carnivore_tv Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Hello everyone I hope you like what I've done with my computer. This is my first time ever building a computer. Prior to this I bought regular computers from Best Buy or wherever I found one I liked. My friend Kavinsky convinced me it would be awesome to build my own, and since we play pretty demanding games like the ARMA series, make videos, and just use them so much, I thought so too. Since I do so much work on my computer I decided it must be rugged and dead reliable. With this in mind I knew I would be spending a bit more for the majority of the components, but I want and need it to last and to perform flawlessly every day. I like quality stuff, and that was my goal above all else. Also I wanted it to stay COOL and QUIET. I also didn't want it to be flashy or goofy looking. I like simple, purposeful designs. With that said, here are the specs: Case: Corsair C70 (black) Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z87 Processor: Intel I7 4770K GPU: EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 SC Memory: 16GB (4x4) G.Skill Ripjaws 7-Series DDR3 1866 Power Supply: Corsair HX 750 Hard Drive: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue Cooling: Corsair H105, 2x SP120 High Performance, 2x SP120 Quiet, 2x AF120 Quiet I felt the Sabertooth with its rugged construction and 5 year warranty was a no-brainer for longevity despite its price. The C70 in black is a nice utilitarian design with handles and TONS of space for building and cooling. The GTX 780 in my opinion is about the best GPU for its price. I looked at the Titan, the 780Ti, and SLI options and decided I would only be getting fractional improvements in performance vs the 780 for much more money. I also did NOT want to SLI two or more lower end cards for compatibility and simplicity's sake. As for cooling, the two AF120 Quiet Edition fans are mounted up front to bring in cool air quietly. They do a fantastic job. Originally I had two SP120 Quiets up front with two AF120's mounted to the back of the hard drive cages, but I've since removed the cages and created a custom mount for my hard drive. The GTX 780 gets HOT, and its fan is LOUD. I mounted another SP120 High Performance on the bottom of the case blowing directly up onto it. As with all the fans in my case its speed (and noise) is controlled by my NZXT fan controller on the front of the case. If the GTX 780 gets HOT, then the I7 4770K gets REALLY HOT. It regularly reached 100c on its stock cooler and that is absolutely not acceptable. After mounting the H105 with two SP120 Quiet Edition fans up top, it rarely reaches 50c under load. The Intel CPU paired with a Nvidia GPU is just what the doctor ordered for the Arma series. There is no better combination in my opinion. I've thought about SSD options, but I do not want my OS on an SSD and all my stuff on a HDD. So until Terabyte+ SSD's come down in price, I'm sticking with my 1TB HDD, and I don't mind it at all. Why a Caviar Blue? Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know Jack about hard drives, but I do like the color blue. Corsair's power supplies are just ridiculously nice. They are insanely well packaged and just freakin' nice. If you're here you probably know this already. G.Skill memory came recommended from friends, and I felt that 16GB of 1866 was a pretty good deal at the price I paid. My only complaint is that it's glossy red. I could do without that. Finally, I also ordered a custom window for my case without the air holes in it. This was more of a concession to dust management than aesthetics, but I will admit, the smoke grey looks great even though it's usually tucked away out of sight under my desk. This isn't to say I didn't give any thought to the aesthetics of the build, as I did wrap the fan controller, the drive bay covers, and the mesh grille on the front of the case in carbon fiber. I used an X-Acto to cut out each individual hexagon. It was TEDIOUS... but worth it. I also relocated the front dust filter behind the fans to show off those lovely AF120's and their white rings. Last, I ordered a small custom GTX780 badge for the front of the case, but it does not like to stay stuck to the carbon wrap. I can't believe the card didn't come with something like this, just an admittedly nice looking EVGA badge, but that's not what I wanted. I didn't want stickers or lights all over my computer, but I had many badges and stickers from all the hardware I ordered, so I stuck a few inside the cable management side of the case. Nobody will ever see them, which is kind of the point, but I like having a little collection there. Let's get to the photos (note I relocated the computer for the shoot): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1134_zps5b5cf64f.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1141_zps812ddc9f.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1151_zps8406719f.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1146_zps41561161.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1160_zps6f6c8298.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1155_zps374436ad.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1167_zpsea25b2ab.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1168_zps16f3aab0.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1171_zpsc0bf4956.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1173_zps9dd37d34.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1175_zps7c957240.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1181_zps9e2f43aa.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/AMGfan/IMG_1183_zps0831e2f5.jpg To sum it all up, I love this computer. For the price, I damn well should. I have yet to come across a game I could not run on max settings, it does everything I ask quickly and perfectly, and I just absolutely love it, with one glaring exception... Coil whine. I heard it on the first benchmark I ran. I hear it daily in EVERY game I play. My friends hear it over my mic. It is driving me crazy, and I can't figure out how to fix it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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