My Temporary/Main Rig

[Mgutierrez33]

Recently my FX-8350 decided that 125mV of 12V ripple from a PSU during load testing wasn't in its job description and decided that it was time to call it quits after less than a year. For now I am using my HTPC as the main rig with my R9 280X transplanted into it with matching cables (thank you Silverstone). This build is called "Silence is Golden," partially because of the (mostly) black and gold color scheme, partially because of the Silverstone sound dampening foam I lined every possible surface with and the reduced fan speeds. You literally can't hear anything from this machine apart from the rad fan when it first starts up and the HDD clicking over every now and again.

System Specs:
Asus A88X-PRO motherboard
AMD A10-7850K overclocekd to 4.4 GHz CPU speeds (iGPU capable of 960 MHz)
PowerColor AXR9 280X Turbo Duo (stock speeds)
Kingston HyperX Genesis 2 x 4GB 1866 MHz memory, overclocked to 2133 MHz
Enermax Revolution Xt 630W Power Supply
Silverstone PP07 Black/Gold braided cable extensions
Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD
Cooler Master Seidon 120M
Customized Cougar MX500
Aerocool low speed fan adapters
Silverstone Sound Dampening Foam



















Some of you may recognize the case from the review Pure Overclock conducted on it. At the time it was deemed half-baked; a product that had the best of intentions in mind, but was made awkward by its odd blend of features, build quality concerns and unfinished concepts. It was also said at the time that it would make a great mod project... this is proof that it can be made to look good and support a decently powerful computer. The window isn't the greatest job ever as it was my first, but I now know what went wrong with it and can improve upon the process. The rest of the mod was very simple: I just selected specific panels to paint gold, and painted them in a Ford shade of gold which happened to match the motherboard and the Silverstone cables rather well. This system isn't the greatest by any stretch of the imagination, but it works and it's mine. Really apart from my now ancient laptop it's all I've got, so I'm working with it as I can. I'll post some benchmarks of the system possibly some time this weekend. If you all have any questions on how I achieved this build feel free to ask, and as always CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcome. This was my first ever mod project and it's still not finished... I only need gold RAM for the system. I WAS going to select Avexir memory, but I am seriously concerned that I will only be sent one DIMM when I really need two for the system to look proper and function to its maximum potential, being Dual Channel and all. I was thinking maybe Team Group Vulcan DIMMs, or Corsair Vengeance Pro's with the gold top... assuming I can find them when they AREN'T a bajillion dollars more than other comparable modules. Eventually when this system becomes an HTPC again and the R9 280X is removed and placed back in my primary system I would love to get an R7 250 card, run it in Dual Graphics with the iGPU and get a custom watercooling loop made up of a 45mm thick 120mm rad at the back with both the CPU and iGPU in the loop, preferably using Swiftech components though EK parts would also look fantastic here since a lot of their hardware has gold/copper accents on it.

[Smiki007]

Very nice and clean build, I like the gold - black scheme, also cable extensions. Congrats my friend.

PS. Another 280x and you are ready to fly up to the sky.

[killjoyjim]

Nice build. I also love the gold on black

[vinman]

Great job looks really nice both inside and out

[Mgutierrez33]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I am currently attempting to reach out to Swiftech to see if they would be willing to help sponsor the completion of this build with proper water cooling parts. If they are willing to help me out then this will give me the backing I need to get the rest of the parts I want to get to finish this build properly.

I am presently looking to get an Adata SX900 128 GB SSD for the OS, Team Group Vulcan or Corsair Vengeance Pro memory, and a Sapphire R7 250 1GB GDDR5 (for ease of applying waco parts and VRM/memory heat sinks). Those parts would complete the build for me and allow me to write up a proper article on it for the website with benchmarks to go along with it. I have awesome ideas in mind for it, and I just hope that I can get the ball rolling with it! If not then it's okay, I still tried and it looks really good anyway :-)