zlojack's first ever

[zlojack]

Ok, I finally got around to posting my build.

Here are the components:

Case - Antec 900
Mobo - Asus Maximus Formula
GPU - EVGA 8800 GTX
CPU - Q6600
RAM - OCZ ReaperX HPC PC28000 1000MHz (still waiting)
PSU - Coolermaster Exteme Power 650W
HD1 - Western Digital Raptor 150GB
HD2 - Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA2 7200RPM
Sound - Creative Labs Sound Blaster XtremeGamer Fatal1ty
Heatsink - Thermalright Ultra120
Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster 245B 24IN Widescreen 1920x1200
OS - Vista Ultimate 64-bit

So I started with this:


Now time to set up the case:
A little paint job to give some colour (I'm going for a red and black theme)


But after a little more planning, I realized I needed another hole down at the bottom for some cable management, so I got out some metal cutters and a grinder but didn't take pics until after I mounted some stuff

Anyway, here's the mobo before and after the heatsink


I got on a roll with installing so no pics until after all was in, but here's what it looks like (good thing the side panel covers up that mess on the back of the mobo tray):


Closeup of the hole I made for the cables

Now all in, but those blue fans look like poo


The red fans finally came in and I picked them up and here's what the final looks like (all I'm missing is the OCZ RAM, which should get in this week or next, so I'm using 4 GB of cheap stuff for now)

If the PSU had longer cables I could have run more of them out the back, but with what I had, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, especially since I've never done this before!

[1Tanker]

Nice rig. Duct tape..FTW(i do the same thing ) Is the quad a G0 or B3?

[zlojack]

It's a G0. I got it from NCIX.com

And duct tape is definitely my friend :-)

Here are the final pics with the red fans installed:

[Hitikiro]

Wow good ! That red and black theme is looking sexy haha

[1Tanker]

Originally Posted by Hitikiro

Wow good ! That red and black theme is looking sexy haha

Yeah.. it is. It's a nice change from all the blue and green lighting schemes.

[SKYMTL]

With all that red I was hoping for an ATI card!! But looks great nonetheless.

[zlojack]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

With all that red I was hoping for an ATI card!! But looks great nonetheless.

Ha ha thanks!

That's a good point, but unfortunately nothing beats the 8800 GTX for single card performance, and I wasn't going for Crossfire this time around.

But I will definitely revisit them when it's time for an upgrade