My PCS reveiw

tom_gr7

Life Serving
My PC Specialist Review!
Here’s my review of my experience with PCS! I spent months researching into pc’s when my old hp laptop died. I didn’t know if i should go for the laptop again or back to a desktop PC. So did loads of research and eventually came to the idea of a desktop, due to the fact i wanted a beast of a machine and I’m not so concerned with the portability of the machine. Then came the decision over which Cpu. Amd or Intel. This again was a massive amount of research on my part, (although i find it kind of interesting) I decided to go with Intel as they are the market leaders, however, i was considering Amd Phenom, but wanted the newest technology i could get, and wasn’t up for waiting till bulldog arrives, so opted for Intel, also i wanted to keep clear of overclocking as i didn’t think the use of gaming, music, internet browsing and movies would really utilize it very much.
I won’t go into detail for the decisions for each components, will keep it basic. So here’s the spec.
COOLERMASTER CM STORM SNIPER BLACK EDITION
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK
60GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SERIES SSD
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium
CORSAIR 750W PRO SERIES (HX750) 80+ MODULAR PSU
COOLIT ECO A.L.C

I found the website really easy to use and simple to understand. Also the forums provided me with a substantial amount of knowledge.

I made a few amendments during pre production, originally had the titan fenrir, but switched to the Eco Alc due to the titans size, and the removal of the side fan which i really wanted. Also had the 8gb of Samsung ram, but switched to 8gb Kingston when wozza the spotter noticed it was the same price (cheers wozza).

My order took 12 working days, would have been a few days less but failed in testing, however, i was not made aware of this, i actually called up to find out what was happening. I did however keep checking to see what stage she was in, especially near the end! So as soon as i received the email that it was going into packing, i called up again, checked it was ready to pickup, and then jumped straight into the car for the hour drive. Was not risking the delivery guys, as i live up of old bumpy lane, im sure the dhl/yodel guy would not take it slowly, I knew for a fact because dhl delivered a small package to my house a few days previously, in a hired transit van, poor packages were strewn everywhere when he opened up the back.

Anyway back to the pc, got it home, and set it up.

Things i wanted to set up/do

Extra 140mm Noctua NF-P14 FLX
Install 2 Akasa vipers 120mm in push/pull
A bit of cable tiding inside the case.
Set up the 60gb SSD caching drive.
Obviously install games lol

Installing the 140mm fan was relatively easy, however, if anyone is getting the sniper at the bottom of the case either a 140mm fan or 120mm fan can be fitted. The NF-P14 what i got fits both120mm and 140mm fittings. But if you do want to do this, just get a 140mm fan that fits standard 140mm fittings, as it will just clip straight in, all you will have to do is connect it up. Easy peasy.

Had to tidy the cables behind the motherboard as they were all bunched together, and the side of case had not been fitted correctly. Tried my best to tidy the cables up was a little better.

Now the annoying part was setting up the SSD caching. I followed the z68 manual to the letter and i could still not figure it out, one problem i was the vertex 2 was connected to the sata 3 port not the sata 6, so i changed that over once i realised. Here i became stuck so i posted on the forums, and called up pcs, which I was informed what i needed to do. The raid had to be had set to raid mode, so went into the bios and changed it, tried to reinstall windows two or three times. I still could not get it to work, so i abandoned the caching, and just reinstalled windows to the SSD. Which i must say is miles faster than using the caviar black! And quieter!

Now the push/pull config. I thought the biggest problem that i would encounter would be finding the screws, but actually not too bad, thanks to my dad, who is a complete book of knowledge about all sorts of random infomation. The screw that coolit say they use is 6-32, but miss off the important bit, and mention that this size is the thread size and is “6-32 UNC”. I couldn’t find the exact screw but it’s pretty similar. Will find the name and place it in my profile somewhere, all i did was take out a screw and visit maplin. Now the screw is a thumb screw, and the same length, and same thread (6-32 unc) as the Coolit ones. So i just had to file down the viper fans slightly to allow the thumb screw bit to fit. My problem came when i tried to connect it up using the “Gelid PWM Y Cable” i got off Amazon. As only one fan seems to work, which i can’t figure out why? I think a faulty cable, so going to test the electrical continuity of it to check. Unless anyone else has any suggestions?

Im really happy with my rig from pcs,!

10 out of 10! Service, technical and the product is spot on.

Thanks for everyone help on the forums!

with reference to pics, how do you get them on here?

Edit - with reference to temps, my cpu idles around 35 degress, and gpu around 40 degrees with the case fans at 50%. I have not yet fully tested at full load.

Edit http://imageshack.us/g/836/cdc10436.jpg/
 
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tom_gr7

Life Serving
i bought the fans separately, and installing them myself.

Will be taking more pics when im finished.
 

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
aha ok, the yellow ones look cool, similar to those on the pictures of the Maelstrom T900

where did you get them from, site/link
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
what over the radiator? i thought you were meant to have one each side - push/pull config

yeah i changed the one that was already on the eco, but got the wrong cable so cant power a second so will add that soon as i get it.
 

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
oh right, is it not supplied with the correct cables?

i saw a cable that can be used on a 4 pin (?) molex and it then had 4 fan sockets , 2x4 pin, 2x3 pin, pretty good and i think they were controlled somehow, lol i always confuse my self the later it is
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
oh right, is it not supplied with the correct cables?

i saw a cable that can be used on a 4 pin (?) molex and it then had 4 fan sockets , 2x4 pin, 2x3 pin, pretty good and i think they were controlled somehow, lol i always confuse my self the later it is

Are you on about the fan controller that the case already fitted as standard? if so its really good for adding the extra fan, like i did at the bottom.
 

samx300

Enthusiast
Awesome rig and a very impressive setup mate :) Have some +REP for the pics and the review.
Glad to see more and more people are going for the push/pull config on the CoolIT ECO. I would've personally gone for the Corsair H80, had it been available on PCS website, but oh well, can't say I'm unhappy at 4.7Ghz OC with max temps of 69deg :D
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
Awesome rig and a very impressive setup mate :) Have some +REP for the pics and the review.
Glad to see more and more people are going for the push/pull config on the CoolIT ECO. I would've personally gone for the Corsair H80, had it been available on PCS website, but oh well, can't say I'm unhappy at 4.7Ghz OC with max temps of 69deg :D

thanks for the rep mate. I would have also gone for the H series coolers if they were available. To be honest I think the results would be pretty similar.

I read on your review that you used two akasa apaches, erm what cable did you use to connect them to the MB, if i could get the link or name that would be appreciated. I ask as i think bought the wrong pwm y cable, as only one fan will spin up wehen connected.

tom
 

samx300

Enthusiast
thanks for the rep mate. I would have also gone for the H series coolers if they were available. To be honest I think the results would be pretty similar.

I read on your review that you used two akasa apaches, erm what cable did you use to connect them to the MB, if i could get the link or name that would be appreciated. I ask as i think bought the wrong pwm y cable, as only one fan will spin up wehen connected.

tom

Hi there,

I just got a simple one off eBay :) Link below.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310329200456

You can see more pictures with my Push/Pull config experience here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/sidhaa...authkey=Gv1sRgCNzbo-GSmZvx9QE&feat=directlink

Wonder why your cable didn't work...if you're sure it was the correct one, then maybe it was faulty? Let me know how it goes :)
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
Hi there,

I just got a simple one off eBay :) Link below.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310329200456

You can see more pictures with my Push/Pull config experience here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/sidhaa...authkey=Gv1sRgCNzbo-GSmZvx9QE&feat=directlink

Wonder why your cable didn't work...if you're sure it was the correct one, then maybe it was faulty? Let me know how it goes :)

The cable i bought looks exactly the same as yours.

I'm guessing mine must be faulty. Did yours have one 4pin connection and the other 3 pin?
 
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