I built my first pc in March of 2010 using an Antec 900.I used a Gigabyte 790 in that build,and it's still running fine after 18 months.It has a AMD 955,Hyper 212,GTX 460,and 4gigs of ram.Runs @ at 28C Idle-load 50C.The Antec 900 is a great case,but it's a dust magnet.I wanted a better gaming case,so I upgraded to an Antec DF85.This Case rocks!!!Easiest case build ever.Wire management is a breeze.I love this case.It's worth the money.Opening a door to change drives, fans, or filters makes this case stress free.Fan controls for all 7 fans,motherboard cutout,and plenty of cut outs for wire management.The list goes on...I re-used the cpu,HDD's,sound and nic card from my first build.
I choose the Gigabyte 970A-UD3 because I'm not using dual video cards,and it has a great layout.The F-Audio,USB,power & reset headers are smartly placed,and makes wiring a pleasure.I like the fact how durable gigabyte boards are made.No problem with cranking down a heavy heatsink.At the 1 Bill price point,and all the features this board has to offer is another big plus.I Have a separate sound and nic card,so board runs even cooler.
Anyway,Bam... board posted,and it's running my AMD 955 overclocked @ 3.6 gigs with 1.35v on the cpu v-core.I have a Hyper 212 Plus W/2 fans for push and pull.The cpu idles @ 22C- Load 45C.This cpu has been running overclocked 24/7 on my older board for the last 16 months.Its running 5C cooler on the 970 board with the DF85 case. I had to do some tweaking in the bios.The usual suspects.Adjust memory timings,set correct speed to 1600mhz,and misc tweaking.The Antec DF 85 has dropped all my temps by 5-7 degrees celsius.Video Card Idles @ 25C.I will wait till later on this year to upgrade my cpu and board,and then use this board in my Antec 900.I would consider intel,but once the bulldozers mature the price will be much sweeter!
Specs.
Antec Dark Fleet DF85
Asus 23" Monitor
Gigabyte 970A-UD3
AMD 955 @ 3.8 w/1.35v on cpu-vcore
Hyper 212 Plus W/2fans Idle:24C-45C
Corsair Vengence 8 gigs
Evga 560TI
2 x 750G WD Black
Roswell Low Profile NIC card
Logitech 540 5.1 surround w/sub
SIIG 7.1 Sound Card
Dual boot Windows 7 Ultimate and XP
Questions
I want to get a ssd drive for windows 7.I need a good drive that wont break the bank.Any suggestions appreciated.
http://www.iimmgg.com/gallery/gc8093bcfdd3304c1f7a04e25f9959662/I had 6 fans in the Antec 900,and it was much louder than the DF85 with 9.Fans.Its quiet and pushes plenty of air.That's a blessing for your ears.
Edit: I couldn't help it.Overclocked to 3.8 with 1.35 v on the cpu-vcore.Still need to do some stress testing,but cpu temps only increased by 2C.The Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition stepping C3 makes a big difference.I'm glad I have the C3 version .I heard the C2 stepping needs higher voltage to run stable @ higher clock speeds.My stress test is Crysis on high settings.No crashes = good to go. That's How I adjusted the cpu voltage on my last board @ higher clocks
