1. #1
    The Patient at05gt's Avatar
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    Color Matching components, advice needed.

    I've posted before in the gaming rig megathread, some people should remember how hideous my non color matched case was. If not see: Imgur Album

    I've changed cases and the new one has better cable management and a window, so the obviously mismatched colors is kinda digging at my OCD like a woodpecker on a telephone pole. I have ordered blue sata cables and switched all my fan trim rings to white. The scheme I'm going for is blue and white inside a black case. So the 2 most obvious items that need attention are my GPU (ASUS HD 7750) and my memory (Patriot Viper 3 Red).

    For the memory I have a few options:
    Expensive - replace with color matched ram (Patriot Viper 3 Blue or Black) - $50-60 per 8gb kit x2
    Cheap - source blue or black heat spreaders for my ram - $4-5 per cooler
    Free - strip off the current heat spreaders cause my ram sticks are black underneath

    For the GPU I only have 2 options:
    Buy new color matched GPU - $150-250
    Strip the cooling solution off the GPU and try and respray the plastic to match the case, doable but leaves me without a graphics card/computer for a few days

    So TL DR spend more money or DIY it?
    Last edited by at05gt; 2013-01-13 at 11:33 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by noteworthynerd View Post
    But hey, we're just strangers on the Internet with decades of combined IT and computer building experience, what do we know?

  2. #2
    I would only get a new GPU if it is a significant performance increase involved as well. The RAM sticks you can easily just paint.
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  3. #3
    The Patient at05gt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by n0cturnal View Post
    I would only get a new GPU if it is a significant performance increase involved as well. The RAM sticks you can easily just paint.
    The heat spreaders? Id have to take them off to do that anyways, but wth would I paint them with that would cover but not impede heat transfer, or should I just go bare ram sticks?
    Quote Originally Posted by noteworthynerd View Post
    But hey, we're just strangers on the Internet with decades of combined IT and computer building experience, what do we know?

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by at05gt View Post
    The heat spreaders? Id have to take them off to do that anyways, but wth would I paint them with that would cover but not impede heat transfer, or should I just go bare ram sticks?
    I've seen people just mask RAM sticks with tape and just use any generic spray paint, but I guess you could also remove the heat spreaders, it is mostly gimmick anyway.
    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

  5. #5
    The Patient at05gt's Avatar
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    Ya you really only needed heat spreaders on DDR2 cause it tended to run really hot. I'll probably just strip them down carefully and clean off w/e thermal tape/goo they stuck on there. I'd love to get hold of the spreaders they use on the viper 3 intel extreme masters version as it matches my mobo perfectly, but /shrug.
    Quote Originally Posted by noteworthynerd View Post
    But hey, we're just strangers on the Internet with decades of combined IT and computer building experience, what do we know?

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by at05gt View Post
    The heat spreaders? Id have to take them off to do that anyways, but wth would I paint them with that would cover but not impede heat transfer, or should I just go bare ram sticks?
    Any heat-spreaders on sandy/ivy bridge compatible RAM are purely aesthetic. Hence the manufacturers' ability to sell "low-profile" RAM without the heat-sinks that perform exactly the same.

  7. #7
    The Patient at05gt's Avatar
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    Blue Sata cables came in today, I should have checked and ordered flat cables. These round ones have a funky bulge on the plug ends, I'm thinking I might have fitment issues.
    Quote Originally Posted by noteworthynerd View Post
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  8. #8
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    I removed the offending red trim ring from my GPU.




    It popped off with minimal effort from the fan shroud. Now the choice is: sand, prime and repaint, or just go with all black?

    The RAM is another matter entirely, the heat spreaders on these sticks:



    Do not wanna let go at all, the tape they used to attach them is just ridiculous. I got one half off on a stick, but it took an extreme amount of force and I'm afraid I might snap a stick if I'm not careful. So not entirely certain what my next move should be.
    Quote Originally Posted by noteworthynerd View Post
    But hey, we're just strangers on the Internet with decades of combined IT and computer building experience, what do we know?

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