My almost finished build

[macgreen]

Well, it's been a while since I posted an update for my own PC.

I've put everything together and I'm even using it as I type this out, actually, so that goes to show ya that I managed to at least get it working. In fact, it's been working for a while, but I didn't want to post something like this until I actually got that one rather important component... the video card. hehe. I was also hoping to have a decent camera, but alas, all I have is the one on my ASUS Transformer TF-101. So, sorry for the fuzzy pictures.

Here are the (more or less) finished specs.

Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core (and yes, that is a Cooler Master 212 Hyper Plus on it. Unnecessary, but oh well. It may come in handy in the future).
GIGABYTE GA-H77-DS3H
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Western Digital WD Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s (from my old PC)
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 (also from my old PC)
XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
BitFenix Spectre LED Blue 140mm Case Fan (on the front, as one might recognize)

My cable management kinda sucks, I think.

On top of the case, providing the wireless...

NETGEAR WNA3100-100NAR USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter

The speakers are ancient Cambridge Soundworks GCS300. I think I got 'em back when I got my first PC back in high school (and they will be replaced. Eventually). Surprisingly, they've survived several moves and work quite well over the years.

So far, I've yet to push the boundaries of this build's capabilities, especially in the gaming department. My next purchases are likely to be an ASUS IPS 23" 1920x1080 monitor and a 1TB HDD. Can I simply 'add' the HDD in addition to the SSD and old 250gb HDD that're already there, or do I have to disconnect the old HDD before I can?

 

[blazorthon]

You can simply add the new hard drive if you want to. If the SSD is your boot drive, then you don't need to remove anything when you put in a new hard drive.

 

[macgreen]

Great. I wasn't sure if I had to do anything extra, so I'm glad to hear that's not something I'll have to worry about.

 

[smorizio]

all you need is go to your local auto parts store pick up some plastic Ty-wraps or Velcro wire wraps. on some cases check to see if there a wire run under or behind the mb to tuck in the extra power supply wires and sata wires. when i do a build so that the sata ports on the mb wont get broken or the cables..i plug in two extra cables when i build systems for my friends then ty-wrap them to the bottom of the hd tray or to the side of it. then i put a few tyraps in a small baggie and tape the bag to the bottom of the case with the case keys. i try give the cables some lenth and have power there if the end user need to connect a sata drive to recover or move data. as a repair tech i seen a lot of snapped off sata ports on mb. the trick with most pc for long life is dont fool with them after there built and stable. with anything you may have a part fail it can happen..most pc deaths i seen are upgrade damage...where parts are shorted or broken during an upgrade.