# New Upgrades



## g4m3rof1337

Thought I would post my progress on upgrading my case. I upgraded it to an SLI mobo and added another 8800GT. I plan on adding GPU coolers and overclocking the CPU and GPU's, and maybe some other mods. 



Thread will be updated with pictures, plans, and other stuff.


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## g4m3rof1337

Alright, I fixed the system up a bit since I upgraded it, still needs some time and work put into it. 

This is what I did earlier today, added cathodes, changed the thumbscrews, and added an Antec non LED 92mm fan: 






Added new casters when I upgraded the mobo and gpu, they use to be the smaller black plastic type.





Stock thumbscrews.















Afterwords. 






I did the green and blue contrast purposely, I thought it would look nice, and it does.





New thumbscrews.





Going to replace the front fan with a blue LED and a green LED one.










Bottom of the case.






I plan on managing the wires better, got to check the mobo or something, cause the SATA cables aren't clicking into the mobo, but they are on the drives. I also need to get two coolers for the GPU's and a UV 92mm fan for the CPU and getting a blue LED 120mm and a green LED 120mm intake fan.


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## Calibretto

Nice!! I also have those same thumb screws


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## Motoxrdude

Awesome looking computer man! Gotta say I love the SLI setup. I also like how you changed things up and used blue/green lights. That is also one of my favorite cases .


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## g4m3rof1337

Thanks, I know, they look great.

I am physced to get two front 120mm fans, blue and green LED ones. 


I am going to dedicate a whole day this week to manage the wires, make them as best as possible, so.. 





Thanks.


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## Kornowski

Looks sick, Dude! How'd you like the board so far?

Also, how's SLI? I'm thinking of going that way...


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## g4m3rof1337

The board is great so far, only problem that I can see being an issue is the Mobo Sata ports, which can be fixed with some wire management. SLIing is great, I have to buy some GPU coolers to cool them, to have them volt modded, and I plan on overclocking the Processor, so. 


Here's what I plan on buying: 

This is replacing the front 120mm fan. http://www.xoxide.com/quadledblu12.html





This will be going under the front 120mm fan. http://www.xoxide.com/quadledgreen.html





Getting two of these for the Graphic Cards. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186016





And getting two of these to go on the above coolers. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186021


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## Kornowski

More pictures of the board! 

How was the performance increase with SLI?


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## g4m3rof1337

Haven't noticed much of a difference, got to overclock the processor first.


Pictures and updates will be posted soon.


Probably going to order the stuff posted above tomorrow.


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## g4m3rof1337

What was just bought: 

http://www.computerforum.com/1057179-post2215.html


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## Calibretto

Is that a fan that goes in your 5.25" bays? Link? I want!


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## Kornowski

Sythe Kama Bay 

http://www.modthebox.com/review458_1.shtml


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## g4m3rof1337

Yup 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185020


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## Calibretto

Holy cow that's more than I thought it would be.


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## g4m3rof1337

Hopefully its worth it, lol.


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## Ramodkk

I heard it sucks...


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## g4m3rof1337

ramodkk said:


> I heard it sucks...



Tee-hee. 

Oh, and I'll get those Xbox Mod pictures up soon, my friend has them on his computer. 


I may make a thread on how to do the mod, or just help people out with it.


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## Ramodkk

Lol just kidding man  Scythe makes great products

Oh and thanks for that man! Looking forward to it!


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## g4m3rof1337

Yeah, lol. 

I might do some cable management later tonight, get everything is place and stuff for when the stuff arrives.


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## g4m3rof1337

Well the stuff is heading to Des Moines, IA, the state next to me, and it should hopefully be here by tomorrow, but I don't know.


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## g4m3rof1337

Alright, I overclocked my processor today, from 1.86GHz to 2.9GHz, applied AS5, and stressed tested it, and it didn't go over 60, it was between 52 and 58.


Also did the Vdroop pencil mod, 






http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=126


And my Newegg shipment should be here Tuesday.


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## Ramodkk

What does the "Pencil Mod" do?


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## Kornowski

It helps to get rid of 'VDroop' on the board. Which you don't want when you're OC'ig. I'm not sure if it shorts the resistors or the lead / graphite just helps improve the connection on the resistors. Either way, it's supposed to help OC'ing.


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## Ramodkk

Oh, interesting, quite interesting... 

And how do you know where the vDroop is in your mobo?


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## Kornowski

Do you mean how much vDroop (If any) your MOBO has... Or which resistors to pencil on?


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## Ramodkk

Which resistors to pencil on. AND also how much (if any) your mobo has


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## Kornowski

There should be a guide on the internet some-where for your board...

To find out if you have any vDroop, Look at what you have your vCore set to in your BIOS and then look at what it's reported as being in something like CPU-z. I know with my board, I have the vCore set to 1.43v (or around there) in the BIOS, when in fact it's only 1.31v. So, I have a pretty bad vDroop, but it really doesn't bother me, so


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## Ramodkk

But, does that actually do something to the performance? Or is it just that the difference between vDroop and actual voltage may seem confusing?


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## Kornowski

I don't think it does anything for performance, I think it just makes it easier to set the voltage as the two values are a lot closer and more accurate.


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## Ramodkk

Alright thanks, "dawg" 

So the mod just makes it easier to have an accurate reading on the voltage since the vDroop is lowered


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## Kornowski

Exactly!  No problem Ramosynthesis...


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## g4m3rof1337

I may look into doing the PSOne screen mod, I just need to find a PSOne screen, lol, and an easy tutorial.


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## Ramodkk

^ What does that do?


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## Kornowski

Yeah, I'd be interested in that too!


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## just a noob

speaking of a psone screen, i saw one at walmart yesterday, 75 bucks, but i was like wtf is that doing here


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## g4m3rof1337

The PSOne screen mod, just adds a small screen to the computer, to display what's on your monitor or system specs.


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## Kornowski

I REALLY want to do this now!

http://www.computerstuffs.co.uk/pcmodding/electronics/psone_lcd.html

Let me know if you find the screens really cheap


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## g4m3rof1337

Haha, awesome, thats the same case I have, I'm going to look into it.


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## Kornowski

I thought you'd like that


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## g4m3rof1337

I'll look at some guides later, and see how easy it is to do, and I'll probably buy the screen this week, it's under $50. 

I was skeptical, because I didn't know if my current specs would be future proof, so I wouldn't want to be making it look all nice and stuff, but it would appear that SLI 8800GT's overclocked, will last awhile, I may upgrade to a Quad CPU in the Fall.


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## Kornowski

Buy me a screen  Or, post a link up... I'll let you decide which.


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## g4m3rof1337

Does it matter if it's US based? 



Have you checked eBay?


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## g4m3rof1337

I am going to try and order the screen either tomorrow or Wednesday.


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## g4m3rof1337

Newegg stuff came today. 







I'm probably going to end up buying a PSOne screen for that mod.


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## Kornowski

I've checked Ebay but there isn't any on at the moment... I'm sure I can wait though


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## Ramodkk

Wow, that PSOne mod looks kick-ass! Hope you get it done!


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## g4m3rof1337

Ta-da: 




























Tomorrow I plan on installing the two intake fans I got, manage some wires, and order the PSOne screen.


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## pies

Very nice.
I'm really intrested in the PSOne mod.


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## g4m3rof1337

Well, I can take a video of installing it and stuff.


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## g4m3rof1337

I plan on doing wire management tomorrow, and I'll probably pick up some splitters this weekend, so I can power all my fans, lol. 


I also ordered that PSOne Screen earlier today.


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## Kornowski

pies said:


> Very nice.
> I'm really intrested in the PSOne mod.



Aye! Me too! I'm so considering doing it! I just can't seem to find any on Ebay here...

Looks great, Derek! 

Have you put the Kama bay in yet?


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## g4m3rof1337

Yeah, I installed it, its housing the green intake fan, I may cut the grill out, since the LED lights are shining through the grill on the Kama bay, and on the grill plates on the case. 


I also have to remove some of the air filters, its blocking some of the light. 


And thanks!


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## g4m3rof1337

Yeah, I installed it, its housing the green intake fan, I may cut the grill out, since the LED lights are shining through the grill on the Kama bay, and on the grill plates on the case. 


I also have to remove some of the air filters, its blocking some of the light. 


I need to find a good place to mount the LCD screen. 


And thanks!


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## Kornowski

Ah right, I didn't see it behind the case face plates there. 
How's about mounting it on the inside of your case, and have it on the window?

BTW, You know that you won't be able to use any second monitor with SLI Enabled?


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## g4m3rof1337

Kornowski said:


> BTW, You know that you won't be able to use any second monitor with SLI Enabled?



http://www.overclock.net/nvidia/381100-sli-s-video.html 

lol 


Would soldering it onto the circuit board of the GPU work? 

And why cant I run a second monitor with SLI on?

I mean its doable, I would only be using it at LAN parties, and when I do, I could disable SLI, show it off, and then turn it off when I'm going to game.


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## Kornowski

You're spying on me,!? 

I don't think there's any way you can use two monitors with SLI enabled, unless you buy a cheap PCI card, I know you can run another monitor off that with SLI still enabled.


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## g4m3rof1337

Lol, I googled the SLI and dual monitors, and that was one of the first posts.


Also, I plan on making the front more bright, by adding two blue 4'' and two green 4'' cathodes next to the front intake fans. 


I am starting to realize that I'll be needed a lot of splitters..


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## Kornowski

You're turning into a cathode whore... Welcome to the club, lol.


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## g4m3rof1337

I was going to add 2 more sets of cathodes in the front, and I couldn't get the 4'' cathodes to mount because then the drive bay covers wouldn't fit. 



I went to Microcenter today, and bought the bendable SLI bridge, as well as 4 splitters, I'll work with them tomorrow. 




And I've decided that I'm going to try and build an external case for the PSOne case, because it would be useless to mount it inside the case, and use it when SLI isn't enabled.


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## g4m3rof1337

I took the grill off the Kama Bay, and it fits in now.






Ignore the wires, lol, I'm going to start working on cable management tomorrow, and throughout the week. 


Got my LAN on Saturday!


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## Kornowski

Looks great!


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## g4m3rof1337

Thanks, it wasn't much of an improvement, but it looks a lot better. 



I also got some splitters for the cables, and I got a bendable SLI bridge, that was actually made for those coolers, I posted them and the pictures in the New Toy thread.



Thanks.


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## g4m3rof1337

Alright, so I made some good progress with managing most of the cables in my case, but it still needs some work. 

Before:





After:






I took off the fans on the GPU's, because the top set kept falling off a little, and I didn't want to take the chance of having them fall off while they're on, so I decided to take both sets off and test my temps, so.

And you can't see them, but I still have the green cathodes on the bottom, one 4'' blue cathode in the middle, and one 12'' blue cathode on the top.


I'll work on everything else later this week.


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## g4m3rof1337

Since I added the fans back on, I noticed my temps dropped my 10C per card, but now my temps seem to be slightly higher, especially the top card, but heat rises up, so I was thinking if adding a fan or two on the bottom would help? 

My case can have two power supplies, so the bottom part has two 80MM fan ports, would that lower my temps, or would reapplying more ASC *Ceramique* on the CPU of the GPU and maybe doing the same on the ram-sinks? I just used the sticky part of the ram-sink and put it on there.




Or is this something I shouldn't worry about? 




Thanks.


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## Kornowski

I wouldn't worry about it unless they're higher than snoop dog at a concert...

I guess you could add more fans in to see if it makes a difference. Do you have any lying around?


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## funkysnair

what case is that? its massive!!!!

how does it stand next to the antec1200 space wise?


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## g4m3rof1337

Kornowski said:


> I wouldn't worry about it unless they're higher than snoop dog at a concert...
> 
> I guess you could add more fans in to see if it makes a difference. Do you have any lying around?




Lol, what the hell? Haha. 

I do have a few spare 80mm fans, I'll see if they help or not. 





funkysnair said:


> what case is that? its massive!!!!
> 
> how does it stand next to the antec1200 space wise?




I'd say it's a bit more roomier, I saw the 1200 at the store, and the 1200 was a bit smaller, so. 





Also, this came: 






Now, what to do with it, lol. 

I'm thinking of making an external housing case for it, so I would be able to use it on my laptop, or I'll just mount it inside my case.


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## Kornowski

Awesome. I think the external idea is good, as you could move it around. But having it mounted in your case would be cooler. So, really, awesome-ness or practicality?


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## g4m3rof1337

Yeah, I plan on building a rackmount servers for my LANs, and I could have the external monitor show temps or something, since I wont be using SLI on the servers. 


I also just realized that my laptop has an S-Video port, but it also has SLI, lol.


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## g4m3rof1337

I mentioned this earlier, but I will be going through with volt modding both of my cards. I currently have to wait a little while since my second GT has a different circuit board layout, the guy has to modify the volt mod chip, so. 


Then the overclocking will begin.


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## Kornowski

g4m3rof1337 said:


> I mentioned this earlier, but I will be going through with volt modding both of my cards. I currently have to wait a little while since my second GT has a different circuit board layout, the guy has to modify the volt mod chip, so.
> 
> 
> Then the overclocking will begin.



Copy /Paste! 

Nah, should be good, Dude! When do you think you'll start? I'm expecting some good results with those coolers and the volt mod!

BTW, What are you pulling in 3D Mark 06?


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## g4m3rof1337

I was going to mention the copy and paste thing, but figured people would realize it, . 

I'll start the overclocking process once I get the second volt mod chip, should be a week or so, the guy has to get a hold of the same exact type of my second card, and test it and stuff, and he's in Canada. 

Not sure what my exact score was, but it was under 15,000 and I believe that was before I overclocked my CPU, but I'll run it before I overclock my GPU's. 


I also plan on trying out the dual 80mm fan theory with my case, if it helps quite a bit, I'll go through with it. 


And since I realized that my graphic cards will be good for a while, I plan on buying a nice quad CPU in the Fall, and maybe a higher resolution monitor.


Also, probably on Sunday or next week, I'll start planning what I want to do with the PSOne screen.


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## g4m3rof1337

Alright, so I got an E8400 and overclocked it to 3.60GHz, only upped the FSB, haven't messed with voltages, yet. 


What should I test, to see how high I can get the CPU stable on my current cooler? 

Maybe running Orthos for an hour, and monitor my temps with RealTemp every 15 Mins? 


If I need to, I don't mind buying another CPU cooler, but I would like to get one that can compete with water cooling, maybe not exactly or better, but around it.


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## just a noob

thermalright true 120 with push/pull fans


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## g4m3rof1337

An update..! 

Alright, I want to make my case look even more awesome..

So, I have some ideas.. 

Work on cable management, obviously. 

More lights, lol, I was thinking an El Wire trim on the side panel, top half blue, bottom half green.

Maybe moving my radiator on my back exhaust fan, so I can show my WC set up off more.

And maybe putting this, http://www.xoxide.com/primochill-water-cooling-additive.html in my WC system. 



Here's a customer image, from Xoxide, on an El Wire trimmed window. 








Thanks.


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## Kornowski

Stick your rad on top, it'd look awesome!


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## just a noob

whatever you do, make sure that cold air is being pulled into the rad


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## g4m3rof1337

Yeah, that's why right now it's currently behind one of the front intake fans, but you can't really see the tubes and stuff, so.


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## Kornowski

I'd mount the rad externally. You may get better temps too. Plus, it'd look sick! What about UV lights and UV reactive liquid, with the e window thing?


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## Ramodkk

It's called El Wire Danny, El Wire...


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## Kornowski

That's what I meant, Duh!


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## g4m3rof1337

That's the thing, with the El Wire trim look out of place, if the top half is blue, and the bottom half is green?




Thanks.


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## Respital

g4m3rof1337 said:


> That's the thing, with the El Wire trim look out of place, if the top half is blue, and the bottom half is green?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks.



Kinda, i suggest looking for some pictures of someone Else's el wire mod if they did it like you want it. 

BTW: Are you like rich or something you keep upgrading and modding it's insane... lol i wish i could *spend* that kinda money.


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## g4m3rof1337

Respital said:


> Kinda, i suggest looking for some pictures of someone Else's el wire mod if they did it like you want it.
> 
> BTW: Are you like rich or something you keep upgrading and modding it's insane... lol i wish i could *spend* that kinda money.



I just have a job, my schooling is online, so I have a lot of time on my hands, so.


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## Respital

g4m3rof1337 said:


> I just have a job, my schooling is online, so I have a lot of time on my hands, so.



Ah i hear you.

I delivered newspapers for 5 years.

For those of you thinking pocket change... THINK AGAIN.


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## g4m3rof1337

May pick this up later tonight, http://www.computerforum.com/132827-n52te.html 



What do you think?


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## just a noob

if you have the cash, get it, looks interesting


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## g4m3rof1337

just a noob said:


> if you have the cash, get it, looks interesting



Yeah, I'm more than positive I'll use it.


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## emac227

wow that build will be sick when you finish, get the keyboard thinger it looks sick


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## g4m3rof1337

Thanks, 

I got to work on my set up though, I want to wall mount my monitor and TV on the same wall, but need to do some rearranging, so.


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## emac227

hows the ps1 monitor coming?


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## g4m3rof1337

emac227 said:


> hows the ps1 monitor coming?



It's still in the box, I found out that you can't run two monitors in SLI.


I may put in on my LAN server case.


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## emac227

oh i see well get to work i want to see the completed product


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## g4m3rof1337

Will do. 

I'll do my best to make a tutorial of what I'm doing, as well.


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## Mez

heheheh nice upgrades now you make me feel like i want to sli my 9800gt. but, i probably shouldn't, since the ASUS Ultimate one is comparable to a 8800gts


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## g4m3rof1337

Now that the new NVIDIA drivers enable dual monitors in SLI, I will start working on the PSOne screen mod, and mount it with my main rig.


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## g4m3rof1337

Alright, an update.. 

I've been busy with other stuff lately, but I am finally going to get proactive about the PSOne screen mod. 


I'm going to attempt to start this weekend, and I may dedicate a whole thread to it.


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## g4m3rof1337

OK, here's what I have to work with.

I was deciding between two places to mount the screen. 

The front:





Or the side:
Side panel 1:





Side panel 2:






I'm leaning more towards mounting it on the second panel, in the middle.


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## Kornowski

I'd put it on the windowed panel, near the bottom right, in front of the HDD cages! 

Can't wait for you to start this, it's about time!


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## g4m3rof1337

That's the thing though, it's a tight fit by the HDD cage, the HDD is near the top, and my pump is on the bottom, and I can't put it in the middle or lower center because of the aftermarket coolers.


I'll open the PSOne up tonight, get what I need, and see what fits.


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## Caminokid

I love all the bays it has in it! I am not much of a lights kind of guy...but it looks awesome!


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## g4m3rof1337

Caminokid said:


> I love all the bays it has in it! I am not much of a lights kind of guy...but it looks awesome!



Thanks. 



Update:
I opened the LCD last night, and kind of rushed into things, because I believe I need wire and soldering materials, and I need to get back into soldering, lol.


In the mean time, if I find an LCD under 7'' that can connect to the GPU, I'll consider picking it up.


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