Future build: Victor

[Vandamguy]

I have 30 days to buy or otherwise acquire a proper license key. Thoughts?

half troll half serious , why buy windows ?

RemoveWAT and done.

[HeK]

[quote author=Eightball link=topic=6589.msg257939#msg257939 date=1354730306]
I have 30 days to buy or otherwise acquire a proper license key. Thoughts?

half troll half serious , why buy windows ?

RemoveWAT and done.
[/quote]

Lack of head aches and working MSE/AutoUpdates alone make of most of the price of a Windows license.

[at0m]

[quote author=Vandamdad link=topic=6589.msg258187#msg258187 date=1355149278]
[quote author=Eightball link=topic=6589.msg257939#msg257939 date=1354730306]
I have 30 days to buy or otherwise acquire a proper license key. Thoughts?

half troll half serious , why buy windows ?

RemoveWAT and done.
[/quote]

Lack of head aches and working MSE/AutoUpdates alone make of most of the price of a Windows license.
[/quote]^this, Also Eightball, reformat and try again, this time following ALL of the instructions that HeK and I posted.

[Eightball]

[quote author=HeK link=topic=6589.msg258189#msg258189 date=1355151046]
[quote author=Vandamdad link=topic=6589.msg258187#msg258187 date=1355149278]
[quote author=Eightball link=topic=6589.msg257939#msg257939 date=1354730306]
I have 30 days to buy or otherwise acquire a proper license key. Thoughts?

half troll half serious , why buy windows ?

RemoveWAT and done.
[/quote]

Lack of head aches and working MSE/AutoUpdates alone make of most of the price of a Windows license.
[/quote]^this, Also Eightball, reformat and try again, this time following ALL of the instructions that HeK and I posted.
[/quote]

Uhh, I haven't even started the build yet. Vandam was quoting part of an older post. In other news though, the build is scheduled for December 15th (day after my last final).

EDIT: Also I'm just going to rejigger my IKEA desks to make some space for the box. Probably will get rid of this thing holding all those console controllers I never use.

[Elder]

well best of luck today i got mine set up and it works great so far. Clean install of windows 7 and i am very happy.
Tried ps2 yesterday and amazingly my fps never dropped under 35 at max settings in the tech plant.

The AsRock z77 Extreme 4 mobo worked out well too.

Took me about 3 hours to set up and fit parts and then just a waiting game with windows installing after that.

[Eightball]

The build starts today. However, we're off to a slow start. I didn't clean up as much as I planned to yesterday, so I've already spent my morning and early afternoon just getting prepared. I haven't even done all the research on parts that I wanted to. Still, here's what I have to show as of 1pm CST:

First, I had to retrieve an optical drive from Tango. I figured I would also clean and organize the interior, as it's been a while since I've done that. This is what I met:



The horror...the horror. Kids, never buy an off-brand case that top-mounts the PSU and doesn't have cable management holes. After a long time, I retrieved my drive and cleaned a bit. Now, it looks like this:



That's better, I guess. Once Victor is complete, I will back up my files and reinstall windows. Then, Tango will be Deb's computer. Next task was to reorganize my desk. Tango sat on the ground for the better part of a year, and got really dust-choked. I didn't want to do that to Victor, so I needed to make room up top. Here's a before and after:




I can have backlighting again! Sort of. I guess it doesn't look like I got a lot done but what I did took quite some time. I'm going to get lunch now, but this is what I have to do when I get back:

• Do a quick scan of product reviews to inform myself of any pitfalls or tricks. For example, my SSD may not have up-to-date firmware.
  
• Apply any firmware updates.
  
• Load drivers onto a flash-drive.
  
• Start the build
  

Ah, but where would we be without a money shot?



I'll report back when it's done.

[Didzo]

Pretty sure we have identical desks.

I don't think anyone asked this in here yet, so I'll do it. How do you decide what to name your computers?

[Eightball]

Pretty sure we have identical desks.

I don't think anyone asked this in here yet, so I'll do it. How do you decide what to name your computers?

I'm boring, and just use sequential letters of the phonetic alphabet. First computer was "Sierra" (S), then "Tango" (T). Next would have been "Uniform" (U) but I thought that would sound weird and went with "Victor" (V).

[Mission Difficult]

I don't think anyone asked this in here yet, so I'll do it. How do you decide what to name your computers?

All of my desktops have had the same name followed by MkI, MkII, MkIII etc..
All of my portable computers have been named after characters from Hackers (The Plague, Lord Nikon, Acid Burn...)

I've seen facilities use planets, Greek gods, Transformers, and boring things like the physical location or the purpose of the machine.

[Eightball]

First, the bad:

Loose heatsink

The Hyper 212 EVO doesn't seem to be perfectly tight on the motherboard; I have a few degrees of shimmy both clockwise and counterclockwise. It's bothersome, but it isn't exactly loose either. Moreover, there is no vertical (away from the motherboard) freedom of movement, so I'm going ahead anyways. Now, the good:

External build, first boot.

External build works! No POST beep though, that was weird (yes, I have a speaker installed. Maybe it's backwards).

[Mission Difficult]

External build works! No POST beep though, that was weird (yes, I have a speaker installed. Maybe it's backwards).

Maybe the POST beep is disable in the BIOS somewhere because the speaker should work either way, just reversed polarity.

[Didzo]

Heatsink shouldn't shimmy like that, but it'll still do its job. The thermal paste will eventually set though, which should help keep it stuck in place.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but you didn't but the most crucial part to your PC....

Extra red LEDs for more case lighting. 

[Eightball]

I forgot to mention this earlier, but you didn't but the most crucial part to your PC....

Extra red LEDs for more case lighting.  

Oh, but I did.

All the drives have been installed. I'm breaking for dinner and then it'll be time to lower in the motherboard.

Some pics:

[Versus]

i just name my computers by the year/month i install windows on it

current pc name: oct2012

[Chief]

i just name my computers by the year/month i install windows on it

current pc name: oct2012

i should name mine after my favourite battleship name ever: nemesis (fuck yeah, beast wars)

[Eightball]

Finished the cable routing, and everything was done. First, I found that my PCI power connector was too short, since at some point between the 460 and 660 EVGA decided they'd move the plug further away. Dealt with that, and I was done!



So, the moment of truth:

Noob down

[Kor]

Fascinating. Also, how ominous was that last vid title :o

[Eightball]

The OCZ Fatal1ty 750W PSU failed the paperclip test (take the 24-pin ATX connector, short the green to a black wire). I tried the test on my old PSU, and it worked fine, so I know it's not my technique. Also made sure the switch was in the right position, that the outlet was good, and that the external power cable was gravy. Perhaps the most disturbing thing is that when I do this test, the PSU emits an audible "click". I guess it somehow went bad during the install.

Will be getting an RMA refund. Going to buy a new PSU tomorrow, because I do not want to wait any longer.

Addendum: Good news is that the rest of the PC seems to be working fine, per a Frankenstein test I made where I took the ATX 24-pin connector and CPU 8-pin out of my old PC and connected it to the new.

Frankenstein test

Let this be a lesson to all: Don't skimp on the PSU. Again.

[Chief]

"oh gee fucking whiz"

that was great
cant wait to kick some ass with you once my computer is built eightball <3

[at0m]

My desktops are always named Complex Automaton, with a number afterwards indicating which build. Current one is Complex Automaton 7.