BALISTX
Well-known member
Build for a Canadian Solder Worklog
Introduction
As most of you have known I am building a system for my brother-in-law who is a proud member of our Canadian Armed Forces. He was over in Afghanistan for a 9 month tour and returned back home in October. I started out by posting a thread just seeking advice on parts for the build and the next thing you know fellow members of Hardware Canucks started pouring donations of parts and money to purchase parts for this build. What started out as a simple light gaming rig has turned into a kick ass gaming rig that can frag with the best of them. The reason for the donation of parts and money was simply because members of this community wanted to show their Canadian pride and gratitude to a fellow Canadian who serves his country and helps to provide the freedom we have.
My brother-in-law and his family would like to thank the following HWC members for their support and donations:
System Specs
Prep & Installation - Part One
This is mainly going to be a bunch of pictures with not too much writing because failry everything went together easily.
This is a shot of the workarea with EVGA 750i FTW and the E8500 already in the socket.
As most of you have known I am building a system for my brother-in-law who is a proud member of our Canadian Armed Forces. He was over in Afghanistan for a 9 month tour and returned back home in October. I started out by posting a thread just seeking advice on parts for the build and the next thing you know fellow members of Hardware Canucks started pouring donations of parts and money to purchase parts for this build. What started out as a simple light gaming rig has turned into a kick ass gaming rig that can frag with the best of them. The reason for the donation of parts and money was simply because members of this community wanted to show their Canadian pride and gratitude to a fellow Canadian who serves his country and helps to provide the freedom we have.
My brother-in-law and his family would like to thank the following HWC members for their support and donations:
- 3.0Charlie
- Chilly
- chriswarren
- crazyhorsejohnny
- Dr. BenD_Over
- encorp
- FreqE1
- mattlief
- misterlarry
- Rommel
- Wolfbane
- Xilikon
- And anyone else that I might have forgotten to mention
System Specs
- CPU: Intel E8500 @ 3.16GHz
- HSF: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 w/ Crossbow mounting kit
- CPU Fan: Scythe S-Flex 120mm
- Motherboard: EVGA nForce 750i FTW SLI
- Memory: G.Skill F2 2x1GB PC2-8500 DDR-1066 5-5-5-15
- Video Card: EVGA 8800GT 512MB SLI
- Hard Drive: Wester Digital Caviar SE 500GB SATA2
- Optical Drive: LG 18x DVD±RW
- PSU: Antec TruePower Trio 650W
- Case: NZXT Apollo
- System Monitoring: Silverstone FP52 Display
- System Cooling: 2x120mm Silverstone FM121, 1x120 NZXT Blue LED
Prep & Installation - Part One
This is mainly going to be a bunch of pictures with not too much writing because failry everything went together easily.
This is a shot of the workarea with EVGA 750i FTW and the E8500 already in the socket.
Next we have a close up shot of the board. I love the colours of the is board.
Here we can see a test fit of the system parts before they get mounted into the case. The Xigmatek HDT-S1283 was a dream to mount to the board with Crossbow mounting kit. To mount it first, placed the backplate for the HSF under the board, then I laid down a line of Arctic Cooling MX-2 and then placed the HSF ontop. From there I secured the screws finger tight in a crisscross pattern. Then I gave them a quarter turn with the screw driver in the same sequence. This HSF is on there securely to say the least. Mounting of the fan was intriquing. The rubber "push-pin" mounts felt like I was going to rip them when I pulled them through the mounting holes in the fan. The fun part was mounting the fan to the heatsink. They went in with some persuasion. I'm glad those mounts are rubber cause I had to stretch them.
Now doesn't this system look kick ass outside the case
unk:
Now doesn't this system look kick ass outside the case
unk:
Here we have a couple of shots of the system mounted in the case. I have yet to put in the DVD±RW, PSU and System Monitor. Those will come in part 2.
In the first shot you can see how nice it looks from further back with the motherboard, CPU, HSF, memory, video cards, fans and hard drive mounted.
In the first shot you can see how nice it looks from further back with the motherboard, CPU, HSF, memory, video cards, fans and hard drive mounted.
In this second shot we have a close up the installation. The hard drive was very easy to install with a truely toolless design. However I have found one thing I do not like about this case. The expansion clips. IMO they are worthless. They are flimsy and feel like they are going to break when you move them. I decided to go with the good ole standby; screws.
So there you have part one of this worklog. Stay tuned for Installation - Part 2 as well as Cable Management.
Unfortunately I will not be able to hook up the system before I deliver it to my brother-in-law. My sister has requested the rig not get hooked up until she makes room for it in their bedroom. This will not be happening until they return from their Christmas vacation in the beginning of January. :sad: But rest assured I will have updates of it running at that point in time.
Unfortunately I will not be able to hook up the system before I deliver it to my brother-in-law. My sister has requested the rig not get hooked up until she makes room for it in their bedroom. This will not be happening until they return from their Christmas vacation in the beginning of January. :sad: But rest assured I will have updates of it running at that point in time.
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