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PROJECT LOG Super Clean HTPC/LAN RIG/Personal Server

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jameseboy

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Location
Livingston, Scotland
After being at multiple lans this year, after being out of the lanning game for a few years, I have decided Im going to be building myself a Budget Lan rig (my current Workstation isnt exactly the simplest to move due to the size of the bitfenix shinobi XL case), which is also going to double as a HTPC and Personal Storage Server.

For this Project I am going to be reusing some older components, such as my CM690 Case, Which Will be getting a complete overhaul, my coolermaster OEM psu and possibly for the moment, My asus HD4850.

With it being a lan rig, I want it to look clean but also be functional. Handles for me are a must have for easy transport. A Good Air cooling setup and Good cable Management are also biggies.

I managed to pick up a decent z68 motherboard off of ebay for £45 so Thats me got the base of my system, Just to decide on processor and cooling ect.

Hardware Specs
Motherboard :- MSI Z68A-G43 G3
CPU :- Undecided
Graphics Card :- Asus HD4850 (to be upgraded upon completion)
Case :- My to be modded Coolermaster CM690
ram :- corsair XMS3 1600Mhz 4Gb

Case to do list
strip everything back to bare chassis.
Have new front and top panels made
Install Handles
Paint Internals White and Black
Paint PowerSupply
Internal Cable management
Lighting Effects
Side Window Completion

This whole build log / project i suspect will take me around a month or two to complete.

I have most of the components needed, Just need to decide on processor as from what ive read, an i3 2120 will play the likes of bf3 ect no problem, And I should be able to slightly overclock it, Or I could get another i5. hmmm decisions decisions.
 
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My Motherboard Arrived today, And I also got my graphics card dragged out of the cupboard.
P9010004.jpg

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I Also ordered My RAM, managed to pick myself up 4GB of corsair XMS3 1600mhz for £16 ($25)

Ive also drawn up some cad drawings for my new top and front panel which are going to be made from 3mm Acrylic!
FrontPanelCAD.jpg
TopPanelCad.jpg
 
So today I finally Heard Back from the company. Got them ordered to be made up =]

Also my ram arrived today, 4gb (2x2gb) 1600 mhz corsair XMS3 =]

395973_4181938599464_2089201594_n.jpg


Just a quick update today. Also, Hoping to order my processor in the next few days. Ive decided on a pentium g850 seen as its only going to be used for gaming at lower settings, the g850 is more than capable for that.
 
Another Quick update.

Ram fitted
539049_4187995310878_62927427_n.jpg


When I was Testing my motherboard and new ram out with my 2500K (G850 Ordered)
219464_4187992830816_1338547280_o.jpg


And what I am doing as Im writing this, Transfering my steam and origin folders over to my Lan Games Hard Drive.

271489_4187993870842_1137416796_o.jpg



More to follow. Been working Hard last few days, But more will come over the weekend =]
 
Hey guys, Sorry about the wait. But I do have some progress news for you all.

After getting in from uni yesterday, I decided that seen as I had some time, To strip the case down, as it was.... absolutely disgusting. So I spent about an hour, with a duster and a hoover and some cotton buds scrubbing and cleaning away at it.

a few before shots :shock:
P9140009_zps4a71898f.jpg
Some lovely Finger prints to show the dust...:cry:
P9140006_zpsbdf746cd.jpg
Drive bays
P9140008_zps76ca7f5c.jpg
5.25 inch bays
P9140009_zps4a71898f.jpg

And a few shots after :-

P9140013_zps33a8c279.jpg
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P9140012_zpsf04865ed.jpg

still not perfect, but it will do me for now.:cool:

Now it was time to start to rebuild the system. I took the cpu back out and changed the thermal paste on the stock cooler just to see if it would make much difference.... nope.

Motherboard / cpu / ram and a lovely pile of screws.
P9140001_zps6e22f70d.jpg

Emptyish case.
P9140003_zps1862a385.jpg

most of the hardware going into this build.
P9140004_zps08edf27d.jpg

I found the rest of my 120mm fans that I had misplaced. Nothing to special, But they do the trick.
P9140005_zps9f2b3d98.jpg

pre psu.
P9140014_zpsd6046cb2.jpg

So i got windows installed, and got my steam and origin games copied across from my main rig... Running out of hard drive space fast :rolleyes::rolleyes:


And a few shots now its up and running. Dont worry yet guys, Still all the body work to do lol, Just awaiting the plates, which seem to be taking ages to get here :facepalm::facepalm:

P9210018_zpsd02a2fcd.jpg
P9210016_zpsed22a77f.jpg
P9210015_zps9eb23088.jpg

:salute:
 
Will get some posted tomorrow, its a bit late just now, and im currently running updates and syncing it to my server. Im still awaiting the panels for it, spoke to the company making them and apparently they have had some issues with one of their machines breaking down. But I now have a 1gb gtx 460 running in this rig, so thats giving me a bit of extra performance.

I also got myself a new part time job in a computer store, so I now have access to discounted cases, so I may have a look and pic something else up instead.

Choices.
 
Looks good, but my god i would strip that cpu cooler, and sell it for scrap. I pretty much lol'ed when i saw how tiny it was compared to my 1366 i7 cooler.

Also love the ghetto placement of the Asus sticker on the PSU, looks legit:D
 
Looks good, but my god i would strip that cpu cooler, and sell it for scrap. I pretty much lol'ed when i saw how tiny it was compared to my 1366 i7 cooler.

Also love the ghetto placement of the Asus sticker on the PSU, looks legit:D

Im going to be ordering a new cpu cooler, but tbh, as it is now, its keeping the cpu under 60C, even whilst running p95.

And yeah, That was when i was stripping the case down ages ago, I put it on the psu as it was the only non fabric thing lying around that it wouldnt ruin.... kinda just stayed there.:D
 
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