Let the fun begin! I just received my new GA-P67A-UD3-B3!

[jannie]

Jerry after seeing your setup. mine is a bit boring, just a mobo in a case...love your new pespex setup..and your water cooling...

[Dark Mantis]

Jannie it isn't a case of trying to outdo each other but more of a put your own mark on your system. I am sure that your system was put togeth with as much care and thought as mine was. Don't think you get out of posting your piccys that easy!

[soarwitheagles]

Jerry after seeing your setup. mine is a bit boring, just a mobo in a case...love your new pespex setup..and your water cooling...

Jannie,  not all of us are computer building geniuses, like DM!  But it is still fun to build!

Example: my new Crucial RealSSD C300 did not come with a mounting bracket...so I learned to improvise...in the pic below you will see 3 companies helped me to make it work...Crucial for the SSD, OCZ for the mounting bracket, and good ol' Coolermaster for the HD bracket!

DM, my "massive full ATX" new GA-P67A-UD3-B3 MOBO looks sooooooo tiny in this monster HAF 932!

I do not know what I am going to do with all the extra room!

Soar

[faizoff]

Soar that looks great. I was first debating on what size to get, I think you're picture pretty much seals it that I'll be getting a mid size tower as I too will have tons of room after putting the components in there.

I think I've narrowed it down to these two choices and might jump on them at a good price.

The HAF 922 or the Storm Scout 2000.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%2050001333%20600029808&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=7|11-119-197^11-119-197-TS%2C11-119-196^11-119-196-TS

[soarwitheagles]

Soar that looks great. I was first debating on what size to get, I think you're picture pretty much seals it that I'll be getting a mid size tower as I too will have tons of room after putting the components in there.

I think I've narrowed it down to these two choices and might jump on them at a good price.

The HAF 922 or the Storm Scout 2000.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%2050001333%20600029808&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=7|11-119-197^11-119-197-TS%2C11-119-196^11-119-196-TS

Faizoff,

Both of these cases you are looking at are very, very good cases.  Excellent choice either way!

I prefer the 922 over the Scout for 3 reasons:

922 has the 200mm fans vs. the Scout's 140mm's
922 is larger so better airflow and cooling and more room to play around
LED ON/OFF switch

The Scout on the other hand is also a very nice case and I like those handles which come in handy for transportation purposes!

Your GA-P67A-UD3-B3 would look and perform well in either of these Faizoff!

I am a little concerned about my choice of the HAF 932.  I feel like it looks like a wonderful pirate's treasure chest: When you open it, you expect to see lots and lots of diamonds, rubies, gold, silver, etc. but instead the only thing I see is one little diamond: GA-P67A-UD3-B3!

I suppose I must look for more treasures to fill the very large pirate's chest!

The parrot on my shoulder keeps repeating: tiny, so tiny!   Chirp! chirp!

Have a good one and let us know what you choose and please do post some pics!

Soar

PS Faizoff, you may want to consider lapping the Hyper 212+ if you have the time.  I noticed the surface of the heat sink has many, many irregularities [see pic].  Ideally, the copper contact area should be smooth and look like a mirror, but you can see the machinist grooves and roughness through out.  You could probably shave off another 2-4 C degrees after lapping.  It only costs pennies, and it is really easy to do.  

Only thing needed is some patience, 400, 800, 1500, and 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper [about .10 each at your local hardware store], dish soap, and about one hour of time. I will definitely lap mine when I find some time!  I do NOT recommend lapping your CPU [it voids the warranty]!

Hope this helps!

[soarwitheagles]

For those following this thread, a friend at Gigabyte just showed me how to access EFI on this new GA-P67A-UD3-B3!

Here's the scoop:

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,4876.0.html

Soar

[faizoff]

Yea Soar I might try lapping the surface before I put it on the CPU this weekend.

I'm also leaning more toward the HAF 922 as it is a bit more roomy than the Scout.

[soarwitheagles]

Yea Soar I might try lapping the surface before I put it on the CPU this weekend.

I'm also leaning more toward the HAF 922 as it is a bit more roomy than the Scout.

Faizoff,

You can't go wrong with that HAF 922.  I hope you can find a good deal on it!

I think lapping the Hyper 212+ would certainly be worth your while [if you have the time] due to the unusual amount of roughness on the heat sink surface.  I have purchased other CPU heatsink/coolers that were nearly like a mirror directly out of the box.  For some reason, this latest batch of Hyper 212+'s appear rougher than normal.

I did not have time to lap mine simply due to time constraints [I have only a few more days left before I return to work, and then I will have no large blocks of time whatsoever to play with these toys until summer.  So right now, my priority is to at least get this rig up, running, and functional.  I am focusing on completing the bare necessities at the moment.  I wish I had the time to lap it before the assembly, but will save that for later.

Here's the Corsair's I am using on this build.  Fry's had them for $19 per 4 GB so I picked up 8Gb.  I do not see the exact model numbers in the QVL.  I hope they will do the job!  I purchased them because of the low price and the low profile [the Hyper 212+ fan clears the first RAM slot by 1/8 of an inch].  If I had purchased the tall Vengence or G.Skil, I would not be able to populate all 4 slots.

As you can see, I decided to vent the CPU exhaust heat out the back of the case rather than the out the top.  I just didn't feel comfortable about those heatsinks so close to the caps and RAM...

Have you decided which way you will aim your Hyper 212+?

Hey, which state do you reside?  I am on the west coast here.  Grew up in Silicon Valley and now live near the capitol of California.

Soar  

[faizoff]

I'm all the way on the other side on the East Coast in Tampa Florida.

Those are some mighty good pictures you have. I'll have to take some of mine and upload them sometime. I have PNY RAM, got them cheap too, I think I paid $60 for the whole lot. You got a good deal on yours.

[soarwitheagles]

I'm all the way on the other side on the East Coast in Tampa Florida.

Those are some mighty good pictures you have. I'll have to take some of mine and upload them sometime. I have PNY RAM, got them cheap too, I think I paid $60 for the whole lot. You got a good deal on yours.

Florida is a really nice place!  I love the citrus fruit from your state!  Yummy!  Yes, please do upload your before and aft pics so we can see your upgrade and improvement!  The main reason I upload so many pics is because I would like others to be able to learn from my mistakes!  Often a picture makes things so much more clearer than words...esp. in technical things.

Are your PNY's low profile?  And which way will you orient that Hyper 212+?

Here's my latest progress....slowly but surely!

[Dark Mantis]

Yes faizoff I would go for the HAF 922 as I consider it the better case. Yes lapping your heatsink is a good idea.

Soar, if you want to fill your case try a full watercooling loop and you will soon find the space fills up. Mine is starting to get a bit tight and I am thinking of building a custom case more in the Mountain Mods vein but a bit more classy

[soarwitheagles]

Yes faizoff I would go for the HAF 922 as I consider it the better case. Yes lapping your heatsink is a good idea.

Soar, if you want to fill your case try a full watercooling loop and you will soon find the space fills up. Mine is starting to get a bit tight and I am thinking of building a custom case more in the Mountain Mods vein but a bit more classy

DM,

Thanks, and yes, I would love to have a nic water cooling loop, but two things are hindering me from it:

1. Cost
2. Fear of a deadly leak

DM, I am glad to have the extra room because hopefully in the future I can muster the money and the courage to build a nice water loop!

Special question: DM, in all the excitement, I forgot to format the SSD before loading the OS.  Is this a problem?

Oh, one more question: where can I download that CPUID?  When I went to their website, somehow I downloaded a program called PC Wizard 2010 when all I really wanted was the CPUID to see my benchmarks....

UPDATE: DM, sorry, I found the CPUID and loaded it.  I missed the prompt earlier when I tried it!

Have a good one!

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Soar,

Sounds like you have been busy. Don't worry about formatting the drive as Windows 7 should do that for you as you go through the install procedure.

[soarwitheagles]

Hi Soar,

Sounds like you have been busy. Don't worry about formatting the drive as Windows 7 should do that for you as you go through the install procedure.

Thanks DM.  Well, it must have worked correctly because somehow that Intel driver was installed too and now the WEI is showing this SSD as 7.9!

Now I do not put a lot of faith in Windows Experience numbers, but I was surprised it gave it a 7.9

How about some over clocking suggestions?

Back to work on this monster!

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Soar, I would give it a chance to "run in" first and make sure there are no little problems that need sorting out before you start clocking it. Only complicates matters if you OC it and then hit a snag, you don't know whether it is the OC that has caused it or just a fault.

I'm not surprised at the 7.9 in WEI. But I do think Microsoft will be re-evaluating it shortly as the faster drives start going mainstream.