New Build From Ducis

ducis

Active Member
Hello, long time no see,
Some of the older guys may remember me from back in '07, maybe as my old pseudonym: Firsttimebuilder :). I haven't posted in a very long time. Over the years I've gamed less and less, started and finished high school and finished my first year of university, all with my faithful Q6600 rig I built with the help of this forum way back then. I've upgraded along the way, but have finally decided I need a new rig, not for gaming but just as a product that -- no matter how much you reformat -- stability tends to worsen over the years.

Anway here's the plan

Fractal Design Core 1000
ASUS H87M-PRO
Intel Core i5-4670
SAMSUNG 840 EVO
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB)
SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W
(No video card *gasp*)

I`m going to reuse:
Wifi adapter
dvd drive
maybe HDD's, but I don't plan on using a lot of space'

Also, in terms of text-readability/eyestrain and office-y stuff, how much have LCD's improved over the last 5 years? I currently have a BenQ FP202.
 

FuryRosewood

Active Member
Get a bigger PSU than 360W, id aim for a 520 or 600W seasonic. Not sure what your pick for gpu is, as the integrated gpu is not quite up to the task of gaming, otherwise the 360 would probably be OK
 

ducis

Active Member
Sorry, you must have missed that this is not a gaming rig and will be using integrated graphics.
 

Jiniix

Well-Known Member
Looks good.
I love the Core 1000, it is probably my favourite all-time case. Make sure your Core 1000 is the USB3 version.
I actually have a Core 1000 with a Q6600 in it right now, along with a GTX 460, but that's besides to point
You can easily fit a 3.5" HDD in as well, and they're cheap nowadays.
I would recommend that you upgrade to the Corsair CX430M, since it's modular. Helps a lot in a small case with limited cable management.
It's also cheaper, and unless you live somewhere where power is really expensive, the savings you'll see from a bronze-gold difference i minuscule.
 
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spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah looks decent but any particular reason why you are limiting yourself to mATX? I'd go ATX personally just so you can better case and have room to grow in the future. I can understand you may have gone mATX if you just want this to be a basic machine.

I have used the Core 1000 for my mum's build and whilst it's probably one of the better mATX cases out there and it's from quite a reputable brand (hence why I used it), it's still a right pain. I recall the power supply being a bit difficult to fit (was trying to fit a Corsair CX 430 PSU, got there in the end) and I also recall the way HDDs and SSDs mounted was stupid if you have right-angled SATA cables like I did because the cables would end up facing outwards rather than inwards. That was if you tried to use the mounts/brackets underneath the 5.25" bays (they're sideways on). I remember having all sorts of problems getting the SSD to fit using the sideways mounts with right angled cables but eventually I ended up resorting to installing the SSD upside down in a 5.25" drive bay.

Cable management is obviously lacking but this is an mATX case. I just bunched up the excess cables and shoved them up in the 5.25" bay. But getting a modular PSU would help a lot in the Core 1000. Whilst there is room to bunch up the cables like I did, it's not really the optimal solution.

I think even if you stick with an mATX board, a relatively small ATX case such as the Corsair 200R or 300R would be a better choice. I honestly found the Core 1000 really quite frustrating to build in and my build took me a lot longer than expected due to these problems with the case. I think you'll find it much easier building your system if you use a decent ATX case. I've done quite a few builds now so I know for fact that a good ATX case is easier to work in than the Core 1000.

Unless you want to keep it as small as possible, in which case, then yeah the Core 1000 may be the way to go.
 
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Jiniix

Well-Known Member
I gotta say, spirit. I've never had those issues.
As I've said, I love the Core 1000. I have three of them deployed in my house and a few being used at my dads work.
Took some quick pictures of how I've done it.

M8qsO4jD.jpg

I have the HDD connectors facing the front of the case in this one. No hassle.
You just screw in the drive to the drive-holder, place it close to it's final placement and plug in the cables, then you align the screws and it fits. I just re-seated it for my own approval, so I'm not talking bull here.

JyQNP4jD.jpg

Here I have the HDD mounted the other way. As you can see, I just quickly spin the cables around each other and then around the 24-pin to reduce cable clutter.
Works quite well in my opinion, as you'll see in the next picture. (This is a gaming rig, 2500k+GTX460+8GB+300GB Raptor | Temps: CPU 61-68C - GPU 73C)

ntT1R4jD.jpg

As you can see, there's no clutter in front of the Corsair AF120 QE.

Sorry if I'm bombing the thread with images, I just think you can't go wrong with the Core 1000 - unless you need an ATX board or 3 storage devices :D
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Yes, I originally tried mounting the SSD in the same way too, but you're not using a right-angled SATA cable are you? ...or are you? (can see in the 1st pic it's a normal cable but not sure about the 2nd pic)

If you do use a right-angled cable like you get with ASUS motherboards (I put an ASUS board in the Core 1000), the cable goes outwards, out of the case. Completely useless because you can't get the side panel back on. OK, so turn the drive upside down, and then suddenly the SATA connectors are facing towards the front of the case, and not the back like they should be. Going by your pictures, it's fine, but a right hassle to fit and I didn't have the patience for that. Granted, you can plug the cables into the drive before hand and then install it, but I'd already got my power cables the lengths they needed to be and the SATA cable I was using was too short, so I didn't want to do that.

Maybe I 'rage quit over' it too quickly before resorting to installing the drive upside-down in the 5.25" bay, but I remember trying all sorts of different positions and none of them working for me.

I would employ you to seriously consider getting an ATX case as opposed to mATX unless you must keep the PC as small as possible. I've already said I think ATX is better but the main reason is for upgrading, even if you go with an mATX board now. Also got more room to work and better airflow and cable management resulting in cooler temperatures.

If you use the Core 1000, make sure you don't use right angled SATA cables because this case hates them if my experience is correct.

Here is how my Core 1000 build turned up. Not going to post photos here in this thread but I'll give you a link to the photos http://www.computerforum.com/9727-post-pic-your-pc-here-1033.html#post1852000 I even mentioned back when I posted these photos in February that this case was a pain in my experience. The system looks decent enough but I would really suggest you think about a modular power supply for this build. You'll be thankful if you do get one because there will be so many less cables in the way of everything. The bunch of excess cables from the CX 430 was so big that it filled both of the two 5.25" drive bays, so it was just a good job that I didn't need to put an optical drive in this build.

If you must go with an mATX case, then the Core 1000 is probably better thought-out than most (and better built too), but as I've said, this case hates right angled connectors.
 
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