Whole setup upgrade

DragonTamer1 · February 6, 2017

I'm not exceptionally good at these build logs things so I figured I would open a thread and you guys could help me work on them by asking for specific information that I probably consider irreverent.

Background

My room is on the south east corner of the house. This means that I usually get a lot of sun, especially in the after noon and evenings. This is a problem because where my computer is set up the sun comes right into my face in the afternoons and evenings. I have shades that I can close but they are not dark shades so enough light still comes through that it still makes it hard to see if my monitor is displaying something dark. I also don't like to close the shades, especially in the spring and summer time because I love the fresh air that comes in. My solution to this problem is to move the computer monitors into the corner of the room in between the windows. I'm unable to do that now because there is a dresser in the corner and the desk I'm using (is not meant for computers in the first place) is too small to accommodate all of the monitors in its current position, let alone in the corner. At the same time I've been looking to upgrade from a 2500K system to something with more power. The 2500K still works but it holds me back in video rendering and in certain games.

The Plan

The plan is to do away with the desk, night stand and dresser and build a new desk that can incorporate all of these pieces of furniture. I have space in the closet for a small dresser or something of the sort if I can't make enough space in the new desk. I just need to move out the old hardware (plan on actually doing stuff with the hardware just don't have the money and all the parts needed right now). This larger desk will also allow me to move the computer up off the floor and onto the desk where I can better marvel at my handy work. At the same time the room itself is read for repainting as it's been 18 years since it was last painted (right after we first moved in). The window sills have some gaps underneath of them where the drywall isn't flush that can be fixed by remaking them or redoing the drywall, whichever is cheaper. I would also like to put in a ceiling light since my room is only lit by a single desk lamp. I'm currently studying to be an electrician so this should be a piece of cake, I just need to decide on what kind of light I want to install.

The Execution

As of right now I have largly upgraded my computer and I'm just waiting on a few more parts before it's complete. I'm supposed to be getting rudder pedals from one of my friends that are kind of not working but still work (should be an easy fix) and I just need a new computer case and some case lighting (parts list below).

The desk I've chosen to build from scratch as I think that it will be a good learning experience. My old man is pretty good with carpentry and should be able to help with it. I'm currently in the process of working up plans in Sketchup so that we have something to work with.

The computer parts that I have lying around are still working and just need those few more components. I may end up selling the old 2500K system but I kind of want to keep it (because I'm a pack rat when it comes to tech).

The painting will be done after the new desk is built and we will simply move the desk in after we are done painting.

Current Problems

There was a snafu with the computer system as I was building it. I initially bought an Asus P9X79 Deluxe motherboard off ebay with a Xeon E5 2620 installed (not a good CPU for gaming). After talking with the seller we learned that while the motherboard didn't officially support a Xeon E5-1650, if the Xeon was a SR0KZ skew then the motherboard would recognize it. After buying and installing the 1650 I was playing with some over-clocks (it has an unlocked multiplier) and managed to get it to 4.6 on all cores with single cores able to boost to 4.8. I was playing GTA when suddenly the system shut down without warning. It then failed to start at all. After playing around for a while I learned that the computer would turn on with the low power 2620 installed and would turn on if two cores were disabled on the 1650 and it was down-clocked to 3 GHz. I've since concluded that the VRMs are damaged even though there is no visible damage. The board and CPU combo cost me $285 US, which is hugely disappointing. I'm planning on keeping this though since it still works. I'm going to keep the 2620 in it and use it as a home server for games with my friends and try to also use it as a NAS, but that is a later date. I was looking around on ebay for a replacement and I came across an MSI X79A-GD45 Plus for $180, SCORE! It had been sold in perfect condition and returned with bent pins. The seller bent the pins back and was selling it for $160 with $20 shipping. Since I was fairly local, I asked if I could pick it up and he accepted and knocked off another $20 off of it. Got it home and put the system together, absolutely no problems so far but I haven't tried to overclock too far yet.

My biggest problem at the moment is that I'm working as a cashier and don't have a whole lot of extra money to spend (hence the reason I was drawn to used parts). They have cut my hours back a bit so I'm not able to buy all the parts in one go. Hopefully I can become an apprentice over the summer which should pay better, time will tell though.

Here is the parts list for the system:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

PCMasterDebater · February 7, 2017

I read the entire thread and I didn't see one question.

What are you asking?

Urishima · February 8, 2017

14 hours ago, PCMasterDebater said:

I read the entire thread and I didn't see one question.

What are you asking?

Ever had that moment when you had an issue with something and you tried to explain it to someone else to ask them for a solution, but as you explain it the solution just comes to you?