my simple work pc
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:24 pm
So I have finally (sort of) finalized my work pc that should have been operational about 9 months ago. I blame most of that delay on my unfortunate decision to try a Zotac ITX setup; I wasted so much money and time because of that thing... But anywhoo, better late than never.
Due to being broke, I had to swap around some existing hardware (cases, heatsinks, fans, powers supplies) - so if you wonder about some of the choices I made, that's why. I know there's room for improvement, but this is the best I could do right now.
- Asus M4A88TD-M/USB3 mobo
- Athlon 2 X2 245 (stock) - wanted to get a quad but couldn't sell this one and it does everything it needs to do, so I kept it for now
- 4GB G.Skill ECO (12800, 9-9-9-24, @ 1.35V)
- 64GB Kingston SSDNow V-Series G2
- Big Shuriken with Noctua NF-P12 + ULNA (~840 rpm)
- 2x Noctua NF-S12 with ULNA (should be ~600 rpm)
- Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS
- card reader (w/floppy, unused)
- Seasonic S12 430W
- Silverstone TJ-08 (with stick-on tiles on side panels)
- Win 7 Pro (from MSDNAA)
Below, if you look closely, you will see the most important mod that needs to be done to the TJ-08 - cut a hole in the bottom of the 5.25" bays to route cables...
I wanted to use the silicone mounts for the fans, but the Noctua ones are a horrible pain in the back, so I gave up. Plus I had to leave the grill on the back anyways because my hamster likes to climb everywhere, including into my running computers so...
I have used just 1 piece of tape and 1 zip tie on the back side, the rest of the cables are placed and folded so they will stay in place on their own.
Also, did the second most important mod to this case - put a few layers of tape or some such in front of the LEDs, and tape around the LED assembly to prevent light leakage - that way you can actually sleep in the same room
To do list:
- one of the S12's is clicking like crazy, need to RMA. I bought it as an extra a couple of years ago and haven't used it till now
- will most likely add a lower-end passively cooled Ati 5xxx card at some point later on
- will also need to replace the PS because it's buzzing. I can't really hear it when I tuck it away under the desk, but still... On the bright side, at least it doesn't squeal with this board.
- change the southbridge heat sink, it gets freaking hot with that joke of a heat sink that's on there now (I don't know what kind of standards do all these reviewers have that claim it stays cool, but it's not even close to cool in my books)
Due to being broke, I had to swap around some existing hardware (cases, heatsinks, fans, powers supplies) - so if you wonder about some of the choices I made, that's why. I know there's room for improvement, but this is the best I could do right now.
- Asus M4A88TD-M/USB3 mobo
- Athlon 2 X2 245 (stock) - wanted to get a quad but couldn't sell this one and it does everything it needs to do, so I kept it for now
- 4GB G.Skill ECO (12800, 9-9-9-24, @ 1.35V)
- 64GB Kingston SSDNow V-Series G2
- Big Shuriken with Noctua NF-P12 + ULNA (~840 rpm)
- 2x Noctua NF-S12 with ULNA (should be ~600 rpm)
- Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS
- card reader (w/floppy, unused)
- Seasonic S12 430W
- Silverstone TJ-08 (with stick-on tiles on side panels)
- Win 7 Pro (from MSDNAA)
Below, if you look closely, you will see the most important mod that needs to be done to the TJ-08 - cut a hole in the bottom of the 5.25" bays to route cables...
I wanted to use the silicone mounts for the fans, but the Noctua ones are a horrible pain in the back, so I gave up. Plus I had to leave the grill on the back anyways because my hamster likes to climb everywhere, including into my running computers so...
I have used just 1 piece of tape and 1 zip tie on the back side, the rest of the cables are placed and folded so they will stay in place on their own.
Also, did the second most important mod to this case - put a few layers of tape or some such in front of the LEDs, and tape around the LED assembly to prevent light leakage - that way you can actually sleep in the same room
To do list:
- one of the S12's is clicking like crazy, need to RMA. I bought it as an extra a couple of years ago and haven't used it till now
- will most likely add a lower-end passively cooled Ati 5xxx card at some point later on
- will also need to replace the PS because it's buzzing. I can't really hear it when I tuck it away under the desk, but still... On the bright side, at least it doesn't squeal with this board.
- change the southbridge heat sink, it gets freaking hot with that joke of a heat sink that's on there now (I don't know what kind of standards do all these reviewers have that claim it stays cool, but it's not even close to cool in my books)