Personal Rig Update 1

The time has come for an upgrade!

The smell of new hardware, it just never stops me from getting all happy and giggle, like a child opening a new Lego set.

After 5 years, my Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400’s life with me has come to an end. After all of the games and multi-tasking stuffs that I have done with it, from Counter-Strike 1.6 to Battlefield 3 and from Windows Movie Maker to Sony Vegas Pro 11, it’s time to bid goodbye.

Here’s the last photos of him as I cleaned my computer. I got kind of frustrated when I saw the amount of thermal paste that the guys from PC Express has installed on the processor. It’s just too much, that’s why my cooler doesn’t get all the heat from the processor, hence the overheating.

Anyways, here are the photos of my new rig!

The Motherboard looks so sleek inside my Gigabyte GZ-G1 case and those blue accents from the heatsink complements well with the black board.

Here’s a close up of the board before placing the processor.

And here’s a shot after.

Here’s when I applied the thermal paste on the processor.

It should be noted that only a pea sized amount should be applied because these stuff will spread when you finally apply the cooler. You don’t want the paste to go over the metal shield and onto the processor chip, it will not end well with your newly bought Haswell processor.

After putting on the thermal paste it’s time to put on the cooler. Then onto CABLE MANAGEMENT.

Cable management, as they say, is an art. Although it’s just arranging cables on the back of the chassis/case to make the front look nice and tidy, this procedure also helps the air flow inside your case. Proper cable management can help reduce 1 – 2 Celsius of total heat inside the case. It may not be too much, but it WILL help.

Here’s the shot of all the cables that I have to fix.

Here’s a blurred shot of me connecting the front I/O onto the motherboard. I hated this part, the front I/O are all separate pins and I have to insert it there one by one. Good thing the connectors were all color coded, hence the easy installation. +1 to Gigabyte for that!

There’s my EVGA GTX 560 saying hi to everyone

I routed the Front Panel audio connector and the Front USB 2.0 at the back then inside a tiny opening on the side of the Power Supply so that the cables won’t hang around on the front of the motherboard.

I also routed the Front Panel power button, reset button, HDD LED and Power LED on the back of the mobo then through a big hole beside the Power Supply.

For the SATA 6Gb connectors, I didn’t twirl it around like what the technicians did with my past build. I routed it at the back so that there won’t be any SATA’s hanging around in the front for the world to see.

Now for the main power.

For the 24-pin ATX main power connector, I also routed it to the back and out just on the side of the connector so that it wouldn’t look messy.

And the finished product.

It still looked messy though because the Chassis doesn’t include the black rubber holes so that the back of the case, where cables will be routed and stored, won’t be seen.

But still, at least there will be enough airflow through the case.

Here’s an airflow chart of my case. The blue arrows indicate the cold air, red’s indicate hot air.

I currently use negative airflow, which means that most of my fans are blowing air outside. Only my two Front 120mm fans are blowing air inside.

I have an 80mm fan on the top rear part of the case exhausting air from the chassis and another 2 120mm fan on the side panels that help exhaust air coming from the graphics card.

Negative airflow also allows less dust buildup inside the case because less dust is being sucked in by the fans.

Here’s the new stickers that I got from the upgrade!

And here’s a picture of the rear of my chassis.

Here’s some more glamour shots of the new build. You can click on the image to view the full resolution!

If you guy’s still haven’t seen my parts unboxing yet, you can check it out here!

Intel i5-4670k Unboxing: http://wp.me/p3OBbF-2i
Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Unboxing: http://wp.me/p3OBbF-1Q

Some links that could be useful for your next build:

Affordable Desktop Options
(http://cwelizabethscott67.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/affordable-desktop-options/)
Building a Midrange PC
(http://thebytekitchen.com/2013/09/17/building-a-midrange-pc/)
Building a Gaming & Photoediting PC with Zach and Pat
(http://pattoole.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/building-a-gaming-photo-editing-pc-with-zach-pat-haswell-nvidia-700-series/)
Build a PC DOA Reviews
(http://wildwoodinfoblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/build-a-pc-doa-reviews/)

Peripherals that you can consider with your next builds:

Tech Unboxing and First Impressions: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
(http://thatreviewer.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/tech-unboxing-and-first-impressions-razer-blackwidow-ultimate-2013/)

I also updated the “My Rig” page on my blog! Check it out here!
(https://gamertechreviews.wordpress.com/about/my_rig/)

More unboxings to come soon!

Don’t forget to hit that “like” and “Tweet” button for Facebook and Twitter, it helps me out a lot!
Follow my blog to keep yourself up to date with my posts!

Intel Core i5-4670k Unboxing

After the Ivy Bridge architecture, 3xxx, comes the Haswell architecture, 4xxx, where Intel introduced a low-power processor designed for convertible or ‘hybrid’ Ultrabooks. These processors are also used for desktop PC’s and gives out about 10% more performance than it’s predecessor, Ivy Bridge.

As with Intel’s “Tick Tock” releases, every “tick” is a shrinking of process technology of the previous microarchitecture and every “tock” is a new microarchitecture. The Haswell processors are the “Tock” which means it has a new microarchitecture in them, hence the change from LGA 1155 motherboards to LGA 1150 motherboard sockets.

You can click on the photos to see the full resolution!

Now, onto the unboxing!

The front of the box contains a complete redesign of Intel’s boxed processors. The important nomenclatures that you’ll find in front:

=> A quote about Intel Core i5 processor which says “Unlock the Power Within”
=> It now features a scary looking human head with some writings that indicates the parts of the human brain
=> A guy biking inside a picture frame with a nomenclature saying “What will you make?”
=> Another human head with a spiked mohawk hairstyle.
=> A sticker on the lower right side of the box saying “i5-4679K LGA1150”
=> “K” means Unlocked processor. You can overclock this beast to your likings!

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the i5-3570k and the new i5-4670k box designs.

Moving on to the left side of the box.

The left side has the list of the important features of this processor.

=> 4 Cores / 4-Way Multitask Processing
=> Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
– This boosts the Clock speed of your processor from 3.4GHz to 3.8GHz whenever you need it.
=> Intel Smart Cache Technology
=> Integrated Memory Controller
=> Supports Two-Channel DDR3 Memory
=> Three-Year Limited Warranty
=> Intel HD Graphics 4600

For full details, visit Intel’s product website: http://ark.intel.com/products/75048/

Now, a blurred shot of the right side of the box. It contains:

=> The technology numbers
– 3.4GHz, 6MB Cache, LGA1150
=> The Product code
=> All the other codes for tracking

The back contains the description on what’s inside the box in many different languages and a compatibility warning. Click on the photo to see the full resolution and read from there, or just read it here.

=> This box contains an Intel processor and a thermal solution designed for use in a Desktop PC. The full text of a Three-Year Limited Warranty, installation instructions, and the system requirements for Intel Turbo Boost Technology are contained in the booklet enclosed.

=> Compatibility Warning: This processor requires a motherboard with the LGA1150 socket and requires specific chipset features to utilize integrated graphics or the processor unlocked features. Consult your motherboard manufacturer to verify compatibility

=> Unlocked Processor Warning: Altering frequency or voltage may cause damage and is not warranted by Intel. See enclosed booklet.

=> Intel Core i5 processors are assembled in one or more of the following countries: Costa Rica, Malaysia, The Philippines, and the USA.

Now on the top.

On the top, you’ll see the processor saying “Hi!” to everyone.

Now, for the contents.

Inside the box, you’ll find three items:

=> The manual
– Includes the Warranty guide, Quick Start guide, The Features, and a Case Badge on the back.
=> Intel’s Thermal solution
– DO NOT USE THIS COOLER IF YOU PLAN ON OVERCLOCKING! I DON’T!
=> The processor
– It’s quite heavy for a small chip!

And for my favorite part.

STICKER!!!! EVERYONE LOVES STICKERS!!!

The Case Badge is now a lengthwise-style sticker rather than the “boxy like” sticker from it’s predecessors.

Here’s a Glamour shot / close up of the processor!
Click on the photo for a bigger resolution picture!

More unboxings to come soon!

Don’t forget to hit that “like” and “Tweet” button for Facebook and Twitter, it helps me out a lot!
Follow my blog to keep yourself up to date with my posts!