New i5 2500K build 95% done and running great!!!! Just thought I would share.

[vnhill1981]

First off I am posting this here because it contains a little of every forum.

System (setup to be a 24/7 PC if needed)
Case: Antec 300
CPU: i5 2500K OC to 4.5GHz @ 1.312volts
Heatsink: Antec H2O 620 w/ 2 x 120mm fans (push/pull configuration set as exhaust)
TIM: Antec Formula 7 - nano diamond
MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-M Pro
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 (1.5volts)
PSU: Rosewill Capston 650W (80 Plus Gold, single 12V rail with 54A)
GPU: Nvidia GT430
HDD: Samsung 500GB 7200rpm
Optical Drives: LG Blu-Ray Writer/Reader and Samsung DVD Writer/Reader
Extra: Antec 5.25" to 3.5" converter with AFT XM5U All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader
Fans:
1 x 140mm Cougar Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing (top exhaust)
2 x 120mm Cougar Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing (on heatsink)
2 x 120mm Cougar Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing (front intake)
1 x 120mm Antec Tri-Cool on side panel (intake)

Mods to Case
1. Blue LED's added to front panel. Picked them up from Walmart Automotive Section. Great that they are already set up to run on 12V system, so I spliced them into a Molex connector with no issues. They are self adhesive using 3M double sided tape and are flexible. Cost was only $18.
2. Added two "Team Realtree" logos on front panel to incorporate my true passion (Hunting).
3. Cut 3 x 1.25" holes in back panel and 1 under my HDD for cable management, which I think I did OK on.
4. Painted the frame flat black. Left exterior panels as they come from factory.
5. Add LED's to inside of case once window is cut

Changes to come
1. Upgrade GPU
2. Cut side window in side panel
3. Change out side panel fan to another 140mm Cougar Vortex, which will be cut into the side window.

Speed/Temps
CPU:
Max Setting Intel Burn Test: 65c (Brought down from 75c using Cooler Master N520)
Prime 95: 55c (Brought down from 67c using Cooler Master N520)
*Note: you can most likely get little lower temps with higher cfm fans, but my PC is whisper quiet where I like it and the Cougar fans accomplish this great mocing a decent amount of air with very little noise
MOBO: 22c
HDD: 21c
GPU: 54c under max load doing Furmark bench test
Speed:
Max Setting Intel Burn Test: Avg 123 Gflops
Standard Setting Intel Burn Test: Avg 112 Gflops
x264 HD Benchmark v4.0: 1st Pass @ 188 FPS, 2nd Pass @ 39 FPS
Cinebench 11.5 CPU Run: 7.13

Pics






Conclusion: I know this isn't as elaborate as some I have seen, but I am very happy with it. I think I accomplished the clean look I was going for. For those wondering why the micro-ATX board, well this build started with a factory HP case which I installed this board into until I moved the entire build into my new case. By the way if you can find this case at Best Buy, they are closing them out for only $45.

[MT Alex]

Very nice looking and clean, you did a heck of a job with a non-modular PSU I also think the lighting looks nice.

[Flibolito]

Nice setup bro.

[BrettRuthnam]

Nice build.
Did you use the stock thermal paste that came with the 620?
Also, are you OC'ing with the turbo multiplier or the normal cpu one.

[LagunaX]

Very nice job!

[vnhill1981]

Originally Posted by BrettRuthnam

Nice build.
Did you use the stock thermal paste that came with the 620?
Also, are you OC'ing with the turbo multiplier or the normal cpu one.

As far as thermal paste, I wipe off the original and am using Antec Formula 7. It is a nano-diamond compound like IC Diamond. Tested on my system, it ran about 2c cooler than Artic Cooling MX4. Also for what it's worth, through testing many different ways of applying (along with different amounts) my CPU really likes Antec Formula 7 to be applied in a small "X" in the center of the CPU. If you have used MX4 then Antec is about twice the "thickness" (for lack of a better term at the moment) of MX4. Also just to clarify, I did use the same different ways of applying the MX4 when comparing it to the Antec formula.

For the second question, I am guessing as to whether or not you are reffering to Turbo Mode. It is left enabled. If you disable this option (at least with my MOBO), you can only raise the ratio to the factory default of 33 at most. Leaving it enabled you can raise the multiplier as high as your system can handle. Here is some pics of my BIOS if I did not answer your question:

[Jetster]

Nice, but Duct Tape is not allowed on any computer. JK

You need to cut one more hole just above the 4 pin CPU power and run that cable behind instead of under the GPU

[LifeOnMars]

They are great chips, enjoy the build matey

[BrettRuthnam]

Originally Posted by vnhill1981

As far as thermal paste, I wipe off the original and am using Antec Formula 7. ........Artic Cooling MX4.

Wow, excellent response. I'm gonna be getting me some AF7

Originally Posted by vnhill1981

For the second question, I am guessing as to whether or not you are reffering to Turbo Mode. If you disable this option (at least with my MOBO), you can only raise the ratio to the factory default of 33 at most.

Yes, I was referring to Turbo Mode.
Ummm, I think you can adjust the "Standard" multiplier past 33 provided Turbo is not active, though I am speaking under correction .
I will check this evening and post again.

I see your 620 has the pipes on the top, I had mine like that but the pipes were extremely close to the top fan , too close for comfort.

[vnhill1981]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Nice, but Duct Tape is not allowed on any computer. JK

You need to cut one more hole just above the 4 pin CPU power and run that cable behind instead of under the GPU

Thought about it, but there were two problems:
1. Cable isn't long enough to make that journey
2. Not enough room above the motherboard fpr that thick of a cable.

There is a perfect notch in my GPU card that the cable just sits under. Actually I can't take credit for the idea, I found it while searching threads about this case.

Originally Posted by BrettRuthnam

Wow, excellent response. I'm gonna be getting me some AF7


Yes, I was referring to Turbo Mode.
Ummm, I think you can adjust the "Standard" multiplier past 33 provided Turbo is not active, though I am speaking under correction .
I will check this evening and post again.

I see your 620 has the pipes on the top, I had mine like that but the pipes were extremely close to the top fan , too close for comfort.

You can pick up AF7 @ Staples, which is nice, because they can be found most anywhere. Again, maybe it's just my MOBO. I can disable Turbo mode, but as soon as I enter any multiplier higher than 33 Turbo mode automatically switches back to enabled and then is grayed out, keeping me from switching it back to disabled. Yes, my pipes are close to my top fan (say 1/4 of an inch), but it gave me the cleanest look I could find. Here BIOS Pics to show what I mean:




Another thing I have done that I enjoy is I (for lack of a better term) permanently mounted the back plate that came with my CM N520 to my motherboard. I grinded out the screw slots on the back plate so that an 8-32 screw slide easily in the slot. I have 4 x 8-32 screws that run through the back plate, through the motherboard, and then is tightened down on the other side of the motherboard with a nylon coated lock nut. I place a nylon washers on the screws between the back plate and the lock nut so that no metal actually touches the motherboard. This setup has fit every heatsink I have put on it. I just place the mounting bracket on the screws and use a nut to tighten it down. I came up with this idea when dealing with my original case because I could not access the back side of my motherboard without taking it out of the case. This allows me to remove only the heatsink if I wanted to. Just in case you're wondering, the holes in the motherboard fit an 8-32 screw perfectly snug all the way around so there is no slop in the screws.

[BrettRuthnam]

Cool, I tried it on my MB yesterday. If i disable Turbo Mode the options for turbo mode disapear. Then when i enter a multiplier higher than 33 in the cpu multiplier block, the turbo mode options come back but my Turbo Mode button is greyed out and "disabled".

I only noticed the back plate now , good one

[btarunr]

Put the GT 430 on the top blue PCIe x16 slot for better performance.

[Yo_Wattup]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Put the GT 430 on the top blue PCIe x16 slot for better performance.

Lol its still a gt430 dude...

[middydj]

Nice job vnhill1981. Putting me to shame. I need to do better.

[Major_A]

You might want to swap the duct tape for electrical tape. Duct tape will get tacky with the heat in the computer and leave the residue all over if you need to pull it off. Electrical tape will hold the wires in place without leaving a residue.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by Yo_Wattup

Lol its still a gt430 dude...

It's not the GT 430 that's getting bottlenecked right now, but everything else that's connected to the Z68 PCH (SATA controller, USB 3.0, storage, etc.)

He's currently running a graphics card over the PCIe 2.0 x4 slot that's wired to the Z68 PCH, which in-turn is wired to the processor over 4 GB/s DMI (PCIe 2.0 x4 physical). If he gets that GPU plugged into the blue PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, he will free up a lot of chipset bus bandwidth.