Hello everyone!
As I said in my previous post, this summer brings two build guides to these pages. First, a budget PC for less than £350 which can run Windows, Linux and Mac OS X if you so wish. And now, the project I’ve really been looking forward to: my own PC. This is no longer a mid-range machine; it’s a fire-breathing monster. I think that, in terms of the graphics at least, it’s just about the fastest supported Hackintosh there is.
On to the specifications:
Case: Cooler Master HAF X
CPU: Intel i7-860 (2.8GHz)
Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-E
RAM: Corsair 8GB 1333MHz
GPU: NVidia GTX 480 (ASUS model)
Boot HDD: Corsair F120 SSD (120GB)
Storage HDDs: 2x WD Caviar 1TB
PSU: Corsair HX1000
Monitors: Samsung BX2450 (24″, 1920×1080) plus Dell U2711 (2560×1440)
With high-end components like most of these, you’re best searching around for the best deals, rather than trying to buy everything from the same place. Prices vary incredibly.
What’s interesting about this build, however, is how that huge graphics card and a heavily overclocked CPU are kept icy-cool. My system is now water-cooled, which should prove exciting to install if nothing else. However, I’m hoping for a significant overclock on CPU and possibly GPU – and a near-silent build if nothing else. After six months of my old PC sounding like a 747 on take-off, it’ll be a welcome new quiet in the house. That’s why I got the ASUS GTX 480 over EVGA’s Superclocked version – with water-cooling I can overclock it myself, and the expensive EVGA fan mechanism isn’t going to be used, so it seems wasteful.
My water-cooling setup was purchased from Water Cooling UK, and their service was excellent – I would really recommend them if you’re looking for water-cooling in the UK.
All the components should be arriving in the next couple of days, so I’ll update this page with installation instructions. It looks like it’s going to be fun.
Installation
Right. Everything has arrived and you’re ready to get building. The first thing I did was place all the water-cooling parts in a corner and just build the system air-cooled. I imagine that the sort of person who’s building a system with this much power has done some building before, or is capable of doing it themselves from the instruction manuals. Just keep yourself grounded and you’ll be fine. Only install 4GB of RAM at the start if you want to load OS X.
Once you’ve done all the software, you’ll probably want to install your water-cooling parts. If you’re installing the CPU block first, use ArctiClean or something similar to remove the old layer of thermal paste, and out some Arctic Silver 5 on instead. Then mount the water block (the HAF X’s backplate makes that really easy), and fit the tubing using the compression fittings.
Next, the GPU block. Put simply, it’s a nightmare. You have to remove 17 different screws, cut some minuscule tubing, and fit everything back carefully. Then fit the compression fittings and the tubing and slot it back in. Again, the HAF X is a help: its custom GPU cooler is ideal for making sure the weight of the GPU doesn’t warp the motherboard.
Then comes the radiator. First, remove the 200mm fan (you can use it in the GPU cooler if you like) and add the three Gentle Typhoons. Next, try your best to wedge the enormous RX360 into the space at the top (you can’t put a CD drive in the top slot for that reason), and attach it to the fans. Make sure you’ve connected the fans up to the controller before you set about installing the radiator!
Finally, slot the pump in the bottom-right corner and the reservoir above it. Join everything up with the compression fittings and voilà. Time to prime the system. Double-check your fittings, get a towel handy, and “short out” your PSU by unplugging the motherboard and had drives and placing a paper clip between two sockets on the motherboard power connector. Turn the power off and pour a little fluid into the reservoir, then wait till it goes into the pump and out the other end. Turn the power on, then stop when fluid begins to run out, and repeat till you have a fully-functional water loop. Ideally, leave it running for up to 24 hours to check for leaks.
And you’re done! Now, for the software.
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