As Yet to be Named Build..........

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Comments

  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited November 2010
    Tushon wrote:
    Don't skimp on the PSU if you want that much GPU power. Maybe just 2x GFX cards for now and a quality PSU. Do you have another AM2+ proc? You can use that or borrow one to just update the BIOS then throw in your new one. That is what I had to do with my Asus M3A78-T to get the PIIx4 940 in it (now a 965 BE).

    Looks like the 850 is being traded for a 1000.......got a 720 in there now but have blown out a thumb drive and have to get another. Not sure what happened but managed to erase everything on the drive while trying to make it a boot drive. Seems this particular model requires flashing from a usb drive to avoid borking the chip. Was going to get lazy and purchase one already flashed when I discovered the b#*+h is hard wired!!! :hair::eek3: :mad2:
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited December 2010
    Okay after much "gnashing of teeth" I've managed to get the bios updated and the 1055T mounted, HOWEVER as usual with time on my hands things have changed......... PSU, GPU, and HDD arrangement has changed. :rolleyes:

    CASE: Zalman Z7 Plus
    PSU: Zalman ZM1000-HP Plus
    CPU: PII X4 1055T
    HSF: Zalman CNPS9900-NT
    GPU: 2 x Galaxy GTX 580
    MEMORY: F3-16000CL9D-4GBTD w/ Zalman ZM-RC1000
    HDD 1: Zalman SSD0032S1 32GB SSD (Primary)
    HDD 2: WD V’Raptor 300GB (Misc Apps etc)
    HDD 3: 2 x WD1001FALS 1TB (RAID 0 Storage)
    Optical Drive 1: Pioneer DVR-S18MBK
    Fan Controller: Zalman ZM-MFC3

    The biggy right now is I'm waiting on the PSU to come in so running it on the Tec Station with an OCZ 700W and the original 285. Trying to get the HDD loaded with the OS and it has been a total bomb........:grumble:

    http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91515
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited December 2010
    The only thing I'm scared about in that build is the RAID 0 storage. Super hard to recover anything if one of those discs goes down. Nice build otherwise!
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited December 2010
    Tushon wrote:
    The only thing I'm scared about in that build is the RAID 0 storage. Super hard to recover anything if one of those discs goes down. Nice build otherwise!

    Keep getting my RAID numbers confused.....planning on doing the "mirrored" version. :wink:
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited December 2010
    Ah, double-checking ahead of time is much better than finding out you had the wrong one afterwards. RAID 1 would be the way to go.
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited January 2011
    Starting the New Year….2011
    Okay got the flash issue out of the way so now on with building!!

    This last week I have taken the mobo assembly off the TechStation and mounted it into the case. Had a couple of major components arrive the 6th (that’ll be covered later) but really got the desire to finish this thing (air cooler version that is!!). However this weekend turned into a bust time wise. Well anyway this may not be as wordy as usual, but that’s a good thing!

    For the first running I’ll be using the 285 and for some extra goodies I’ve added Zalman’s ZM-PCM1 with two ZM-VPM1s http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=417 & http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=418 . Also added Silverstone’s CLEARCMOS switch for when I start trying to overclocking. The CMOS jumper is located in the middle of the mobo and didn’t feel like reaching around things.

    SilverStoneCMOSRemoteSwitch.jpg

    Initially I started mounting the mobo, HDDs, bezel items, and PSU when it arrived. One of the things that MSI included with this mobo are something I call “pre-wire plugs”. In principle it sounds pretty cool. Hook up the entire front panel wiring to the plugs and then just plug those into the mobo.

    MSIPrewirePlugs.jpgMSIPrewiredPluginPlace.jpg But as you can see that makes the connections rather tall, and I wanted to see less wires so I went back to just doing it “the old way”.

    WithoutMSIPrewiredPlug.jpg

    Next up was mounting the HDDs into the cage and the SSD to its dedicated tray, which also would hold the FDD if one were still using those.

    HDDsinCage1.jpgSSDonMtgPlate.jpgBottomofFDDorSSDMtgPlate.jpg

    Something to note about the SSD tray, this is the second build I’ve done where the case manufacturer supplied one. However I like the one in the Zalman as it is metal whereas the one in the NZXT Hades is plastic. To get things rolling I mounted my OCZ PSU just in case the Zalman 1000 didn’t arrive for the week. That one would handle the single 285 with out issue and I did want to say I had it running this weekend!

    The HDDs were mounted in the center of the cage as I wanted the fan to really cool the V’Raptor with the 2 x 1TBs below. Anyway mount the HDD cage and something didn’t look quiet right……so decided to mount the GPU, or try to any way!

    GPUtoHDDsClose.jpgGPUHDDsBump1.jpg

    So the cage came out and moved everything up one slot and………..

    HDDsinOlace.jpgHDDsGPUAfterMove1.jpgHDDsGPUAfterMove2.jpg


    With that resolved I started laying out the SATA cables to see how they would work out.

    TestFittingSATACables1.jpgTestFittingSATACables2.jpgAllSATAPortsFull.jpg

    This ended up having all of the SATA headers filled, more on this later. Don’t have a picture, but ended up with another GPU fit issue. Seems the 90 degree plug on the cable caused the cable(s) to push against the GPU PCB, so change number 2 thanks to the 285!

    While I was beginning to play with this stuff received a nice surprise last Thursday….the PSU and the “power meters” arrived!

    ThePowerinTheBox.jpgPSUOutoftheBox.jpgPSUinPlace1.jpg

    Now with that in place I could start layout the power cables and see how I could make it tidy. However my “big” case started shrinking!

    24PinHookedUp.jpgStuffStuffedIn.jpg

    The last picture shows all the power cabling in place along with the mem cooler. So much for “neat and tidy”!!

    Now the latest snags………..

    The “extension” cables provided by Zalman to go between their interface block and the units (both GPU & PSU) are way too short so having to get something ordered. Managed a temp fix for the CPU one though.

    The Zalman fan controller looks to require some 3-pin extensions also the hook up the fans but the real biggie is the dang interface/power brick that is pug ugly and LARGE!!

    So need to stop the ‘puter stuff until I get the issues figured out and get back on the honey dos!!
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    Those “pre-wire plugs” seem pretty awesome! They may not look the greatest, but it seems like every time I go to plug in the front panel connectors, I need three hands with smaller fingers and a flashlight. That'd make the end of the assembly a little less stressful.
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited January 2011
    Gargoyle wrote:
    Those “pre-wire plugs” seem pretty awesome! They may not look the greatest, but it seems like every time I go to plug in the front panel connectors, I need three hands with smaller fingers and a flashlight. That'd make the end of the assembly a little less stressful.

    That is where they shine, however I was able to not have to use them! :bigggrin:
  • MalpercioMalpercio Greater St. Louis Area
    edited January 2011
    I actually had the BIOS flashing issue with my recent build as well. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have another CPU to pop in instead of the X6 1055T to get it flashed, so after several hours of struggling with it, I finally did manage to flash the BIOS without it freezing on me.
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited January 2011
    Malpercio wrote:
    ............. so after several hours of struggling with it, I finally did manage to flash the BIOS without it freezing on me.

    :thumbup
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited February 2011
    Have had all kinds of things get in the way of trying to finish this build!! Anyway while it’ll come out a bit disjointed I’ll try to bring everyone up to date. Lots of things are a changing but for now let s just worry about KestrelFlight (KF) v1.0!

    Finally got around to setting up and “testing” the “power meters” – ZM-PCM1 & ZM-VPM1. I’ll try to set up a “User’s Review” thread, but for now just the quick and dirty.

    First and foremost, what I found disappointing…….both come with an interface block and gender bender cable. I had to rely on factory pix here as I and my camera let myself down when I tried to shoot them. To the left will be the VPM1 with the PCM1 to the right. The interface block is the same for both. The PCM1 has the 5.25 mounting bracket also.

    ZM-VPM1_Parts.jpgZM-PCM1_04.jpg

    You can see how short the adapter cable is but show how large the block is we have…….

    GPUInterfaceModule.jpg

    This one is for the GPU (CPU is the same) which leads to the second disappointment……..one block per meter means that if you want the total watts for a card that has more than one power connector – you quest it another meter is needed! I’ve been in conversation with performance-pcs about making longer gender bender cables with two connects like what most PSUs have. Until that happens though I will be monitoring one unit and have tucked the interface blocks into the HDD cage.

    285GTXHookup.jpg

    Here are a couple of pix showing various settings and will go into more detail in the User’s Review thread. However they look pretty cool, just don’t know, for me anyway, just how useful they will be.

    VoltageLooksRight.jpg285GTXFurMark.jpg285GTX.jpg

    Because of wanting to run the fans through a fan controller initially I had everything hooked up to the 3 fan headers on the mobo. Only problem was I had four items………2 x 120 fans, the mem cooler, and of course the 3000N on the 285, so the mem cooler lost.

    Now comes the ZM-MFC3 which you can see in the earlier pix, just not hooked up. Now I’ve already mentioned the big dislike there…..the so called interface/power brick. Here you can see it at the rear of the case as the power cable goes to it and then its power cable goes to the PSU. Also there is an interface cable that hooks into an I/O plate that brings info to the device.

    FanControllerPower.jpg

    Sure would have like to have had the time and inclination to mod that so it could be hid. If I use another one that will be done, especially if it is a bigger case! However after setting it up and really paying attention to what the fan controller does I understood the big ugly black things job. While I knew it controlled fans and had four temperature probes I hadn’t realized that it also showed total used wattage. Ergo the big block with the separate data cable.

    The darn thing looks absolutely divine, is easy to program, and seems to have a pretty wide viewing angle. Shown is straight on, from above, and from one side. Only the color has a noticeable shift.

    FanControllerLookingDown.jpgFanControllerFromLeft.jpgFanControllerStraightOn.jpg

    Here we have everything running……..the 285 GTX is doing GPU3 folding (left and right) with the CPU (center) doing Prime. Sadly because this build is about to go through a major rebuild I didn’t setup any temperatures. You can see the total wattage in the middle of the fan controller. Then I’ll finish this out with some misc. pictures.

    GPU3285Prime.jpgFanControllerDarkClose.jpgFanControllerDarkFar.jpgSideViewWithItAll.jpg3-4SideViewAirNoLexan.jpg
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited February 2011
    An interesting side note with the fan controller.........I'm cooling the 285 with Zalman's VF-3000N and all of the 3000 series are pretty much fixed speed An interesting side note with the fan controller.........I'm cooling the 285 with Zalman's VF-3000N and all of the 3000 series are pretty much fixed speed (unless you like the fanmate) as they use a fan header on the mobo for power. With the controller I now can control that speed. While not that load it can be even quieter.

    I believe the two fans run at about 2200rpm and just to see how efficient it is I lowered the RPMs to 1400 while folding. One would have to put their ear right next to it to even hear the fans and it keep it at 71C (HWMon). Again as with most coolers the better the case cooling the better they work. Under the same case and ambient temps I raised the fan speed to 1900 and it is now showing 56C.

    I may give it a try with FurMark when I have the time. ;)
    as they use a fan header on the mobo for power. With the controller I now can control that speed. While not that load it can be even quieter.

    I believe the two fans run at about 2200rpm and just to see how efficient it is I lowered the RPMs to 1400 while folding. One would have to put their ear right next to it to even hear the fans and it keep it at 71C (HWMon). Again as with most coolers the better the case cooling the better they work. Under the same case and ambient temps I raised the fan speed to 1900 and it is now showing 56C.

    I may give it a try with FurMark when I have the time. ;)
  • jedihobbitjedihobbit Central Virginia, USA New
    edited February 2011
    In the continued tradition where my builds “never stay the same” KestrelFlight has already been going through some engineering change ideas in getting ready to start KF v2.0.

    As I sit here looking at KF I am mentally reviewing my quest for a maxed out Zalman build. As a kinda sorta “it is finished” situation I’ll “close” with my thoughts on how things went together and how they matched my “expectations”.

    To review what Zalman items were used here is a quick inventory and then my comments about each one. I will do this from “memory” and not refer back to the log so as to have an “overall” opinion.

    CASE: Z7 Plus
    PSU: ZM1000-HP Plus
    HSF: CNPS9900-NT
    GPU COOLER: VF3000N
    SSD SSD0032S1
    MEMORY COOLER: ZMRC-1000
    FAN CONTROLLER: ZM-MFC3
    POWER MONITORs: ZM-CPM! & -VPM1

    Z7 Plus

    This (along with a NZXT Hades) was my first foray into mid-towers for a long time. Overall I like its exterior appearance. Quality is what I would expect from Zalman and really enjoyed working with it. If one wants to do a window as I did save yourself some change and buy the non-Plus. Now as far as the door fan of the plus the only issue there is the same as I had with the Hades………the fan will interfere with most if not all “super” HSFs as their height is right to the door. Not a knock on Zalman as this issue is showing up in several cases that provide door fans, especially the 200mm and up size.

    The HDD cage is a nice feature as well as the 2.5” device / SSD holder. They are designed to pretty much move up and down where one wants to put. Another about the SSD mount is it is metal. The plastic one in the Hades was fine but I’m old school.

    As I guess is typical with this class of case one usually doesn’t have that much space on the “back” side for cable placement. However I was able to do a decent job with the case to hide stuff.

    ZM1000-HP Plus

    Because of having done mATX builds I’ve always been partial to modular power supplies. The 1000 gave me some strong +12v rails as it was originally going to have the single 285 GTX replaced with 3 x 470 GTX then 2 x 580s. SO there is more than enough power here. Again I’m happy with the quality, passive cooling, and a manageable size. The cables are a decent length (a bit much for mATX) for a mid tower and possibly a full. Their assembly is neat and didn’t have any connector issues and the black sleeving worked well for me. An interesting side note was that when it was all said and done I used both SATA cables and could have gotten away without the one Molex cable if I had gotten a SATA (male) to Molex (female) adapter sooner. The fan controller uses a Molex for power.

    CNPS9900-NT

    Don’t really think I can add much to what has already been said about this series of coolers. While overclocking the 1055T I maxed out the volts on the mobo and it stayed for the most part in the mid 50s at load. I am and have always been a big fan of the 9XXX series cooler.

    SSD0032S1

    Did the SSD thing because I won it in a contest. Do not have any knowledge base to even make an evaluation other than to say it does appears fast and 32GB just don’t cut it size wise with Win7. Do like the I can go anywhere size though.

    VF3000N

    Elsewhere on this forum there is a “User’s Review “ I did on this unit. The only real complaint I had/have is the quality of the thermal tape used to attach the passive coolers. Not sure if it was due to the thermal paste used or what but those little suckers would not stick!! Finally got them to work after running the card flat and letting the tape cook for a while.

    A minor con is how the fans are powered…..two wire plug that needs to be attached to a fan header on the mobo. That leaves one with it either running at max speed, whatever 7v gives you with an adaptor, or the old faithful fan mate. Hooking it to a quality fan controller is what I would suggest as it is an efficient cooler. When I lower it to 1400RPM via the MFC3 one could not hear it!! And with folding that speed managed to keep the 285 in the 60s.

    ZMRC-1000

    Honestly this was added more for bling than anything else as I don’t over volt my memory for overclocking. And as with most mem coolers of this size it gets very tight with a HSF of the larger kind. I may have mention in the log I do like it thought and thought the attachment method is better than most.

    ZM-MFC3

    I ordered this because it was the “latest and greatest” from Zalman and really hadn’t read up on it. So it was with great surprise when I opened the box and the big black ugly “brick” appeared! However after realizing that the MFC3 did more than control the fans and give temps I could like with it…….just need to figure out how to hide it. This is a neat and attractive device that does its job well.


    ZM-CPM! & -VPM1

    These again were a “bling” and sounds neat kind of deal. As with the rest of the stuff don’t have any issue with the build quality, just don’t quite understand some of the engineering. As mention in my “User’s Review” the interface blocks are meh, the adapter cables are way too short (at least in the way I wanted to use them), and again to me THE CARDNIAL SIN………if you have a dual plug GPU (who doesn’t if they are going power!) it requires two –VPM1s to measure fully the card!! That’s the way I feel unless someone can convince me the total power usage can be done using only one plug (6 or 8 pin).

    Also when it is said and done I just don’t see the average guy or gal using these except like me…..for bling and because!! Don’t get me wrong I think they are quality and neat, but just not sure what I would do with the numbers.

    That’ll be it until some custom cables I’ve ordered to “correct” my issues with the –CPM! And –VPM1 come in. After building KestrelFlight v1.0 I’m still very much the Zalman fanboy!!
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