# Reviving my rigs...



## xBruce88x (Aug 24, 2011)

Well the other day I had a little spending money (after saving to fix my car... clutch, trans. mount, bushings, A/C stuff... gas) and took a trip to Tiger Direct!

All the images were taken using a Motorola Atrix 4G, the camera seems to make use of the accelerometor, since it automatically rotates the saved image to portrait and vice versa when I rotate the phone. Not the best images, but not the worst.

Here's everything without all the spoiler tags, but I'd recommend to skip it if you have a slower connection or PC that lags when trying to load a lot of high res images at once. or if you are on a mobile device, as all the images loading at once will slow it down...


Spoiler



*Starting Rig:*





Pentium E5300 @ 3.0ghz
ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA
4GB Super Talent DDR2-800
Masscool 92mm tower cooler
500GB Hitachi HDD + 320GB 2.5in seagate
Sony DVD/CD-R/RW + 16x DVD Rom
Ultra LSP 450
MSI 9600GT 512mb

*Tools:*

Here's the tools I've gathered for use





*New Parts:*

Here are the new parts I got from Tiger Direct. I'm so glad they have a retail store nearby 

A new case, for my grandmother's rig. that old HP case just needs to go. We had to get this one since the mobo is so big.





A shot of the new CPU for my quad core rig, a Phenom II X4 920 for less than $50; along with ThermalTake Contac 30 and the OEM 8800GT I got a while back.





A new side fan, Blue LED Silenex Quietchill... or something like that.





A new headset, for skype. My grandmother uses it...





They sound nice, but could be better if the driver had better audio controls, like an EQ. Good enough for her needs though.
That's pretty much it for the new stuff.

*G-Ma:*
This will be the rig that my grandmother will be using. It's plenty powerful for any task that she'll need to do on it. Mostly older games, web browsing, email, and skype. There won't be quite as much detail on this build. First to start off with some more pics of the new case far.










The motherboard, an ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA with an e5300 and a cooler that was made by Masscool, the fan is in the middle of 2 heatsinks.





An nVidia FX5200 128mb and 1GB DDR-2 XMS2 along with a 4port USB 2.0 bracket, but never used that.





The PSU, a 400w iMicro. It was only $29 and gets the job done.





I had some trouble with mounting the new fan... apparently the side panel hole isn't quite 80mm. This was not the only issue with this case. The hard drive mounts were also very cheaply made and the fan mounts were a joke, couldn't even get them to work.





So the fan went here instead. I managed to line it up so it actually looks decent mounted there from the outside, as the very center is lined up with the center of the fan, and the tilt and corner of the fan shown on either side is proportional. Also, it does well for keeping the FX5200 cool.





Aside from flimsy ass HDD and ODD mounts, installation was... doable. Finally finished.





*Final Specs:*
Pentium E5300 2.6
1GB DDR2 XMS2
FX5200 128MB
250GB 7200RPM SATA
400w iMicro PSU
Ultra eTorque case
Win XP Home x86

*4x4:*
This rig will be my Quad Core 4GB gaming rig. This build will be a bit more detailed

Here's the case, stripped down.





Most of the case fans; a total of 7 in the pic. There are also some grills for the 80mm rear, side, and top ports. I prefer grills over vents any day, best airflow possible IMO. what a nightmare on that front panel wiring! There are also a couple SATA cables I'll be using.






This Power supply was an organ donor... 2 fans. One 92mm and one 80mm. The fins are clear and should reflect light if I can position some LEDs just right.






Now on to placing the fans. I placed and rotated them in a way that as much wire as possible went to the left side of the case (mobo side). I did this to manage the cables better. Most of the wires in the case will end up crammed into the side panel where the mobo is.

Front fans installed






Rear fans installed, but I ended up putting the clear one up top and a black one at the bottom, used zipties for the bottom one lol






Top fan installed. I ran the wire under the metal part so its not seen from outside. I later re-routed the wire to go to to back of the case so the power supply would also cover the wire from inside as well. Well most of it.






Now to install the PSU and squeeze all the cables through the opening just to the side of the PSU, along with hooking up the front and top fans.






A quick shot before installing the motherboard with the new cooler, ram, etc. You can see I've also installed the optical drive, still uses IDE. I've also switched the rear fans around a tad and ziptied the bottom one to some open slots. You can see that I've routed the bottom fan's wire under the fan and then it goes in between where the motherboard's I/O bracket goes and the other 2 fans, it then goes to a small opening to the side of the case at the corner of the PSU.






Here's the motherboard with the faulty Athlon II still installed. It'll be replaced with the Phenom II X4 920.






And now to unbox the new cpu cooler! I had taken pics of the installation but it seems the phone didn't save them  so I won't be able to post that part.










Got the motherboard, cpu, cooler, and ram installed. I've also installed the front panel and routed its cables. The first ram module was a bit tricky to install after the cpu cooler was placed, but I got it in there by angling it in sideways just right. So for those with really tall ram, this cooler is not for you, unless your ram slots are farther away. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't have the rear of the cooler facing the rear of the case, but the top fans should do the job just the same. Can you spot the P4 power connector? Now where are its wires?






Installed the side fan and making sure it'll fit with the large cooler in there. Also installed all the cables for the hard drives and optical drive. Only thing left is the 8800GT and managing the wires on the other side so the panel will fit. Yes, the top hard drive is from a laptop, actually its from an external portable hard drive. 250GB, with the bottom being 500GB.






A quick test to make sure all the fans work. I've been up all night, it's 7:15AM!






And now to figure a way to get the wires just right so the side panel will fit. It was tough getting that panel to go on. Once I got it on far enough to start the screws the screws took over from there lol.






And now for some final pics of it all working 
























And a quick trip back in time! This dude flew over my house the other day. Yes... you saw that right... A BIPLANE! Kinda hard to see... the camera app took too long to load. He'll be back someday though... its not the first time he's flown over, and the airport is just down the road from me. One thing that really pisses me off about "zoom" is that it doesn't. It just crops the pic. Had it really zoomed, that plane would have look amazing at 5MP.






Well that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed the pics a little.



I've also put everything in spoiler sections to make it all tidy. the images are also in spoilers to help with those viewing on a small screen, low speed connection, slow pc, or mobile device (or all of the above), and so people won't need to do soo much scrolling to see the first reply lol

*Starting Rig:*


Spoiler








Pentium E5300 @ 3.0ghz
ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA
4GB Super Talent DDR2-800
Masscool 92mm tower cooler
500GB Hitachi HDD + 320GB 2.5in seagate
Sony DVD/CD-R/RW + 16x DVD Rom
Ultra LSP 450
MSI 9600GT 512mb



*Tools:*


Spoiler



Here's the tools I've gathered for use







*New Parts:*


Spoiler



Here are the new parts I got from Tiger Direct. I'm so glad they have a retail store nearby 

A new case, for my grandmother's rig. that old HP case just needs to go. We had to get this one since the mobo is so big.


Spoiler










A shot of the new CPU for my quad core rig, a Phenom II X4 920 for less than $50; along with ThermalTake Contac 30 and the OEM 8800GT I got a while back.


Spoiler










A new side fan, Blue LED Silenex Quietchill... or something like that.


Spoiler










A new headset, for skype. My grandmother uses it...


Spoiler








They sound nice, but could be better if the driver had better audio controls, like an EQ. Good enough for her needs though.


That's pretty much it for the new stuff.



*G-Ma:*


Spoiler



This will be the rig that my grandmother will be using. It's plenty powerful for any task that she'll need to do on it. Mostly older games, web browsing, email, and skype. There won't be quite as much detail on this build. First to start off with some more pics of the new case far.


Spoiler













Spoiler










The motherboard, an ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA with an e5300 and a cooler that was made by Masscool, the fan is in the middle of 2 heatsinks.


Spoiler










An nVidia FX5200 128mb and 1GB DDR-2 XMS2 along with a 4port USB 2.0 bracket, but never used that.


Spoiler










The PSU, a 400w iMicro. It was only $29 and gets the job done.


Spoiler










I had some trouble with mounting the new fan... apparently the side panel hole isn't quite 80mm. This was not the only issue with this case. The hard drive mounts were also very cheaply made and the fan mounts were a joke, couldn't even get them to work.


Spoiler










So the fan went here instead. I managed to line it up so it actually looks decent mounted there from the outside, as the very center is lined up with the center of the fan, and the tilt and corner of the fan shown on either side is proportional. Also, it does well for keeping the FX5200 cool.


Spoiler










Aside from flimsy ass HDD and ODD mounts, installation was... doable. Finally finished.


Spoiler










*Final Specs:*
Pentium E5300 2.6
1GB DDR2 XMS2
FX5200 128MB
250GB 7200RPM SATA
400w iMicro PSU
Ultra eTorque case
Win XP Home x86



*4x4:*


Spoiler



This rig will be my Quad Core 4GB gaming rig. This build will be a bit more detailed.

Here's the case, stripped down.


Spoiler











Most of the case fans; a total of 7 in the pic. There are also some grills for the 80mm rear, side, and top ports. I prefer grills over vents any day, best airflow possible IMO. what a nightmare on that front panel wiring! There are also a couple SATA cables I'll be using.


Spoiler










This Power supply was an organ donor... 2 fans. One 92mm and one 80mm. The fins are clear and should reflect light if I can position some LEDs just right.


Spoiler










Now on to placing the fans. I placed and rotated them in a way that as much wire as possible went to the left side of the case (mobo side). I did this to manage the cables better. Most of the wires in the case will end up crammed into the side panel where the mobo is.

Front fans installed


Spoiler










Rear fans installed, but I ended up putting the clear one up top and a black one at the bottom, used zipties for the bottom one lol


Spoiler










Top fan installed. I ran the wire under the metal part so its not seen from outside. I later re-routed the wire to go to to back of the case so the power supply would also cover the wire from inside as well. Well most of it.


Spoiler










Now to install the PSU and squeeze all the cables through the opening just to the side of the PSU, along with hooking up the front and top fans.


Spoiler










A quick shot before installing the motherboard with the new cooler, ram, etc. You can see I've also installed the optical drive, still uses IDE. I've also switched the rear fans around a tad and ziptied the bottom one to some open slots. You can see that I've routed the bottom fan's wire under the fan and then it goes in between where the motherboard's I/O bracket goes and the other 2 fans, it then goes to a small opening to the side of the case at the corner of the PSU.


Spoiler










Here's the motherboard with the faulty Athlon II still installed. It'll be replaced with the Phenom II X4 920.


Spoiler










And now to unbox the new cpu cooler! I had taken pics of the installation but it seems the phone didn't save them  so I won't be able to post that part.


Spoiler














Got the motherboard, cpu, cooler, and ram installed. I've also installed the front panel and routed its cables. The first ram module was a bit tricky to install after the cpu cooler was placed, but I got it in there by angling it in sideways just right. So for those with really tall ram, this cooler is not for you, unless your ram slots are farther away. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't have the rear of the cooler facing the rear of the case, but the top fans should do the job just the same. Can you spot the P4 power connector? Now where are its wires?


Spoiler










Installed the side fan and making sure it'll fit with the large cooler in there. Also installed all the cables for the hard drives and optical drive. Only thing left is the 8800GT and managing the wires on the other side so the panel will fit. Yes, the top hard drive is from a laptop, actually its from an external portable hard drive. 250GB, with the bottom being 500GB.


Spoiler










A quick test to make sure all the fans work. I've been up all night, it's 7:15AM!


Spoiler










And now to figure a way to get the wires just right so the side panel will fit. It was tough getting that panel to go on. Once I got it on far enough to start the screws the screws took over from there lol.


Spoiler










And now for some final pics of it all working 


Spoiler













Spoiler













Spoiler













Spoiler










And a quick trip back in time! This dude flew over my house the other day. Yes... you saw that right... A BIPLANE! Kinda hard to see... the camera app took too long to load. He'll be back someday though... its not the first time he's flown over, and the airport is just down the road from me. One thing that really pisses me off about "zoom" is that it doesn't. It just crops the pic. Had it really zoomed, that plane would have look amazing at 5MP.


Spoiler










Well that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed the pics a little.



Enjoy!

The complete system specs can be found under my avatar. I'll post some benchmarks later. Speaking of which, what benchmarks would you guys like to see?


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## Red_Machine (Aug 24, 2011)

Weren't you going to use the 8800 in your grandma's rig?


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## caleb (Aug 24, 2011)

Id buy some APU/i3 platform and sell that old stuff. 
This rig uses too much power for granma purpuses (~100W+ idle) plus it would be nice and silent.


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## xBruce88x (Aug 24, 2011)

nah... a while back i thought of using an 8600gt, but it was overkill at the time, and now i don't have one. the 8800GT is the one I baked a while back, but it wouldn't work in the asrock board (nerfed pci-e slot) when i was using my grandma's rig as my gaming maching temporarily and went to using my 9600gt. but now she has that rig with a new case, and i have my quad core system. its built, but i'll post all the pics later.

don't have the money for an apu/i3 rig. the one she has now isn't too bad. the fx5200 doesn't use much power, and neither does the e5300 with its speed step turned on.


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## xBruce88x (Aug 25, 2011)

Ok I've updated the Original post with pics from my current build.


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## mlee49 (Aug 25, 2011)

Dude, thats alot of spoiler tags to click through.

Lol at your Grandma using Skype


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## xBruce88x (Aug 25, 2011)

i made a version at the top w/o the tags.


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