Such a mess atm
Getting a small monitor stand will create some extra useful room on your desk top. Things like your modem there will fit underneath it perfectly. Plus it will put your monitor and a more naturally viewing height. Hell your Xbox would probably fit underneath it.
http://www.amazon.com/Allsop-Metal-M...=monitor+stand
Last edited by BicycleMafioso; 2013-02-18 at 05:08 AM.
Cooler Master HAF X : Intel Core i7 2600K @ 4.7GHz : Corsair A70 cooler : 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Vengeance LP : ASUS P8Z68 V-PRO/Gen3 : EVGA GTX GTX 670 FTW SIG2
I cringed. I thought you were supposed to have a clean & tidy build, Deltrus! D:
Intel i5-3570K @ 4.7GHz | MSI Z77 Mpower | Noctua NH-D14 | Corsair Vengeance LP White 1.35V 8GB 1600MHz
Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Windforce 3X @ 1372/7604MHz | Corsair Force GT 120GB | Silverstone Fortress FT02 | Corsair VX450
Err why is the HAF-X terrible for cable management? It is still considered one of the largest cases ever, it's built by CoolerMaster who are the same people behind the Storm series cases...and my Sniper has at least ~2-3cm gap for cables behind the tray, which is plenty. The sidepanel also has the same embossed design to give extra room for cables, similar to my Sniper.
I'll take a rear photo of my mobo tray tonight. Promised myself I'd never show it to the world, could make people's eyes explode...but it can't be the worst out there XD
WoW Character: Wintel - Frostmourne (OCE)
Gaming rig: i7 7700K, GTX 1080 Ti, 16GB DDR4, BenQ 144hz 1440p
Signature art courtesy of Blitzkatze
The HAF X is an older case, and is from before Cooler Master became "good" if they can be called "good."
The room behind the motherboard tray is pathetic. It's a pain in the ass to put the side panel back on there. =/ Not to mention the extreme lack in places to tie cables down. -.-
Frankly, I wouldn't buy another HAF case, except maybe that box one they made.
Either way, HAF is all about airflow and expansion room... and that's it.
The Storm series (minus the disgusting Enforcer) are far superior, from what I can tell.
If I start saying what brands are superior, then we'd be here all night. ^_^
It's a pretty good case to build in, and the hotswap bay is the most fantastic one I've ever had the pleasure of trying. It's got a really simple mechanic sled mechanic.
You take it out of the case, and then on the backside there's this, which'll release 'one' edge to let you slide a harddrive into it...
Spoiler: Yes, that does mean I'm currently using a HAF XB.
AMD Phenom II 960T X4 3,0 Ghz
8 Gb Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz RAM
XFX 550W 80+ Bronze CORE
Gigabyte UD3 990FX
Gigabyte HD6850 Windforce OC
Case -> Fractal Design Define R2 Arctic White (Actually the best part of the computer, the rest of the parts haven't aged as well as this beautiful case lol)
Thinking of an upgrade soonish... hmmm
Currently pulling around 35-45 FPS at "High" settings, and 60-90 FPS at "Medium"
Are you referring to WoW? I imagine so, based on the website we're on... but most of us computer forum regulars quit WoW some time ago. :P We just stuck around because we love it here.
Your computer has some age left in it, but if you want to play anything more serious, I would upgrade for sure.
Just finished my first build ever. Here's some background on my gaming "rigs":
- 2008 - Started playing World of Warcraft on a Dell Dimenionsion workstation that a really nice IT guy gave me. AGP for life! Retired Dinosaur
- 2009 - Upgraded to the super badass IBuyPower rig for a crazy $579. AMD Athlon II x2 (Regor) and M4A77TD motherboard I believe.What's left of it
- 2009 to 2013 - Just kept adding RAM and new GPU's to the problem of having a crappy CPU. It sufficed for WoW but now I'd like to play GW2 a bit.
Finally got a promotion and decided it was time to buy myself a better rig.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($50.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-S4S-10AK-GP 60.9 CFM 140mm Fan ($7.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Full (32/64-bit) ($166.68 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($167.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($97.83 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer Naga 2012 Wired Laser Mouse ($62.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $1641.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-18 09:12 EST-0500)
Having zero experience with building a rig there are obvious oversights. I probably could have saved some money in multiple places (PSU, Mobo, GPU) and I could have used that money to buy RAM (1333 right now is from old rig). I'll be upgrading that next, but the bank account needs a small break.
First trip to MicroCenter
Initial build with old GPU (HD6770)
After that I started everything up and GW2 looked pretty good, but it wasn't maxed. I tossed around the idea of a Tahiti LE vs the 7950 and decided to just go with the 7950. No logical reason other than the fact that MicroCenter had it in stock (right down the street from me) and a co-worker said he really liked his Gigabyte 7950.
Installed the 7950 - here's a non-flash version
...and a version with flash
So, what did I learn in all of this?
- Building your own rig is really rewarding and I will never buy pre-built again.
- These forums are super helpful.
- Be more patient when picking out components. Readily available doesn't always mean most ideal.
- Be more prepared for Cable Management. I'll be disconnecting everything and re-doing it so it doesn't look like it does right now