My Build At Long Last, More Or Less The Final Revision.

[Miek]

I've already been charged. The money's out of my bank.

 

EDIT: Oh wow, I failed. I'm not having things shipped to my home, but to where I work and I put down my home phone by mistake. I changed that and *bam* the order status went from "Processing" to "Charged."

 

 

UPDATE: My keyboard just arrived. It was packaged in a kind of vacuum sealed brown paper bag. I opened it up to check it was OK... And it drops onto the counter. Only about a 2 inch fall, but still. The very first thing I do is drop it. However, it appears to be fine but if it doesn't work then I'll have to drive to Future Shop and get a new one. >.> Note to self: Be more careful with other parts.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Miek

[bp9801]

Haha, well thats good you got it all figured out.

 

Don't worry about the keyboard taking a 2 inch fall. If it was a 2 foot fall onto a hard surface, then maybe. But 2 inches is nothing.

[Miek]

Everything has shipped. I'm starting to feel excited.

[Miek]

OK, here is what has arrived so far!

• Keyboard
  
• Power supply
  
• Video card
  
• RAM
  
• Anti-static wristband
  
• Wireless adapter
  
• Windows 7 Ultimate x64
  

 

I'm still waiting on things that are shipping from the US.

[bp9801]

How long before everything else arrives?

[Miek]

I'm not too sure. My case came today, though. I haven't opened the box to check for damage yet but I think I will soon.

[bp9801]

Yeah, crack open the box and see if everything is in good order with the case. I think you'll be receiving everything else before long, typically Newegg has things arrive in quick succession.

[Miek]

• The case has everything and more. It's bigger than I though it'd be. It's HUGE! I mean... I knew they were going to be 200mm fans, but looking at them in person gives me an idea of the air they're going to be moving.
  
• The black interior as way nicer in person than in the images. The expansion bay's tool-less system does NOT look flimsy like a couple of reviews had suggested.
  
• The connections for the fan controller are a little messy, but it's nothing that can't be remedied by tucking the cables behind the MOBO area. Oh, might I mention that the said area for cable management is cavernous?
  
• I actually kind of like the mesh side better than an acrylic side. It just seems more... industrial, I guess, and makes the case look rugged and awesome.
  
• I like the dust filters, too. They should be really easy to clean every month or two using compressed air or some water. The ONLY thing I would change is to put a dust filter on the PSU's intake. Other than that, I think this case is going to be the one case to rule them all.
  

Oh, and don't even get me started on the video card (which is the non overclocked version after all, by the way) and the PSU... They look simply awesome. I'm more excited than ever now. Ha! And to think that a little over a year ago (when I decided I wanted a new PC and began slaving over what to put in it) I was going to go to a shop and get them to do it. I think this way will be MUCH more fun and rewarding. Not to mention about $500 cheaper.

 

 

EDIT: From initial inspections, nothing appears to be damaged. Everything was padded using foam, foam peanuts, or paper and the items inside their actual retail boxes are held firmly in place by foam padding. It would take doing something intentional to damage something to actually cause it harm, I think. However, I will see for sure if everything works when I get this beast assembled.

 

My new task is finding a camera so I can do a worklog.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Miek

[bp9801]

All of that sounds good and is making me envious of when I can do a new build.

 

Building a computer yourself is always more rewarding. You know what everything is, you know how to install and remove stuff in case something goes wrong, and its built by your hand so you can diagnose all the problems. I was in the same boat as you about 7 years ago. I was dead set on getting a computer for myself and was going to purchase one from a shop. I kept doing research and eventually a few friends suggested I should buy the parts separate and build it myself. Few more months passed and I finally settled on all the parts and placed the order. Read just about every guide I could on how to assemble it and went at it. Now, I'd only consider buying parts and building it myself because there really isn't much like it.. plus like you said, it saves you money!

 

Find the camera and get the worklog together!

[Miek]

I wonder... Should I mount the PSU in the case right now and verify that all the fans/LED's work OK? Or should I wait until everything gets here?

[bp9801]

Wait until everything arrives.

[Miek]

OK... I was trying to figure out how the fan controller connections work but they have my perplexed. This could be due to the fact that I've never actually seen this case in person before.

 

I've also discovered that the side panel with the fan in it can be impossibly difficult to remove and has a tendency to very suddenly unlatch and fall to the floor (the case is sitting on the floor, though). I do not believe anything was damaged (the LED out connection disconnected from the LED connection for the side fan, but I reconnected it and no wires appeared to be damaged).

 

The other side panel, however, is much more cooperative. It slides on and off with minimal effort. Weird, considering that the other panel comes off much more often.

 

 

Gah, I want so badly for all of my other parts to come in. I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hoping that everything works. I leave for university on Sept. 1st. If defective items take a week to get back to Newegg, a day to process, and a week to get back, that's 17 days gone whereas I only have 11 left.

 

If anything is defective, I'd have two options:

 

1. Return the item for an exchange, even though I won't be here when it gets back in the mail. Then, when it arrives, drive up on the weekend and grab it and hope it works.

2. Buy a replacement part at the (overpriced) shop in the city nearby, assuming they even have what it is I'm looking for.

 

 

For some reason, I am mostly concerned at this point about the case not being fully functional, partially because of the fan controller (added possible point of failure).

 

 

I think that the two things I hate the most are uncertainty and waiting. Combining them drives me absolutely crazy.

All of a sudden I feel really stressed about this. I know I shouldn't, but I'm terrified of something not working. I'm scared that I might break something if I even look at it the wrong way. Not to mention that AFTER I ordered my parts, I was informed that the apartment I am moving in to had been broken into the week before.

 

I want a new PC because my laptop's an old, slow, POS, but at the same time I'm afraid of any of my parts arriving defective. Maybe I shouldn't be so afraid, though. My guess is that Purolator's ground shipping put my stuff through more abuse that I'd be comfortable with. This IS Saskatchewan and many of our roads do resemble Swiss cheese, so it's not unlikely that things got bounced around. Not to mention the actual handling of the items. I don't know whether to feel more confident for the item, or more afraid of them coming defective now that I've said that.

 

 

Sorry if I kind of just rambled on here, I just typed what I thought as I thought it so it may or may not be 100% coherent.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Miek