This will be a relatively simple build, no modding or anything like that. I just wanted to make a thread to document the build for those who enjoy looking at such. This is just going to be a short thread and a quick opinion on the parts. So long story short, this is going to be my Father's first new desktop since 2002. Back in 2002 he had a P4 desktop custom built and after that got outdated he just used laptops till now. About a week ago his old Dell laptop kicked the bucket and I finally convinced him to get another desktop. The build is going to handle light gaming and heavy video creating and encoding. So here's the specs: Case: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 MicroATX Mini Tower CPU: Intel i7-5820K 3.3GHz Hexa-core CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99M-GAMING 5 Micro ATX RAM: Mushkin Redline 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2666 SSD: Samsung 850-EVO 500GB HDD: Western Digital Black 2TB GPU: XFX R9 280X Black Edition DD PSU: Corsair AX860 UPS: CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD Optical Drive: LG Blu-ray drive WiFi: Asus PCE-AC68 a/b/g/n/ac Monitor: Dell U2412H Keyboard: Corsair K95 (Non-RGB) Mouse: Logitech G502 Headset: Corsair H2100 Misc: Rosewill USB3.0 Card Reader Misc: Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Laptop (i5-5200U, 8GB DDR3, Intel HD 5500 GPU) Will be upgraded with a 500GB Samsung SSD down the road Some parts have already arrived, but all the parts won't be here until March 18th. I wanted to create this thread to get it out of the way, that way I only have to post the pics later.
Everything arrived, took Dell an extra day to get the monitor here so I was slowed down by that. Took me longer than usual to get it running too, due to a corrupted Windows install from my flash drive. Was having a myriad of weird issues while trying to install drivers and update programs. Wiped and reinstalled Windows 7 and all is well now. So down to the pictures. Everything laid out Apart ready to start assembly All together Long exposure How it actually looks
There were/are a few things I wasn't too impressed with when it came to putting the whole build together. What I didn't like: Case: There's not enough room for easy cable management behind the motherboard tray. Even a 24pin cable is almost too thick. After running all the cables it's more than a bit of a hassle to close the side cover. Only other gripe is that the wiring for the front panel isn't placed properly. They left it hanging in the 5.25 bay area, which means if you want to use those bays you have to re-route the wires. Cooler: The hoses are somewhat stiff and not very easy to bend into place. This is more due to the smaller case size. As addressed by Hilbert in his review for the H80i GT, the wiring coming off the CPU cooler itself is ugly and not easy to hide. Also I still have not been able to get the Corsair Link software to change the LEDs on the cooler. Everything else works but that feature. PSU: This is something I haven't seen mentioned, but I've encountered it with a few Corsair power supplies. The insertion force on the PSU end for the modular cables seems extremely high. Just getting the cables in is a pain and locking them in needs much more force than it should. What I did like: Case: The 3.5 drive bays are metal and have rubber anti-vibration pieces in them. If you want to secure the drive bays, you can. Once they're inserted you can insert a single screw for each bay to secure them in place. The case also has filters on every air intake and exhaust. They're all easily accessible and washable. CPU Cooler: Ease of installation. Place the CPU standoffs, secure the fans to the radiator, secure the radiator, attach the cooler, plug in the wiring and done. Incredibly easy. Didn't even have to change the backplates. XFX GPU: Every port and connector (even crossfire and PCIE connectors) had plastic covers on them and every shiny bit of plastic had a film on it to prevent any scratches. ----- These are all the standout items that I found that either bugged me or pleased me. Overall it turned out to be a great build with no major issues. I'm open to any questions anyone has about any of the hardware or parts of the build. Benchmarks will be up tomorrow at some point.
Benchmark Results: Prime 95 - http://pastebin.com/PVvTjMBi 3DMark - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6293029? SSD HDD
Wow there isn't much room to work with in there is there? But pretty good temps considering the small space. Nice build!
Nope, not a lot of room to work with at all. Had to remove the upper hard drive caddy to fit the graphics card. It's a pretty close fit, a little bit of grinding and filing on the caddy would provide enough room for the GPU to clear if I ever need the space for more hard drives in the future. I forgot to write down all the temps under full load, but I'll make a note to do that next time I'm on there. And thanks! It's quite an upgrade over what my Dad was using before. A 15" Dell Laptop with a dual core P8600.
I went and did some more temperature testing and here's what I got. These tests were done using Prime95 on Small FFTs CPU: With everything set to the quietest settings (basically no noise at all, pump speed turned down, fans turned down) I'm hitting about 65C. With the pump speed turned up and the fans on medium, I get about 62C. With everything turned up I get about 57C. These tests were done while running FurMark's stress test GPU: Leaving the GPU to adjust it's own fan speed, temps averaged 65C. At these temps the fan was running at 63%. Turning the fan speed to 100% resulted in more noise than anything. Temps dropped 4C down to 61C.
