Home Computer Rebuild

dorokusai

My wife started a new government job and her first mandate to me was that the home office had to be redone so she could have a comfortable telework enviroment. Ok....fair enough, but I had to at least get something out of this right?

Well, fast forward, I repainted and gutted all the old furniture to get a single desk setup started. We originally had a dining room table as a desk for both of us which served well for years but it was time to get more adult and formal in her words. She handled all the furniture and sourced some antique stuff for printer stand and other things.

Now to the crux of my rambling.....I was able to build my new workstation and since she just docks, its looking like I won the technological half of the upgrade.

The new stuff....

Dual ASUS 24" VE247H LED Monitors on a PLANAR 997-6504-00 large format dual monitor stand
LOGITECH K800 Wireless Keyboard (Lighted, which I LOVE)
LOGITECH G9 Wired Mouse (Wired? I know, odd but I love heavy mice, it's almost a pound and tight)
VERIZON FIOS 75/35 Upgrade (Previously was only 25/15 and we're so much wireless is was getting bogged)

Now to my new BEAST....

COOLERMASTER CM690 Mk1 Mid-Tower Case(Re-used)
THERMALTAKE ToughPower 600W PSU
INTEL DZ77BH-55K Motherboard (First INTEL MOBO I've used being an ASUS lover.)
INTEL Core i7 3.4GHz Quad Core Processor
ZALMAN CNPS-9500-AT CPU Cooler
CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 32GB DDR3 1600 Memory
INTEL 330 Series 180GB Solid State Drive (Absolutely amazing how fast these SSD drives are....boot to Windows 7 in 6 seconds flat.)
SEAGATE Barracuda 80GB HDD X2 (One for Music, One for Photos - Both Re-Used)
EVGA 560Ti SLI X2 Video Cards
LITEON BD/DVD-RW SATA CD Drive
LINKSYS Wireless-N PCI Adapter (No more wires....hate them. I could have had this built-into an ASUS MOBO but I was trying to get the best prices at the time and this works fine.)

I finally went WINDOWS 7(64bit) + OFFICE Professional 2010 since that's what work has migrated to and while its not my favorite, I'm getting used to it.

The case is fully AKASA Paxmate lined with rubber gaskets for the PSU and 140mm Cougar Ultra-Quiet fluid coupled fans(3). The old version of this was so freaking loud and this just sounds like a whisper....even running at full gameplay mode. WILD!

What do you think? It works great, wife is happy and we're splitting her docking station using VGA for the two monitors, since mine uses DVI and it's working great so far. I thought about a KVM switcher but it's just too much clutter and this is only requiring her to hit a button on each monitor when she wants to work. The Logitech unified keyboard and mouse also works fine since we have one dongle in her docking station and one in my computer.

chumlie

I think it sounds like alot of work and a nice setup. Way out of my league. Congrats on both, keeping the wife happy and new setup.

BlueFox

So, what music is on it? What file format? What DAC is it using! Let's stay with the important stuff. I want to get an SSD to eliminate one more moving piece from my musical chain, and see (hear) if there is a difference.

Nice job. Form follows function is always a good design philosophy.

Clipdat

Only two 80gb drives for storage? Crazy.

Also pretty funny that you are making the wife use VGA! I guess if she can't tell a difference, ok.. but still!

11tsteve

pretty nice rig... i can't wait to go intel, but i have to stop buying audio gear.:cheesygrin:
possibly the Asus board would have been a better choice if you were overclocking, and really pushing the limits. the Intel board should be solid.
and i could never go back to a platter drive for my boot drive.... been SSD for a while now and nothing beats it.
my only question is the graphics....SLI for a work station or do you do some gaming? one of those cards requires a 500-550W PSU depending on the version, so if you are SLI, plus all of the peripherals that 600W is pretty much the lower limit. just food for thought.

disneyjoe7

Come on now get a really drive.


Cheap enough.



Now why an Intel board, over ASUS?

11tsteve

the intel boards aren't awful, just not performance oriented... and it could be worse. could be Biostar.

EndersShadow

Mark good build. Its like when I finally went through a couple cases and settled on the Antec P182 and Noctua fans. The PC is so quite the entire right side is open right now (had to borrow a part for my other build) and I cant hear the fans from 1 foot away. Once you finally get that one case its a done deal. This Antec case if much smaller than the other two I had and a big upgrade from the ATCS 840 I once used.

If you want to make it even quieter, look at getting a automatic fan controller. I have one and keep my fans at around 1000 rpm which makes them darn near silent while keeping the case more than cool enough.

11tsteve

and if replacement fans are an option, the Scythe Gentle Typhoons are pretty nice. i have an external 3 x 120 rad on my liquid setup, with a Sunbeam fan controller running all of my fans. the Scythes are barely a whisper.

dorokusai

The SSD drive is my boot drive as in the description. The 80GB drives were just leftovers so I made us of them and they work fine for the limited data on them. I usually go with ASUS but have not had any desire to overclock in years and its just not fun anymore personally. I wanted reliable and the core of it all is rock solid. I will probably swap to SSD for my media drives.

As far as the SLI concern, noted but I've been watching it closely and the PSU is also solid. The ratings are for maximum capacity and I'm a low level gamer. The only thing I'm playing now is Diablo III and before that it was Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon....that's how lame I am. BUT, just in case I wanted to get crazy, it's ready. I don't think I've ever had the proper PSU my entire life and never had an issue. It would be the first thing to swap out but I gotta chill for now....she's still reeling from alll of this "crap" when all she wanted was two monitors.

I'll look into the fan control. I think one is built-into the board or thru the EVGA boards....either way good idea.

11tsteve

I feel the same way about overclocking . It was fun for a while, but... Still do a little with Hwbot. Rather spend money on audio now.
Hope I didn't step on any toes with the sli questions.
My wife had the same reaction when I asked if I could set up a small audio system in our office and then saw the 11Ts..

jdustinb

dorokusai wrote: »

As far as the SLI concern, noted but I've been watching it closely and the PSU is also solid. The ratings are for maximum capacity and I'm a low level gamer. The only thing I'm playing now is Diablo III and before that it was Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon....that's how lame I am. BUT, just in case I wanted to get crazy, it's ready. I don't think I've ever had the proper PSU my entire life and never had an issue. It would be the first thing to swap out but I gotta chill for now....she's still reeling from alll of this "crap" when all she wanted was two monitors.

I was also curious about gaming vs. workstation. The CPU screams virtualization given the non-K version you listed and support for VT-d, but the SLI screams gaming. You could easily turn this beast into a virtualization machine with the amount of RAM you have and run other operating systems. With the VT-d, you can pass hardware directly to the VM, which provides some incredible virtualization benefits As for overclocking, just an FYI - you can only overclock the FSB as the multiplier on your particular CPU is locked. If you ever decide to overclock the system, you'll need to switch over to the K version.

Sick system though - pretty similar in specs to what I'm running. Rebooting takes seconds.

Drenis

Nice solid build Mark.

My only issue is the PSU. Put a Corsair HX750 in there and call it a day.

Clipdat

+1 on the Corsair. Really no reason to go with any other computer PSU manufacturer.

dorokusai

Just installed a Corsair 750w today....secretly.

Jdustinb - I had to find a happy medium between what my wife wanted and what I needed, which wasn't much. I'm a low level gamer but wanted some level of ability should I change plans. It's moreso for her and VGA VS DVI in this case is not an issue, she wouldn't know and honestly doesn't care.

In regards to OC and Virtualization....color me new and honestly my brain is not that large. There's too much Polk stuff in here so something has to give. The SLI choice was because I COULD...you know what I mean? I wanted to have a machine that would last awhile and each verison has been great for multiple years so far. This is by far the best one I've hand built and I couldn't be happier. Not perfect, we all have favorites but it's not to shabby.

Mark

Drenis

Now I feel better.

I want to see pictures of this build. Lets see some slick cable management! :razz:

schwarcw

Mark,

I've got Verizon FIOS 25/15. My wireless router is acting up. Did you upgrade your router?

Strong Bad

That machine is rock solid! The two BIG things I notice are the OS being on the SSD and 32gb of RAM. It's incredible how huge a difference that SSD makes. I have one in my 15" Macbook Pro and everything runs FAST...FAST FAST FAST!

Everyone can nitpick over subtle differences in MOBOs, memory, HD's, etc, etc...this machine you built will last for years and years. The wife will be happy and you'll be happy. Enjoy and don't sweat the little things.

Nice job on the build!

steveinaz

Mark--did she get a GS or contractor position? Congrats either way! Sounds like a killer setup, though I've been out of the computer building game for quite awhile. Agree 100% with John's assesment above.

Jstas

That couldn't have been cheap!

I actually have to get to replacing my desktop/media server deal. It was new at the end of 2001. Been chugging along with maybe 2% down time for upgrades and/or power outages in the past 11 years. But I have a failure that I can't get around. So I'm going to have to retire my loyal WinXP machine.

I can swap a bunch of hardware over but I need a new board, processor, memory and gonna get a new system disk too. With a copy of Win7 Ultimate, it's gonna cost me about $680 to upgrade.

Gonna go with an Asus board though and save a few bucks and get the hot rod Core i5 and just throw a button of memory at it. 8 GB at least.

I already have my 1,000 watt power supply though.

dorokusai

schwarcw wrote: »

Mark,

I've got Verizon FIOS 25/15. My wireless router is acting up. Did you upgrade your router?

I had to get the new router, which was free but after my current speed you have to pay it appears. The model I have is M1424WR. The old Actiontec router I had before was not capable of pushing that much speed. If you have that Actiontec router, get rid of it since I had the same problem and it constantly failed or needed rebooted. The new one is awesome and has been problem free. Does that help?

dorokusai

steveinaz wrote: »

Mark--did she get a GS or contractor position? Congrats either way! Sounds like a killer setup, though I've been out of the computer building game for quite awhile. Agree 100% with John's assesment above.

Steve - She's been with the GOV since like 1996-1997 and started with the Dept. of the Navy @ M Street DC. Fast forward to Division Chief of the VA @ Frederick, MD and I'm officially a kept man or cabin boy as she kids me about but I don't really find it as funny as she does, ha ha. I'm going to go cry on the toilet like I do every night so please excuse me.

Mark

dorokusai

Jstas wrote: »

That couldn't have been cheap!

I actually have to get to replacing my desktop/media server deal. It was new at the end of 2001. Been chugging along with maybe 2% down time for upgrades and/or power outages in the past 11 years. But I have a failure that I can't get around. So I'm going to have to retire my loyal WinXP machine.

I can swap a bunch of hardware over but I need a new board, processor, memory and gonna get a new system disk too. With a copy of Win7 Ultimate, it's gonna cost me about $680 to upgrade.

Gonna go with an Asus board though and save a few bucks and get the hot rod Core i5 and just throw a button of memory at it. 8 GB at least.

I already have my 1,000 watt power supply though.

I tried to re-use as much as I could but as YOU know, that's almost impossible. It wasn't cheap and while it has to happen, it's only every few years so the cost offset is ok I guess. If you need anything or want to trade warez, let me know as I have a lot of leftover stuff that is still super cool and its going into the dumpster or to a friend anyways John. The old ASUS board I have is still killer.

Hobbyguy

Nice build...I have built over 20 computers for personal/family/friend use and have learned alot. I like the ASUS boards but they can be finicky, but they are ALOT of fun to tinker with. My experience has been that the Intel boards are not as flexible in terms of overclocking but they are rock stable. i bet you are not getting the most from your memory. On a fresh build the bios does not always put the best timings or voltage that your memory is capable of. Would be interesting to see in your bios if the memory voltage and timings are optimized. My current build, a SR2 with 2 xeon x5650 overclocked to 4.2Ghz and watercooled had a noticeable improvement when I put in the optimized settings in the bios for memory.

dorokusai

Hobbyguy - PM me as I'd like to talk about this if you have the time. That's beyond my scope. Thanks for the information.

Mark

schwarcw

dorokusai wrote: »

I had to get the new router, which was free but after my current speed you have to pay it appears. The model I have is M1424WR. The old Actiontec router I had before was not capable of pushing that much speed. If you have that Actiontec router, get rid of it since I had the same problem and it constantly failed or needed rebooted. The new one is awesome and has been problem free. Does that help?

Yep, that's the same model that I have. I'll contact Verizon. Thanks Mark!

dorokusai

schwarcw wrote: »

Yep, that's the same model that I have. I'll contact Verizon. Thanks Mark!

Cool, I am actually useful for once this year....whew, I was starting to give up hope.

Mark

Hobbyguy

pm sent

dorokusai

I was never having issues with overheating on the 600w Thermaltake PSU with the dual SLI but I also have a side mounted fan blowing directly into both cards. Then I started to worry and replaced it with a Corsair which promptly failed. I dropped in a 750w ANTEC TruePower 750w PSU and in the process of install and wrapping cables, snapped the SATA6 connector off the actual MOBO....I was livid.

Like not fixable man, total dumb fat hands move. Luckily, The pins were straight and I could slide the plastic connector back on to prevent a short but the connection is basically useless now. It doesn't matter since I'm not using all of them and it was just a convenient choice when connecting components at the time but can imagine how devastated I was? Dude man.....I think I peed myself.

ANyways, while I think the layout of the SATA connections on that particular MOBO is a bad idea from INTEL....it is oficially my fault. Whatever. I'm going to drop my spinner HDD's and drop another SSD into the mic for photos and media so 3 SATA is all I need anyways. I'm using all the leftover components to build a computer for my niece who is just now getting into this stuff so it should be awesome to her but to us, lame as hell.

New PSU is installed and my anal retentive cable management is wrapped up. Then check this out....had a memory module go bad and blue screen me. Caught it in BIOS, caveman'd my way thru finding the bad one and have all that being sorted out now but popped in my old memory for now. Back to 12gb which is perfectly fine in reality and my need to go 32gb is just retarded.

You now, sometimes you should just leave well enough alone and stop messing with stuff when it works. Has anyone actually listened to that before? LOL.

SOOOO.....new Dominator memory on the way due to an excellent complaint and phone conversation and the SLI issue of one board being 1/4" away from my wireless NIC card is really a moot point since the newly installed fan blows directly on it. It's a couple degrees higher but nothing close to worry area and I'm not either.

The docking staion for my wifes' computer came today and as I expected, NOT VGA, so I have to get adapters instead of using a KVM since its just easier right now. I have the Lenovo docking station running into both MON's with VGA, mine is DVI and they sense whatever computer is on at that time or just hit a button on the monitor. I usually turn mine off when she's teleworking so it detects whatever conection is alive.

Another snafu was that I only have one unified Logitech USB plug so to figure that I bought a new Logitech mouse for us, that was also Unified, so one is plugged into her docking staion and one into mine. Both computers see both and can be used at will dpeending on what's on or not.

This was a project that I should have never freaking done but I'm happy and SHE IS and we know how much that is worth right?

Hobby - I'll get in touch with you on the memory adjustments and other stuff when I get 100% setup with the memory again. Thanks for the help offline.

Regards,
Mark

steveinaz

dorokusai wrote: »

I'm officially a kept man or cabin boy as she kids me...

I feel your pain, Bev makes significantly more than I, so I am referred to as "pool boy."

scottyboy76

dorokusai wrote: »

Steve - She's been with the GOV since like 1996-1997 and started with the Dept. of the Navy @ M Street DC. Fast forward to Division Chief of the VA @ Frederick, MD and I'm officially a kept man or cabin boy as she kids me about but I don't really find it as funny as she does, ha ha. I'm going to go cry on the toilet like I do every night so please excuse me.

Mark

Trust me, as you get older, you will cry on the toilet for different reasons, so you have that to look forward to.

BTW, In 78-79, spent two of the best years of my life in The Old Guard in d.c.

Got to know M street very well.

Had an old Triumph bonnevile 650 hardtail chopper, and a buddy bought a honda 650 automatic he was afraid to ride, It may as well have been mine.

Any female acquaintance who knew how to ride a bike got the honda, Big daddy leading the way across key bridge on a truly rude old bike into the then uptown crowds.