Austin86 never ending retro gaming PC projects.

[austin86]

So through out any given year I tend to build 3 maybe 4 older gaming PCs. Since this time last year I have build the fallowing in order.

990fx amd FX system.

abit ic7 system with a 6800gt

x58 system with a 2 7970s, I had those parts setting in a closet NIB for almost 10 years, I found them when I moved late last year. 

x79 rampage system with 3 2gb 285s.

abit BX133-raid system with a 5950 ultra.

In the last year I upgraded my daily use PC from a 790I system with 3 285s to a x58 system with a 2 7970s and then back to a different x79 system with a 8 core xeon and 64gb of ram. Now I'm looking to move back to x58 with a DFI lanpary board. Id still be using the 790i system if it was not for the board ding, running a core2 at 4.7ghz daily is hard on a board, even if it was just a dual core.

Needless to say I have a problem lol. 

However before I build my 6 if not 7th x58 system I want to build a nforce 4 system because why not?

I started this build always back and will be posting everything I done up until now.

BTW here is a photo of the bx133 system I just finished up. 

Part I'll be using for the nforce 4 build.

Asus a8n32-sli.

A64 x2 4400+.

OCZ ddr 400 cl2.5 ram

2 GTS 205's.

360mm rad.

old alphacool CPU block.

mcw82 universal video card blocks for the 250s.

Lain li pc70 case.

Part 1: the right case, kinda.
So I finally found a case that would fit the system and a water cooling system. A lian li pc70, I can’t believe I found one to be honest. With their age and scrap prices I was sure most aluminum cases from the early 00s would have been scraped by now.
Image one

Image two
Looks to be more them enough room for 2 120mm on the bottom of the case.

Part 2: Today is a very good day or so says little Anthony Fremont...

So today I will be getting the somewhat big order from performance-pcs witch will be one of 3 orders I'm waiting on from them. Yeah I'm going all in on water cooling lol.
In today's order I will getting the fallowing.
9 stick on heatsinks, 8 for VRMS/mosfets and one for the SBlive
Some molex ends
BGA stick on Vram sinks..
13 bitspower 3/8id 1/2od fittings (bought all they had kek)
6 different AC ryan RadGrillz

My 3rd order has yet to be made, but it will have a lot of cool old school UV stuff.

Part 3: Lots more parts bought.
Here is what I'll be buying.

2 UV green 6 pin PCIe connectors.
2 UV green atx 12v 4 pin connectors.
4 UV green low profile push on molex ends.
4 female uv green molex ends.
4 male uv green molex ends.
6 uv green sata ends.
2 UV green cable sleeving kits.
40 UV blue zip ties and 10 mounts.
10 UV blue 3 pin fan headers.
UV green coolant.
UV blue anti kink coil.
3 800 rpm 120mm scythe fans.
2 500 rpm 120mm scythe fans.
Heatsink/cpu lapping kit.
2 swiftec mcw82 universal video card blocks.
Black ice 360mm rad.
4 3/8' x 1/2' 90deg fittings.

Part 4: Still buying parts.
I had a good run at scrap the other day and my rent is covered so with that money freed up I bought the parts for the upgraded setup. The main goal for the rig is to play older EAX games and 3d games that newer system do not play right on new systems.

I found a Asus A8N32-SLI with ram, CPU and heatink for cheap. the CPU is a 3200+ and the ram is junk 2gb kit.
Its was miss listed as a ABN32-SLI. A common problem as the 8 looks like a B. Seems no one knows this and the board get the price lowered over time.
I also picked up 2 1gb GTS 250's, the last of the 8800gtx revisions. Since its more or less a revised 9800gt witch is a revised 8800gtx the 250gts should blend well in the system.

Part 4: Some grate deals on the last parts needed.
So I still needed a better PSU and two HDDs.
Well after a bit of time on eBay I found some rather good deals.
I picked up two 250gb sata 6gps wd raptors for 18$ etch.
A Corsair tx950 for 29$
And a 89w Athlon x2 4400+ for a whopping 9$ shipped.

The hdds are a meh deal, but 9$ for a 2mb L2 4400+ a 89w model even is insane. The PSU is a not bad pick up ether.

Part 5: The long hard and painful task of wiring and case modding.
OK so I got the last order from Performance PCs and I'm on task to wire the PC. I'm not going to rewire the PSU since I plan to get a better one down the road. For now I'm just making wires for the fans, pump, Hdds and so on.

So now for the case modding, the Lian li pc70 was seen modded more then stock, but don't let that fool you it's not a fun case to mod.
The aluminum is very soft, not like the aluminum used in say a silver stone case. One has to take time when cutting and drilling. Installing a 360mm rad up top has to be done with extreme care as there are two rails up top that hold the case together, a 360mm rad fits snugly between the two rails.
Adding a 240mm at the bottom of the case is a simple task of just cutting the holes.

Lain li back in the day used square motherboard stand offs and I don't have a single one, a few others cases used square motherboard stand offs too but they were bigger and made for thinner steal cases. I found some square stand offs for steel cases but as I thought they were too big and made for thinner steel. I have been painfully filing down the case's stand off holes to fit the bigger stand offs. I'll also have to add something to the back side of the stand offs to stop them from falling out. the PC70 sheet metal is thicker then a steel case and the stand offs I have still do not snap in all the way after filing the holes. I'll be sure to post photos of the mods to give everyone a better idea of what I'm talking about.

[austin86]

Part 6: cheap heat shrink and maybe lost parts.
The 939 board I bought hasn't moved in the mail for about 4 days, I'm hoping its not lost.
Anyway I was sleeving the fans lats night and found that the heat shrink I have witch is UV green turns black when shrunk. I'll have to be super careful when doing the rest of the wires. So far I have the 3 fans for the 360mm rad wired into one molex and sleeved and i did the same for the two fans I'm putting in the bottom of the case.

[Vinster]

Ive never used a case with that style of standoff.. that would be really annoying to have to keep track of that stuff... is a nice case though

post up progress shots as you go.

Vin

[Macsbeach98]

Its a pity you wearnt here 18 months ago I threw a Lian Li case out second floor window into a skip it would of had the standoffs in it.

[austin86]

Mar 5, 2022 1:38:42 GMT -5 Macsbeach98 said:

Its a pity you wearnt here 18 months ago I threw a Lian Li case out second floor window into a skip it would of had the standoffs in it.

Dang, should have sold it. Some of the old ones fetch good money. If not at least scrap it. Aluminum prices are insane right now. 65-90cents a lb for most aluminum were I live. I took about 40lb of aluminum in not to long ago and got about 30$ for it. Don’t get my started on copper prices.

[austin86]

Mar 4, 2022 21:48:23 GMT -5 Vinster said:

Ive never used a case with that style of standoff.. that would be really annoying to have to keep track of that stuff... is a nice case though

post up progress shots as you go.

Vin

will do. I’m going to try and finish the drivers side brakes on my old car today and if I have time after that Im going to start modifying the case tonight.

[austin86]

Part 7: lost in the mail.
So the asus 939 board has been lost in the mail, Fedex is trying it find it. I was told there was a problem at the last shipping depo it was at but they were not go into detail.
This is a major disappointment but I'm used to it. I have had a lot of problems with getting parts lately. I have a rampage 3 board setting in my closet collecting dust i think I'll just use it. Not my favorite board TBH. kinda ugly if you ask me, but I sure do love x58 systems.

anyway I'm still making cables for the system and I should get that done tonight, once I do I'll post photos of the DIY cables.

Part 7b: more parts bought.
Since I'll be going x58 and not nf4 (boo that stinks) I thought Id change the GPUs. Its worth noting that anything newer then the 2xx cards can have problem with dos and very early 3d games so I chose to rerun the 250s I bought and buy some 285s. Wele I have not bought the 285s yet I bought some parts needed to use them.

Here are the parts bought.
2 Bitspower GTX 285 v2 blocks.
Some more UV green cable ends
2 more 80mm fans for the lain li case
a 40mm fan for the rampage iii chipset heatsink
a 5$ air cool heatsink to use temporary with the x58 board to set everything up.

I did not want to get a Bitspower block for the 285s, I know most folks out there love Bitspower products but their older blocks preform really bad. They're more or less just a slab of copper and no groves, channels or anything.

So now I need to get a pair of v2 285s, I might as well get some more raptor hdds, 6 raptor in raid 0 anyone?

[austin86]

Part 8: more parts bought, again...

Ok I so I got support lucky today. I found a listing of GTX 285s on ebay and some how 2 of the 8 cards the seller had were EVGA FTW 2gb card. I know the 2gb cards are slower but that extra gb of Vram will come in handy with a little something I have in mind.
I also bought 4 more raptor hdd so that I can run 6 raptor in raid 0.

I'm still chugging away on wiring the PSU. I was hoping to get it done last night but did not. I have a few more molex cables, a PCIe and 8 pin cpu cable to make. Sadly the heat shrink I have goes from UV green to black when shrunk. A few ends are blackish with I do not like at all. It does not shrink all to well ether. Granted I payed 9$ for it along with the cable sleaving so I got what I payed for.

Part 8b: More parts to buy. Yes more.

Ok so since my plans were changed from 939 to x58 I need a few better water cooling parts for the build.

The pump I have is rather crummy and I need a CPU block as the only blocks I have are for older systems. I'll be picking up a D5 pump and top with a res built it.

I had bought about 12 bitspower 3/8x1/2 fittings for the system but they turned out to be 8x10mm (5/16x7/16) witch is a rather old school size not used anymore. I thought about getting some new fittings but chose to go with 5/16 tubbing, so I need to get some tubbing as I don't keep 5/16 tubbing around. Its a odd size and I can't say I ever used it for a build. 

So to add to the shopping list. d5 pump and top, a 1366 block and some 5/16 tubbing.

[austin86]

Part 9: Delays due to heath problems.
So I was hoping to have the the case modded and PSU completely rewired by today. But sadly I been fighting GI problems and haven’t been up to doing much the last few days.
I started making the dual 8 pins cables Friday only to have a flare up and well umm. Let’s just say I couldn’t work on the computer for more then a minute or two at a time.

Anyway I got super lucky today and was at least able to cut the 240mm hole in the case and installed the gtx 285 blocks.

Part 9a: Bistpower products look grate but are they really?
Ok so most regard bitspower as being a top end water cooling company, but these photos speak for themselves.

Screw holes right on top of the vram.


There’s this thing called surface area. More is better right? This block is almost flat. And to make it worse no water gets to the VRM area


Part 9b: case mods.
Not bad for using a angle grinder. I still need to clean up the cuts

[Vinster]

I like it... Really functional and will be a clean mod when done

Vin

[austin86]

Mar 13, 2022 20:35:31 GMT -5 Vinster said:

I like it... Really functional and will be a clean mod when done

Vin

Thanks. The old AC ryan rad grillz make adding fans to a case rather simple.
i need to resize the screw holes and file the edges clean still. 

[austin86]

Part 10: Fans installed.
Not much of a update but I got the fan holes cleaned up, sadly I over cut in a small area witch can be seen.
The only case mod left is adding the 360mm rad to the top of the case. I'll do that latter this week/weekend.

[Vinster]

I just noticed that actual speaker... doubt a modern MB could drive that...

Vin

[austin86]

Mar 15, 2022 11:28:55 GMT -5 Vinster said:

I just noticed that actual speaker... doubt a modern MB could drive that...

Vin

I'll find out soon enough lol. Granted a REIII is not all that modern anymore. its almost 12 years old at this point.

[Vinster]

Mar 15, 2022 13:56:13 GMT -5 austin86 said:

Mar 15, 2022 11:28:55 GMT -5 Vinster said:

I just noticed that actual speaker... doubt a modern MB could drive that...

Vin

I'll find out soon enough lol. Granted a REIII is not all that modern anymore. its almost 12 years old at this point.

Sure... but the last time I saw an actual speaker in the case it was for a PIII system....

Vin

[Macsbeach98]

It will work Shane used to use one of those old case speakers for everything up to Maximus Hero VII.
It might not be very loud though.

[austin86]

Mar 15, 2022 20:06:15 GMT -5 Vinster said:

Mar 15, 2022 13:56:13 GMT -5 austin86 said:

I'll find out soon enough lol. Granted a REIII is not all that modern anymore. its almost 12 years old at this point.

Sure... but the last time I saw an actual speaker in the case it was for a PIII system....

Vin

Yeah the case is from 04 so its rather old too.

Mar 15, 2022 20:47:17 GMT -5 Macsbeach98 said:

It will work Shane used to use one of those old case speakers for everything up to Maximus Hero VII.
It might not be very loud though.

That was my thought. Not that post beeps are all that much used anymore.

[austin86]

Part 10: I hate my sleeving job.
So I'm waiting on some PCIe 6 pin ends to complete the PSU sleeving job, however looking over the PSU so far I hate it. I'll post photos of it tonight.
The problem comes down the the heatshrink and sleeving being very cheap, the heat shrink turns black and shrinks very unevenly and the sleeving melts and frays very easily. So the job looks like crap. I was poking around on a few shops and found some UV green spiral cable wrap. I was thinking of getting a newer PSU down the road so maybe use some spiral cable wrap with a new PSU with I think would look better.

Part 10b: 360mm rad installed (sort of)
So last night I cut the hole for the 360mm rad. I have it installed but I did not have a matching set of screws to mount it and still need to resize the screw holes on the rad grill so that I can install a screw in etch hole. I also have the motherboard installed and started plumbing the water cooling. I still need to get a few nuts and washers to mount the motherboard properly. I'll post photos of the system tonight.


Part 10c: Parts used so far.
Thought Id post all the parts I used so far.

Asus Rampage III extreme.
i7 950.
Bitspower Summit EF-X CPU Block.
2 EVGA GTX 285 2gb.
Bitspower VG-NGTX285B GPU block.
6gb corsair dominator gt ram, 2ghz CL8.
d5 pump.
xspc d5 pump tank v3.
Koolance Fluorescent Yellow coolant.(It's light green TBH)
Masterkleer 5/16 tubing.
Black Ice Nemesis 360GTS rad.
Bitspower Shiny Silver compression fittings.
3 Scythe Slip Stream 120mm DB 800rpm fans.
2 Scythe Slip Stream 120mm DB 500rpm fans.
2 Scythe KAMA FLEX 80mm fans.
2 GELID Solutions Silent 8 fans.
Gelid Silent 4 40mm fan on the chipset.
AC Ryan 360mm and 240mm RadGrillz.
Phobya Thermal Pads on the motherboard.
Phobya NanoGrease Extreme thermal compound.
Connectx UV green ends on all the cables.
Lain li pc 70 case.
Corsair 950TX PSU.
2 logisys uv ccfl's.

Parts I still need to get.

Sound card, I was going to use a SBlive but the bitspower blocks ever so slightly block the pci slot.
Game port to usb adapter, since I can't use the SBlive I'll likely need a Game port to usb adapter.
Better/newer PSU. The old tx950 is good but the build should have a better PSU.
Sata cables.

[austin86]

Here are the photos of the system so far and I’m hating it. I wouldn’t mind it so much if it wasn’t for the pcie cables being too short. I’ll need to extend them if I end up not getting a new PSU and use the spiral wrap I was talking about earlier.

[Macsbeach98]

Looks Good.

One thing why dont you run a Westmere hex core they clock higher and are 32nm instead of a dirty 45nm Bloomfield if you are going to run a Bloomfield might as well be a 920 the original.

What revision are the Dominators 2.1 or 7.1?

[freeagent]

Nice, that chipset sink is badass. Looks good man! Love the speaker in the case.. I miss those. The last time I had one was probably around the time that case was new

[austin86]

Mar 17, 2022 21:02:23 GMT -5 Macsbeach98 said:

Looks Good.

One thing why dont you run a Westmere hex core they clock higher and are 32nm instead of a dirty 45nm Bloomfield if you are going to run a Bloomfield might as well be a 920 the original.

What revision are the Dominators 2.1 or 7.1?

I plan to get a westmere later on, I want to get the system up and running first and the 950 was the highest/fastest clocked cpu I had on hand. As for the ram its 7.1

[Macsbeach98]

Ah PSC I thought they could of been Hypers.
PSC and Hypers are the best ram for X58.

[austin86]

Part 11: More parts are still needed.

OK since I hate the sleeving on the PSU I'm going to get a new PSU and use UV spiral wrap. I ordered some of the spiral wrap to see how it looks and will go from there. The sleeving is just to uneven and bulky looking and the heat shrink burns way to easily.

I bought a RM1000x to replace the PSU in the system.

I also bought a Sound Blaster x-fi titanium for the system.

Mar 18, 2022 1:07:15 GMT -5 Macsbeach98 said:

Ah PSC I thought they could of been Hypers.
PSC and Hypers are the best ram for X58.

That they are. I used the board years ago to bench older low end GPUs witch is why I had the ram. The faster ram helped a little, Those old bottom of the bin cards are a odd bunch of silicon, I'm talking about cards like the fx5200, 6200/7200, 8300 and so on. Overclocking the PCIe bus sometimes made the cards score higher then just overclocking the cards core. Modding the cards were a lot of fun too, no one cares if you blow away 12 8300 or 8400s not even the wallet.

[Macsbeach98]

This is what I am playing with at the moment GT218 which includes GT210 GT405 FX380LP NVS300.
On the right is a FX380LP it doesnt like cold runs in 2D mode.

[austin86]

Mar 18, 2022 19:40:21 GMT -5 Macsbeach98 said:

This is what I am playing with at the moment GT218 which includes GT210 GT405 FX380LP NVS300.
On the right is a FX380LP it doesnt like cold runs in 2D mode.

Nice, but why the cold? These kind of cards tend to not benefit from it all to much if at all? Or at least that’s been my experience.

[austin86]

well this sucks, but I kinda thought this would happen, the rampage board is dead. It powered on few a few seconds then made a pop and shut off. I recalled having problems with it in the past so I will have to get a new board.

[Macsbeach98]

20 or 30 mhz on the core is enough to make you a winner all the top runners in the competition are running cold on the cards it does help.
I think the reason its playing up is the copper plate I have on the GPU is also covering the memory and locking it up.

[austin86]

Mar 19, 2022 23:59:02 GMT -5 Macsbeach98 said:

20 or 30 mhz on the core is enough to make you a winner all the top runners in the competition are running cold on the cards it does help.
I think the reason its playing up is the copper plate I have on the GPU is also covering the memory and locking it up.

Hmm, usually I was able to max out the core/mem of most if not all bottom end GPUs with a volt mod, different caps, some different parts and so on. But I guess going cold would be simpler for most benches.

[Vinster]

Mar 19, 2022 21:23:03 GMT -5 austin86 said:

well this sucks, but I kinda thought this would happen, the rampage board is dead. It powered on few a few seconds then made a pop and shut off. I recalled having problems with it in the past so I will have to get a new board.

Is there any obvious damage on the board? might be able to get it fixed. Those are getting hard to come by and the prices on ebay are insane...

Vin