• There seems to be an uptick in Political comments in recent months. Those of us who are long time members of the site know that Political and Religious content has been banned for years. Nothing has changed. Please leave all political and religious comments out of the forums.

    If you recently joined the forums you were not presented with this restriction in the terms of service. This was due to a conversion error when we went from vBulletin to Xenforo. We have updated our terms of service to reflect these corrections.

    Please note any post refering to a politician will be considered political even if it is intended to be humor. Our experience is these topics have a way of dividing the forums and causing deep resentment among members. It is a poison to the community. We appreciate compliance with the rules.

    The Staff of SOH

  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

Unplanned System Re-Build _But So Far It Couldn't Have Gone Any Better

F

FAC257

SOH-CM-2025
Unplanned System Re-Build _But So Far It Couldn't Have Gone Any Better

With the announcment of MS Flight, I was going to try to hold off building a new flying 'puter a little longer. The one I've been using was a first generation FSX purpose built that's been running FSX just fine. I was starting to get a few self-inflicted OOMs, but other than that I had no real complaints.

Well the plan went down the tubes when everything went black in the middle of flying a couple of weekends ago. I got the system to re-boot and kept flying that night, but the next day it was DOA. Tinkering around over the next few days, I was pretty convinced it was the PSU.

Now buying a PSU is pretty boring, right up there with buying tires. :)

So I pulled out my handy dandy running spec sheet for the "next" system build parts and ordered it all in last week. I have it setup on an Excel spreadsheet, so I can change out parts as I get good ideas from you guys in here and in doing my homework. It's real easy to make last minute adjustments and order the parts in an emergency and feel pretty confident in what I'm getting into.

Everything came yesterday afternoon with the exception of the CPU cooler which will be here tomorrow afternoon. I had her all put together pretty quickly. She posted right up on the first try and with one minor BIOS adjustment to bring the SATA DVD/CD ROM online, the second post and boot went right to my old Windows7 32 bit.

After I played with it for a while to make sure everything was solid, I rebooted off the Windows7 64bit installation CD and let it get rid of the old OS and install a clean 64 bit version.

New System:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
CoolerMaster HAF932
Corsair AX850 PSU
Intel I-7 950 @ 3.06Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58 Mobo
Zalmann CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Cooler
Corsair Dominator 6GB 16008D
Asus Nvidia ENGTX460 TOP DirectCU 1GB
Lite-On iHAS424 Sata DVD/CD-ROM w/Lightscribe
Twin WD 300GB Velociraptors (The only internal pieces I salvaged off the old system)

The CPU cooler is running a day or so behind as I kept changing my mind right up to the last minute. It had been a toss up between one of the bigger Prolimatechs and the dual fan Noctua, but right as I was about to order I ran into a bench test that put the Zalmann 9900 near the top. So add that to the problem I was having with the Pro & Noc in that they were both butt ugly, I went for the cooler looking Zalmann. Style is worth points in computer building. :)

So far it's running like a champ.

FAC
 
I'm just walking over to get the FSX box and get that installation process going.

I was ready to install it last night, but the puppy was PO'd that I was staying up so late. :)

FAC
 
You will love the HAF 932 . I'm running a i7-975 at 4.1ghz. I;m in the process of selling my Radeon 5850 to get that 460 or 470 . Sounds like a good build.
 
They shouldnt have called it a HAF. they should have called it a JEEP.. Man! theres nothing you cant do with that box.. Only complaint i have is that the 240mm fans dont move as much air as i would like them too, but my radiator attaches perfectly to the top grid and the system is running at about 110 degrees Fahrenheit..
 
Love that Sabretooth board for the price ya pay vs the great performance! That thing is built like a tank and yet runs FSX like a gazelle with the right processor and memory combo.
Ted
 
Both the HAF932 and the Sabertooth are direct results of thumbs-up from you folks in here after reading threads where you were helping some of the other guys. After reading up on the both of them and then looking into alternatives, those two parts went directly to "permenant" status on my parts & pieces spread sheet.

This is the first time I've gone non-Antec on a case. I liked the Antec full towers because of the room. I about fell over backwards when I took the HAF out of the box. It makes my Antec look tiny.

FAC
 
I just switched over to the HAF 32 from a Silverstone case. It's great - not quite the build quality of the Silverstone but airflow is much, much better.

Re: CPU coolers - I'm getting great results with a Thermalright Silver Arrow. That's their two-fan design, similar to the Noctua. I'd heard it benches just a little better, though I didn't test this out. But the Thermalright is wonderful. Between that and the case, I've been able to clock a 980x at 4.48, with temperatures under full load running in the mid-60's. Worth a look.

Keep us posted on where you come out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top