Someplace to stash my stuff
that's not only sexy but kicks major ass
Published on February 7, 2014 By starkers In Personal Computing

Yup, it's that time of year again, but this time it's not a PC upgrade but rather a complete new build... starting with a real sexy case...

     

Now this is a full tower and has oodles of room inside for lots of fantastic shit... accommodating extra big graphics cards, enormous CPU coolers and even a magical leprechaun who can fix stuff when it's broken.  Orright, maybe not the leprechaun, but it is fechin' huge inside.  And what's more, to make it even more fancy, it has keys to get into it... so nobody's stealing my graphics card in a hurry... the innards of the beasty are quite secure.

Orright, so maybe it's not that secure, but there are lots of things to like about this case. For example, the 'hot swap' hard drive bays and the 'daisy chained' power connecters so that only one SATA plug from the PSU is required. Then there's the great ventilation, easy access to everything and the sexiest appearance ever.

Anyhow, enough of all that, let's talk about the innards...

PSU....   Silverstone 1200w 80 Gold

Mobo.... Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H [has 10 SATA 3 ports and 10 USB3 ports]

CPU....   Intel i7 4770K @ 3.5ghz [but highly overclockable]

Cooler... Corsair H60 Liquid CPU Cooler.

RAM...   G-Skill Trident DDR3 2400mhz x 32GB

SSD...    Samsung 840 Evo series 512Gb

GPU...    Gigabyte Radeon 7970 GV-R797WF3- 3GD.

Well that's all I got in it for now, but it has been a long, hard day and I've had enough, it's bedtime and the rest will have to wait 'til tomorrow.


Comments (Page 7)
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on Feb 13, 2014

ernie leo

HI starkers

I've had the same issue in the past when moving a boot drive that was connected to MB "Y" to MB "X", I believe the problems were related to chipset drivers. If the old chipsset drivers are part of the Ture Image it may not work and the only solution would be a clean install. I now always do a clean install in a new build or rebuild when a different MB is used.

Hi Ernie, from what I read about restoring to dissimilar hardware, Acronis doesn't load any chipset drivers but gets Windows to install the new ones for the current hardware.  I will give that a try first because the last install of Win 8.1 isn't that old and it would save having to reinstall all my proggies.  If I have to bite the bullet and do a  clean install, well so be it, at least I can get into the system to set things up, unlike yesterday when nothing went right.  It was the strangest thing, I've never had a new build behave lke that, not recognising healthy drives regardless of how nany ports and cables were tried

Thing is, the machine is up and running, so it's just a matter of getting an OS operational and I'm in business....so back to the grindstone.

MadDeez

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
 

But not today, I refuse to let it go that way....I'm calling the shots today, not fate nor luck...ME.

 

on Feb 13, 2014

It's all a conspiracy....

....to not post photos...

on Feb 14, 2014


It's all a conspiracy....

....to not post photos...

 

I will get around to it.... promise.  I will first have to upload them to imageshack in the morning, then I'll post some.

As for not having another absolute #*%@ of a day today... yesterday now, I spoke too feching soon, didn't I!  Went out to do some grocery shopping, which went okay, but then it all went to shit, along with my feching ice cream and other frozen goods.  Called a cab at 1.49 to pick me up outside the supermarket and take me home.  Was told there was a 20 to 30 minute wait... like fech it was.  Bastard cab didn't turn up until 5 friggin' 40pm.  I kept ringing and kept ringing to find out where the heck my frigging cab was: "car 321 is on it's way....

Twenty Five minutes later I ring back for the umpteenth time: "I was told car 321 was o it's way 25 minutes ago.... where from... feching Melbourne!!!!"   I then get a text saying car 376 was on its way.... didn't arrive.... neither did car 741.  By then I'm suffering with heat exhastion and was in desperate need of my diabetic meds, so I tell this to the operator, that all my frozen stuff had thawed and I needed to get home urgently to take some medication... 'twas still another 2 hours before I got home, by which time I was quite frazzled and rather ill, so I've done eff all about anything.  I feel a bit better now, but it's 1.45am and it can feching wait.

Anyhow, come Monday I'm going to ring the company superintendant and I'm gonna tear him a new arsehole.  Well company policy says he is responsible and the buck stops with him, so I'm going to let him have it... both barrels... and if I get no satisfaction there I will go to the state transport dept, the governing body for taxis.

Okay, rant off... for now... we'll see come Monday if it stays off.

on Feb 14, 2014

starkers, perhaps you should switch to a 'chain' gun (the ones that have half a dozen(or more) barrels), they just use a LOT more ammo but definitely do a huge lot more damage to the target, and due to the extra damage on the target they can be more enjoyable especially on burocracies and mongrel 'businesses/monopolies' .

harpo

 

on Feb 14, 2014


It's all a conspiracy....

....to not post photos...

Do remember to be in a few of those photos.

 

on Feb 16, 2014

Photos? ....

on Feb 16, 2014

Orright, I've not been here for a couple of days because:

a; I took a medical hiatus due to feeling like crap

b; I didn't give a toss about life's doings or anything else

c; I suffered 2 days of the worst feelings of vertigo I can remember

d: I had a visitor named Raaalph and he kept pushing my head in a bucket.

e; All of the above.

If you answered e you are correct, but I'm not giving out cigars.

Anyway, some pics.....in no particular order... and not that flash, either.

But I never claimed to be a feching photographer.

A picture says a 1000 words, so nope, no feching commentary or description. 

I figure you's oughta know what's what, and if yer don't, yer got no fechin' business bein' in a puter building thread, right?

Seriously, I made some alterations/adjustments since those pics were taken, so I'll get Shaunna to take some better shots on her DSLR camera when she comes around tomorrow... cos frankly, these shots from a mobile phone are not the best

However, that's what you lot get for being impatient and demanding pics .... so go suck eggs  

I added the rear fan to the bottom and I tidied the cabling some because I wasn't satisfied with how it looked.  It just wasn't my tidiest build so I redid things to give it that starkers 'neat freak' appearance,, though I'm still not 100% happy with it... but then, there's more hardware with cabling than in previous builds, so I guess I can't have it both ways.

DrJBHL
Do remember to be in a few of those photos.

And that's a no, I'm sorry to say.  As fast as I run, I just can't set the timer and be in the frame by the time the flash goes off.

I'm still waiting on 2 more sticks of RAM, BTW.  They only had 2 in stock at the time, but I placed an order for 2 more and they should hopefully be in within a couple of weeks. I could have gone elsewhere and gotten it quicker, but not at the same great price, so I'm happy to wait

Anyhow, 'tis late at night in the early hours of the morning again, so I'm gonna bugger off to bed.

on Feb 16, 2014

Looking good.......did you ever solve your boot issue? 

on Feb 16, 2014

ernie leo

Looking good.......did you ever solve your boot issue? 

Boot issue?  Hmmm, the old scone don't retain shit like it used to.

 

The beast boots okay now except for one annoying thing... and for the life of me I haven't been able to figure it out.  Every 1st boot produces 1 long and 2 short beeps... PC fails to start up.  I have to do a reset and then the machine boots as normal the second time around. There is probably an explanation in the mobo's user manual, but I have yet to lay a hand on it in order to read that explanation.  Yup, you guessed it... in the upheaval of everything [having to move all my stuff from the man cave to upstairs] everything is a complete jumble... it's that bad that I can only find my arse if I use both hands and an anatomy chart.

Actually, I have 3 issues with which I could use some help, if anybody has any ideas.

1:  The abovementioned boot issue, which also prevents a system reboot after installing software, etc.... have to do a reset in order to reboot.

2:  I currently have 16gb of G-Skill Trident X F3-2400C10D-16GTX RAM installed but in BIOS it is registered as 1333mhz, which is nearly half of what it is supposed to be.  There is an option in BIOS to upgrade the RAM, but my RAM does not appear in the dropdown of options.  So, do I have the correct RAM but need to flash the BIOS for it to be detected correctly... or do I have 1333 RAM labeled as 2400?  How could I tell the difference, etc?

3:  I cannot connect to the internet via LAN, and nothing I have tried has resolved this issue.  The drivers for the Intel Pro100 Network Adapter are provided on the mobo installation disk but they are incompatible with Win 8.1.  I tried all the available compatability settings but no go.  I also downloaded updated versions using my laptop [which I've been using to post here] and still no joy. I'm currently trying to hunt down a wireless adapter, of which I have 3, and hopefully that will resolve my connectivity issues and allow Windows to search for compatible drivers.

My impression of the 1st Intel build in 10 years or so could be better, given these 3 annoying issues, but hopefully they'll be resolved soon and my 1st Intel experience in 10 years improves some.  I mean, it's no faster than my AMD FX8350 build at present, but then that may have something to do with the aforementioned RAM and boot issues

I'm into my 3rd day of extreme vertigo making me feel like I'm disoriented and want to puke all the time, which is not at all conducive to my accomplishing anything, much less resolving puter issues.  However, if anyone has any ideas regarding the issues above, I'd be only too pleased to try them out... gotta keep trying, I suppose.

 

on Feb 16, 2014

Starkers...the beep codes are trying to tell you something.  Step one would be a search for info...via Mobo manwell and/or by the net.

After that has some form of resolution/cure then look at the ram.  It's likely connected, anyway....

on Feb 16, 2014

Chapter 6 of the manwell has error codes... but they're led, not audio [beep].

on Feb 16, 2014

Ah....1 long and 2 short?

Graphic card error.

Found this link....

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=13603.0

on Feb 16, 2014

Here's the compatibility list from the motherboard manufacture:

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-z87x-ud5h.pdf

and the list from Intel:

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/datasheets/core-i7-memory-suppliers-datasheet.pdf

I don't see your ram on either list and read somewhere that G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory operating voltage of 1.65V exceeds the Intel Haswell CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum.

Did you enable XMP(extreme memory profile). That should set everything up for you automatically. Your board only supports 1600 with out doing this.

Motherboard manual: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-z87x-ud5h_e.pdf

 

on Feb 17, 2014

Graphic card error.

Reset the Graphic card, if it doesn't work try a different slot or another card if have one.

on Feb 17, 2014

Yeah, I can see the LED error code when booting...have written them down and will eck against the list when I either find the manual or download a copy.


Ah....1 long and 2 short?

Graphic card error.

Found this link....

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=13603.0[/quote]

Yes, I believe this answers my query and the issue may be reloved easily with a simple reseat of the graphics card.  I have been researching on the net, but I'm either looking in the wrong places or asking the wrong questions.  Anyway, thanks for the heads up, I just tinkered with it and it seems to have resolved that particular issue..... touch wood.

Now to the RAM and LAN adapter

ernie leo
I don't see your ram on either list and read somewhere that G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory operating voltage of 1.65V exceeds the Intel Haswell CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum.

Hmmm, that's a pain in the arse... not compatible?  According to the mobo overview this 2400 RAM is compatible with Haswell CPUs, and on the RAM packet it states it is compatible with Z87 and Haswell series CPUs.  I purchased it on the basis of what I read, and I saw no conflicts at the time.  Thing is, Gigabyte lists G-Skill F3-2400C10Q-16GTX as being compatible, and I have G-Skill F3-2400C10D-16GTX, a difference of one letter. However, I will have to check into any differences, if any, and make appropriate chances... plus put a hold on the other 16gb until I can ascertain what I need.

ernie leo
Did you enable XMP(extreme memory profile). That should set everything up for you automatically. Your board only supports 1600 with out doing this.

Yes, I now have that set.  Hopefully ithe RAM issue is too now resolved.  I have the page on screen now [over on the beast] and I see the RAM voltage is set to 1.500v while the parameter is set to auto. I could set it to 1.150v or 1.155v, the only settings within the recommended parameters, but I think I'll leave it at Auto for the time being and see what difference there is now I have enabled XMP.... thought I had before, but obviously it didn't take.  I notice that when making changes in the BIOS one has to double click on the particular entry for that change to take effect, and it would seem I didn't click properly to enact the XMP change, and plain missed that it had failed.  Anyway, there are two profiles and I currently have it set to the 1st one...will try the 2nd should I need to later.

Again, thanks to you, Paul, and to you, Ernie, for the help, I appreciate it very much, particularly as it helped lift my spirits on what would otherwise have been a completely miserable day. This vertigo is getting me down some and the medication I have been prescribed does little or nothing to relieve the symptoms, so having a couple of things go right/well has been a blessing.

Oh WOW, just looked over to the Beast, which is still in BIOS, and my 3.500mhz CPU is consistently running at 3.891mhz... and I havent touched/overclocked it... yet.

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