 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Solid B from me. Needs some more fine tuning on the cable management inside. 

Thanks. I just reallised thats an older picture. Some of my problems cant be fixed though, like the front panel stuff (will be fixed with a atx mobo). just a sec let me take a new  pic. (used a bad sata cable in the first management attempt)

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Here @Skiiwee29.

I could probably make the fan wire for uptop and it would be less visible. As far as I know, that back fan is really stupid to route. The blue cable is impermanent, as the only other black cable I had was the bad one. I also took the front panel connecters up from the bottom.

 

(I wish my 8 pin EPS was Abit longer, but it it what it is. I'll just have to deal with it not being with the rest of the cables.

[Skiiwee29]

ok, so take that rear fan and wrap that fan cable around it and use the header just above your GPU and below CPU to plug it in and hide it near the rear IO ports. If you have extra Thermal paste, Take and rotate your CPU cooler 180 degrees to better route/hide that hideous cables of your stock cooler straight up to the header between the cooler and your DIMM slot instead of the way its routed now. I liked your front panels through the grommet on the side instead of up from the bottom. You can tighten them up by twisting/braiding them together to make them look more uniform instead of loose like they are currently. 

 

Thats the changes I would personally make looking at it. 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

ok, so take that rear fan and wrap that fan cable around it and use the header just above your GPU and below CPU to plug it in and hide it near the rear IO ports. If you have extra Thermal paste, Take and rotate your CPU cooler 180 degrees to better route/hide that hideous cables of your stock cooler straight up to the header between the cooler and your DIMM slot instead of the way its routed now. I liked your front panels through the grommet on the side instead of up from the bottom. You can tighten them up by twisting/braiding them together to make them look more uniform instead of loose like they are currently. 

 

Thats the changes I would personally make looking at it. 

Thanks!! I'm really new to the routing cables properly in a case where they are meant to be routed thing. I'll do that once I have the new data cable to replace the blue one.

[thrasher_565]

6 hours ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

Here @Skiiwee29.

I could probably make the fan wire for uptop and it would be less visible. As far as I know, that back fan is really stupid to route. The blue cable is impermanent, as the only other black cable I had was the bad one. I also took the front panel connecters up from the bottom.

 

(I wish my 8 pin EPS was Abit longer, but it it what it is. I'll just have to deal with it not being with the rest of the cables.

who dose this! rotate that shit!

 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Just now, thrasher_565 said:

who dose this!

 

?

[thrasher_565]

2 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

?

any hard core pc build knows to put the fan cable to the top right...

Edited January 9, 2021 by thrasher_565

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 minute ago, thrasher_565 said:

any hard core pc build knows to put the fan cable to the top right...

oh, the cable for the no rgb fan? but that one is akward (also its how Fractal had it when I got it). Ive already been suggested to wrap it around the fan and plug it in at header under the cpu and above the gpu.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

BUILD UPDATE!!

I be got a couple minor changes to hardware, a new PC stand, and the cable management that @Skiiwee29 suggested.

 

As for new hardware, I updated the cooler to a Hyper 212 EVO. I don’t have a backplate, so I’m using an advanced mounting system (zip-ties) that @LinusTech would be proud of.

I also swapped out my Fractal Dynamic x2 GP-12 for my exhaust for the InWin Sirius Loop fan that I broke. I used advanced tools (pliers) to remove the motor, to make it a Light Loop. 

I completely remanaged the cables, starting with the PSU and ending with the RGB and fans. I also stuck the RGB button into the main part of the case. 

And last but not least, I painted my stand. It’s not much, but it looks better now.

 
 

 

Next up will be mounting the cooler properly, then a new pack of fans, so I’ll have all Sirius loops, 6 on case, two on cooler.

longterm, I’m going to be focusing on PSU next, as I want something more reliable before sticking anything new in.

[Skiiwee29]

I would have left the stock cooler on there until you could get proper mounting hardware for your cooler.. I don't know if Zipties will create enough pressure to be adequate under any type of simple load?

[Helpful Tech Witch]

2 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I would have left the stock cooler on there until you could get proper mounting hardware for your cooler.. I don't know if Zipties will create enough pressure to be adequate under any type of simple load?

I’m getting 10c lower on idle (mid 30s to mid 20s) and about 20c lower onset heavy load (mid 70s to mid 50s). 

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, HelpfulTechWizard said:

I’m getting 10c lower on idle (mid 30s to mid 20s) and about 20c lower onset heavy load (mid 70s to mid 50s). 

wow... would never have guessed that. 

[MadAnt250]

On 1/26/2021 at 6:00 PM, HelpfulTechWizard said:

I updated the cooler to a Hyper 212 EVO

Lol, that i5 7400 runs cool with the stock cooler.

Nice build, the halos/rings are a nice touch and looks sharp in white.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

4 minutes ago, MadAnt250 said:

Lol, that i5 7400 runs cool with the stock cooler.

Eh. It was getting pretty warm. But the cooler was a good deal, and whenever I get around to now CPU I'll be gratful

 

 

[MadAnt250]

1 minute ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

But the cooler was a good deal

Sometimes you can't pass up a good deal.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 minute ago, MadAnt250 said:

Sometimes you can't pass up a good deal.

Yeah lol. And it also looks better. Plus, Itll be black once I get a can of engine paint.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Ill do a mini update today.

I've been mining on my rig for a couple days now, and was getting about 7.5-10MH/s with it settling at about 8.9.

(im using KAPOW w/ NBMiner)

settings were:

• -50 core volt
• -7 power limit
• -166 core (quieter with same perf)
• +525 mem

After @ShrimpBrime helped me with a bios mod (which hey, I can mod Polaris now) I have increases the memory limit and fixed the timings on the shit elpedia g5.

now I'm using the same settings, but with +750 mem.

Now its  8.5-1.5MH/s, settling around 9.5MH/s

and I'm profiting about 1$-1.20$ estimated per day, 1.40/day before electricity.

 

if this mem clock can go overnight without crashing , I'm gonna push mem another 50mhz to +800mhz

[DJ46]

15 hours ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

Now its  8.5-1.5MH/s, settling around 9.5MH/s

Just making sure - do you have the GPU workload in the AMD drivers set to "Compute"?

If you are mining ETH, I would expect your hashrate to be quite a bit higher.

I know that my RX480 8GB was at ~16MH/s until I set it to Compute, now it gets ~24MH/s.

 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 hour ago, DJ46 said:

Just making sure - do you have the GPU workload in the AMD drivers set to "Compute"?

If you are mining ETH, I would expect your hashrate to be quite a bit higher.

I know that my RX480 8GB was at ~16MH/s until I set it to Compute, now it gets ~24MH/s.

 

it is. its a 4gb card though, so the dag is larger then the frame buffer.

 

now its running +900mem though.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Mini update:

I still don’t have a backplate for my cooler, but, I do have a gpu “upgrade”basically in the search for better stock fans, I ended up bios modding my rx480. I figured when I was doing that, I might as well do the hex edits need for it to be a rx580 according to the drivers and windows.

Along with that I raised the max power limit to 160 (I know a 6pin and a pcie slot can only do 150w) and the tdp to 150w, as well as increasing the stock memory speed and core speed. (And added the good timings for elpedia) Bassically it's a 4gb rx580 now.

 

This has the side affect of removing the signed vbios requirement, as the rx580 does not need a signed vbis like a rx480

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Full Phat update for the first time in a while:

I finally got a name for her!
I had some friends over for the first time since I built her in her current form, so I was finally able to ask others for name ideas. One suggestion, Spectral, sounded good, but felt more like a description. So I chose a similar thing that felt more like a name: Spectra!

 

 

I also got some cable extentions, they look SOOOO good (also did I route that 6 pin right?)

Also (shitty pic here, sorry) I got my cooler painted and put on, with some parts 3d printed at a local library. The parts didnt come out quite right, but they were workable (like the mounting bracket had holes too small (my fault, but a drill fixed it), and the layers wernt quite right (probably a settings issue with the printer, they were not in the same spot each layer), and it was warped (thin print, probably warped when it was removed from the print serface). I also got a fan bracket set printed, so I would be able to get a second fan on there (those were printed fine). Right now, one fan is a Dynamic x2 GP-12, other was the stock cm one. 

oh, yeah, I also painted it black, it looks sweet!

I ran Prime95, after a bit, i got this resault.

Yeah, after 13 mins, it was at 48c. THis was a full phat test too, im tempted to overnight it, just to see how it maxes out. (the 212 with 2 fans is overkill for a i5 7400)

Overall, the cooler is overkill, but I can have a cooler to use for am4 now, ill just need to get mounting hardware for it. It will probably be enough for PBO2.0 to do some work on the 5600x I want.

 

also, mini thing, its RX580 4gb now, not 480 4gb, I just changed a byte in the vbios to C6 instead of E6, its gonna have fx super res now, thats the only reason I did that (and theres a slight stock oc too)

Yeah, its the first big thing ive done in a while top to Spectra, but its nice to update here. 

next is a psu, so im not scared that my current will kill any new hardware i put in the system