Finnaly the rebuild....

**Detale** · 04-18-2008, 04:18 AM

So it took me a while but with the new baby done any day I wanted to take my time and do it right Thanks to all of you who answered my mostly dumb questions. For those of you that don't know here is my HW:

Antec 900 case
Evga 8800GT 512
E8400 Wolfdale 3.0 Ghz
Enzotech Extreme X CPU cooler
GIGABYTE GA-X38-DQ6
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 1000
Corsiar 620w Modular PSU
Dominator Ram cooler
Scyth S flex 1200 rpm fans

OK so we start with the original config pretty much rushed due to a complaining wife and screaming kids.

And so I have to take everything apart so I can clean out all the dust and start fresh

AH she's naked!

Installed the ram Gskil looks soooo nice

Now I am all excited to install the Extreme X CPU cooler but Ihave two issuse looking at it

The thing is HUGE!

and this copper plate on the underside of my MoBo Hmmmm

Well looks like that plate is in the way...

I guess I could get some longer screws but it's like 2am and that wouldn't be right. So I decide to pull a Clocker

and remove the plate all together.

I had to replace the screws on the Northbridge because they were screwed directly into this plate. Some more pics of it:

So with this copper monstrosity gone it fits wonderfully but still IT'S HUGE!

Talk about close

A soda can as a reference on the size

OK so I got it in installed the Vid card and got it back into the case no sweat

I installed the Dominator ram cooler and it was awfully close to the Vid card as Clocker said it would be but it did fit!

I even decided to add a Esata port onto my case, it was a PCI slot cover type that I cut and took apart to install.

I marked it out using the pci cover as a template

I then used my dremmel tool to cut out the plastic and used some slightly longer screws to account for the thickness of the plastic and...

I also had to cut a hole in the metal part of the case to accept the housing of the ESATA and 4 pin power connector

IMO it came out pretty good if I would have done some better planning it would be better but hey it works and looks decent enough.

Finally I made up a plug to power hard drives and sleeved the whole thing nicely

.

Now I can use my USB to IDE/SATA/PATA cable without the clunky power supply it came with

Finished...
or so I thought!

OK so booted right away fresh XP install and I was fine until, I heard a whining

what the hell is that I searched the whole righ and couldn't find it for shit. Finnally I saw it was the Ram cooler was pushing on the Video card I thought it was fine but as usual Clocker was right and it pushes the card ever so slightly and causes it to make an odd noise so out came the Ram cooler and I am going to RMA is asap

All in all it went pretty well and It will stay this way for some months as I said the baby is due any day now so there will be no time for playing around

Thanks again everyone.

**clocker** · 04-18-2008, 11:48 AM

Looks good, it'll be interesting to see how that Enzothing works.

You actually had more clearance between the RAM cooler and vid card than I did.
Almost looks like if you flipped the cooler so the power lead was on top you'd be OK...

Was that backplate cooler really copper or just aluminum with copper flashing?

And finally, a question...why did you mount the eSATA port on the roof instead of the backplane?

**kaiweiler** · 04-18-2008, 12:56 PM

At first I flinched when I saw you removed the backplate all together. I thought that the enzotech would be heavier than it is, and need something to help dispurse the weight. I looked it up and it's only 20 grams heaver than my Scythe Ninja (835g vs 815g). The ninja is fine without a backplate, so hopefully you will be okay.
All in all, it looks good!
Post up some load temps!

**Detale** · 04-18-2008, 06:15 PM

The prob with the ram cooler is that the only available 3 pin connector was over there and I tried taking out the wire last night and I do have about 3/16" space but the other prob is now it vibrates over next to the Enzotech and make an annoying noise there I space it and it moves back over. Also I forgot to mention I covered the metal hardware close to the Vid card in electrical tape as I think I saw you do somewhere to prevent any shorting at all.

Far as I could tell it was copper, it was real haevy thats why I think so, but I could be wrong...I'll send it to the lab!

Oh it's heavy but I think it will be ok as long as the computer isn't dropped, then I feel it might snap the Mobo.

The other prob is I put the E8400 back in and the temp sensor issue is not letting me see an accurate reading it always says 41 degrees even if I blow compressed air directly on the heatsink. Ahhh I might have to go back to the q6600 to at least see the temp difference, son of a bitch, Clocker did you say yours got somehow unstuck or am I imagining this?? If so what did you do or was it just random?

I mounted it to the top so I could access it without pulling my computer out of it's snug little home under the desk ( Wife makes me keep it there) this is not my desk in the pics this is my work area in the basement where I harvest computer parts from peoples broken dell's and gateways

I have some pics of the mess down there too. Mostly junk but if you need a spare part name it and it's yours!! I'm not kidding

**colt45joe** · 04-18-2008, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by Detale

Mostly junk but if you need a spare part name it and it's yours!! I'm not kidding

oiy, for free? 'cause I'd like that motherboard on the left there...

**clocker** · 04-18-2008, 08:41 PM

The sensors on the 8400- and one on the 9300 too- seemed to loosen up after a few rounds of OCCT.
Seems weird but it happened.

Why not just extend the leads on that ram cooler?