Frank's 2011 Upgrade

[Aus10]

I will ask my uncle to take pics of both ideas and post them that way he can see which ones he likes better?

Perhaps we could vote on it! Lol

 

[dtischerd]

that would be awesome!!!!

 

[The1stCAV]

True, but if you move the 24pin cable you will just see all the cables from the 580's, which have the same look. I think his goal was to run all those cables down together, rather than have the 580 cables going down and the 24 pin cables going in a different direction, which might make it look more cluttered. I like the unified look of all those cables going down the front of the 580's, kinda like a cable waterfall!

i agree that 24 pin is a work of art,but it kinda sticks out a bit to much..just MO. its covering the 580's. while the 24 pin supplies life..the 580's are doing alot more work. besides if i had 3x580's id be sportin those bad boys in their full glory.

Yes the 24-Pin sticks out a bit and a little "in your face" in the sense that its something you never see in a PC build, this is one feature of my build that is basically a "Frank Exclusive" is the flattened/sewn 24-pin cable. However in no way does it take away from nor distract from the power sitting there with the GTX 580's - with or without the 24-pin, the GTX 580's still scream "look at me", but unfortunately nothing says "I am three GTX 580 3GB cards and I got a little GT 520 brother tucked under here too". For all anyone knows it could be three GTX 285's water blocked, so with that in mind I doubt or do not feel the 24-pin takes away from the GTX cards, they still are the main focus because they are all waterblocked, I have the big 3-way SLI water block strap as well as the SLI bridge I customized that all keeps pulling the eyes from the 24-pin.

Could I try both ways and let you all vote? Well unfortunately not. Because the way the 24-pin is sewn in, it cannot go another way, it has to flow the way it is now. Also the way it was sewn, we now have a top/bottom to the cable, the underneath is where things are not as pretty as the topside. So I could not change how it is now. If I were to make a 90 turn and go the direction of the pump, then it would flip the cable over and the bend and the form I have in it now would not work. So there is no way to change it without re-sewing it all over again, and I promise that is NOT going to happen - lol.

I may end up having to expand that opening even more though for the cables. When I go to sew the GPU cables I may not have enough depth in the oval to hold the cables in nice and neat and flat so that may end up being modified a tad more as well. When I get the GPU cables sewn in - which I hope to start doing this week - I will know more then.

 

[The1stCAV]

 

[StatutoryApe]

hubba hubba

 

[Wilo]

Frank looks better every day.

 

[wra18th]

Nice attention to detail. Cool use for a labeling machine.

 

[The1stCAV]

ty all - it took a while yesterday to get everything sewn in finally. While sewing in the cable I thought why not use the Brother label maker I have and use it to clarify what those water blocks are cooling so there is no confusion. I figured it wasn't too "in your face" but enough to make the statement that these are GTX 580 3GB versions.

However did anyone see what EVGA just released? EVGA GTX 580 CLASSIFIEDS Hydro-copper - higher clocks, faster GPU's etc. They start out at 855MHz Core clock and have had them up to 1.6Ghz on DICE I think. Probably could hit past 1GHz on water. Either way these are (I am guessing here) probably their hand picked stock of the best GTX 580 chips that can take a good solid OC. Now I want to upgrade and use the step-up....................damn the tech

 

[wra18th]

It's gonna go something like this;

The1stCAV - "Check it out, EVGA GTX 580 CLASSIFIEDS Hydro-copper - higher clocks, faster GPU's etc. They start out at 855MHz Core clock and have had them up to 1.6Ghz on DICE I think. Probably could hit past 1GHz on water. Either way these are (I am guessing here) probably their hand picked stock of the best GTX 580 chips that can take a good solid OC. Now I want to upgrade and use the step-up".

Mrs. The1stCAV - WHAT!!! Didn't you just spend all that money on the 3 gigawhatevers???!!! Blah, blah,blah,blah..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................You are insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...blah,blah,blah..........................................................................................................................................................over my dead body!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!What about the house payment, the car payment, and your hair restoration payments??????????.

The1stCAV - What hair restoration?

Mrs. The1stCAV - I will pull every hair on your head if you buy those hydro vga whatever things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


__________________________________________________________________________________________________
lol

 

[Aus10]

No cav went through that yesterday wrath he bought my QDCs haha but god that looks amazing

Cav I got that email about the new 580s I was checking them out they look badass!

Ps can I have a 580? Htpc could use one... Lol

 

[The1stCAV]

You are insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...blah,blah,blah

Are you my next door neighbor? You had to of heard her use those exact words yesterday.......... OK I admit I am - but it doesnt matter, the three GTX 580's I have now cannot be fed enough as it is by the 990X even at 4.7GHz, so upgrading them again would be simply an ego thing outside the scope of reality and functionality improvements. So on this I must say "I wish" but realistically I could not be able to push them any more than I can push the three I have now - it just is nice to dream sometimes. I am able to benchmark these GTX 580's at 955 Core Clock and 2150 Mem clock, but they are at 99% usage as well at a 4.7GHz CPU speed.

 

[Curlack]

Having just "modded" my case by installing a new fan at the back (Thanks for the advice, Cav ), along with a 2TB WD Caviar Black HDD, I can safely say that the inside of my case still looks nothing like this haha.

How are you finding the 580's? I looked them up and for the 3072MB's they seem pretty pricey but worth it?

 

[The1stCAV]

lol @ Curlack - umm its gonna take a tad more than a fan to get the insides to look similar - but congrats on your fan mod/add - always good to get some more air flow going.

Also to note, I just bought some paint stripper @ Home Depot to remove the interior red of the case so I can start over and repaint it again with an acrylic sealer this time to reduce the nicks and chips that are all over the inside now from all the in/out of components since I painted Frank. To get Frank "picture Perfect" I have to get the case painted inside again - too many nicks to PS out of each picture. So next weekend I will break Frank down one last time, strip, re-paint and rebuild back, then he will be picture perfect ready and considered done for 2011.

Well the GTX 580's 3GB cards do make a huge difference in three screen resolutions - not so much if I go 1920x1080. Overall I think it was a great upgrade to go to from the 1.5GB cards because I see better frame rates and smoother video - I am sure thing s will dramatically improve once Nvidia gets the drivers more stable for the 3GB cards as they are still relatively new and they are not matured yet for the 3GB cards. Overall, great upgrade and purchase IMO - I love them.

 

[imuri]

Dam you, this just makes me speechless.

 

[Curlack]

lol @ Curlack - umm its gonna take a tad more than a fan to get the insides to look similar - but congrats on your fan mod/add - always good to get some more air flow going.

Also to note, I just bought some paint stripper @ Home Depot to remove the interior red of the case so I can start over and repaint it again with an acrylic sealer this time to reduce the nicks and chips that are all over the inside now from all the in/out of components since I painted Frank. To get Frank "picture Perfect" I have to get the case painted inside again - too many nicks to PS out of each picture. So next weekend I will break Frank down one last time, strip, re-paint and rebuild back, then he will be picture perfect ready and considered done for 2011.

Well the GTX 580's 3GB cards do make a huge difference in three screen resolutions - not so much if I go 1920x1080. Overall I think it was a great upgrade to go to from the 1.5GB cards because I see better frame rates and smoother video - I am sure thing s will dramatically improve once Nvidia gets the drivers more stable for the 3GB cards as they are still relatively new and they are not matured yet for the 3GB cards. Overall, great upgrade and purchase IMO - I love them.

Hahaha yeah well I have to get a laptop for uni before I can even think about going this dramatic, though the £100-odd it cost for that HDD set me back a fair bit haha, but i'll use it for my "new" build anyway.

And thats cool, I was looking for a new grahpics card, I -HATE- the ones that are massive and seem to take up around half the board just to fit in haha, and it GTX 580's seem to be decent size and capability for what they are, as well as being in SLI of course. I'll be making the transition to 1920x1080 soon with dual (hopefully tripple) screens soon, so im looking for the best cards really, i've heard a lot of good recomendations for the 580's they just seem to be very expensive haha.

 

[The1stCAV]

Best cards ? GTX 580's without a doubt - right now I would say the hydro-copper EVGA Classified versions are the best, esp if you go with the 3GB flavor. If you plan on 3 screens, then go 3GB - major difference in performance on three screens over the 1.5GB kind. But they are not small, they also are the huge bricks we have grown to love and enjoy since the 8800 cards came onto the market. They only look small in Frank because that Corsair 800D is a big freaking case and the waterblocks minimize it as well because the big housing is not on it. So these are still big cards, not going to get away with finding the best card at a small footprint - these GTX 580's have some size to them.

 

[Curlack]

Best cards ? GTX 580's without a doubt - right now I would say the hydro-copper EVGA Classified versions are the best, esp if you go with the 3GB flavor. If you plan on 3 screens, then go 3GB - major difference in performance on three screens over the 1.5GB kind. But they are not small, they also are the huge bricks we have grown to love and enjoy since the 8800 cards came onto the market. They only look small in Frank because that Corsair 800D is a big freaking case and the waterblocks minimize it as well because the big housing is not on it. So these are still big cards, not going to get away with finding the best card at a small footprint - these GTX 580's have some size to them.

I guess the waterblock means you took the "case" of the cards off, because it almost seems like if you want 3 cards in SLI it LOOKS almosti mpossible because the cards are so big that it seems like they cover up almost 2 slots each haha. The 800D case would be perfect for it I guess but it depends on the board. I'd probably end up getting 2 3GB cards in SLI for tripple screens now on your reccomendation then haha.

Im getting a laptop soon, tommorow if all goes well. It has amazing specs but the screen is only 15.6 but I guess thas alright. But anyway i'll look more into that, grahpics cards are a tricky thing to me because there are so many of them. All I know is that I want a Nvidia card with SLI technology

 

[(sic)]

First of all this build is incredible. I love the attention to detail.

I will be attempting to sew my 24pin as you have in the near future.

My question is would you be willing to give a small tuturial on how you did it?

I'm sure I could eventually figure it out, but a good starting point wouldn't hurt.

*EDIT*
Maybe a tuturial is asking too much... How about a picture of the other side of the cables?

 

[The1stCAV]

Actually I did a series of four videos showing how to sew these cables in on YouTube in the same Channel I post Frank's videos in.

http://www.youtube.com/user/FrankNSteinPC?feature=mhee

I take you through step by step how to sew cables - this apparently is something very new to modding as you probably have never seen it done like this before and is something I wanted to do as a unique feature to Frank. Then I got multiple requests on how so I did the video tutorial. The first video for about the first 5 minutes the audio isn't the greatest, but from there the rest I think works fine.

One thing I did not mention but someone asked in another forum was how did I get it so straight because we know the cables cross over at some point. The answer to that is there is always one end where everything is straight and not crossed, that is the "show" end. When sewing, you do not sew end to end on the cable, just enough that is visible, allowing the rest to twist and cross over freely.

Thanks for your comments on Frank - he is ALMOST done. Though I have yet another order in to PPCS for those final (famous last words) touches. I do not like the large red 360 cover I have on top of Frank right now, I want to go back with the three individual 120mm covers like before and make it look more inset than on top like it is now. I also wanted to use Bitspower connections to match the CPU and top GPU connections, so I have a couple more to swap out in the case. During the painting process I also have the case wires to sleeve which will complete the sleeving I need to do in Frank as well. Some pictures do show the case wires under the GPU's and I want to get those cleaned up as well. Once those items arrive I will be stripping out the paint inside and repainting Frank one last time to make sure the inside paint is pristine for the final picture shoot I hope to do of him to submit to various places for consideration. My ultimate goal is to get him on the front cover of CPU magazine and listed as a MDPC - we shall see how that goes.............................

Thanks again, hope those videos help.

 

[(sic)]

Thanks!

That link was probably buried somewhere in the 45 pages, but I couldn't find it.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[The1stCAV]

Thanks!

That link was probably buried somewhere in the 45 pages, but I couldn't find it.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.

lmao - yeah this thread has been going on for a while and it was buried deep in the mix but glad to share it with you. Good luck on your sewing adn build - will you be doing a build log on [H]? Link me if so - thx

 

[revenant]

every time I look at those individually sleeved and cropped cables I think "wow, the time and energy that has gone into this build is amazing"... not to mention how it looks... which is amazing also.

 

[The1stCAV]

every time I look at those individually sleeved and cropped cables I think "wow, the time and energy that has gone into this build is amazing"... not to mention how it looks... which is amazing also.

Much appreciated - yeah, a ton of effort has gone into this build. I probably sleeved over 5 sets of 24-pin cables, sewn at least 3 sets, at minimum 4 sets of GPU cables and so on - lots of "learning curve" has gone into this build above and beyond what you see here in the near final pictures of Frank. I am going to repaint the inside of the case again for the final touch, so check back for the final pictures in the coming weeks. Thanks for checking out Frank, he was my monster build for 2011 - probably the biggest effort I have ever done on a build over the last 10 years of building my own rigs.

 

[Aus10]

Awsome man really im speechless i cant find any words that describe him...

I am curious how did you get that last PPCS order with the wife? lol

 

[ranviper]

Much appreciated - yeah, a ton of effort has gone into this build. I probably sleeved over 5 sets of 24-pin cables, sewn at least 3 sets, at minimum 4 sets of GPU cables and so on - lots of "learning curve" has gone into this build above and beyond what you see here in the near final pictures of Frank. I am going to repaint the inside of the case again for the final touch, so check back for the final pictures in the coming weeks. Thanks for checking out Frank, he was my monster build for 2011 - probably the biggest effort I have ever done on a build over the last 10 years of building my own rigs.

I just want to say thanks for keeping such a good log. I can honestly say it's been an inspiration to me for my future builds. Patience, persistance, and learning really can pay off, and I can't wait until I can spend that kind of time building my own monster. For now, sadly, I'll have to stick with my cheaper, college builds.

 

[The1stCAV]

Thanks ranviper - check back as I will be documenting the re-paint of the case. I will show the prep to rip out the existing hardware to get the case ready. Because Frank is an existing system with working data, OS, etc - I will need to label and mark SATA cables/connections where things are connected, etc. As well as Monitor cables connections and so on - basically so I can put him back exactly as he is now in a working state once I get the case painted. I will then document the prep work for the case before painting, stripping of the paint, primer/painting/sealing and then rebuilding for the last time. A lot of work for that final push, but I think in the end he will be picture perfect ready - at least that is the plan.

@ AUS10 - I have not yet officially made the order known to the powers that be - so I shall address that when it occurs..................

 

[ChRoNo16]

In other words he shall post about it when he and frank are sleeping in the car

 

[Aus10]

Haha well she checks the bank often so gl uncle cav let me know how it goes! Lol

What was the order?

 

[The1stCAV]

lmao - actually I have the shopping cart still full, have not pulled the trigger, I keep wanting to, I have the intention to, but trying to find the "angle" I need in order to push the go button - so in the meantime I spent today doing VAMPI. I got the motherboard swapped out and the radiator mounted behind the TV like I wanted to originally. I got all that stuff out of that stupid box I put it in the first time - but then I had a water accident and it went all over the motherboard - thankfully it was while it was on the counter and not w/Power on - so VAMPI is now sitting in the garage airing out - I cleaned up what I could, but I am not taking any chances - VAMPI is banned to the garage for a couple days in the Texas heat to dry out - all those nooks and crannies I could not reach will need a tad bit of time to dry out - so until then I can wait - not frying another board. I will get some of the pics I took today cleaned up and posted tomorrow though.

 

[ChRoNo16]

an air compressor always helps as well. just to blow a little more out.

 

[wra18th]

Can't wait to see VAMPI pr0n.

 

[The1stCAV]

I have one of these:
Metro Vacuum ED500 DataVac 500-Watt, 0.75-HP Electric Duster

And I used it to blow the crap out of the inside but I still didn't feel it was 100% effective and with the last boards demise I wanted to be safe this time.

Yes Wra18th VAMPI pr0n coming - though not like Frank pron, Frank is beautiful, VAMPI is simply a power machine used as an HTPC. I may end up purchasing a 250mm fan though and removing the 9-120mm fans. They require too much juice to get rolling and are not quiet once they do. So regulating them is tough right now and the PSU I am using is louder than the rad fans. So I may end up getting a large fan to put on that rad to reduce noise. I was also thinking of building a custom cable extension and connectors to hang out the back of VAMPI to power the fan/pump and not have a separate PSU to power them. That way when I turn on VAMPI it simply turns on the fans/pumps at the same time and reduces the risk of forgetting to turn on the cooling as well.

 

[Aus10]

Sounds like a smart idea uncle cav. I cant belive that those fans are loud though. I didnt really think about sound until i was thinking that mhm quiet part of a action movie something amazing is coming up (like priest and transformers 3) and then you just hear the fans and everything kinda messes it up.

Hey just wondering but um if you get those new fans can i have/buy one?

 

[Nahid]

I have one of those Metro Vacuum's. I like it!

 

[The1stCAV]

VAMPI PR0N - lol - OK, here are the pictures and build info on VAMPI and where we currently sit.


This image shows the depth of VAMPI compared to the Horizon N702+ cabinet and the MFW-15 subwoofer. VAMPI actually goes in that N702 at that end and shows how deep it is compared to that unit. I did (thankfully) purchase the back extenders, so the main depth is obviously taken up but the back extenders gave me the room to work a smooth flowing loop to pull the tubing out and in towards the center area behind the TV/center of cabinet.

Showing the internal components of the HTPC as well as a general over all view of the case and components. Running across the front side is the 8 HDD caddy's. The speaker in the background is a Paradigm Studio 100 that will be responsible for the front right sound. The HTPC is connected via HDMI from the top GTX 580 to the Pioneer SC-27 A/V Receiver. The receiver is a 140w x 7ch Class D AMP system capable of pushing out some very clean audio to the Paradigm Studio 100's, Studio 60's, as well as the CC-590 center channel and the dual MFW-15 - 15" 350W sub-woofers.

We do not see the 8 HDD's specifically here, but we do view the CPU-360 Koolance water block that is responsible for cooling a Core i7 975 Extreme CPU. The Mushkin Redline Ram is 3x2GB of 2000MHz goodness. As well as the two GTX 580's in SLI that are water blocked and ready to push some gaming onto that Samsung 55". All powered by the Xigmatech 1000W PSU. The motherboard is the EVGA Classified E760 model I picked up from EVGA's B-stock when the last identical board fried on me - still have no idea why the mosfet cooked like it did - I will get some pictures of the fried parts when I get the water block off the mosfet from the bad board.

The two GTX 580's are on different PCIe sections allowing for x16 lanes per card instead of putting them next to each other and dropping it to x8 per. Bottom left of the image shows where the 8 HDD's are actually stored. Behind the HDD's sits a 120mm fan that draws in the cool air through a filtered front vent. It pushes the air past the HDD's and the top dual 60mm fans suck air out the top. I will eventually be putting a couple quiet fans in that empty spot in the back for exhaust - but not any time soon.

Shows VAMPI inside the Stand out Designs Horizon N702 PLUS Cabinet at the bottom. Above it sits a Belkin UPS and a Samsung Blu Ray Player, as well as a Belkin 8-port Gigabyte Ethernet switch that feeds the entertainment centers components. VAMPI was a tight fit with the tubing and all, but fit like a glove - almost like she was meant to be put in that spot in that cabinet.

This shows the radiator for VAMPI tucked away behind the cabinet nice and neat. THe radiator was also a tight fit when adding in the pump and the reservoir with all the tubing needed. The tubing was the biggest challenge as I had to ensure that there were no tight turns, bends or crimps that could happen. However once I got it all in and things tucked away it appears to have fit very nicely and out of sight when in front of the TV. The back of the TV you see is a very thin Samsung 55" LCD TV. This was the UN55B8000 TV's they sold for about two months, then got sued for patent infringement and had to pull these TV's off the market. I have to say though I love this TV, works well as both a normal viewing TV and gaming at 240Hz response times are simply nice.

This gives a closer view of the install before adding in the pump and the res. It shows there is a nice space for air flow behind the radiator. The fans are set on the rad as "Pull" fans so it is able to pull air from behind the rad and push it out and away from the unit - hopefully keeping things nice and cool in the HTPC. There are nine 92CFM fans at 19dba each, though full blast they are audible and louder than 19dba. I am seriously considering a 250mm single fan on this MO-RA 360 radiator as it was optimized for low speed fans. I may consider just putting one big quieter fan on it, while still being able to push 70CFM+.

Shows a view of the entire cooling loop behind the Horizon cabinet. It is kind of tight back here and very tough to keep everything all cleaned up and tidy, but once installed I was able to keep most wires from blocking the flow and allowing it to breathe easier. The Res directly feeds the pump which in turn pushes the fluid into the HTPC. The loop run is: PHYOBIA RESERVOIR > MCP-655 PUMP > CPU > GPU 1 > GPU 2 > MO-RA 360 RADIATOR > PHYOBIA RESERVOIR

A closer view of the installed external cooling solution. It looks pretty cluttered in these pictures as pictures are tough to get to show what the eye sees. It really isn't this cluttered back there but sure does look like it is here. You can also see I added a filling tube that extends it up a bit more for easier access from the front.The "Y" connector you see helps with air as I am filling it from a funnel, many times I had bubbles or air caught in the tubing and it would back up on me, this "Y" allows for air flow while filling and reduces the chance of me spilling things.

 

[wra18th]

Oohlala!!

 

[The1stCAV]

Here are the not so pretty pictures of the mosfet that fried on me on the old EVGA Classified E760 board VAMPI was using initially. This shows how badly it cooked - no idea how this could have happened. Though I suspect it could be due to potential liquid cooling gone bad and there may have been a remaining drop of liquid somehow in this area, but I am still not sure that is what caused this.This is why the current hesitation - I just don't want to see another board fry like this.........

 

[Aus10]

ugh i cant wait for my paradigms damn you for pushing me to get them!!!! oh well hehe

Vampi looks great cant wait to come see it haha

Hows frank Oc been going?

 

[The1stCAV]

I got Frank stable at 4.85GHz. The GPU's will benchmark at a 960Mhz Core Clock & 2175 Mem clock, if I want to go 2200, then I have to drop the core clock to around 950. The crazy thing is the voltage jump from 4.66Ghz to 4.85Ghz. I can run 4.66Ghz all day long at 1.375v, I like to run it at 1.385v though. TO get to stable 4.85Ghz I had to crank the voltage up to 1.495v - OMG that was crazy the jump in power it needed to be stable. But at least we still ran about 65c while benching - the problem I kept having was the nvidia driver would crash. I went through 5 different installs of different WHQL drivers and all of them crashed on me while benching, so I crank the GPU's back to a 900MHz/2150MHz and things benched fine but I only got a 61k - far from the 64k Frank got with the Asus board - so still playing when I get time to find the right combo with this board when I can and hopefully get past the 64k mark.

 

[Aus10]

u wanna buy the asus board back its at asus right now getting fixed and checked out lol