She's getting an upgrade! +4 years with my first PC

[MrDavid]

Back in 2013 when I was new to this whole PC building thing. I built an over the top (at least in my eyes) system that kicked every game I threw at it in the face. But time has changed her, She's almost not even the same PC anymore.

 

I recently have ordered a 6700k, a Maximus IX Hero and 2x8 Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000 Mhz DDR4 RAM. After these parts have been received and installed, the only thing that will remain from the original system is some fans and the power supply

 

These are the original specs: (brackets explain replacement stories)

 

CPU: Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (361.59) (it up and died one day, system wouldn't post at all. wasn't much of an overclocker anyways; could only get 4.2 stable. The replacement could do 4.6 without a single stutter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($40.00) (Replaced with h100i gtx cuz why not - acquisition of cooler explained in Graphic card section)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus V Formula EATX LGA1155 Motherboard  ($250.00) (Warranty - DOA first pci slot had issues. The system would BSOD when attempting to install the graphics drivers but was fine with the card in the second slot)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($252.00) (Warranty - One stick started throwing errors which I wouldn't find out until replacing multiple parts later)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($110.00) (Replaced with 480 GB RAID 0 array which is later replaced with a single 480 because I thought that one of the raid drives died, but in reality was just the faulty ram that wrecked the array - I found capacity to be too low for my workflows which make lots of use of appdata which apparently needs to be on C)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($165.00) (Replaced with WD Black - I thought that this drive died, and who knows, maybe it did; turned the *dead* drive into coasters #worth)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($770.00) (Replaced with GTX 1070 - Assetto Corsa came out and iRacing released some new more demanding tracks and graphics effects so I started the hunt for more performance. started with watercooling and overclocking the card with an hg10 and h100i gtx but that didn't yield the results I wanted. Tried my brothers R9 Fury for a while as he needed some cash, but the driver was too buggy with my cursor disappearing all the time in games and getting garbled in windows)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper ATX Full Tower Case ($280.00) (Replaced with Corsair 400C - I found this case too large after a while. While I enjoyed the fancy gamer aesthetic for a short while, found that the crevices and mesh was hard to clean, which left the system looking a little less than good. Also Cooler master seems to be addicted to soft touch plastic which is both an animal hair and dust magnet)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($155.00) 
Optical Drive: LG BH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($75.00)
Keyboard: Cooler Master Storm Trigger Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($70.00) (Warranty replacement with TriggerZ as the trigger was discontinued but later replaced with G910 cuz RGB which is later replaced with a K70 Speed as I missed the cherry switches - This keyboard had a removable usb mini b connector that broke and I had to fight with cooler master to get replaced. I will never buy another cooler master product again after dealing with their support)
Mouse: Cooler Master CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Wired Laser Mouse ($55.00) (Replaced with G700s which was later replaced by a G502)
Other: NZXT Hue RGB LED Controller ($30.00)
Total: $2613.59

This was the what it looked like when It was completed.

 

It was a purpose built racing/editing rig

 

Some other interesting things that I did with this Machine:

 

Install Mac OS. I actually bought a 2 TB SSHD from Seagate. Learned a lot about UNIX systems and different filesystems. It also brought me back up to date with the OS. Fun fact: my first PC was a PowerMac G3

 

Configure Raid. I ran 2 240GB ssd's in raid 0 for about a year

 

Running VM's

 

The System as I write this article (Stories for the reason of replacement in original parts list above) 

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($361.59) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($137.85) 
Motherboard: Asus Maximus V Formula EATX LGA1155 Motherboard  ($250.00) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($252.00) 
Storage: PNY CS1311 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($189.00) 
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($136.80) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($264.99) 
Video Card:EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($523.98) 
Case: Corsair Carbide 400C ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.98) 
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($155.00) 
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB RAPIDFIRE Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($179.00) 
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse  ($60.00) 
Other: Some random cheapo rgb lights whose controller I am not satisfied with ($30.00)
Total: $2650.19

 

This is what it looks like now.

 

 

This is the setup that it powers

 

[MrDavid]

Reserved for new parts pics

 

And here they are!

 

[yathis]

What do you do with 2 screens?

Stocks?

[Technomancer__]

12 minutes ago, yathis said:

What do you do with 2 screens?

Stocks?

what do you thing he does?

they are VERY useful i have 3

[yathis]

Just now, Ethocreeper said:

what do you thing he does?

Day Trader

[PCMasterDebater]

Looks great OP aside from your wires that are in need of some training imo. I recommend getting some braided sata cables to match your PSU cables but not necessary.

 

Hope you enjoy it til she dies  

[EnergyEclipse]

BUT THE CABLE THOUGH! DDD:

 

Personally I would recommend using some simplistic cable combs just to train though cables to a straighter appearance.

 

 

[MrDavid]

On 3/27/2017 at 4:36 AM, yathis said:

What do you do with 2 screens?

Stocks?

I am a Computer Programmer

On 3/27/2017 at 2:00 PM, PCMasterDebater said:

Looks great OP aside from your wires that are in need of some training imo. I recommend getting some braided sata cables to match your PSU cables but not necessary.

 

Hope you enjoy it til she dies  

 

On 3/27/2017 at 2:20 PM, EnergyEclipse said:

BUT THE CABLE THOUGH! DDD:

 

Personally I would recommend using some simplistic cable combs just to train though cables to a straighter appearance.

 

 

It looks like the sata cables are going to be hidden by the graphics card on my new motherboard, and as for the combs, I don't want to have the cables trained. To me i think that they sort of symbolize my life. Things are nice even though it may be crazy at times. 

[MrDavid]

Pics of new parts added!