I love my job. Look what I'm building next!

Yay! Building this for a client.. I love my job.

My next project will be posted in a few days. :D

Cant really read the text because of crap cameraphone, so heres the list:

Q6600
4gb Patriot Ram
500w Phantom Psu
Nvidia 680i SLI
2x320gb SATA Barracudas
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case
Vista Biz
Office 2007
LG Supermulti DVD
USR 56k Fax Modem (for incoming faxes)
Dlink Wifi N card and router
MS 4000 Wireless Desktop

Pretty good upgrade from his AMD K6-2 500mhz machine. :D I'll post more pics as I build it tonight.

{Napoleon Dynamite Voice} LUCKY!!!

What do you do? Ohh and can i have it?

It's good... until you see the graphics card ;)

I wish I could get payed for building computers and computer related things for people >_>

All that sweet stuff then a 8600GTS...

Still, i'd love your job

*Nearly craps his pants and is immediately jealous*

Haha.. the guy is an architect/engineer, so he's not a big gamer. Just wanted a good fast card with loads of ram. :)

I'm assembling it right now.. stupid OEM Intel heatsink is hitting the heatsink on the mobo, so I have to bust out the dremel.

I'll benchmark it when its done, but he's more interested in stability than big overclocks, so stock intel heatsink is fine for now. Later on, he'll likely want it faster (everyone does), so I'll take advantage of the SLI board, and maybe even watercool it for him. :D

So, what is your job?

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Originally Posted by Scotty

All that sweet stuff then a 8600GTS...

Still, i'd love your job

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ha ha i have the MSI 8600GTS with a heatsink... and it works fine as far as the games ive used it for. cost me 150, so wasnt too bad a deal. I wish i would have saved the money and got an 8800 though, after reading the specs.

this is a case of me not reading the specs BEFORE i bought the card. whoops. but like i said, it works fine. lol

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Originally Posted by DaJe

So, what is your job?

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I have 2 actually. First and foremost I'm a Sysadmin for a town. Gov't job FTW!

Second, I own/operate a consulting/support business. This project is for my business, and the next big one I'm doing is for that as well.

Most of the other stuff I work on is for my sysadmin job. :)

You liking that mobo? My friend works at the maintenance guy for an apartment complex and found that model mobo new in the box, so he gave it to me. I havent done anything more than open the box to see that the cables, drivers, manuals, etc are all still there.

I decided I'd use that board either for a media PC, or a new system for my GF.

i think this may be my next job lol. but only building custom computers. itll let me use my dreamweaver skillz too lol.*prays that he has dreamweaver skillz*

I've only recently decided to start building custom systems. I had some really bad experiences building/selling computers in the past..

I'm working on an official business plan, including how I would do warranty work and all that, and when my contract is up here in 2 years, I might go full time on my own. We'll see how that goes.. apparently there are 2 other towns interested in my services, so I might end up supporting 3 municipalities!

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Originally Posted by Luke122

...
I'm assembling it right now.. stupid OEM Intel heatsink is hitting the heatsink on the mobo, so I have to bust out the dremel.

.....

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I have assembled several systems with that mobo (one last night) and have never had an issue with the HS hitting anything....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Luke122

I've only recently decided to start building custom systems. I had some really bad experiences building/selling computers in the past..

I'm working on an official business plan, including how I would do warranty work and all that, and when my contract is up here in 2 years, I might go full time on my own. We'll see how that goes.. apparently there are 2 other towns interested in my services, so I might end up supporting 3 municipalities!

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damn... i wish i had somebody to build computers for. i just think that its the most fun thing in the world. and if i had spare cash id do a buch of calbe mangement too but most cases are closed door so it doesnt matter much.

bleh. pay me 10 bucks to build a computer, thatd be a fine job for me.

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Originally Posted by MaxOC

damn... i wish i had somebody to build computers for. i just think that its the most fun thing in the world. and if i had spare cash id do a buch of calbe mangement too but most cases are closed door so it doesnt matter much.

bleh. pay me 10 bucks to build a computer, thatd be a fine job for me.

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If you lived near my company, I would pay you more than that per hour... Finding someone skilled and dedicated with building systems is hard. Plus our customers _expect_ cable management even if the system never gets opened.

It makes sense for them to expect cable management. It looks better and provides better air flow along with some proof that the builder took the care and time to make it neat and orderly, which is a possible sign that he/she did a good job. lol

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

I have assembled several systems with that mobo (one last night) and have never had an issue with the HS hitting anything....

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I"ll grab a quick photo of it.. it wasnt anything serious, and a quick bit of work to the heatsink solved it. Just a very slight clearance issue. I could have just left it alone, and been fine, but I didnt want it to touch at all. :)

The system is assembled for testing and software install, so no cable management yet, but I've got a bag of zipties here, ready to go.

Note to self: go with modular psu's from now on.

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I'll benchmark it when its done...

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i can't wait for that.

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

If you lived near my company, I would pay you more than that per hour... Finding someone skilled and dedicated with building systems is hard. Plus our customers _expect_ cable management even if the system never gets opened.

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dang, i wish i lived near you now. haha.

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

If you lived near my company, I would pay you more than that per hour... Finding someone skilled and dedicated with building systems is hard. Plus our customers _expect_ cable management even if the system never gets opened.

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As much as I'd love to live down there and work with you, I dont think I could handle the fires, earthquakes, water rationing, etc.

I think I'll stick around here, on the edge of the rockies. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Luke122

As much as I'd love to live down there and work with you, I dont think I could handle the fires, earthquakes, water rationing, etc.

I think I'll stick around here, on the edge of the rockies. :D

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Hmmm, no fires near me for decades, one _minor_ earthquake since '89 and no real water rationing (yet) just conservation.

The real issues in California? Cost of housing (highest in the nation), cost of gas (highest in the nation) and traffic. Good thing I am next door to the nations salad bowl so my food cost is down...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

If you lived near my company, I would pay you more than that per hour... Finding someone skilled and dedicated with building systems is hard. Plus our customers _expect_ cable management even if the system never gets opened.

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Too bad i live in Poland :mad: i could do that job all day long :)

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

If you lived near my company, I would pay you more than that per hour... Finding someone skilled and dedicated with building systems is hard. Plus our customers _expect_ cable management even if the system never gets opened.

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true. normal airflow management is easy the modders version of great cable management where you cant see any of the wires.... a lil harder lol. i dont really worry about cable management in my computer since i have 10+ fans doing a push pull throughout the computer.

so uh where do i need to move :P if you knwo anybody in tucson that i can do taht for tell me.

btw. if i got paid 10 a computer i could make more than 10 an hour lol

Ok, assembly is underway.

Cable management? What for?

Sorry Airbozo, but I can't get a clearer pic of the heatsinks making contact.. I'd have to pull the board out again. Anyways, it wasnt that serious, and I'm sure if I had just rotated the Intel heatsink, it would have been fine. Oh well..

I'd like to do a mini review for you all right now:

1. Cooler Master Elite 330 Case

Completely tool free case with clip in drive mounts, one clip to remove all your cards, pop-off face plate, and thumbscrews for the panels. Cheap, solid, relatively lightweight, and loads of room for expansion.

2. Antec Phantom 500w PSU

This thing weighs a friggin' TON. Super solid build, and soooo quiet. Haven't stressed it hard yet, but even with the fan set on 1 ( 3 settings, 1 is "regulate PSU temp @ 47degrees) it's barely noticeable. Gripe: Only the mobo wires are sleeved, and the rest are really long. Good for a bigger case, but a total nightmare in this case. Also, the power plug on the back is crooked.. not seriously, but enough to notice now that I'm sitting here looking straight at it. Good thing it's on the back of the case and you wont likely see it much.

3. Patriot PC2-6400 Ram (2x2gb Kit)

Heavy ass heatsinks make for some hefty ram. Looks cool, but I could see the large heatsinks causing troubles mounting in some boards. It was a tight squeeze on this board, but they are in there.

4. EVGA Nforce 680i SLI mobo

Kickass black PCB, very cool heatsink (with heatpipe), solid build, cool layout. Gripe: Front panel audio connectors have the stupidest labelling ever; the manual isnt clear about using standard ac97 type connectors for the front panel (Sense_send, Sense_return? uhh.. mic?) 6 USB connectors on the back and 2 expansion ports on the mobo for additional USB ports.. but not for a front usb, unless you want to forget using the extra back ones. Minor bitch there, since, like I said, already 6 on the back.

I'll add more after I power this mofo up.

Yes, the FP audio funks me up too. I have never had the need to connect it though. I think I saw what you meant about the clearance issue. Is it with the top (in that photo anyway) voltage regulator heat sink?

BTW, one of my "cons" is the really stiff drive cables. When I tried to route them to hide them on the last build they kept pulling out. Another "con" was the fact that the sata cables that come with the mobo do not fit in the 1/2 sata ports on the mobo but they do work fine in 3/4/5/6 (or should I say 3/5/4/6 )ports. It is due to the clips. They fit if you push them in, but I have broken the housing on one system before I realized it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

Yes, the FP audio funks me up too. I have never had the need to connect it though. I think I saw what you meant about the clearance issue. Is it with the top (in that photo anyway) voltage regulator heat sink?

Exactly.

BTW, one of my "cons" is the really stiff drive cables. When I tried to route them to hide them on the last build they kept pulling out. Another "con" was the fact that the sata cables that come with the mobo do not fit in the 1/2 sata ports on the mobo but they do work fine in 3/4/5/6 (or should I say 3/5/4/6 )ports. It is due to the clips. They fit if you push them in, but I have broken the housing on one system before I realized it.

Again, I completely agree. I've decided not to use any of the SATA cables that came with it, as they are not only stiff (and dont fit in 1/2 as you said), but are too long. I've got a bunch of shorter ones from DVDRW's that are nice and red, so I'll be putting them in shortly.

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RAID config on this board was way easier than that Intel S3000AH board.. I had to use an IDE dvd drive to install on that one, then replace with a SATA drive after the install. On this board, select which ports you want to be part of the RAID, and go. So much nicer. I've never actually used one of these boards before, and I have to say I'm completely in love with it.

So much nicer to work with, and looks killer.

BTW, the floppy drive is only in there for the install (RAID drivers), and wont be in the final build.

That board was my first choice for my Bubble Gum Mod, but I could not pass up the deal I got on my Striker Extreme...

The next high end system I spec is going to use that board. The support is great too. Not that you would need it since the board is also rock solid once they fixed the bios issue (last year).

How big is your bubblegum machine?!

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Originally Posted by Luke122

How big is your bubblegum machine?!

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Big. This big;
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...bubble+gum+mod


I am making the custom power cables now, since I want to keep the PSU in the base, so the cables will have to be extended by ~30". I had to use larger wire to prevent to much of a voltage drop. Going to try and finish the mockup and test to see what the voltage drop is this weekend.

That thing is waaay bigger than I remember!

Here's a quick screenshot of CPUZ and GPUZ on the machine so far.

Stupid photobucket.. that's a bizitch to read now!

Benchmarking to commence shortly!

Aquamark coming next!

(and some overclocking)

OMFG.

Totally stock settings.

Overclocking taking place now.

It's nothing until it can Play Crysis on High with 30fps ;) Go on you know you want to play Crysis on it.

Dammit, I really need to find a job like this is a field like this.

not sure if its been said but i wouldn't like the responsibility of having to deal with any broken hardware and such. though it would be nice to see fast systems.

i would have gotten two 8600GT's either XXX or superclocked. if you look in the video card place for aquamark scores i got 98k at stock settings.

The warranty is one thing I make sure my customers are absolutely clear on. I dont sell them the hardware, I help them select the components, and they go to my supplier to buy the parts, then I assemble and customize for them.

If warranty issues do arise, they go back to the supplier and deal with them, and I do the uninstall/install of hardware and software.

I basically make nothing on the sale, charge an assembly fee, and then just charge hourly for support/repairs. I dont make alot at this (I have a fulltime job to pay the bills), but I do get to build some cool stuff now and then, and it's a bit of extra money to put towards my retirement goal (45!).