Just saying thanks...

[Cathartic]

Hey all,

I just wanted to express my gratitude to the TH community for all of the great posts and articles that helped me choose, assemble, test, and enjoy my new PC.

My last PC build was around 8 years ago, so I had a lot to catch up on. With the help of the phenomenal resources here on TH, I assembled a picture-perfect PC within my $1000 budget that booted up smoothly from the get-go and has run cool and stable ever since (going on 4 weeks now). Every time I turn it on, I've got a s***-eating grin on my face.

I forgot how much fun building a PC can be. I actually roped my wife into it this time around, which turned out to be a great idea, since she absolutely loves to organize. She helped me lay out the best wiring job I've ever done on a PC.

So again, thanks everyone! Here are the specs and some pics of our new "baby":

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922
Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
HSF: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 1333 (F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK)
Video Card: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB
HD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB
DVD: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS SATA 24X DVD Burner
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

PICS:

The exterior: The HAF 922 is really a phenomenal case. Looks good & great for wiring.



The inside: Nice and tidy...





The guts: Behind the motherboard tray lies the bird's nest. It was actually pretty difficult to arrange the wires behind the tray in a way that would allow the exterior cover to close properly (despite the generous space allowed by the HAF 922). But, with some work, it was done. In retrospect, I should have shelled out a few extra bucks for a modular PSU - it would have made our lives easier - but we made do.

 

[cmcghee358]

Nice build, nice job on wiring. I will be doing a HAF 922 build in the next 2 weeks for my friend, so pics like this help me get a feel for the wire management. The backside pick of the rats nest really helps. So thank you

 

[Cathartic]

Thanks, cmcghee358...

When we were considering our wiring job, we looked at the pictures in this thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/279525-31-finally-pics-system-feedback

The wiring job on that rig was excellent - and it was also an HAF 922 case - but, unfortunately, there were no pics of the underside of the mobo tray. So, the method for arranging the wires back there was pretty much left to our imagination. I really don't think there's a "pretty" way to organize the wires back there. The space is finite, and unless you're using a modular PSU, you're just going to have to squish the mass of wires in there however you manage to fit them. We found that using cable ties and, in one area, a little electrical tape, got everything staying in position so that the case cover would close properly without pinching down any wires.

FYI -- One tricky aspect that we didn't consider at first - and which you should watch out for when you do your build - is that the outer case covers have those metal tabs that run along the inside of the top and bottom edges of the case. If you're not careful about where you run your wires, those metal tabs will pinch them. You can potentially damage the wires if you force the cover closed with them in the way. We had a close call, but managed to see what was happening before we actually did any damage to our wires. Just make sure you are very careful when putting the covers on (especially the one covering the "nest") to ensure that no wires are getting caught.

Good luck with your build! I hope you share some pics of yours...

 

[cmcghee358]

Oh I will. That thread you linked has a few pics of my Antec 1200 wiring job. Its not as clean as yours but its much better than it used to be