Beast 2.0

[CtrlAltDenied]

Howdy, my name is Mark, I built my current rig that I am sat at right now, work on Beast 2.0 has begun.

Beast 1.0 has the following spec:
 
CPU: i7 3770k @ 4.4GHz
COOLER: Corsair H100
MOBO: Asus ROG Maximus V Gene
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance
SSD: Revodrive 3 x2 (1.5GB/s read, 1.2GB/s write)
HDD: 3TB Barracuda XT 3.5"
GPU: Geforce GTX 690
AUDIO: Onboard chipset
MONITOR: ProLite G2773HS
CASE: Obsidian Series® 550D Mid-Tower
 
The above rig is being retired from gaming duties and is now reporting for duty as my Home Server for Plex, Cloud, family Intranet, Torrentbox, amongst other things.
 
Beast 2.0 will have the following specs:
 
CPU: i7 4790K (Overclock TBD)
COOLER: H100i GTX (with Noctua Industrial PPC fans 3k RPM)
PSU: Corsair AX860i Platinum rated, fully modular - with Cablemod C-series cable replacements.
MOBO: Asus ROG Maximus VII Ranger Z97
RAM: 32GB G.Skill Sniper (16GB to be used, other 16GB to be used as a RAMdisk as a scratch disk for various apps, run minecraft from etc)
SSD: Samsung SM951 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD (As high as 2.15GB/s read and 1.4 GB/s write) via a PCIe M.2 adapter card.
SSD2: 1TB Samsung 850 EVO Sata 3
HDD: No HDD, that is going to remain in Beast 1.0 relegated to Home Server duty.
GPU: Re-using the GTX 690 for now, will upgrade to 980 ti once good OC / nice custom cooler is out.
AUDIO: PCIe Xonar DX
SPEAKERS: Corsair CA-SP211UK SP2500 Gaming 2.1 Speaker System
MONITOR: Acer 27” XB270HU Predator 1440p, 144Hz IPS Panel (Gonna need a mini display port cable to run it with the GTX 690)
CASE: Corsair Vengeance C70 Gunmetal Black edition
FANS: A mix of the nice looking Noctua Industrial PPC series (2x 3000 RPM for the H100i in pull only configuration).
OPTICAL: Pioneer BDR-209DBK 16x SATA Internal BD/DVD/CD Burner (About time I did an upgrade really)
 
This will be the new daily driver for gaming, Photoshop, any video editing or otherwise beefy programs needed.
 
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STAGE 1 (COMPLETE):

 

Obligatory box shot: 

 

 

First up, the case itself. The first thing I did is I removed the two HDD cages and the bottom support to open up the airflow. At first I mounted a pair of Corsair fans I had lying around that were planned to go in Beast 1.0 before I found the black Noctua's (just ordered those). I had to drill slightly larger fan mounting holes to connect these in the front bezel (for some reason the screws that came with the AF120 fans wouldn't fit). Also had some rubber washers lying around so used those (unsure if I can re-use those when I switch them out for the Noctuas). Other than that, there has been no modification to the C70.
 

 
I have already placed the PSU within the unit and stuck the powered by corsair logo on it's top (I hate putting stickers on the outside frame, looks tacky to me).
 
Once I get the Noctua fans and when Overclockers gets those nice Cablemod C-series Black/Red back in stock I can continue the build and make some more progress. In the meantime though I am going to paint my optical drive as the stark gray irritates my OCD in regards to the colour scheme of the build (black and red) I will also likely paint the rubber anti-vibration corners on the noctuas red so they fit as well.
 

 
29/05/2015 - Ok got the new Noctua Industrial PPC fans, going to start fitting those bad boys in before I get on to the next stage, just got an update from Overclockers, they actually have now shipped those sexy Cablemod cables, so I am now just awaiting those and work can finally begin. Still, I do have to paint these rubber pads around the fans red, and finish painting the optical drive.
 
 
01/06/2015 - Ok, I now have swapped out those fans for the Noctua ones, the bottom mounted 140mm fan gave me some slight positioning issues as it would not fit up against the bottom front fan and align properly with the pre-cut holes on the underside of the case. Instead I have used 2 screws and managed to cross screw them to the general round holes on the bottom. It is slightly off angle but I don't think the airflow cares, my OCD does kinda, I used rubber washers anyways so shouldn't cause any issues, I will adjust and if needed remove it and mount my Samsung Evo SSD there instead.

 

 
The Cablemod cables have arrived. As evidenced by the below image. I can now slowly start work (I have other projects on right now) I am having to hold back my excitement, as I need my mini DP to full DP cable to arrive anyways before I can pinch the 690 out of my old rig. I am going to wait a little while for the 980 ti to come out with good aftermarket cooling solutions. I did have to paint those awfully coloured cables on the bottom fan black though. Just a minor touch up really.

 

 

I just really hope that my PSU doesn't get air starved with the bottom fan taking some from it. I will be able to see the temps involved anyways with the corsair link that comes with the PSU I believe, so this shouldn't be a major issue, cable management for all this link stuff (from PSU and from the H100i GTX) will be.

 

The optical drive is slowly getting painted, I keep doing it in small chunks, as I need to hold it on a dry side ha.

 

 

04/06/2015

 

Added box shot to post, I have inserted CPU and RAM, motherboard is going in the case as we speak, was delayed a little by parents using my workshop room for something more important.

 

07/06/2015

 

Ok, so it is nearly build complete right now, all major components are in the case, I have only the PCIe add in card for the M.2 drive, and the GTX 690 to go in, the next step is for me to mount the radiator and pump onto the CPU. The optical drive needs a touch up where the paint scratched off but that's not a big deal.

 

Here's a shot of the inside as it stands, I have tried good management but I think I've failed down next to the PSU:

 

 

08/06/2015 - Ok folks so all work is complete, the build is now done. Unfortunately one of the 4 ram sticks is faulty and keeps throwing the rig into reboots during post. So it's currently functioning at 24GB of RAM, I will sort that out but otherwise the rig is all working.

 

 

And...

 

 

Stupid faulty RAM...CURSES!

[niofalpha]

Hawt build dude, I was considering getting that M.2 SSD

 

Tell me how you like it.

[CtrlAltDenied]

Hawt build dude, I was considering getting that M.2 SSD

 

Tell me how you like it.

 

If you do get the M.2, ensure it can be booted with your mobo, because it's an OEM drive and not supported by regular software, think it needs a generic Intel drive to function. I have yet to cross that bridge but I know it is bootable on my mobo with some modifications to BIOS settings. (Just incase you didn't know all that).

[Clear17Mud]

youll see a 5-10% improvement.. that is until you get the 980 ti

 

also cant wait to watch it be built.

[GrimNeo]

-snip-

What psu did you use? Picture is blocked at work. Also what fps did you get with the 690?

[CtrlAltDenied]

What psu did you use? Picture is blocked at work. Also what fps did you get with the 690?

 

It is a Corsair AX860i Platinum rated, fully modular. Thanks for reminding me to add it.

[CtrlAltDenied]

youll see a 5-10% improvement.. that is until you get the 980 ti

 

also cant wait to watch it be built.

 

Not sure about that improvement as the resolution is going up from 1080p to 1440p. So likely to be about the same, until the 980 ti comes into play, then it'll be rocking

[GrimNeo]

It is a Corsair AX860i Platinum rated, fully modular. Thanks for reminding me to add it.

Nice. No problem.

[CtrlAltDenied]

Just to update, Overclockers are STILL waiting on the Cablemod PSU cables, so doesn't look like they'll be despatched to me this week.

[CtrlAltDenied]

Ok guys, so my Samsung Evo 1TB SSD has arrived, the cables are due between 5-6PM, which is roughly 5 hours from now, just painting the optical drive now, and replacing the fans in the case, one slight snag, I thought there would be enough fan slots for my 6 fan setup, as it stands there are only 5x 4-pin headers. I may require delaying the build slightly to get a fan extention to be able to accomondate my fans, but I will see what I can do once I've seated the motherboard/cpu/ram.

 

Also, painting the rubberised pads on the Noctua fans has proven troublesome, the paint doesn't really stick too well, requires a couple of layers, and there is 8 on each fan, so that's 48 pads to paint and go through that process with. I have opted to not bother painting them - too much effort for the asthetic matching.

[CtrlAltDenied]

*Updated initial post to include most recent work.

[CtrlAltDenied]

*Added box shot to top of first post.

 

Could someone be awesome and do me a suitable banner? Credit where credit is due, of course!

[CtrlAltDenied]

*Updated first post, nearly build complete now, cable management pretty much done apart from the H100i GTX. Minor touch ups needed to hide nasty multicoloured cables and to hide the streak of grey on the optical drive.

[REX.exe]

well, I came.

[CtrlAltDenied]

Build complete guys...