Rate my budget ratbeast

[Elektrokunt]

The idea with this build was to go for the best performance on a tight budget.
The CPU, SSDs & watercooling were the only things that cost a bit more than I'd have liked.

Specs and cost:

Case: Sharkoon Vaya. Red and Black theme. £25
Motherboard: AsRock Fatal1ty Z68 Proffesional Gen3 ~£90CPU: i7-3770K £225
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2GB - Free
RAM: 8GB Adata 2000MHz DDR "Gaming" memory - £32
PSU: 600w OCZ non-modular - Free
SSDs: 2x OCZ Vertex 4 256GB in RAID0, 1x Vertex 4 128GB was going spare. £125 x2 + £58
HDDs: 2TB WD Green, 2TB SeDagate Constellation.£85 + Free
Watercooling: XSPC Raystorm CPU Block - £60, XSPC 200LP/H Single 5.25 bayres - £30ish, KOOLANCE 420mm radiator GRADE B - £40, Fittings around £25 and 3x 140mm Thermalright fans - £23.

The use of an angle grinder courtesy of Ryan and the tube of Silicone sealant (for fans and rad) courtesy of Glen.
I had to cut three fan holes in the roof for the fans, I used silicone sealant (used for windows **64bit - PC joke!**) to stick the fans down and then to stick the Rad on top. This provides a strong bond, vibration dampening & most importantly... An airtight seal.
I also cut lots of holes in the base of the case to prevent too much negative pressure - 3x 140mm fans pulling from case/pushing to/through the rad, 1 (soon to be 2) GPU sucking air out. ONLY 1 120mm fan at front blowing air in. I have no chassis fan installed at the back yet and have left off all PCI blanking plates. The 2x 5.25 bay blanking plates are big bore mesh with dust filters integrated in the backs.

I also drilled a hole in the back so that a USB 3.0 extension could be plugged into the rear IO wihout having to trail the able through a PCI slot AND I drilled a small hole and added a 3mm white LED to the top of the I/O area.

A work in progress....

I'm mainly using this for gaming at this time.
I will be editing HD video for youtube, running BackTrack 5 and I will also be learning how to use autocad at home, on my own AND with a qualified friend.
I bought an 850w watt modular PSU second hand (£40), just waiting for it to be delivered... I would like to add another 8GB RAM and a second 6970.

What do you think to my build and is there perhaps something you feel this system is missing?
Thanks, baz.

 

[ferguj1]

Very nice looking system. Everything looks neat and tidy. Cable management is clean and I really like the fact that you were not afraid to mod on your case to accommodate your needs. I think that I would have rather seen an additional chassis fan to deal with the possibility of negative pressure as opposed to drilling the holes in the bottom, but that is just me. I am not the to great I rate each individual component, but I think that even if you were to throw 3D CAD work at it, it would not even break a sweat.

 

[Elektrokunt]

Awesome! Thanks for the input ferguj1... I am ordering a Cooler Master Sickle Flow 120mm RED LED fan as we speak. And some black mesh to cover those ghastly holes :)

 

[Elektrokunt]

This system has evolved! I've swapped out the 600W OCZ PSU with a CoolerMaster Real Power M850, Modular and 850W :)
I also custom build the shroud (£3 for the black foamed PVC from AbPlas, South Wimbledon and got the black silicone sealant from a friend), soldered up and wired in some LEDs with a toggle switch and changed the CPU waterblock and bayres LEDs to red.
I've named it Orion HD, to honour the Intel 450GX (Orion ST) also a slight Chuck reference AND the AMD Radeon HD cards that I love so much.
i had the sticker made up to tidy the front up, I can still monitor the fluid level through the writing :) (£6 at a local sign makers)