This build was incredibly exciting for me, not only as it was the first build as HalTechTV but because of the equipment I got to use. Now this build took a lot of planning. More than most people would think, so I’ll explain:
Any build starts with 3 things- The budget, The requirements and The wants. The wants being things the client doesn’t need but would like to have if possible.
So you design it around the requirements inside of the budget and try to add the wants in where and if you can. In this case the budget was a bit under £2000 and the clients requirements were that it needs to be able to play games well and needs to be good for video editing as a secondary use. This being relevant to the price that is. Now through my past experience with similar clients caused me to know to add the looks of the system in as a REQUIREMENT not a want for this system.
So the list of the wants were: water cooled CPU, SSD and 16GB ram. And as you can see I met not just all the requirements but the wants as well, and then went a tad further.
I knew the designing of this system would all be in my hands in this case and so I spent time perfecting the system I had created in my mind.
So now to explain some of the reasoning behind each component.
Part Reasoning:
Socket 2011- Now at this budget getting 1155 would leave little to no room for upgrades. It was also important due to the quad channel memory capability being extremely beneficial in the video editing part of the system use. That and things like further PCIe capabilities meant that 2011 was really the best way to go and is truly the better platform anyway.
Intel core I7 3820- This was pretty much a budget choice/issue. Every other CPU was too expensive to be worth it in regards to the build requirements.
Asus Rampage IV Formula- 50% of this choice was admittedly down to looks. It looked the part and met my colour scheme (black & red). It would SELL this pc. The other 50% was that past works with the ROG series meant I trusted them, they were reliable, had all the features, and well… they Performed!!!
So you design it around the requirements inside of the budget and try to add the wants in where and if you can. In this case the budget was a bit under £2000 and the clients requirements were that it needs to be able to play games well and needs to be good for video editing as a secondary use. This being relevant to the price that is. Now through my past experience with similar clients caused me to know to add the looks of the system in as a REQUIREMENT not a want for this system.
So the list of the wants were: water cooled CPU, SSD and 16GB ram. And as you can see I met not just all the requirements but the wants as well, and then went a tad further.
I knew the designing of this system would all be in my hands in this case and so I spent time perfecting the system I had created in my mind.
So now to explain some of the reasoning behind each component.
Part Reasoning:
Socket 2011- Now at this budget getting 1155 would leave little to no room for upgrades. It was also important due to the quad channel memory capability being extremely beneficial in the video editing part of the system use. That and things like further PCIe capabilities meant that 2011 was really the best way to go and is truly the better platform anyway.
Intel core I7 3820- This was pretty much a budget choice/issue. Every other CPU was too expensive to be worth it in regards to the build requirements.
Asus Rampage IV Formula- 50% of this choice was admittedly down to looks. It looked the part and met my colour scheme (black & red). It would SELL this pc. The other 50% was that past works with the ROG series meant I trusted them, they were reliable, had all the features, and well… they Performed!!!
Corsair Vengeance- I think its pointless really listing reasons but: they’re cheap, look good, reliable, perform well and they met my style and colour scheme. I deep down wanted 2 Red and 2 Black… if only!
Palit GTX 670- That was a client choice. I said to go MSI but he chose Palit due to the price. But why a 670? Performance durrrr!!!
Cooler Master Haf 932 V2- Many reasons: I have a past with the 932, I have one myself. But they Look great and met my colour scheme and style. I knew it would fit a H100 in push/pull without a sweat. I think personally it was always going to be a 932 for me.
Cooler Master Haf 932 V2- Many reasons: I have a past with the 932, I have one myself. But they Look great and met my colour scheme and style. I knew it would fit a H100 in push/pull without a sweat. I think personally it was always going to be a 932 for me.
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200w- The client already had bought it. 1200W?!?! well it like the rest of the system leaves room for upgrades in the future.
Corsair H100- He wanted some form of water cooling and it fit the budget and suited my design, It’s also black.
Corsair Force GT- I was looking for an SSD that was beyond fast. Something that would really be the icing on the cake and when I saw this I knew this was the SSD I needed. I mean who else has an SSD that fits in and works with the colour scheme as well as this does.
Seagate Barracuda 2TB- Another client choice. Just a cheap 2TB storage drive.
9x Silverstone Air Penetrators- I felt like I needed to really go all out on the 932. I wanted to fill all the fan slots and have a H100 in Push/Pull. They were red and I knew what to expect from them.
9x Silverstone Air Penetrators- I felt like I needed to really go all out on the 932. I wanted to fill all the fan slots and have a H100 in Push/Pull. They were red and I knew what to expect from them.
Accessories- To add to that I bought 2x red cathodes, 2x red led strips and 2x 5way pwm fan splitters. The led strips and cathodes were to really light up the case and show the system for what its worth. And the pwm fan splitters were so I could make the side panel easily removable with the 4 fans on it, and so I could have all the exhaust fans running from one connection and the same for the intakes.
Personal thoughts on the build:
Am i happy with this build? yes but not completely
Why? Because there was many things I could still of done to this system, for example I was really pushed for time and under a lot of pressure to get it done quickly. if I could I would of spent a lot more time with the cable management, I would of also if all had gone to plan had a set of bitfenix alchemy red cables to use throughout the system to make it look even better.
Is there anything I still plan on doing to the system? yes I still have the cathode button in the top to do as the rubber cover still needs cutting. also potentially in the future I will kit the system out with bitfenix alchemy cables.
If you want to see the Pictures of this build head over to the Facebook page (link to the left) and dont forget to like the page while youre there for updates and more pictures of future products and projects.
Personal thoughts on the build:
Am i happy with this build? yes but not completely
Why? Because there was many things I could still of done to this system, for example I was really pushed for time and under a lot of pressure to get it done quickly. if I could I would of spent a lot more time with the cable management, I would of also if all had gone to plan had a set of bitfenix alchemy red cables to use throughout the system to make it look even better.
Is there anything I still plan on doing to the system? yes I still have the cathode button in the top to do as the rubber cover still needs cutting. also potentially in the future I will kit the system out with bitfenix alchemy cables.
If you want to see the Pictures of this build head over to the Facebook page (link to the left) and dont forget to like the page while youre there for updates and more pictures of future products and projects.
