Laxer's rebuild

[laxer]

I looked down at my computer the other night and noticed just how dusty and abused it was. Seeing as it is my baby it needed some TLC. So I decided to take everything apart, clean it and rebuild it!
 
I've enjoyed seeing some of the build logs here so I thought why not give it a try.

 

Full Spec List:

Case: Thermaltake Armor A90

Motherboard: Gigabyte 970A-UD3

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T

HSF: Thermaltake Spin-Q

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 4x4GBs (1600) BLACK

Graphics:

• MSI 6950 2GB flashed to 6970
• XFX 6950 2GB flashed to 6970

Power Supply: Corsair HX750

HDDS:

• x2 - Corsair force 3GT (120 gb) in raid0
• x2 - Western Digital Caviar Black 750gb

ODDS:

• LG blueray rewritter
• Lite-on IHAS 324

Extras:

• x2 12" cold cathodes
• NZXT IU01 Internal USB expansion
• Scythe Karma Cabinet Pro
• G.skill Ram cooler (came with my RAM)
• Rosewell Card Reader

I collapsed the pictures because I hate scrolling ;)  

First off, my naked case: It's a Thermaltake A90



There is quite a bit of velcro on the back for my 2.5" drives, my USB breakout and my inverter.

 
Next the motherboard: Just a basic Gigabyte 870A-UD3. Nothing special but gets the job done.

 
The processor: AMD 1090T


 
And in the motherboard it goes:

 
The PSU: Corsair HX750, once again nothing too special

 
Shoving them into the A90:

 
Installing the front I/O:

 
At this point I just dove in and installed some of the HDDs and fans:

 
The RAM: A quad channel kit of G.Skill's Ripjaws X 4x4gbs (1600mhz)

 
My Ram Cooler: Can't remember what it's called, I thought it looked cool plus it hides the nasty 24 pin  :P

 
This board was not designed with crossfire/sli in mind... I had to use right angle connectors on the motherboard end to allow enough clearance to even install my GPUs...

 
 
The core of my system: 2 6950 2gbs flashed up to 6970s


 
Installed:

 
At this point I started reassembling the case... I thought I might add a touch of... Flavor to it so I pulled the panels apart and using some leftover spray paint from a previous project painted them blue.

 
Installed:

 
Now for some glamor shots:
Lights on:


 
In its natural position:


 
Dark shots:


 
 
Not only did I give it a physical cleaning I bought it a fresh copy of windows 8 professional. Which was a pain to get set up and I am still in the process of getting everything squared away but:

My background was shot by Donald Gray
His website: http://www.websilk.co.uk/
More of his work: http://www.panoramio.com/user/505115

 

Thanks for checking my build out  :D

[Coombzy]

looks awesome dude love the front panel.

[laxer]

Thanks, I really liked the aesthetics of the case but it has horrible cable management. You can see from the first few pictures I cut a hole near the back of the psu to feed the cables through.

Still don't know if I like the blue or if I should buy some new grating and fit it to the case.

[JupiteL]

Cool panels! might want to do that to my case too!

 

also, what's that fans at the rear and the top? is it any good? and how about the lighting? I'm about to swap my old fans but still haven't found any good one yet (Need the LED for extra coolness B) )

[calebp123]

That case looks stunning  :D. Nice job

[L.E.D]

 

Graphics:

• MSI 6950 2GB flashed to 6970
• XFX 6950 2GB flashed to 6970

 

 

Flashed ? Do you mean overclocked to the speeds of the 6970 cards ?

[ERSCreeper]

Flashed ? Do you mean overclocked to the speeds of the 6970 cards ?

He did a bios flash to each on the cards. So they now show up as HD 6970's instead of HD 6950's.

[L.E.D]

He did a bios flash to each on the cards. So they now show up as HD 6970's instead of HD 6950's.

 

Does this unlock any performance out of the cards ?

[ERSCreeper]

Does this unlock any performance out of the cards ?

I have never asked if it has but I would presume it does.

[L.E.D]

I have never asked if it has but I would presume it does.

 

I was reading a bit because I was just really curious and I found an article on how to do it and it says the performance boost it quite significant, Would doing this also add to power consumption though ?

 

Here's the link to the article:

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

[laxer]

Yes, unlocks the extra shaders and they have a "stock" clock of 880 mhz and 1375 on the memory. It also gives you more head room on basic ocing up to 950/1450.

Both of the cards have dual bios one with stock the other with a 6970 version.

It's worth noting that they do run quite a bit hotter now. It is summer time but the top one is usually between 50 and 80c depending on the load.

Both fans came stock with the case. The top one is garbage but the back one moves a decent amount of air. I will get you the model numbers when I get home in an hour or so.

[ERSCreeper]

I was reading a bit because I was just really curious and I found an article on how to do it and it says the performance boost it quite significant, Would doing this also add to power consumption though ?

 

Here's the link to the article:

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

Most likely yes. I know you could only do this with the HD 6950.

[L.E.D]

Most likely yes. I know you could only do this with the HD 6950.

 

I was actually thinking about getting a HD 6950 and doing that mod, only thing is, is that I have a 650W PSU that CANNOT be changed.

 

Yes, unlocks the extra shaders and they have a "stock" clock of 880 mhz and 1375 on the memory. It also gives you more head room on basic ocing up to 950/1450.

Both of the cards have dual bios one with stock the other with a 6970 version.

It's worth noting that they do run quite a bit hotter now. It is summer time but the top one is usually between 50 and 80c depending on the load.

Both fans came stock with the case. The top one is garbage but the back one moves a decent amount of air. I will get you the model numbers when I get home in an hour or so.

 

Alright,

[laxer]

Yes they also consume more power now which is likely the cause for the extra heat.

I have the TDP on both cards set to +5% which gave significant performance boosts.

650w will be fine for a single card assuming it has a decent 12v rail.

I've also had success doing this with an XFX 5850 to a 5870 although it took a number of bios before I found one that was stable. (some versions have different vRAM which caused issues.

[L.E.D]

Yes they also consume more power now which is likely the cause for the extra heat.

I have the TDP on both cards set to +5% which gave significant performance boosts.

650w will be fine for a single card assuming it has a decent 12v rail.

 

I don't know much about it... I guess reading is what I will do ! lol

[laxer]

Be home in 20 will give you more details then.

[L.E.D]

Be home in 20 will give you more details then.

 

Well it gives 12V at 54.4 Amps..... Pretty amazing power supply lol 

[laxer]

That is quite impressive.

 

There are two options I know of to flash a GPU bios.

 

First first one is a bootable ISO (dos I believe) that allows you to flash it.

Tutorial here: http://www.overclock.net/t/671675/how-to-flash-your-5850-bios#post_8506548

 

I believe the above one is outdated but it is how I did my 5850, 5870 and MSI 6950 a while ago.

 

I just recently flashed my XFX 6950 using a tutorial found here: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

 

It worked and was much easier.

 

Few things to cover:

If you have multiple GPUs do them one at a time to avoid problems.

Not all cards can be unlocked.

Generally only the reference model 6950 2gbs can be unlocked. (some of the older productions one cannot)

 

As for the back fan, it's a thermaltake TT-1225

 

I prefer the fans I have on the front Thermaltake Blue-eyes which I bought from newegg a few years ago for pretty cheap. (about half what amazon is asking)

 

They aren't as clear but move far more air.

[Exotath]

Nice rebuild!

[L.E.D]

That is quite impressive.

 

There are two options I know of to flash a GPU bios.

 

First first one is a bootable ISO (dos I believe) that allows you to flash it.

Tutorial here: http://www.overclock.net/t/671675/how-to-flash-your-5850-bios#post_8506548

 

I believe the above one is outdated but it is how I did my 5850, 5870 and MSI 6950 a while ago.

 

I just recently flashed my XFX 6950 using a tutorial found here: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

 

It worked and was much easier.

 

Few things to cover:

If you have multiple GPUs do them one at a time to avoid problems.

Not all cards can be unlocked.

Generally only the reference model 6950 2gbs can be unlocked. (some of the older productions one cannot)

 

As for the back fan, it's a thermaltake TT-1225

 

I prefer the fans I have on the front Thermaltake Blue-eyes which I bought from newegg a few years ago for pretty cheap. (about half what amazon is asking)

 

They aren't as clear but move far more air.

 

I am only going to be doing 1 card if I manage to get one, I found a spec sheet through google images and now I have no hopes of finding it again...If I get one I would try this but I am not sure if I want to personally risk it

[laxer]

I bought one of mine of craigslist for $140 and the second off ebay for $123 (including shipping).

 

At this price the performance/price ratio cannot be beat  :D

 

Most of the 6950 2gbs have dual bios so you have a safety net if you get a bad flash.

 

And thank you Omid

[L.E.D]

I bought one of mine of craigslist for $140 and the second off ebay for $123 (including shipping).

 

At this price the performance/price ratio cannot be beat  :D

 

Most of the 6950 2gbs have dual bios so you have a safety net if you get a bad flash.

 

And thank you Omid

 

I guess that would be good, I just need the $$$

[iSuzak]

Nice build ;)

[Edgecube231]

sell that xbone!