Here she is, under my roof (Review & Pics)

Teaz

Godlike
This post is split into 2 parts because its that interesting :)

Edit: Push/Pull Config screws info on Page 2 which is here :)


After many researching and looking and seeing along with confusion, I've got my lovely PC that I wanted :D Was browsing and researching PCS since early Decemeber 2010 but as items got delayed and as confusion kicked in and then hearing different storys of parts or gpus with problems, I had to wait a bit.

Then news of the Sandy bridge chips arriving in along with 3rd gen SSDs which made a longer wait and VAT rises was no help either! :hammer:
Whats even more epic was the Sandy bridge getting problems on the motherboards and the Fix didn't stock up till very late march or mid april :wacko: What a long wait its been but had been worthit as good things come to those who wait right? lol.

Waiting was certainly pretty frustrating so I decided to browse and help and answered posts I could help, on the PCS forum. Learnt and came across some interesting new things. Found some interesting posts and comments from the memebers especially from Gorman, LFFPicard, Sleinous, Meds, Nemesis, Phoenix and a few others :D

Have had my PC for about 2weeks+ and running still like a charm but had to re-adjust some things to get it how I wanted it :). I could of had it for longer but couple of problems was seen onced received and I had to RMA it back which was longer due to the holidays so I kinda felt that my Fast Track got pretty much wasted due to it.

Anyways enough with the life story lol. PCS is certainly a recommendation Although you should get a better delivery courier or this certain guy who delivered my pc along with the rough chaps that handled the box needs to be fired since my delivery didn't quite come in pristine condition and was pretty battered from the insides :hammer: The box clearly says to be handled with extreme care :mad:

Customer service is defo a big A++ although it could be better since a few times I've called up, there were different confusion happening with the communication like things wasn't noted down properly and the next time I phoned up, I got a completely different story or was unknown. So updating and actually noting down properly or more aware could of saved the confusion.

Emails at time get unaswered or take quite long but I can guess pretty much why so pretty fair. As the only definate immediate reply was to phone up as the live chat felt like a decade to wait for so that could be sorted out perhaps?

Apart from that, my experience with PCS is excellent service but could be improved to get the Platnium Medal

Ratings - 1.0 lowest. 5.0 Highest.

PCS Site: 4.6

Simple configurater and easy to use. Would be nice with more options to things but understandable that there is not many unless alot of demands.

Bugs at time where known or strange faults like something was in a place of something else, mainly in the laptop section but thats sorted.

PCS+Staff: 4.5

Excellent service although could of been better but defo the thumbs up.

Big credit to Mustafa! appreciated for his awesome help and a big A++ to the PCS Team. Shouldn't ever fire him as he is too good :) So do Thank him.

PCS Overall score: 4.7
 
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Teaz

Godlike
My order:

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM SNIPER - NEXT GEN GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 DELUXE (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ / SLI

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB OCZ VERTEX 3 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W PRO SERIES (HX750) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£110)

Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)

Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium - Fatal1ty Professional Series (£99)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH (£39)

Production Dates:

Processed Date: 12-04-2011

Pre-Production Date: 12-04-2011

Build Date: 13-04-2011

Test Date: 14-04-2011

QC Date: 16-04-2011

Awaiting Dispatch Date: 16-04-2011

Dispatch Date: 18-04-2011

Who Worked on This Order?

Built By: James Nisbet

Tested By: Zbear Ramzan

QC'd By: Craig Whiteley

Packed By: Anthony Cunliffe

PC Received Date: 19/04/2011

RMA Date:

19/04/2011

Date Collection: 21/04/2011

PCS received it couple days later.

Problems adjusted and PC sent out: 04/05/2011 (so many holidays :hammer:)

Date RMA Received by me: 05/05/2011

Problems: wrong psu, damaged Rad fins, a battering ride for the 2TB drive.

Well this time around and for the second time when I received the pc it was in a more battered condition.

Here are the problems:

Damaged Rad fins
a2t3lg.jpg


Battered drive
2ef7wpu.jpg


Wrong PSU
11v1lsp.jpg



Here is round 2 on the second delivery for the 2TB hard drive along with a battered rip in the box while it was handled upside down by the DHL courier man:
o8ynp5.jpg


206ivx0.jpg


Those chaps need a good headbutt.

Apart from that, I got the my PC stuff sorted and plugged in the drive to see if power circuts through it properly which is so far okay for now but don't know what could hold in 1years+ time for the drive. I Just hope the drive doesn't fail on me due to the mad delivery.

I am still quite perplexed on why I was given the wrong psu though. Was suppose to get the HX MOD but got given a TX instead :confused:

Enough with the words. Pics now!

Here it iS!

my BBEAST RIG....





white-page_01.jpg











...BACK in 2003 LoL :D

Quite a beast isn't it, back in the days lol. It runs on a 1 stick module 128mb Ram

Anyways let me show you my todays rig built by PCS :) since you have been waiting so nicely :p

But first, here's my Welcome Pack lol



Got given the wrong psu manual booklet too..

And now...

Here she is:




Here is what it first arrived out as with the cables:




After some long hours of planning and rerouting the cables and tying and trying to not be too hard on the cables as I didn't want to stress them by pulling it too hard, I've managed to free up some nicer airflow with making it alot neater and tidy which is here:




here is the front:



more:





After some tweaking and tinkering and cleaning from all the dust inside with my pc its nice and nearly dust free. I've bought 2 nice Noctua NF-P12 fans to do the PPC (Push/Pull Config) by getting rid of the stock fan on the Rad.
Bought the Noctua NF-P14 FLX fan to be left at the bottom as an intake just to get extra air blowing into my gtx580.

After mad long hours and days of testing, I've managed to pop down the case temps by 6-8c which is good since as the ambient temps in my room are pretty warm.

Here it is after the adjustments with a deeper look inside:






From the Motherboard


Not actual case temps btw.


More inside:

ECO CPU Cooler



2TB Caviar Black Drive



Kingston Ram



Fatal1ty Sound Card & HX750w PSU



Palit 1.5GB GTX580



OCZ Vertex 3 SSD





Stickers





My PC :)



This is where my my pc will be, temporarily for the mean time as it will be up against the wall where my large printer sits.



And thats all :D

What a long post! soo long that it went over the 10000 characters post limit lol. So this post is split in two parts.
I should get a medal for the one of the longest posts :p If only I've could of gotten an A* for this back in Secondary school in my english essays lol.

Here is a link to the pics if you wish to see them in higher res :)

Hope you enjoyed the pics and review :D

Edit: Push/Pull Config screws info on Page 2 which is here :)
 
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sanj

Moderator
Moderator
Awesome review and pic's,glad to see you're happy after all the trouble you had.:)
 

Teaz

Godlike
Cheers :D LinearHD and Sanj

Almost happy, just got some problems atm with screws.
 
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jayjay

Enthusiast
sweet rig man, some excelent camera work, wonder does anyone actualy get disiplined by dhl for abusing a fragile and expensive delivery like that, lol was just reading a thread on anoter site giving out about the noctua colour scheme for there fans
 

Teaz

Godlike
Thanks Jay :) dslr cameras do a good work when it comes to grabbing shots. I hope they do, as they aren't doing a good job some of these DHL guys.

the noctua fans are real nice. I dont mind their colour scheme, something different from the usual blacks, blues and reds lol.
 

Fear

Prolific Poster
Finally i gets to see this machine of yours :p nice tidying there Teaz but how could you let someone graffiti the side ;)

Not sure if i should give you any rep after the wait :p oh go then :D
 

Teaz

Godlike
haha thanks Fear :D I thought it looked plain so decided to have some fun by doing some Light Graffiti on the side panel lol

lol cheers for the rep ;)
 

DeadEyeDuk

Superhero Level Poster
I had no idea you were still waiting Teaz!

Really thorough review and so many pics!

+Rep for all the effort (and a cheeky 2nd rep for Ze Sniper :D )

DED
 

samx300

Enthusiast
+REP Mate!
Nice work with the dSLR pics, glad you're now sorted, having gone through all the trouble with Yodel. Oh, and a sweet machine..you've got a great setup in your room ! :)
 

Teaz

Godlike
I had no idea you were still waiting Teaz!

Really thorough review and so many pics!

+Rep for all the effort (and a cheeky 2nd rep for Ze Sniper :D )

DED

Lol thanks there DED was waiting for a while, just never said anything :p


I Spotted you had the Razer Mamba,
Is it Any Good?
Thanks :)

Good spotting. Yeah its indeed real good but lacks buttons which is what i require alot of the times so i tend to switch between my g9x at points but other times my g9x dont deliver as my mamba. Its a good mouse and you cant go wrong with it but if you require a number of buttons then you should look at the other razer mouses :)


Nice review and pics +rep.
I wish DHL would employ people that could read and write.

Thanks alot Santa :D

I wish so too and yet i hope it comes true lol


+REP Mate!
Nice work with the dSLR pics, glad you're now sorted, having gone through all the trouble with Yodel. Oh, and a sweet machine..you've got a great setup in your room ! :)

Thanks samx300! :) I used a 50D dslr with the Canon 17-55mm lens :)
 

Teaz

Godlike

Push/Pull Config Screws info
(Rough info guide)


If anyone wishes to ever do the Push/Pull Config and has problems getting hold of the screws to add the second fan since Coolit does not provide any info or extra screws for this config then you now have a chance as I've managed to get hold of the same screw. It's not exactly the same but the thread and type of screw is exactly the same but the length of the screw is abit longer than the original screw Coolit provides but will fit exactly into the screw hole :) Managed to grab them at Maplins after some long searching lol.

The screw is a tiny bit longer so you may need some washer(s) to screw them in or they may end up screwing into the Rad fins which is not a good thing.

Anyways let me show you what I'm using:

The silver screw is the one I got from Maplins and the black screw is the original one provided by Coolit. This is the silver washer I'm using to add some distance so the screw doesn't touch the Rad fins as I screw it in. I have to use 3 of these washers for each screw since the screw is a tad longer after some testing and measuring, it needed 3 washers.



Maplin screw (silver). Coolit screw (black)



It doesn't look very long but its actually a tad long when compared.



The Maplin screw has quite a bigger thumb head compared to the Coolit screw so it didnt work quite well with my fan frame so I had to do some custom carving on the fan frame with my knife to get the thumb head to seat properly and comfortably once it was screwed in and it works well :D



After screwing them in, they all fit and screw in very nicely and is good to use until i find some smaller thumb head versions of the screw. So the Maplin screws will have to do for now. Got these for £2.99 which had 8 of them in total and comes provided with 8 anti vibration washers too but they are too big and didnt use them. The silver washers I was using are from B&Q.

Screw dimensions: 6/32 X 3/8

This config can also be applied for the Coolit Eco's C240 CPU Cooler Rad.

Hope this post helps anyone, if you ever do try it and find problems with the screw searching :)



I will update and edit this post if there is anything new that I'll come across or know of along with pics included if I can :)
If you want me to add anything to this rough info guide for the forum then let me know :)
 
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samx300

Enthusiast
Mahoosive REP for the post and the soo very clear dSLR pictures (simply love them!!) :)

Can you please tell me what are the dimensions of these screws so I can find them next time? I paid a visit to 2 different Maplins (one including Tottenham Court Road) and couldn't find the suitable ones :(
 

Teaz

Godlike
haha much thanks that it helped you :)

The box just says:

"Screw: Hexagonal, #6/32* 8x8Pcs"

The name is "Anti-vib Screw Set"

Once i saw it say "6/32" i knew for that instance these were the screws i were looking while i was comparing it to the coolit screw regardless of how big the thumb head or type it was :D since the Coolit's screws dimensions are "6/32 X 3/8" :)
 
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