my computer mods (in progress)

[m0de]

I just recently put some more money into my current computer that I think will turn out to be a pretty cool project once all the parts arrive (in like 3 days). Heres a look at my current setup before the parts I just purchased are installed:

this video was taken in november of last year..

case: COOLER MASTER Elite 430
motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s
processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz
ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
videocard: ASUS GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) x2 (only one installed at the moment)
harddrive: Seagate Barracuda XT ST33000651AS 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
psu: Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W
other: AeroCool Touch 2000 Controller (fan speed controller)

after trying to overclock my system using stock air cooling was a fail although not surprising.. I decided to get an aftermarket heatsink fan in an attempt to lower my cpu temps. I opted to get the ZALMAN CNPS9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler after doing some research, but the thing just didnt cut it. it looked really cool installed as seen below:



so with some extra money saved up I decided to fix my cooling issue. after help from fellow FFR user el_rayford who is a boss when it comes to hardware questions, I set my eyes on this beast:

CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - $114.99
"Featuring a full 240mm radiator and two 120mm fans, the Corsair Hydro Series H100 extreme performance liquid CPU cooler is designed to deliver cooling performance that meets the needs of even the most demanding enthusiast."



I have absolutely no experience with watercooling, but the h100 is great for people like me getting my hands wet so to say with watercooling. This setup is maintenance free.. meaning I never have to add/change water. The pump is incorporated into the cpu block. With my current case, it would be a real tight fit. Thats when I decided bigger is better and purchased this to go along with the new cooling unit:

Antec DF-85 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower - $129.99



youtube video of a quick overview of the case to see just how awesome it it:

and to make sure it showcases nice I also picked up the NZXT Premium Sleeved LED Kit (white). Its basically a flat strip of white LED lights that im going to mount around the window of my case. although the majority of my case fans/LED lights on the fans of this new case are red.. I think that getting the red LED lights would be overkill, and that white would showcase the internal components better. newegg prices the 2m set at $26.99. heres some pictures to get an idea:





once I move my hardware into the new case, I plan on putting together some spare parts into the old case and making it a file server.

tl;dr im a nerd. by wednesday/thursday I plan to make some videos/pics of me assembling this beast.