My complete ASUS 650i build with pictures, step by step

[Sublime98]

OK, I built my 650i rig this morning. Basically, it went off without a hitch and I am already extremely pleased with this rig. My complete specs are in my sig. Here we go:

#1: here we have my Antec Nine Hundred case with the BFG 650W PSU, X-Fi 5.25" console, and DVD burner installed... this is because I am carrying these pieces over from my old rig.

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/597/acomp1casevs2.jpg


#2: here you can see the 2 HDDs I am using: a 160GB Seagate SATA2 as my primary and a 400GB Seagate SATA2 as my secondary. The primary carries only applications etc and will be easier to defrag and "light"... the 400GB drive will contain all media and warez (i.e. massive torrent ISO's, movies, MP3s etc... a HDD used for bulk)

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/2000/acomp2hddcs9.jpg


#3: here you can see the Zalman 9500 heatsink I installed on the E6400 (used Arctic Silver 5 of course). You can see there is plenty of clearance with the NB.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5527/acomp3clearancelx1.jpg


#4: here's my RAM: 2 sticks of Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800... yes, it's a bit pricey, but I have used Crucial for ages and they have always been reliable

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/4601/acomp4rambd9.jpg


#5: I wanted to give the RAM some breathing room from the NB heatsink, so I installed the sticks in the black slots no problem...

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7784/acomp5installedramjk2.jpg


#6: here's a "no camera flash" shot of the Zalman clearance and RAM installed:

http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/8998/acomp6clearance2op9.jpg


#7: time to drop in the BFG 7950GT

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8980/acomp7gpugy3.jpg


#8: next up, the X-Fi Platinum I paid too much for when it came out

http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/2254/acomp8gpuandxfihz0.jpg


#9: hook everything up, and worry about the rat's nest of cables later... getting ready to boot:

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/618/acomp9messci7.jpg


#10: boots up no problem... word

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/3007/acomp10bootgd1.jpg


#11: here is just a BIOS shot... since I am going to OC later I made only a few adjustments. The Ballistix RAM is rated at 2.2v 4-4-4-12 so I manually set the RAM to 4-4-4-12 2T (chose 2T because of the issues going around). Since there is not a flat 2.2v option in the BIOS, I set it at 2.17v if I remember correctly... no worries, the RAM won't be needing real juice until I start to OC... set the drives, and boot from CD first... start to load Windows XP

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/2858/acomp11biosdc5.jpg


#12: home free... everything works and have been updating Windows and tweaking ever since. I'll start OCing later. ASUS rules... the 650i rules

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/9337/acomp12goodtogonw1.jpg

 

[3NF]

Nice - enjoy

 

[Kromis]

Lol, warez!

 

[Fiat1]

How is that P5N-E working out? I went with that over the P5B-D way to many problems with the P5B-D.

 

[Corporate Thug]

now OC it

 

[Sublime98]

Originally posted by: Fiat1
How is that P5N-E working out? I went with that over the P5B-D way to many problems with the P5B-D.

well right now I'm running at 3.016 GHz stable. I set my memory timings at 4-4-4-12 2T and set the vdimm at 2.25v (close to my factory 2.2v RAM specs), the vcore at 1.375v, and the NB at 1.56v

my Zalman is keeping the CPU cool in the 30s. You need to remember to "synch" the FSB to get "1:1" as we know it (don't select 1:1 in the options)

This board owns right now. I'm going to play BF2 later so I will be able to put some more stress on it. It's lightning fast... I think the people complaining about certain aspects of the BIOS or problems with memory timings probably are just screwing something up... if you want to be safe, you can always go with RAM off the QVL

 

[hugekebab]

nice to see. im getting mine this friday, i will take pics of the build too. its gonna be a bit different fromy ours cus i have the scythe ninja rev b (i may have to mod the mounting bracket for this.)and corsair xms2 and its going in a p180b with a modular psu (im hoping to avoid too many cables lol.)

 

[aintitthelife98]

I've had pretty good luck with my 650i build. The one thing I can recommend is to make sure to get some sort of air flow on that Northbridge HS. Otherwise it gets really warm especially when you up the voltage to it.

I ghetto rigged this up with a spare fan I had lying around.

http://home.comcast.net/~chriswpark/Pics/nbcooling.jpg