My rig, nothing too special
 

Here are some pics of my new rig that I put together aboot 3 months ago. It's nothing to brag about and it's not as nice of some of the rigs you boys have.

Specs:

XFX 680i LT SLI Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor
OCZ SLI-Ready Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2x2048MB)
BFG GeForce GTX 280 OC
Corsair HX1000W Modular PSU
CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000
Samsung 1TB SpinPoint F1 7200rpm SATA II w/ 32MB Cache
LITE-ON 20x DVDRW SATA Litescribe
Sound Blaster X-Fi ExtremeGamer Soundcard

Cooling:

Ultra Chilltec CPU cooler
6X Scythe Slip Stream 120mm x 25mm Fan - 1900 RPM
Antec Spot Cool Flexible Case Fan
Scythe Ita Kaze Hard Disk Cooler


After reading various posts on here and other forums regarding the XFX 680i LT SLI motherboard issues, I decided to upgrade the NorthBridge and SouthBridge heatsinks. In retrospect I should have probably just bought a different motherboard *shrugs* but I didn't decide to research anything until my components arrived.

Here is a picture of the XFX 680i LT SLI motherboard with both the Northbridge and Southbridge heatsinks removed, and the chipset cleaned with Arctic Silver ArctiClean. I used OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze for the compound on the CPU and heatsinks.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41b5364942.jpg
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http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41bd65a8c7.jpg

I replaced the Southbridge heatsink with Enzotech SLF-1 heatsink. At the time I had 2 XFX GeForce 8600 GT XXX so that's why I went with the Enzotech SLF-1 so I would have room for SLI. I replaced the Northbridge heatsink with Thermalright HR-05 SLI. I realized when I was installing the Thermalright HR-05 SLI that I got the wrong one. I
should have bought the Thermalright HR-05. The Thermalright HR-05 SLI had to be turned offset a bit so that my video card would fit. There's only a little bit of the chipset that is exposed. Hopefully this will not cause any problems. I also installed the Ultra Chilltec CPU cooler for the CPU. Again at the time, I thought that Ultra's Chilltec would be good. If I would have done some research first, I definitely would have went with
OCZ Vendetta 2.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc1e7e2d.jpg
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc1f2b7f.jpg
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc1eb540.jpg


I wanted to buy a HD cooler for my HD, so I bought the Scythe Ita Kaze Hard Disk Cooler. Problem was I couldn't screw the Cosmos 1000 HD cage with the Scythe Ita Kaze Hard Disk Cooler installed. So I had to do some modding. I used 4 of the long motherboard spacers (or whatever they are called) and installed them on the HD. Then I
installed the Scythe Ita Kaze Hard Disk Cooler and attached the Cosmos 1000 HD cage. Another problem occurred, with the Scythe Ita Kaze Hard Disk Cooler installed, I couldn't get the HD cage to slide in properly, it jsut wouldn't fit. But I removed an empty HD cage and the cage with the Scythe Ita Kaze Hard Disk Cooler and HD fit.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc202e92.jpg
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc2049b4.jpg

Here is a picture with everything installed. I used a SunBeam Multi Fan Power Port and a few 3-pin Y Cable Splitters to hook up all the fans. I'm not a fan of the 4 pin adapters the fans come with. Personally I find it very cluttered daisy-chaining fans together with the 4pin adapters they give you. I couldn't find a good fan controller that would A) allow me to hook up 6 or more fans and B) that was flat. I need a fan controller that was flat with no knobs so I could close the Cosmos 1000 door on the case. I looked for the Ultra Fan Commander, but I couldn't seem to find a place that sold it. So thats why I went with the SunBeam Multi Fan Power Port and a few 3-pin Y Cable Splitters. I also used a Antec Spot Cool Flexible Case Fan to help cool my GTX 280 as well as a
Scythe Slip Stream 120mm x 25mm Fan.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc206736.jpg
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc20863c.jpg
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc20a5e4.jpg


And what the other side of my case looks like :P I wish I was better at cable management.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...41cc20c31e.jpg

After seeing how a few members modd'ed their cased with cutting holes into the case, I wish I would have done that first. I'm too lazy to take everything out, cut some holes in the case and put everything back for cable management :p

My next build I'd like to tackel water cooling. That should be quite a adventure since A) I don't know a lot aboot it and B) never tried installing it.

Nice looking rig. It might not be the prettiest cable management out there, but it looks functional, and you did take the time to tie stuff off to get it out of the way.

This is a new build so don't be too concerned about not cutting holes in your case... that's a task for another day when you get bored with life and feel like tackling a new project. :)

Nothing wrong with that rig. Nice build.

:thumb:

Thats a powerful system, you've also made some nice modifications to that board. If only I had that case, great for watercooling if you ever go down that road with the GPU:biggrin:.

too many fans that aren't needed :(

looks overkill

Thanks for the comments guys :)

Wow, I didn't think having a lot of fans would be a bad thing :( I'm no expert (obviously), therefore I thought having a lot of fans would keep my case a lot cooler.

The Antec Spot Cool Flexible Case Fan is pointed at my GTX 280, as well as one of my Scythe Slip Stream 120mm fans. Reason being is I read on a forum (which I posted about on here) how the GTX 280 can over heat and someone pointed a Scythe Slip Stream 120mm fan at his GTX 280 and it help to cool it a lot.

Too many improper fans can impede air flow and make things worse.

Never thought about that. If you don't mind me asking, what would you suggest would be the best setup for the fans I have with the Cosmos 1000 case?

The 2 120mm fans at the top of the case and the 120mm fan at the back of the case are exhaust and are setup to suck the hot air out. The fan on the bottom of the case is set for intake. I have one 120mm fan above the hd cages that is sucking air up another 120mm fan blowing air towards the GTX 280. As well as the Antec Spot Cool.

1) Not sure why you have that big air cooler in there
2) Don't know why you put that large NB Cooler on
3) Hard Drive coolers? Is that a Cosmos thing?