[Мatt]

My Custom Build Thread

I decided to make a big thread detailing my first ever custom build and to not only post my PC's specs and details, but also possible add-ons, clean updates, and more along the days, months, maybe even ears. So far, this PC has last me 1.5 years and it's still running strong. I'm going to keep a track of dates, pictures, and logs to keep track of the progress made and any unfortunate events.

April 25th, 2012: I placed my order on Newegg and purchased my items. Compiled below is a list of all the parts that were purchased along with their respective links as well as the total of the entire purchase.

DVD Drive:
ASUS DRW-24B
CPU Heatsink:
Cooler Master V6 GT
Processor:
Intel i7-3770K 3.5 GHz
RAM:
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series (2 x 4 GB) x 2
Computer Case:
Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
Motherboard:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Graphics Card:
HIS Radeon HD 7850 (2 GB 256-bit GDDR5)
Solid State Drive:
Crucial M4 (64 GB)
Hard Drive:
Western Digital Black (1 TB / 7200 RPM)
Power Supply:
Corsair HX850
Monitor:
ASUS VH236H x 2

Total Price: $1,798.35

May 2nd, 2012: All parts have made it to my house. I remember coming home from work seeing all my computer parts waiting for me. I sat on my phone the whole time anticipating the actual delivery. Sadly, I was too tired to build everything that evening, but I did start the next day.



May 3rd, 2012: Finally home from work after a long day and I'm excited to finally start building this lovely machine. I waited for a week to finally receive everything and the time came to finally put it all together. It was my first time so I was really nervous, but this was my "time to shine" and I started to take the parts out, one by one and start to assemble them. I made sure to print a couple forum posts, blog articles, and keep some websites open on my laptop while I was working so I would feel safe if I ran into problems and some key pointers on building.

Spoiler: Motherboard

Spoiler: CPU and RAM

Spoiler: First Boot Test

Spoiler: Final Assembly

Spoiler: Setup

Spoiler: Speccy

June 3rd, 2013: This is more of a documentation. These were my temperatures as of this day. Never cleaned the computer out and it was still running amazingly.


August 23rd, 2013: Still loving my computer and enjoying how amazing this thing really is. By far my best investment and I was finally able to play great computer games and start toying with the whole "overclocking" thing. However, this was the death of my graphics card. Randomly stopped working and diagnosed the issue as an HDMI port malfunction. I contacted the RMA Department (Lexy Pacific) and shipped out my baby in hopes to get a new one.

September 18th, 2013: Since I was still waiting for my graphics card and I had some free time on my hands, I decided to take the whole computer apart and give it a well deserved clean. Boy, let me tell you how bad it really was. If anyone saw my thread about keeping a tower clean, this is why I asked you. Upon opening this computer up, I immediately saw that it needed cleaning. I could tell from the start that the fans were getting dusty, but it was a mess.

Spoiler: Open Side

Spoiler: Heat Sink

Spoiler: Rear Exhaust Fan

Now this is where things start to shape up.

Spoiler: Complete Teardown

Spoiler: Rebuild and Rewire

Spoiler: New Setup

I am very much aware at how messy my desk is at the moment.

PCPartPicker Completed Build


October 4th, 2013: I decided that not only was I sick of waiting for my RMA to come, I decided I was going to dual monitor my computer finally. So when my RMA comes in, I will have another card to pair next to it, which I'm very excited about. I also ordered 2 LED cathodes to dress up my computer a little bit. Really excited about this addition to my computer since this was pretty much a rough week at work. I decided to actually give myself something. I also relocated my tower today since I needed access to the back to use an extra power supply slot to power 2.5" drives to use HDDHackr on (Xbox 360 program). I'll post a picture sometime shortly.

[Villain]

Holy shit, you got so much there.

Your setup looks dope!

I really like the pen it brings out the vibrancy of the picture:derphina:

[Мatt]

Lol thanks. I plan on posting a new picture soon. Gotta clean up and have some good news about my tower. Just got an email. I'll be posting that tomorrow.

[OversouL]

Wow! That's one awesome build mate. hock:

[Мatt]

October 4th, 2013: I decided that not only was I sick of waiting for my RMA to come, I decided I was going to dual monitor my computer finally. So when my RMA comes in, I will have another card to pair next to it, which I'm very excited about. I also ordered 2 LED cathodes to dress up my computer a little bit. Really excited about this addition to my computer since this was pretty much a rough week at work. I decided to actually give myself something. I also relocated my tower today since I needed access to the back to use an extra power supply slot to power 2.5" drives to use HDDHackr on (Xbox 360 program). I'll post a picture sometime shortly.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

[HvieiraPT]

keyboard name from this picture pls? http://gyazo.com/507e05743b4507797cb9dc6da4c50d29.png

[Feat]

Jesus Matt, talk about going hard for a good build.

[Мatt]

keyboard name from this picture pls? http://gyazo.com/507e05743b4507797cb9dc6da4c50d29.png

It's a Logitech K800. The keyboard illuminates as well and is very cheap as well as efficient.

[Dismas]

Awesome build. Only thing I would have done differently is the GPU, since I am not a big fan of AMD.

[DarkFlux™]

Wow this was nice thread . great hardware ^^