Chieftec Dragon - nothing fancy

[999Virus999]

Its nothing fancy but is the first time I have built anything from scratch so I thought I would play with the wife's camera and post some pics. I received all my stuff and started putting this together yesterday. Any comments / suggestions are welcome.

Chieftec Dragon aluminum case
EVGA 780i mobo
EVGA 8800 Ultra GPU
Intel Q6600 CPU
LG CD/DVD drive
Crucial Ballistix Tracer 8500 (4X1GB)
Hitachi SATA II HDD
Enermax Galaxy PSU
4X80mm intake fans
4X80mm exhaust fans (plus the GPU and PSU exhaust fans)

To do:

- Cut 2 80mm holes for exhaust fans in the top panel (might only be room for one).
- Cut an 80 mm hole on the side panel for another intake.
- A mesh mod on the front panel but havent really figured that one out yet.



I put in a piece of smoked plexi the last time I worked on my comp.



Cable management should be fairly decent as I dont have alot of drives.



9V9

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

"nothing fancy" DUDE! That is one sick KICK - @$$ system!!! However..one thing made me shiver......STOCK COOLING????

But the rest makes us droool....LOL...please show us some benchmarks....after you go out and buy a TRUE or the new Noctua air cooler with a push/pull fan config! Or better yet....H2O!!

[werty316]

I used to have the metal version of that case with the same colour and loved it and I would have kept it too if the interior was just a bit longer.

Instead of cutting 80mm holes why not cut 120mm ones instead? You'll get better airflow with less noise plus 120mm is the bare minimum these days.

[999Virus999]

Originally Posted by Prof. Dr. Silver

"nothing fancy" DUDE! That is one sick KICK - @$$ system!!! However..one thing made me shiver......STOCK COOLING????

But the rest makes us droool....LOL...please show us some benchmarks....after you go out and buy a TRUE or the new Noctua air cooler with a push/pull fan config! Or better yet....H2O!!

I know I dropped the ball on the heatsink . I had a nice LED Zalman Tech on my previous rig but it wont perform any better than the stock heatsink on this one. Next upgrade will be a different heatsink.

Thanks.
9V9

[999Virus999]

Originally Posted by werty316

I used to have the metal version of that case with the same colour and loved it and I would have kept it too if the interior was just a bit longer.

Instead of cutting 80mm holes why not cut 120mm ones instead? You'll get better airflow with less noise plus 120mm is the bare minimum these days.

I have had this case for several years and really like it.

I already have a bunch of 80mm fans so I want to use them. I am putting them along the width of the case between the PSU and the DVD drive. The Enermax is so long that anything above it will just make noise and likely not be too effective.

Thanks
9V9

[Shadowmeph]

That case looks like a Gigabyte GAlaxy case totally I mean totally cut apart, I love it great work :)

[999Virus999]

Thanks guys. Here are some more pics. Its a blow hole (actually 2) so not terribly exciting.

Using a template I marked the center of the fan openings and drilled the pilot holes.



Taped up to protect the finish (although it got a little hangar rash by the time I was done).



Began cutting with the hole saw and the bit went for $hit so I had to use a cutoff wheel to cut them both out.



The inside was pretty rough but some filing cleaned it up nice.



A possibility for finishing but I am not sure of what I will do yet.



These pics show where the exhaust holes are situated in the case. There isnt a bunch of room between the PSU and the DVD drive.





9V9

[999Virus999]

Ok - its up and running. Booted without any problems .

I installed the latest drivers for my 8800 Ultra - I didnt update the 780i drivers (the power LED thing) because some have said they had problems with the new driver install - so I will leave that for now.

XP is all updated to SP2.

Being a noob - what else should I be doing with a fresh install?

I am running DX 9.0c - should this be updated?

Thanks
9V9

[3.0charlie]

Originally Posted by 999Virus999

Being a noob - what else should I be doing with a fresh install?

Usually, you start oc'ing. But since your Quad is cooled using the stock HSF, I wouldn't try that...

Nice build though.