Special build for oldest brother

[Boinker]

About 2 weeks ago my Father commissioned me to build a computer for my brother. The build will revolve around him going through collage and being able to game at a more enjoyable level. There is more that goes into that story, I will get to that later though. Enjoy the show

 

Lets start out with the components.

Processor: Core I5-650 Clarksdale Dual core 3.20 Ghz w/ Hyperthreading

Main-board: Msi H55M-ED55 Socket 1156

Memory: Corsair XMP DDR3-1600 @ cas 8 (2x2GB Kit)

Hard drive: Western digital Black 500 gig 32 cache

Video card: EVGA GTX470 SE edition

Cooling Fan: Scythe little Shuriken rev. B

Disk Drive: Lite-On 24x DVD-R-W CD-R-W SATA drive

O.S.: Windows 7 Professional Full edition 64bit

Power supply: Corsair Professional 80 plus gold certified AX850

Case: Lian Li PC-V354 Black brushed aluminum case

Screen: Asus 25 inch 1920-1080p HDMI monitor (with functional built in speakers)

Keyboard: Adesso USB wired Mini Workstation Keyboard w/ integrated touch pad.

 

Roughly $1600 USD spent

 

Now here is the Kicker. All this stuff showed up at about 6:30 P.M. Central time on Monday, my brother is an avid Wow player, cataclysm comes out in five and a half hours and he is curious if I can get it done in time. May the madness begin.

 

Here is everything less the keyboard being shown. Lots of goodies on this table and yes I took the time to take some pictures.

 

After getting everything out of the box and consulting man well It was time to do some stability testing and get the operating system up and running.

 

Now that everything works as it should It was time for it to go into said case. I didn't take pictures of the madness taking place as yes... It was maddening to wire this "over-sized HTPC case" with decent wire management and without taking a hammer too it.

 

About 15 cable tie mounting plates, 20 cable ties, a bunch of bruises on my hand and a fair share of trial and error. So in some sort of slang that would come from top gear, I present to you a mini cooper.... WITH A V12.

 

 

There it is for My brother to enjoy. Only Draw back is he is having trouble getting used to how large the screen is. Hope you all enjoyed the build log.

 

Which brings me to my next part that I promised I would explain later. The reason for the Odd Style of keyboard and the case set-up is my brother has been handicapped by a vehicle accident when he was seventeen. The accident left him in a wheel chair with no to little dexterity in in his hands. That being said he cannot use a mouse properly or effectively and that has bound him to a laptop computer for the past 5 years. I'm glad that while surfing one day I stumbled upon this keyboard as it has now effectively allowed my brother to play these games at a more then decent. that being said even the case plays a good roll in that aspect as all the buttons are soft touch and the case is lower so he can actually now put a cd-rom into the drive without help. That alone makes this build special in my mind and is sure to stick with me for a very long time. Hope you all enjoyed the log.

[usaweapon777]

Very nice rig. I'm sure he'll enjoy it playing the latest games for years to come.

[IVIYTH0S]

That's awesome dude, noone would expect that little case to be packin a 470!

[MercuryDoun]

NICE JOB!!! Man i bet your brother is crazy excited!! I was wondering what was up with the touchpad/keyboard until the end, i think its really great what you and your dad did for your brother.

 

You get a chance/are your going to, OC that i5?

[dihartnell]

Awesome. I like that case. I usually hate that form factor because they generally have lousy airflow but with two intake and one exhaust fan at the top it should be decent. Im impressed you have an ATX PSU and a GTX470 in there as well. What are the temps like.

[ccokeman]

Excellent buildup and I'm sure your brother will enjoy it.

[bp9801]

Thats a pretty sweet keyboard. One of my professors has a similar one with the trackpad built right in, he loves it so I'm sure your brother will love his as well.

 

Really nice thing you did for him, that PC will more than handle WoW and practically every other game for him for some time. How does he like it?

 

Also, I'm just curious since my brother lives in Edmond, what college is he going to? I know OU and UCO are close by, plus OSU-OKC is practically a walk away.

[Boinker]

Thank for the replies all. Much appreciated complements. And yes he is enjoying out very much at this point. Thr only isue that wer can mark at this point is the keyboard does not like multiple inputs in game. I'm going to contact the manufacture to see if there is a firm ware fix or something for that.

 

Bp9801: he is going to collage at ocu in edmond.

 

Diehartnell: one of the contacts I vocally made was to not overclock it.. Poo.

 

Oc temps processor, 30 c both cores with c states active. Load temp @ 50c

Gpu idle about 50c at core. Load under occt gpu test @ 78c fan speed just above 50%.

 

Thanks again guys.

[bishop245]

Let him oc it he can ask you to supervise but let him do it

[AddictedGamer93]

Nice build, he's going to love that setup.

Edited December 9, 2010 by AddictedGamer93

[Boinker]

Let him oc it he can ask you to supervise but let him do it

 

Well good lord, Heck its even got a button on the Board to Increase the Bclk so why not.

 

Nice build, hope your brother enjoys it.

Though, I worry for the life of the PSU, since its sucking in hot air straight off the 470.

 

One of the stipulations of the build was to ensure that the case had plenty of cooling And could sustain itself automatically under the most stressful loads. One of the tests I ran was Prime95 Blend and occt GPU tester at the same time . Nothing got warm in my book. And its good that the 470 Exhausts out the back side of the case.

Edited December 9, 2010 by boinker

[Armitris]

So after a few weeks have you heard anything new about the system is he still loving it, did he need you to change anything?