Just re-modded the PC in time for the new year! Hoping to get a new rig early this year (fx-55 /pci-express)..depending on available funds :P

You maybe be wondering why redo it when I'm getting a new rig...well my Psu (550w) packed up on me. It all started when I was having problems with a DVD drive (see technical thread). Then the liquid neons were no longer 'liguid' but 'blurry' if you know what I mean. My ati card was acting strange too with some striping evident on icons. Then the final straw came when I lost 2 sata drives (not good when they are part of an 800 gig Raid 0 array!). Tried a 'weaker' (350w) psu from a different set-up and although I had to disable a few things it worked fine and the pc was stable...ergo fooked up psu in old rig :(. Note to self > Do not trust a power rating on a cheap but 'powerful' psu!

So to cut a long story short I bought a new Tagan 480w psu, GPU cooler, some new ide/sata leads, and 5 lengths of shower hose!! Hope ya like the pics.

Side veiw (day)

Side view (night-low power)

Side view (night Hi-Power)

Daylight view (Highpower)

New GPU cooler

1 gig corsair xms 4000 twinx pro (2-2-3-5)

Specs:

AMD64 3400+

X800pro (softmod to x800XT)

2 x 512mb corsair 4000 xms twinx pro

2x200 gig SATA Raid 0 (was 800 but 2x200 failed:()

Tagan 480w PSU

Next rig:

fx-55 pci-e dual ati x850's/6800GT's or whatever works best at the time of purchase.

Watercooled or vapourchilled...not decided yet.

Wow!! thats one mighty rig - makes my little ole box look a little sad

whats the big silver unit on the front with the big blue circle and loads of buttons ??

what spec is the current rig ?? :(

EDIT: Note to self - always read to the bottom of the thread first

Cheers m8

That is the fan controller. It controls the speed of four fans (which I've modified to also control the light strength!). It also shows cpu,vga,hard drive and case temps. Helps with overclocking. Specs added to original post.

The silver uit on the front looks like a coller controller, very nice rig by the way mate, mine is not all perspex, but does hae the windows in. And not as tidy as yours

Sorry ice man just beat me with your post!!!!!

The silver uit on the front looks like a coller controller, very nice rig by the way mate, mine is not all perspex, but does hae the windows in. And not as tidy as yours

Yeah thats how I started of with mine. A windowed case. But the wires looked messy so I used tie wraps which not only neatened the whole thing up but also improved airflow (temps dropped 2C). I then added a neon, then another, then led's etc etc until I bought a whole new case, started again, made a few improvements and ended up with what I have now, complete with showerhose cabling to hide the nasty black red and yellow wiring of standard. My next job is to sort out the nasty beige fronts of the DVDRW drives (silver) but I aint very good wqith a spraycan and ASUS (my fave manufacturer) dont do drives in silver so I'm on the look-out for some sort of replacement bezels.

I guess its like modding cars..it can get addictive (and expensive!).

Where do you get your gear - net or local fair's ??

Prices seem to vary greatly - I use overclockers.co.uk,dabs.com,scan.co.uk and a couple of others - any more suggestions ??

I get most of my stuff from fairs as they tend to be cheaper as I usually buy in bulk coz I build pc's for m8's relatives in my spare time.

I do however also buy from Overclockers.co.uk, scan, microdirect, ebuyer etc. Dabs are ok for mainstream goods but they can sometimes be alot more expensive than others.

Fleetwood are also good for the more obscure mods.

:eek: I only understood a tiny bit of post #1.

Very pretty though!

Prices seem to vary greatly - I use overclockers.co.uk,dabs.com,scan.co.uk and a couple of others - any more suggestions ??

Aria.co.uk are worth a look - they do most of the typical case modding stuff, and also have a "designer" area and are good for SFF stuff...

Rob.

Nice case mate. Tagan 480W is a great choice PSU, very strong rails (I have one myself).

I use overclockers.co.uk, and occasionally aria.co.uk (for less advanced stuff).

I wonder how much electrical noise that PC radiates - it's an interesting debate among EMC engineers whether it's actually possible to build a PC in a plastic case that meets the EU regulations re EMC (electromagnetic compatibility). eg Can you receive FM broadcast radio in the same room as the PC?

Still, looks cool though don't it!

I just built myself a new PC with very similar specs to your current machine but it's in a nice black case with side window (and the obligatory blue cold cathodes).

Much easier to get the drive fronts to match with a can of cheap black gloss enamel from wilkinsons

Now I've just got to find the time to put the old XP1800+ and board in my arcade machine to replace the D850

my idea of building my own is dwindling away,didn't understand any of post #1

Have you got the mame emulator Dr zoidberg?

Have you got the mame emulator Dr zoidberg?

Yep , and a full size cabinet to play it on.

There are a few pics on my website.

http://www.drzoidberg.co.uk

My friend is really into his arcade machines, he has a garage full on the side of his house, also fruit machines.

Yeah my alarm clock works fine (FM radio) although its across the room. All the lights can be turned down or off anyhow but I use the pc to listen to radio so it makes no difference :P

Is that a dead squid in there with all those arms.

Steve

my idea of building my own is dwindling away,didn't understand any of post #1

Don't let that put you off - you don't really need to know to build one - as long as you know what you want to use for and how much your budget is there are plenty of people on here that would advise.

Building a PC is just like building a model....only dont use glue when you fit your processor...it won't like it

The main things when building a PC are :

1. Make sure you got plenty of room where your going to build.

2. Make sure you got enough time available.

3. If it does not start first time - DONT PANIC,just check you've got no loose connections.

4. When it is up and running be sure to use a benchmark program like SIS Sandra 2005 to give it a good work out - if its stable through that you should have no worries.

Don't let that put you off - you don't really need to know to build one - as long as you know what you want to use for and how much your budget is there are plenty of people on here that would advise.

Yeah, building a basic machine is pretty straightforward - the hardest part is usually selecting the components to get a balanced machine!

If it's your first one, I'd recommend getting a motherboard with integrated graphics (saves messing about with an additional card, so it's "one less thing to go wrong" - most motherboards with onboard graphics do have the slot for adding a better graphics card at a later date, if you so desire.

I'd also recommend going the Intel route - with Athlon's you usually have to configure them using jumpers on the motherboard. Intel processors you can slap in and it figures it all out for you, and generally the heatsinks don't require such forceful persuasion (last thing you want is to run a screwdriver across the motherboard!). This does mean that you can tinker with Athlons more though, so if you are planning on tinkering as a hobbyist like the good people on this thread, Athlon is a better route.

Some of the headers to connect the case to the motherboard can be fiddly, but given patience and decent light they're not too difficult.

Rob.

The one thing I really liked about the Athlon 64 is that the heatsink is really easy to fit in comparison to Socket A Athlons which were a complete git.

I never broke anything but was always very nevous of crushing the core or slipping and poking a hole through the board

The one thing I really liked about the Athlon 64 is that the heatsink is really easy to fit in comparison to Socket A Athlons which were a complete git.

They're pretty similar to the Intel ones now aren't they? Drop them on, then tug a couple of clips and it's in place?

Rob.

Yep , drop the HSF in place , hook the clip over at one end , rotate the arm at the other end to lock it in place.

Plus a lot more motherboards come with a decent plastic support rather than the 4 tiny foam pads on the edge of the chip

On the A64 boards I've seen, they also have a metal backing plate on the underside of the board beneath the processor to allow the heatsink to clamp more tightly without warping the board...

Rob.